After exchanging covenants with the Norwegians and agreeing to marry each other, the Danes left the fjord, and while the country guarded by rocks and seas was resting, King Sven began to sharpen his sword to the west.

A merchant ship from the westerly wind brought in an envoy from Normandy, and the king of Sven entertained the Norman nobleman from Montbray and inquired about the state of England. After confirming William's coronation, he stopped the commotion and turned to the Normans' victory in Hastings. The messenger recounted the course of the battle with triumph, describing the splendor of the Normans, the helmets and shields, the astonishing charge and the rain of arrows, the pride and bravery of the enemy, the cold light of the battle axes and spears. The Danes present were shaken by the battle he spoke of, and when they heard of the battlefield where the sky and the earth were dull and the sun and the moon were gone, they remembered the years of conquest. The king of Sven, who had been a warrior on the battlefield but had been defeated by Harald, was now getting old and lame in another leg, but the king's ambition had not been extinguished, but the Danes present seemed to be under the pressure of the envoy's rhetoric, and had lost the swagger of his return from Norway.

Seeing that his purpose had been achieved, the messenger said to King Sven, "King William is powerful, and then he has crushed the rebellious Flemish, and now that the king has returned from the Duchy to London, the four sides are afraid, and the king of the Franks is young, and has sent an envoy to congratulate King William." Your Majesty is a hero of the North, and King William has great respect for you, and has sent his servants to meet you, just to know your heart. ”

King Sven replied: "The Danes, though they are not afraid of any warrior, have no idea of drawing their swords for King William at the moment, but only hope that King William will rule justly, which is the wish of all Danes, Jutes and Angles in my court." ”

The king of Sven was uneasy that the lands in the west seemed to have a new owner, and now that he was isolated and helpless, but the Normans who annexed England would become too powerful, and finally ordered the invasion to be cancelled for the time being.

The situation in London was not so rosy, and when he heard that the Earl of Oxford had been allowed to return to England, King William was so angry that he scolded: "The little boy of the socks has missed a big thing!" Then came the news that the English ships had disappeared in the storm, and the grave consequences of the incident forced William to reconsider his next plans, and now that the rebels in the north were gradually moving south, the threat was not serious, but if the heirs of Wessex joined them, it could turn into a major disaster. However, the south was not stable, there was not a single northern nobleman or bishop in London, and the previous Norman raids caused serious hatred, after weighing it, William decided, according to the original plan, first westward to pacify Cornwall, and then north to exterminate the Welsh and northern lords, and even the loss of York, can also induce the Northumbrians to work south, just like Harold at the beginning, from afar, although it is very dangerous to do so, but William has the confidence to defeat any remnant of the enemy. If the south had not been cleared, the Normans would have been shaken in the south, and the ports of contact with the principality would have been threatened.

This was followed by intense military movements, and after a steady stream of transportation and supplies, plus the Danish gold collected last year, a large amount of supplies and money were concentrated in the hands of the king, and the Normans put their weapons in order, repaired the fortifications, stored grain, and then began to march westward. Devon and Cornwall were the last fiefdoms of the Godwins, a region of great strength and wealth, Exeter had been the southwestern town of Wessex since the time of Alfred the Great, and its wealth and privileges were comparable to those of London, Winchester and York, Harold had not mobilized the forces of Devon and Cornwall to participate in the bloody battle on the slopes of Senlack in Hastings, and after the death of King Harold, his mother Lady Gisa retreated with part of her family. Over the past year, the English have stockpiled supplies, fortified the walls, and conscripted militia into the surrounding counties, forcing even foreign merchants to be forced into the city. After all these preparations, Exeter replied to the envoys sent by King William to take an oath of allegiance, claiming that they were willing to pay the traditional royal tribute, but that everything else would remain independent, and that the citizens of Exeter would neither swear allegiance to the king nor allow the king to set foot in the city. To which King William replied: "Our reign has never had a tradition of accepting such conditions. So the Normans continued westward, and when the conquerors reached the walls of Dorset, the city surrendered without a fight. The news soon reached Exeter, and a fierce quarrel broke out in the city, with some Englishmen from Dorset demanding peace with the king, and even some Somerset people joining in. The citizens of Exeter, however, became more determined, and those who wanted peace left the city, and they organized a delegation to King William and ask him for forgiveness. William initially thought that Exeter's representatives had decided to dedicate the city, but when he learned the details, he sent another envoy to the city, but he was blocked out without even entering the gates. So the Normans took some of the captured citizens to the city, chose one of the highest-ranking among them, gouged out one of his eyes, and warned the city that if they refused to surrender the city, it would be the fate of all. The warriors of Exeter seemed confident and did not heed the warning, and the gates remained closed.

Enraged, the king ordered an immediate siege, so the Normans, Bretons, and Flemishes began to nervously prepare their equipment, and the slingers were sent to dig trenches, because they did not have the support of the English, and the king at this time did not have an English army under his command, which was supposed to be the army that the Bishop of York was supposed to be responsible for. With no militia from Midland and England in the east, the Normans had to attack the fortress themselves. Lady Giza herself appeared on the city, inspiring all the warriors to resist fiercely, and the battlefield was soon covered in blood, the knights and infantry from the Franks and the militia from the southwestern counties were vying for the key positions of the city walls and gates, and the Frankish engineers quickly identified the weak point of the city - the east gate and the nearby city walls, and the two tunnels immediately began to excavate, the tunnels reached 10 feet deep below the city walls and gates, and the interior was about 3 feet high, as the earthworks continued to excavate, Timber and nails kept coming in, and the tunnels began to advance down the city. King William calmly said to the nobles of Dorset, "Thank God, that Dorset will not suffer the fate of the city. The nobles looked in the direction of Exeter with earthy faces, and no one doubted the impending blood.