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Page 194
was hit in the act of loosing an arrow. His shriek was more of rage than pain, for the bolt only caught him in the outer part of the thigh and with little force. He even fired his shot and hit his man before he squatted behind the shield and wrenched the bolt out.
The trouble was, as Simon could see when he darted out to shoot and slid back, that there were nearly a thousand men opposed to his fifty. Four or five to one was about equal force for an assault, since the men on the walls had so great an advantage. However, here they were outnumbered by many more than that. Either someone had given good advice and Henry had taken it for once, or the king's own impatience had worked out the correct answer. No reserve was being held back. All Henry's forces were in action.
The density of bolts from the attackers was greatly inhibiting the effectiveness of Simon's archers. There was so continual a rain of quarrels that the men could scarcely find a chance to loose their own arrows. Simon himself was hit both times he stepped forward to shoot. His mail was superior to that of his men; one quarrel did not bite and the other slid along his upper arm, nicking the skin but doing no other damage.
Sheltered by the curtain of crossbow fire, the assault forces were busily laying their spanning devices over the brush, logs, and mud with which portions of the moat had been filled. Simon's men cursed and grew more daring, trying to pick off the crews who were working. Although they made a few hits, the cost in injuries to themselves was too high, and Simon shouted for them to let be and take care. Once the assaulters started to climb the ladders, the crossbowmen would have to stop shooting or they would hit their own men. Then Simon's men would have the advantage again.
More warily now, the archers continued picking off a man here and there, cleverly trying for those in charge of the working parties or men who were doing crucial tasks. The caution, coupled with the accuracy

 
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