After the 893 invasion force crossed from Boulogne, Haesten fortified a camp at Benfleet in Essex as the main base for the combined Danish army that included reinforcements from East Anglia and Northumbria. The Chronicle records this was a formidable earthwork on the creek. The fortification represented the Danish strategic approach of establishing fortified bases before raiding, the same tactic Alfred burh network was designed to counter.
Danish army under Haesten; estimated 250 ships
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