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The heavy infantry of the English was famous, and they carried long spears and shields. Harold’s Anglo-Saxons used their traditional battle tactic of a shield-wall. They would stand side-by-side and their interlocking shields would form a solid wall. The shield-wall was very difficult to break down and it was a tactic that had been used very successful by Alfred the Great against the Vikings. The infantry of Harold II set up a shield-wall on a hill and broken ground and they were in a very strong position. This is agreed to have been the right decision.  The Normans had to inflict a defeat on the English as they were in enemy territory and had only a limited amount of supplies .<ref> Morillo, Stephen. "Hastings: an unusual battle." In Medieval Warfare 1000–1300, (London, Routledge, 2017) pp. 313-321 </ref>. This meant that William the Conqueror’s army was forced to go on the offensive and it was essential that he broke the massed ranks of the heavy infantry of Harold. The Normans knew that if they broke the formation of the Anglo-Saxons that they would be victorious. From the early morning of the 18th of October, William attacked the Anglo-Saxon shield wall. The had numerical superiority in cavalry and the Norman knights were among the finest in Europe. They still failed to break the shield-wall. Then William ordered his archers to unleash volleys of arrows at the enemy’ s line. They were mostly Bretons and acknowledged to be great archers, but they could not break the English lines.  Norman and even some Anglo-Saxon sources claim that the decisive moment in the battle was the feigned retreat of the Normans invaders. William ordered his men to retreat and this tempted the Anglo-Saxons to break their defensive formation and go on the offensive .<ref>Bachrach, Bernard S. "The feigned retreat at Hastings." <i>Mediaeval Studies 33 </i> (1971): 344-347 </ref>. They left the high ground and the shield-wall was no longer intact. The Normans wheeled round and engaged the onrushing English, who were very exposed. The cavalry of William was able to inflict terrible casualties on the army of Harold II and this was to turn maneuver turned the battle decisively in favor of the Normans.<ref> Morillo, p 318</ref>.