Slaget ved Agincourt.

Her er en deltalje, som giver noget af baggrunden for Henrik V taktiske planlægning.

Ingen tvivl om, at Henrik V fra en ung alder havde en sund respekt for panserbrydende pile. Det franske rytteri må være avanceret med åbent viser - simpelt hen for at kunne se, hvad der foregik omkring dem.

Wikipedia:

Den engelske side skrev:Early on the 25th, Henry deployed his army (approximately 1,500 men-at-arms and 7,000 longbowmen) across a 750-yard (690 m) part of the defile. The army was organised into three battles or divisions: the vanguard, led by the Duke of York; the main battle led by Henry himself; and the rearguard, led by Lord Camoys. In addition, Sir Thomas Erpingham, one of Henry's most experienced household knights, had a role in marshalling the archers. It is likely that the English adopted their usual battle line of longbowmen on either flank, with men-at-arms and knights in the centre. They might also have deployed some archers in the centre of the line. The English men-at-arms in plate and mail were placed shoulder to shoulder four deep. The English and Welsh archers on the flanks drove pointed wooden stakes, or palings, into the ground at an angle to force cavalry to veer off. This use of stakes could have been inspired by the Battle of Nicopolis of 1396, where forces of the Ottoman Empire used the tactic against French cavalry.

Franske side: skrev:The French were arrayed in three lines or battles. The first line was led by Constable d'Albret, Marshal Boucicault, and the Dukes of Orléans and Bourbon, with attached cavalry wings under the Count of Vendôme and Sir Clignet de Brebant. The second line was commanded by the Dukes of Bar and Alençon and the Count of Nevers. The third line was under the Counts of Dammartin and Fauconberg. The Burgundian chronicler Jean de Wavrin said there were 8,000 men-at-arms, 4,000 archers and 1,500 crossbowmen in the vanguard, with two wings of 600 and 800 mounted men-at-arms, and a main battle comprising "as many knights, esquires and archers as in the vanguard", with the rearguard containing "all of the rest of the men-at-arms". The Herald of Berry gave figures of 4,800 men-at-arms in the first line, 3,000 men in the second line, with two "wings" containing 600 mounted men-at-arms each, and a total of "10,000 men-at-arms",[29] but does not mention a third line.

Wavrin gives the total French army size as 50,000: "They had plenty of archers and crossbowmen but nobody wanted to let them fire. The reason for this was that the site was so narrow that there was only enough room for the men-at-arms." A different source says that the French did not even deploy 4,000 of the best crossbowmen "on the pretext they had no need of their help".

Problemet ligger i, at franskmændene trænger frem med deres rytteri i et terræn der indsnævrer sig. Fidusen er så, at de engelske bueskytter trænger så yderligere det franske rytteri sammen.
Franskmændene kan ikke bruge deres infanteri - fordi de engelske bueskytter vil lave nålepuder ud af dem. Det var nok ikke så meget den panserbrydende virkning på rytteriet; men på infanteriet, der ikke kan komme til for rytteriet - det franske infanteri ville simpelt hen være blevet redet ned.

Det er så også karakteristisk, at de franske bueskytter kan ikke skyde hen over det fremstormende rytteri.

Henrik V vidste udmærket af personlig erfaring hvor nas sådan en panserbrydende pil gør på infanteri.
Franskmændene kan heller ikke tage sig af bueskytterne først, fordi de skal bruge infanteriet til at nedkæmpe bueskytterne - og det ville åbne for det engelske rytteri fra siden. Det er vel stort set det, der sker; nemlig at centrum går fuldstændig i opløsning hos franskmændene - dertil kommer, at fodfolket ikke har nogen interesse i at lade den fransk adel til hest leve: Fodtudserne vil jo alligevel ikke få del af en eventuel løsesum.

Det franske infanteri bliver så brugt til at slagte trodset - men det er af underordnet betydning, da deres hovedstyrke er nedkæmpet.