In this epic battle that broke out at Agincourt on October 25, 1415, Henry V led more than 5,000 British soldiers to defeat 36,000 French soldiers, and beheaded thousands of French nobles and squires, basically killing half of the French nobles.
There is no doubt that this victory brought great glory and advantage to England, and it was also the highlight moment of Henry V. But few people know that the outbreak of this battle was actually the result of Henry V's adventurous march to Calais, which led the British army to the French siege and interception.
In other words, the battle was completely forced, and if Henry V had not ventured to Calais, there would have been no Battle of Agincourt. So why did Henry V venture to Calais? What is his reason?
In August 1415, King Henry V of England, in order to conquer France, led more than 10,000 troops to land in Normandy in northern France, and fought a fierce battle with the French defenders at Havrel. After a month of fierce fighting between the two armies, Henry V's army forced the defenders of Havrel to surrender to him, thus ending the bitter battle.
For this victory, the British army led by Henry V also paid a terrible price, in addition to more than a thousand people died in battle, the British army also suffered from dysentery, which made the British army lose half of its strength in one breath.
To tell the truth, the British army paid more than 5,000 casualties, and it was still relatively profitable to take Havre. After all, Havreal was a dangerous place to hold the inland rivers of France, and the medieval siege warfare was cumbersome and monotonous, and in the face of this fortress, the strategy of attacking hard could only be adopted, and Henry V could take this place at the cost of more than a thousand people killed in battle and more than 4,000 sick.
But such a feat did not satisfy Henry V, who now had to make the next strategic arrangements to decide the next objective of the British army.
As things stand, Henry V had three options. The first option was to take his troops to Aquitaine, a traditional British territory on the European continent where Henry V could draw a wave of popularity by going around.
The second option was to take the troops north from the Seine River to Calais, which had long been occupied by the British, and considering that the British army was now poor, it would be good to rest in Calais.
The third option was to set out from the mouth of the Seine and lead an army of five thousand directly to Paris, France, to give the French a "great gift".
The first two choices are considered to be the best and middle choices, while the third choice is no different from death. Not to mention that the British army is now sleepy and tired, and I don't know how many soldiers have dysentery and have not had a seizure, just to take five thousand people to Paris, it is basically equivalent to jumping on their feet and shouting at the French to beat him.
Besides, the French were not soft persimmons, henry V could not guarantee that he could defeat the main force of the French army, and was more worried that if he went, what would the French do if he copied his back road? However, if he directly led his troops to Aquitaine, Henry V was somewhat unwilling, and he chose to go to Calais for a circle.
So is it safe to go to Calais? Truth be told, not so safe. Calais is no better than Aquitaine, which is close at hand, and it takes at most three days to go to Aquitaine, but to go to Calais you have to cross the entire Normandy region, even if there is no trouble along the way, there is no French army to stop it, and the British army led by Henry V has to walk for at least eight days.
And considering that the British army is not very rich in grain and grass now, and dysentery has just broken out in the army, it is difficult to say whether there will be dysentery after that, so going to Calais is better than going to Paris, which is essentially a death.
So, did Henry V know this? He knew it, he knew that his army was not in a good position, that it would take a long trek to Calais, and that the French might have been mobilizing their troops to prepare for a decisive battle with him, but Henry V still hoped to venture to Calais.
It was not that Henry V had enough to eat, but had to take the British army on a long march to exercise, but henry V, who was only 29 years old, had a reason to go to Calais, because he needed to brush his reputation in this way.
The route chosen by Henry V actually has strong political significance, because this route was walked by his grandfather Edward III, and the famous Black Prince also walked this route, which has great historical and political significance in Britain.
If Henry V could now lead his army from Havrel all the way to Calais with great victory, he would certainly be able to brush up a wave of political prestige for himself at home, so as to prepare himself for his next expedition, at least more conveniently when he reached out to the nobles everywhere for money and soldiers.
Henry V wanted to use this method to cosify his ancestors, but his generals were really not very willing to do so, because it was too dangerous, and if the main French army took advantage of the situation, wouldn't they all be finished?
It is said that under normal circumstances, Henry V should listen to the opinions of his subordinates, but now Henry V is already hot-blooded. Henry V felt that the generals were too alarmist, and he himself did not see any risk, on the contrary, he felt that he had a great advantage.
First of all, Henry V believed that there would be no risk in crossing Normandy, the main French army could not come to Normandy for a while and a half, and the possibility of encountering the main French army was very small.
As for the local forces in Normandy, the most powerful duke of Burgundy in the local area has long been in contact with Henry V, it cannot be said that Burgundy has joined England, that is at least the heart of the French in England, as a senior leader and two or five boys, the Duke of Burgundy will not fight with the British army.
And the most famous local land snake Breton, this group of guys are basically French Lü Fengxian, it is even more impossible to kill. The only people who could engage the British were the Orleans faction, which supported the French royal family, but they were weak and weak, and they obviously did not pose a threat to the British army.
But the biggest problem before the British army was the lack of food, and if they could not reach Calais as soon as possible, then the British army was in danger of running out of food. However, the main force of the British army was not the knight master, but the English longbowmen who signed a contract with Henry V, and these longbowmen were professional soldiers, and their discipline and obedience were much stronger than the knight masters.
The existence of these English longbowmen is also the main reason why Henry V dared to take risks, because these English longbowmen would not escape without permission in the case of food shortages, which gave Henry V confidence and courage.
Of course, Henry V could not have been indifferent to the food problem, after all, the long-term shortage of food would greatly reduce the combat effectiveness of the soldiers, if not mutiny.
But who was Henry V? That's the king of England. What Britain is best at is burning and plundering, and if you lack food, won't you just go out and grab it? Normandy is a food-producing region in France, and there is certainly enough food in villages, towns and cities. Henry V had already made up his mind that if there was not enough food, he would lead his troops to grab food, so that he could raise some food, and it should not be a problem to support the British army to Calais.
To put it simply, Henry V is now full of confidence, feeling that the time and place are all around him, and it belongs to "the advantage is in me". Thus, henry V led LinkedIn army to Calais on 7 October.
Henry V was naturally full of confidence that he would enter Calais with honor, but he did not know that this move was the fuse and prelude to the Battle of Agincourt— the French army had mobilized soldiers and horses to kill him, and his trip to Calais would become a completely disaster march.