When Count Mann opened his eyes, he was confronted by several Anjou guards, and the lord realized once again that he had indeed become a prisoner. The men and horses of the Count of Anjou were marching in an orderly manner, and not far away, the army of the Duke of Normandy meandered away, and the two armies marched in different directions as if the other did not exist.

"Hell!" Earl Mann spat out, the young nobleman felt his bone marrow blown cold by the wind, he didn't know what awaited him, permanent imprisonment or a dose of poison?

The Anjou people did not encounter the expected resistance to enter Mann, the Count of Hugue ruled without a way, and there has always been no dispute between the Lord of Mann and the Count of Anjou, for them, it seems that as long as they are not Normans, changing a lord is not the end of the world. When he saw the armored knight hand over the castle to his army, the Count of Furk was already thinking about how to deal with King Philip, and the Count of Anjou was not particularly worried about this, as long as the Normans existed, the French king would need his help, and it was obviously not cost-effective for Philip to lose the support of Anjou for the sake of a man.

A few days later, Ilias, a relative of the Count of Hugue, welcomed the Count of Anjou into Le Mans, and the new conquistadors completed the handover as if they were in their own garden. The Mann soldiers who had been taken hostage were also freed, with the exception of their former master, Count Huger.

"My lord, congratulations on your conquest of Mannburn." Knight Walter saluted before the count's saddle.

"It's not over yet, we have to regain the lost territory of Saint-Tonri, and then the time will be to go to war with Normandy again." The Count of Anjou encouraged the knight with his deeds, as if glory awaited him.

King Philip seemed to be dormant, oblivious to the development of the situation, and simply hid in his castle and watched the others fight, and while he waited, the army of the Duke of Normandy advanced at full speed and turned against the rebels in Rouen. The frost stained the river, the sound of gold moved, and Duke William repeatedly urged the whole army forward, hoping to fly over with wings and face the enemy early.

Forced by spears and bows, the castle of Rouen was still resisting the repeated attacks of the rebels, the direction of the city was already thick smoke, the rebels gradually lost the last patience, their time was getting shorter, and the reinforcements promised by the King of France were delayed, Roger could only climb the wall with his own sergeants for several days, but was repeatedly pushed back by the stubborn defenders. Robert joins his brother William Lufus in battle, and his long red hair peeks out from under his chainmail hood and iron helmet, burning like a fire in the cold light of the city, and the bloody battle between the two brothers inspires all the defenders to fight bravely. However, as time passed, the castle defenders became more and more desperate, although the enemy's tunnels were blocked, the outer walls of the castle were set on fire by the rebels, and the stored timber was exhausted, and if the duke's reinforcements could not arrive, sooner or later the walls would be captured by the rebels. Both sides are in a race against time, and Rouen's gains and losses will be the turning point of this war.

Unbeknownst to Roger and Ralph, the Count of Flanders was already one step away from Normandy at this time.

"My lord, Boulogne's army is blocking the way!" A knight from Arras shouted back to Count Robert.

"Is it Eustace?" Robert is clearly still haunted by the cousin who had captured him.

"My lord, we have not found the banner of the Count of Boulogne."

After a moment's thought, Count Robert ordered the whole army to move on, and here was still some distance from Boulogne, and he decided to speed up his way before the other side could react.

The fortifications of the Boulognes were very strong, and the young Eustace, although not satisfied with his father's acceptance of William of Normandy, did not think it was worth it to make a feud with the French king for the sake of ten thousand marks, but since he had taken on this mission, he did not intend to let the Flemish pass.

Count Robert's attempt to break through was soon frustrated, and the knights of Boulogne of Eustace straddled their tall horses and threatened the Flemish flank from a shrub-covered plain, while on the front of the avenue was a small, fortified fortress with three arrow towers, which obscured the two roads leading to Normandy and Amiens.

In desperation, the Count of Flanders sent an envoy to try to negotiate, and when he heard Eustace's offer from the messenger, the veteran could not help but curse: "This little bastard has blackmailed me!" After many years of fighting in Zeeland and other places, and even making occasional cameo appearances as pirates, Count Robert, who had plundered Germanic ships, finally lost his patience and gave the order to attack the knights behind him.

The battle between the two sides continued until the stars appeared, and when the army was divided, the exhausted Flemish had to return to their hastily constructed camp. Although he was still angry, Count Robert had already begun to reassess the question of whether the expedition was worth it, and the marriage with Philip was naturally a factor that had to be considered, but if he lost too many troops for this covenant, it would be worth the loss.

It's not appropriate to return like this, after all, it's just a half-day fight with a junior of Boulogne, and if it's easily forced back, wouldn't it be to make that group of potential opponents look down on it? Robert decided to wait for the army to recuperate, and while he arranged the defense for the night, he began to reformulate the logistics plan for a siege to take the Boulogne's position.

One night later, the first snow of the year began to fall, and the Flemish did not have enough clothing to protect themselves from the cold, and many of the soldiers in the battalion fell ill. Seeing that the situation was not good, Count Robert, fearing that his army would be wiped out by the epidemic, immediately began to withdraw his camp and return to his division. When the young Eustace saw the Flemish retreating, he did not attempt to pursue, but sent his sentry to keep an eye on the enemy's position, and he remained in charge. The young knight was not seduced by glory, but was satisfied with the results of the battle, and although this cautious move displeased some of the knights in the battalion, the soldiers had no desire to attack in the snow, and the order was carried out.

The snow continued until the tenth day after All Souls' Day, and outside the city of Rouen, despair had begun to permeate the rebels, and many of the held nobles were increasingly dissatisfied with the siege, and although they feared punishment and retribution from the duke, they were even more desperate about the situation, and some even began to think about rescuing Bishop Odo.

"Do you hear anything?" A Norman spearman in a Phrygian fur hat asked his comrade.

"Probably frightened horses, don't scare yourself, go to sleep." The comrade-in-arms who was woken up from the dream was very impatient, and he was dreaming of the girl who had been accidentally suffocated by himself in that small house in England, and he was still holding the corpse and making love at that time.

"I still feel like there's something out there." As soon as the Normans finished speaking, the sound of horses' hooves in the distance sounded like a tsunami.