Once Richard saw the inaction of the Stanleys, he was furious, as his worst fears were becoming real, and he ordered that Lord Strange was executed at once, but the order was never carried out.
Even if Ambion's Hill, where Richard's army was deployed, was filled with the enemy army, Henry's men didn't stop, although they must be a bit intimidated by the vision, and kept on marching towards the hill. They had a marsh to their right, protecting their flank, and the sun on their backs. As Oxford's men come closer, Richard ordered his guns to open fire. Then, Henry's troops, instead of massing against the main front line of the enemy, aimed instead against the flank, towards Richard, a move that, by the way, put them "closer" to the Stanley. Was this a move to stimulate these "allies" to join the fray? Or to provoke a royalist charge that would bog down in the marshes?
Either way, it failed. Perhaps Oxford just wanted to be beyond the range of the enemy guns until he faced the flank of Richard's line, where John Howard, duke of Norfolk, waited for the signal to attack. With a great shout, archers in both armies began to fire, and Norfolk ordered the van forwards, with the support of Brackenbury's troops. Somewhere the foot of the hill began to close combat butchery. Oxford's division didn't flee or was pushed back, for Richard's changrin. Both commanders were worried about the possibility of being surrounded, so both sides drew back for a moment.
Richard, afraid of a possible betrayal, looked at the scene very worried. Oxford renewed the fighting in a wedge formation in order to break up the enemy line. Evidently, the battle wasn't going to plan for Richard. It was Norfolk's battle, nor Oxford, the one more close to break. Indeed, some men had started to flee and, more dangerously, Lord Stanley hadn't moved yet. Then, Richard recognized Henry Tudor's standards.
Apparently, Henry moved to induce Stanley to join him and relieve the hard-pressed divison of Oxford. Then, Richard made his momentous decision. Seeing the failure of the battle at that point, he refused the suggestions to flee. Instead, he said:
"God forbid I yield one step.This day I will die as a king or win".
He placed on his head the helmet encircled with the golden diadem, and, with his close companions and a force around 800 mounted men, he spurred down the slopes of Hambion Hill, in a gallant attempt to kill his rival. Here was a chance to destroy his foe and to make his invasion force to crumble. So he put himself to the task.