After several days of reconnaissance, Count Rodrigo found that all the bridges between Abouville and Amiens had been occupied by the French, and he could not help but be glad that he had arrived in time, and if the Count of Pontilio had also been co-opted by King Philip, the English army in Calais and the Flemish allies in Boulogne would have been completely cut off from Rouen across the Somme.

The current situation is not good, and the former Countess of Pontillo and aunt of Roberts the Sock, Countess of Adelaide, has declared her support for the claim of Loufus, whose Chteau d'Aumale, between the Somme and Seine, controls the Brère and is an important point in the eastern part of the Duchy. To make matters worse, Beauvais's French army could provide her with support at any time if the King wished.

The Countess of Adelaide was an old enemy of the English, and her husband, Odd, Count of Troyes, was killed at the Battle of St. Albans, and after Robert united with the English, it took little effort for Loufus to win the support of the Lady.

Rouen must be out of order by now, Rodrigo guessed to himself as he listened to the screams of the big axles on the road like piglets slaughtered in early winter. Robert's position was becoming more and more unfavorable, and the knights of the Château d'Aurmales marched westward and could reach the city of Rouen in half a day, while most of Robert's army was still in the southwest, and if the king did not arrive soon, God knows what would happen to the "family tragedy".

Rodrigo was not aware of William Lufus's conspiracy at this time, but was related to the cannibalism between the Normans, who had witnessed how Alfonso treated his siblings and knew the cruelty of this civil war: Alfonso was having a hard time now, but a foreign enemy was a foreign enemy after all, not to mention that he could get help from Aragon, Burgundy, and even the whole of Christendom, while Sancho was alive different, it was a competition of the same bloodline, everyone involved in the game was fighting for survival, and blood and betrayal were constant themes.

The cold wind swept through the mist, and also swept up the wind and sand, and fell in the ranks, making rustling and clanging sounds, and Rodrigo looked up, and the wind was still strong when it reached the vicinity of the forest, and the dust and smoke seeped into the edge of the dense forest, but it was cut off by a green wall, and finally fell silent.

"Where have we been?" He asked a guide.

"Cressie." The French casually pronounced a mediocre place name.

When the English went to the side of the road to take refuge from the wind and sand, the Count counted the baggage, and more than fifty carriages were arranged on both sides of the road, all of which were armed and grain from Dover to Calais, and from Calais to Abwehr, and the number of arrows was especially large, but the armor was not much. The Count of Pontilio had already received the first supplies, including twenty Flemish horses from the Count of Boulogne, all of them of tall and sturdy breeds, much to the delight of Hugue, the eldest son of the Count of Say.

Guy was not so happy, he certainly knew the meaning of these gifts, and the Count of Pontillo was heartbroken at the thought that his domain was about to become a battlefield. Now he could only hope that the promise of the English king would not be disappointed - Edgar promised the Earl of Iu and the Count of Pontiyo respectively, the former was most concerned about whether the Danish ships would appear on his shore, the king promised not to let the Danes break through the Calais-Dover line, and as for Guy, the king only promised to compensate him for his losses, after all, Pontilio was the gateway for the Flemish people to Normandy, and there were French troops stationed in Montreuil in the north and Amiens in the south, and Edgar could not guarantee that other troops would not be allowed in. Montreuil, fortunately, is located between the seaside moors, and although it is easy to defend and difficult to attack, it is not suitable for large armies, but in other directions, the enemy's large army can be pressed along the Roman road, from Kassel, Arras, etc.

However, the Earl of Pontilio's mood was not something Rodrigo needed to consider, he was more worried about his son's safety in Dover, but since he was born in the royal family, he had to serve the kingdom, and it was common for princes and nobles to sacrifice their lives for the country.

Then he saw his sentry returning from the north, and the one at the head was waving and shouting something.

"Looks like something is happening." The Count muttered to himself.

"Jesus!" A knight shouted, and now everyone saw the reason for the sentinel's return. The fog had just lifted, the air was completely occupied by light, the country roads were full of long shadows of trees, and in the distance on the skyline, the sun suddenly rose to reveal a group of people: men, steel, and horses. The dazzling light clearly came from the armor, the weapons, and perhaps the unrecognizable spire of the spear.

Rodrigo initially planned to count the cavalry, but as new men continued to emerge behind the horizon, he gave up trying.

"Array." He decided to err on the side of caution before figuring out the other party's identity.

