William's Plan B

William had six months to prepare. He did so meticulously. It is difficult to believe that the best military plan he could come up with was to wait on the Hastings Peninsula in the hope that Harold would come in person with an understrength army, then walk into an ambush on land he knew well, or recklessly attack on disadvantageous terrain and fight a hopeless battle to the death. Conversely, the chance that William and the entire Norman army would get besieged and starve were huge. Normandy, shorn of its leaders and fighting aged men, would have been subjugated by someone. Even though the potential rewards in England were huge, so were the risks. William must have had a better plan.

William’s easy options were out of the question. England had four times the population of Normandy with hardly any disloyal barons. The Normans had an impossibly long supply chain. They stood no chance in a prolonged campaign against a determined defence. They stood no chance if Harold adopted a Fabian strategy. They could not catch Harold if he chose to be elusive. They stood little chance of a successful siege on London or Winchester. Defeating the English army without killing Harold could easily backfire if Harold switched to a Fabian strategy.

The Normans’ only advantage was mobility. The fyrds, which comprised the majority of Harold’s armed forces, were part-time infantry who plodded around on foot and whose fighting skills were honed for repelling Viking axemen. Normans on the other hand, fought mainly on horseback and had boats to get around. William’s best chance was to out-manoeuvre or outsmart the defence.

If we were in William’s shoes and the English army arrived without Harold, we would quickly withdraw and ride/sail around to the Thames, hoping to trap him at Westminster (which was outside the city walls). If Harold was not there, we would lay siege to London or Winchester, hoping to draw him out before he raised an overwhelming army. If the English army turned up at either place without Harold, we would raid coastal settlements - just as Harold himself had done after his exile and as Tostig had done a few months previously – in the hope of humiliating Harold into premature battle. Even if Harold still failed to show, William could return to Normandy with riches to fund his Continental empire building aspirations.

There is one small clue in the primary sources that this was William’s backup plan. Orderic and WP say that he leaves a body of soldiers to guard the fleet and to cover a retreat. The only obvious reasons for an organised retreat are if Harold turned up with an overwhelming force or the English army turned up without Harold.