Since midsummer, bad news has followed, and the tide of war in York is close to collapse, and the north of the Tywin River is an enemy country; Then came the Danish crossing from Dover to Lincoln, and the Earl of Surrey fled almost alone; In August, the town was burned by the rebels when Edric, the "barbarian" to the west, laid siege to Shrewsbury, and William Fitz Osborne, Earl of Hereford, was unable to rescue him. King William was deeply concerned about this, and the successive losses not only weakened the king's own authority, but also worried that the Earl of Robert lost a large number of Norman knights at the Battle of the Yore in June and July, and now almost half of the Nottingham army were knights from Flanders, Brittany, Mann and Anjou. If they saw that the Normans had no prospect and had lost hope of gaining territory in England, they would most likely abandon the king and return to the other side of the Channel. For example, if the Count of Champagne occupied all his territories in France in order to participate in the war in England, the king had to consider the interests of the other party and make generous compensation.

After repeated promises, and finally dealing with these internal dangers for the time being, the king made the decision to go north to York, and the rescue of York was related to the entire conquest of England, and William must defeat the rebels who broke the oath, especially Edgar himself, in order to decide the fate of the kingdom. On a fine morning this month, all the English of Nottingham were awakened by a sudden trumpet, and the Norman army, which had regained its strength, was once again dispatched, and in front of the men who were ready to go, King William shouted: "This year's winter solstice feast will be of great joy, for it will be followed by a fearless spring!" "Longueville at the king's side raised the banner of battle, and all the knights drew their swords from their sheaths, revealing their shining blades, and in this way, the Normans marched into the battle of winter, which was boundless in blood and tears.

A few days later, the king awoke in a cold wind, and the rain was still pouring outside the camp, and many of the horses and chariots were sunk in the mud, and the soaked soldiers tried to drag the baggage out with great difficulty, but they were like falling into a snare, and could not move an inch. Robert, Earl of Mortan, on the side, couldn't help but sigh, this time it can be said that the division did not go well, and soon after the departure, it was rainy and continuous, which caused great difficulties for the Normans to advance. The floodplain of the Trent River had now extended eastward to the north of Lincoln, and the Danes, who had advanced north at about the same time as the Norman army, established a fortified fort on Uxholm Island, where they kept most of the loot plundered from the south on the island before continuing their advance towards the Humber River. The Normans, on the other hand, had to endure the cold and bone-crushing wind and rain, and marched north with all their baggage wagons.

The English in the north, since the arrival of the whole army in York, built a large number of fortifications under the orders of Prince Edgar. The English also recruited men from the surrounding towns and even the western mountains for four quarts a day, and first built three small castles around York Castle, cutting off the enemy from the Ouse River and completely blocking the Normans. Then, after surveying the terrain himself, Prince Edgar began to build a wall south of York along the direction of the River Uss, and built a whole wall on the north bank of a stream south of Fulford Gate, which extended to the large moorland to the east, and set up a number of arrow towers to control the east and west points. Prince Edgar knew about William the Conqueror's "Great Northern Purge" in his previous life: in this operation, the Normans burned all parts of northern England, even cattle and horses and other belongings, and it is said that the north did not recover until twenty years later, and in William the Conqueror's "Last Judgment", one-third of Yorkshire's estate was marked as ruins. This move by the Normans largely destroyed the war potential of the northern lords in the old history, allowing William the Conqueror, who had a firm grip on the southern core, to form a decisive advantage over the northerners, and never to rebel again. Since Edgar knew this, he was determined to prevent the enemy's main force from penetrating northward, and even more so to concentrate his forces on threatening the enemy army, so that William did not dare to disperse his forces to various places to burn the wasteland.

Influenced by the Normans, the three new forts built by the English were no longer the traditional ring fortresses of the northern world, but Norman-style wooden forts, with complete round mounds and towers. In order to avoid the surrounding earthen walls, a stone bottom layer was built at the entrance and other places, and the castle was deterred by arrow towers on the outer wall, and deep moats were dug near the land and poured into the river. The base of the castle was very high, for which a forest was cleared with axes and fire, and the protrusion of the terrain was chosen for defense. In the navigable direction of the Us River, a number of fortifications were also built to protect against the surprise attacks of enemy ships and torrential rains.

In York Castle, William Mallett's 600 defenders tried to sabotage the enemy's excavations and fortifications on the perimeter, but they never found any opportunity in the face of the 4,000-strong English army, which was on guard day and night. Thus, from the beginning of July to September, before King William reached the north, the Normans of York watched as the English fortifications were taking shape, until the enemy had garrisons stationed in every perilous pass, guarding the entire area south of York.

Prince Edgar stationed a total of 200 men in the three castles to the north, and another 800 men besieged York Castle under the cover of the castles, and then defended the southern wall with 2,000 troops, and they divided into three parts from west to east, each camped behind the ramparts, and was ready to replace the defenders in front at any time. Prince Edgar's 800 knights set up camp between the Moors and York City, monitoring movements in the northern and southern plains and preparing to support the defenders on the northern and southern lines. When the entire defence was almost complete, the Danes were late.

After the English nobles followed Prince Edgar to meet with the Danes, the two sides began to discuss the siege of York Castle, Osbjorn did not speak first, but waited for Edgar to speak, so Prince Edgar pointed in the direction of the castle with a horsewhip: "My lords, the enemy's castle is surrounded by deep ravines and high ramparts, and it is difficult to attack directly through the water below, so we have been secretly building a siege weapon to break through the city walls, and now that you have arrived, our plan will soon be implemented directly." Harald glanced at Osbjorn, and when his uncle nodded, he said to Prince Edgar, "Since you have a way to break the wall, we Danes are willing to attack first." Seeing that the other party was willing to take the initiative to send troops, Edgar replied: "Then we will be responsible for breaking through the city walls, and the Danes will be the main force to attack the city, and after the destruction of York, the spoils of war in the city will also be at the disposal of the Danes." As soon as he finished speaking, all the Danish nobles in the tent cheered.

On this night, Bebanburg was silent, except for the low chirping of terns on the rough sea, and the beautiful light moon hung high on the forehead of the sky like a fairy jewel. In her dream, the sleeping Princess Margaret saw her brother Edgar in armor and snow around him, and he seemed to be directing the battle, and then an arrow flew from the sky, hitting him in the left eye, and the blood was pouring down in an instant, this terrible appearance made Princess Margaret suddenly startled. As she reflected on the scene in her dream, she got up and sprinkled rose water on her face and wiped her forehead from a cold sweat, but the ominous meaning of the nightmare made Margaret feel more and more uneasy.