The knights crossed and began to quickly put on their armor, the area was still within the territory of the Count of Pontillo, muddy moorland could be seen everywhere, scattered orchards were scattered under the ridges that stretched far to Wadicourt and Cressy, Rodrigo led the party to an abandoned tower, and the panic in the crowd only dissipated slightly, these people were only civilians, and the presence of the knights was the only reason why they did not flee to the forest in the first place.

Rodrigo doesn't underestimate the average Englishman, who has a war bow in his cart and becomes the most dangerous killer of all.

"Go up there, anyone who wants to pass through those carts and shoot them to death!" Rodrigo sent two archers to the cracked dome of the tower, and when he looked back, he saw the horses all gathered together, their mouths and noses spewing white mist, almost in unison.

"It's the old bishop!"

Rodrigo saw a thin face hidden in the shadow of his cloak, and there was no need to guess the identity of the other party, and there was only one person who could be called "Old Bishop" by the English: Bishop Woolstein of Warchester.

The 78-year-old man is remembered by the English and Welsh people of the Frontier as a bishop, a powerful man, the greatest saint near and far, who once banned the slave trade in Bristol, and who was the rebuilder of churches and monasteries in western Mercia.

"How could Your Majesty let Your Excellency come to such a dangerous place?" The Count asked with some apprehension.

"It was I who took the initiative to ask Your Majesty, my child." Bishop Woolfstein replied with great ease, "I'll pick someone up." ”

The Count breathed a sigh of relief, and was about to give orders to the knight behind the bishop to arrange for the people to behave, when he saw the knight lift his visor and reveal another familiar face.

"Long time no see, Lord Pembroke." Count Roger, who was covered in iron armor and Emperor Hu Tianhu, immediately pressed his sword majestically, and a rare smile appeared on his beautiful face, but it was particularly meaningful in Rodrigo's eyes.

"It's a surprise to meet Lord Hereford." Rodrigo replied that this "neighbor" had always been jealous of his territory and power, but in Westminster he was a political ally, both of foreign origins and rivals of the Mercians, and everyone in the court knew that Roger and Robert Mallet, who was also a Norman, had always been at odds with Robert Mallett, who was also a Norman.

"Your Excellency Bishop is going to Rouen to pick up a Lorraine, and I happen to know this road best......" Roger took the initiative to explain the reason for his trip, and the Spaniard immediately remembered that not far south was Roger's old consulate, Bretteuil, where the famous wedding took place.

"It's not very safe to go to Rouen lately." Of course, Rodrigo didn't want any accidents between the Bishop and Roger, he had already seen that most of the other party's team were unarmed clergy, and the brightly armored knights he had seen at the beginning were less than ten under Roger's command.

"What, it's dangerous to cross the river?"

"It's Lady Adelaide, her people are on the other side, and I heard that more and more of her insignia have been added lately, and you had better wait until Your Majesty arrives at St. Valéry before crossing the river."

Roger seemed to remember something, his face changed, and the reins in his hand couldn't help but clench a little, causing the mount to make a dissatisfied sound. As soon as the bishop dismounted from his horse, his buckskin boots creaking against the dirt, the overly athletic old man handed the whip to a servant and stopped Rodrigo's persuasion with a gesture.

"Robert of Lorraine, that's his name, I need this man, he's the best mathematician and astrologer I've ever known. A year ago, when I wrote to invite him to come to England to recalculate the calendar for us, when he was debating in Normandy and Gerland, and now that the situation has changed, I tell Your Majesty that this man is worth as much as half of the Treasury of the Vatican Hills, and that His Majesty also sees it necessary to save this famous scholar......"

"Well, in that case, I will personally send you across the river, but I can't stay longer, and the war in the east is about to begin." The Spaniard, a rare knight of his time who respected knowledge itself, was not unacceptable to the bishop, but only duty, and he could not go to Rouen himself.

Roger shrugged his shoulders slightly, showing a helpless expression, he had no interest in what the bishop said, and he did not know that a hundred years later, Hereford would have a famous scholar with the same name as him, who would gain a reputation as a top astronomer and alchemist in Christendom.

"May the enemy be as blind and deaf as the old man."

As soon as Rodrigo opened his mouth, he realized that he had said the wrong thing, but before he could remedy it, the old Bishop Woolfstein teased: "I am so old and dizzy, I just saw that my horsemen were like harrier eagles overlooking grizzly bears in the sky, and my lord should pray that God will bring down the fog for our journey again." ”

"Holy, holy, holy. (Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus.)" replied Rodrigo playfully, hearing the bishop's laughter, and a hint of fear about the hidden enemy disappeared for a moment.