They had every reason to believe persistence would eventually overwhelm the smaller army.
Arrows began falling.
The French kept coming.
Some men were hit.
Others pushed through.
Hedges forced bodies together.
The front ranks slowed.
Men behind compressed toward them.
The physical depth that had looked powerful before battle became traffic once the approaches narrowed.
Still, the French advanced.
Eventually men reached Edward's line.
The battle became close.
Longbows had done their work, but they could not finish everything.
Men-at-arms on both sides fought with swords, axes, spears, polearms, and other weapons.
The noise changed.
Arrows create a distant threat.
Hand-to-hand fighting is immediate.
Men could see faces through visors and openings.
Standards disappeared behind bodies.
Commanders lost visibility.
The battle became local.
That change usually favors whichever army remains organized despite the confusion.
Edward's line bent under pressure.
It did not break.
The English Defense Was Not Comfortable
It is easy to describe successful defense as though the defenders always knew they were winning.
They did not.
Edward could not know whether the Dauphin's assault would eventually punch through.
He did not know how many arrows would remain.
He did not know whether another French force might find a better route.
He did not know whether his men would remain disciplined after hours of fighting.
Every defense has a breaking point.
The defender rarely knows exactly where it is.
Edward therefore faced constant pressure to commit more troops.
Send the reserve.
Reinforce the line.
Use everything now.
That instinct is understandable.
It is also dangerous.
Once the reserve enters battle, the commander loses the ability to respond to something unexpected later.
Edward held enough back.
That restraint would become decisive.
The Dauphin's Division Eventually Began Withdrawing
After hard fighting, Charles's troops moved back.
The reason is less important than the effect.
Some may have been ordered to withdraw and reorganize.
Some were exhausted.
Some had suffered losses.
Whatever the immediate explanation, men behind them now saw French troops moving away from the enemy.
On a modern battlefield with radios and centralized command, a controlled withdrawal can be explained quickly.
On a medieval field, information traveled unevenly.
A soldier hundreds of yards away might see one thing.
French men coming backward.
What did it mean?
Were they beaten?
Was the English line collapsing elsewhere?
Was the king ordering another attack?
Should the next division move forward or make space?
Confusion began feeding on itself.
Edward's archers and men-at-arms saw the same movement differently.
The French were going backward.
That encouraged the defenders.
The same event strengthened one side and weakened the other.
Morale is often created through interpretation more than facts.
The Duke of Orléans' Force Did Not Restore Order
The next major French body failed to deliver the coordinated crushing assault John needed.
Accounts differ regarding the precise sequence and reasons, while some troops appear to have withdrawn or become involved in protecting royal princes.
What matters is the cumulative result.
The French army ceased functioning as one continuous offensive system.
One division had fought and pulled away.
Another failed to maintain pressure in the way required.
The battlefield began opening around Edward.
This was the first moment when the prince could realistically imagine more than survival.
Until then, the question had been whether his army could hold.
Now a different question emerged.
Could the French be broken?
The distinction is enormous.
A defensive commander who recognizes it too late wastes victory.
One who recognizes it too early may destroy himself.
Edward needed to decide which moment he was seeing.
King John Still Had a Powerful Final Division
The battle was not finished.
John remained with substantial troops.
His youngest son Philip stood near him.
The French king had not fled.
Whatever criticism may be made of his tactical decisions, personal courage was not his weakness.
He intended to continue fighting.
From John's perspective, Edward's army had also been fighting for hours.
English and Gascon men were tired.
Archers had spent arrows.
The defensive position had absorbed several attacks.
A final concentrated push might break what earlier assaults had weakened.
This was not an irrational idea.
John could still imagine victory.
Edward could still imagine defeat.
The next decision would determine whose interpretation of the battlefield was correct.