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volley followed the first with almost as dire results. A few men broke and ran. Siorl shouted in Welsh to let them get away, at least some distance before picking them off, to encourage others to run. A few more did, but not many, for the troops were not raw levies but mercenaries who knew their business. |
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The turtles began to form, some men kneeling, others standing, presenting a wall of shields against the arrows, which even the yard-long shafts of the Welsh bowmen could not pierce. To volley against such a target was useless. Only single arrows were loosed now as one Welshman or another saw an exposed head or limb. Then, before the captains could decide whether to turn back or try to move forward, Walter and Simon appeared at the charge at the head of the footmen. |
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At first it was a May-Day fair for Walter, Simon, and the men. Monmouth's troops, shocked and caught between protecting themselves against the archers and fighting the oncoming swordsmen, fell like grain before the scythe. But they were well disciplined and did not break. And then, all too soon, the foreriders were back. The Welsh took some of them out and cried warning, but there were ten or twelve mounted men opposed to Simon and Walter alone, and then another mounted troop began to force its way past the stalled wains and the battling footmenand they bore lances. |
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