Archers at Agincourt were stuck in a tight line behind a bank of rough earth and a hedge, so they could’t get out to shoot. The French knights had to charge up that slope, which slowed them and let the English longbows rain arrows. The English even set up a second line behind the first so if the front got swarmed, the second could keep firing. It was a low‑profile, high‑fire strategy that turned the French charge into a bullet‑filled pit. You could almost hear the whisper of wind through the trees and the steady thrum of the bowstrings—quiet but deadly.

They kept the second line fed by lining the archers in a staggered, shallow trench behind the first line. When the first line started to buckle, the second could slide forward, re‑take the line, and keep firing. The men were so packed that the French cavalry couldn’t swing wide enough to outflank them; the hedgerow and the rough earth bank forced the knights straight into the bows. After the charge, the archers didn’t just stand still – they kept their feet moving, forming a tight “cobble” of men so a pike‑bearing infantryman had to stop, swing his spear, and expose himself to a volley. If a pike broke through, the nearest archer would fire directly at it, and the crowd of soldiers made it hard for the French to advance again. It was all about staying dense, moving just enough to keep the pikes useless, and letting the bow’s range do the heavy lifting.