The broken sunlight shone on the post-war land, countless corpses lay on the battlefield, and torn rags and armor were everywhere, making it hard to imagine their past glory.
Brave warriors were now nothing but corpses, and the thick smell of rust permeated the air.
The Wessex Dragon Banner fluttered in the autumn wind, but the banner was tattered, and the warriors who fought under its banner were all dead; now it was the Normans' domain.
The essence of England was buried on this land; King Harold's three thousand guards were completely annihilated.
Even with the king's death, the guards fought for their master until the very last moment, preserving their honor and their master's honor.
The victorious Normans were scattered in twos and threes among the corpses, collecting weapons and spoils, while crows boldly hopped between the bodies.
As was always the custom, after a great battle, humans collected steel, and crows feasted on flesh and blood.
"Caw, caw, caw."
A flock of crows gathered on a pile of corpses was startled away by a waving arm, as if complaining that humans were not playing by the rules, why didn't they just let them eat in peace?
But the person whose eyeballs they wanted to peck was still alive, so resistance was, of course, natural.
Edward Wessex struggled out of the pile of corpses; he had been knocked unconscious when King Harold was struck in the eye by a stray arrow.
The former king had watched the king die.
He was covered in blood, with many wounds on his body, but fortunately, his sturdy chainmail had protected him, allowing its owner to survive.
As for why he was 'former,' it was because Edward, through the Witenagemot, had voluntarily relinquished his position as King of England, yielding the throne to Harold Godwinson.
Why Edward chose to abdicate is a somewhat long story.
Upon his return to England, Edward was not particularly moved; instead, he felt a sense of unfamiliarity, in every sense of the word.
Moreover, due to his experiences in Hungary and Rus', Edward had a large retinue of Hungarian and Rus' attendants.
It was precisely because of the presence of these foreigners that Edward was unable to establish a circle of Anglo-Saxon magnates loyal to him.
This situation was partly due to the Godwin family's overwhelming influence and partly due to the Confessor's awkward attitude.
Although Edward had returned, the Confessor did not want him to be king.
During a private family discussion, Edward understood why; in the Confessor's own words, "Even if you become king, you will be Godwin's puppet."
This had nothing to do with whether Godwin was a good or bad person; it was a situation determined by his position.
The king allowed this statement to leak out, intending to discomfit Harold, and it also successfully prevented many royalists from aligning with Edward, fearing the king's attitude, as no one knew what the king's true feelings were on the matter.
Edward had a very frustrating few years; he felt like a sandwich, stuck between Harold and the Confessor, becoming a tool in their struggle.
Therefore, even though Edward was in England, he still paid attention to events in Eastern Europe, such as in mid-1063, when Bela of Hungary suddenly died due to a "throne collapse," and Andrew's son reascended the throne, which pleased him for quite some time.
He was even more satisfied with Rostislav's campaign in Bulgar; he was very happy to see this junior growing stronger.
After the Confessor's death, Edward ascended the throne as per custom, but faced with a situation where most of the kingdom belonged to the Godwin family and he had almost no support from Anglo-Saxon magnates around him, he felt utterly helpless.
Therefore, even after becoming king, his first thought was to abdicate; on one hand, it was due to a lack of confidence in his rule, and on the other hand, it was the threat from Normandy.
Unlike those Anglo-Saxon magnates who had long resided on the islands and were uninterested in the situation in Europe, Edward paid close attention to such matters, to the many events on the Continent.
And when he saw William, to whom the Confessor had promised the throne, building momentum in various ways, and with the Pope's support, he felt that this matter would be difficult to handle.
William the Bastard was a terrifying figure in the West, and Edward did not believe he could contend with such an enemy.
Under the combined influence of internal and external factors, Edward decided to abdicate.
Harold was currently relatively gentle and loyal to the Wessex Family, but his sons were not; rather than having something unspeakable happen, it was better to abdicate voluntarily.
Edward's nature did not like vying for power and gain; comparatively, his personality was more easygoing.
As long as he and his family could live comfortably, that was enough.
If Harold had not actively invited him back, and he had previously made a futile trip, out of guilt and awakened hopes of succession, Edward would not have returned to England with him.
To ensure the abdication's success, Edward even contacted Harold's sons in advance to build momentum; these fellows were enthusiastic about their father becoming king and immediately agreed to Edward's request.
Thus, at the Witenagemot, as soon as Edward proposed abdicating, Harold's sons began to agitate, and after a show of reluctance, Harold became King of England.
As for Edward, he planned to return to Rus'; being a local lord in Rus' would at least be more comfortable than being this so-called king.
Moreover, leaving early meant safety; he knew Harold was a good man, but he didn't know about others.
Heaven knew if Harold's sons or someone else would come to "eliminate future troubles."
But Harold forcibly kept him, for the sake of his reputation; after all, if the former king ran off to another country immediately after abdicating, wouldn't that be pointing a finger at Harold, implying he usurped the throne?
So Edward became the Earl of Oxford, though Harold promised that Edward could leave after a year, which reassured Edward.
As it turned out, that year of abdication was filled with one event after another: first, the Northumbrian rebellion, which the new English King marched out to suppress; then, the Norwegian King's invasion; and then, William's army crossing the sea.
As an English lord, Edward naturally had to fulfill his military obligations, so he led the Thegns (understandable as well-born men) and retainers from his territory to fight with Harold.
In the battle against the Norwegian King, he almost killed Harald, but remembering his kinship with this king, he ultimately spared the Norwegian King, only wounding him.
Then the defeated Norwegian army escorted their wounded king in retreat, and as the Anglo-Saxons celebrated their victory, news of William's landing arrived.
Then came Harold's forced march to Hastings to set up his lines, and the great battle with the Norman army that had crossed the sea.
On the battlefield of Hastings, Continental knights and English housecarls fought a bloody battle on this ancient land, the two sides locked in a fierce, even struggle, until that fated arrow.
Harold died, and his three thousand guards defended the king's body to the last man, while Edward, having been struck in the head, was buried among the corpses.
Now, Edward, awakened, looked at the shattered battlefield around him and immediately understood the situation.
In fact, the moment Harold's eye was struck, Edward knew the outcome.
Next, a sudden surge of power erupted within Edward, allowing him to crawl out of the pile of corpses, and then he began to flee, escaping into the forest where there were no Normans.
As the last descendant of Wessex, he had to take his family and leave this land before those people crowned his son.
He had narrowly escaped such a fate and could not let his son endure it as well.
As for a counterattack, Edward believed it was utterly impossible.
Without Harold, all of Southern England was leaderless, with no one to rally the forces.
As for Northern England, could he rely on those two who, with Harold's help, had defeated Harald and preserved their territories, but were unwilling to send troops south?
They were just two incompetent good-for-nothings.
So Edward now resolved internally to flee; he could not let his descendants get caught up in these troubles.
He would not let his son be killed, nor his daughter bear children early and then be given a cup of poison.
And as Edward moved across the corpse-strewn battlefield, dodging the gaze of one Norman after another, just as he was about to enter the forest, a voice from behind called out, "What are you doing?"
Edward then plunged into the forest without hesitation, and the Normans quickly gave chase, but Edward soon disappeared into the woods.
--------