The Arrow that Missed

The year is 1066, and the Norman knights, 8,000 of them, with cavalry, archers, and men at arms, face a battered, badly equipped army of 7,000 Saxon Huscarls with practically no archers or cavalry. Leading the Normans is the Duke of Normandy, William II. Leading the Saxons, the young but proven King of England, Harold Godwinsson, a popular king. The battle of Hastings has begun.

Somehow, the Saxons hold the Normans. Both sides are desperate. And then an arrow flies towards Harold. A group of Knights immediately attack the King. The King's Guard attempt to fight of the knights, and the arrow... misses. The Knights are fought off, and though Harold is eventually forced from Senlac Hill, it is a Pyrhhic victory for William, for he loses half his soldiers in the battle. Three days later, Harold arrives again, having raised the fyrd (the miltia), and with his 10,000 men easily destroys William's army, killing WIlliam himself.