Preparations for the siege were in the final stages, and the soldiers had all been repaired, and William, who was about to give the order for the attack on York, received news of a large Viking landing.

There was no doubt that the news had come from the patrol ships that William had arranged for the waters off Yorkshire, several of which had witnessed the landing of the huge Viking fleet, and William could have imagined how majestic it had been even if he had not seen it himself.

According to intelligence, there were more than 30,000 Vikings who came to help, and the defenders of York City also had more than 20,000 people. The Duke of Northumbria could also recruit more soldiers, so that William, who had only led more than 24,000 men, would not have an advantage.

The Vikings were close at hand, and Yorkshire, a few dozen kilometers away, along the coast, could attack William at any time, so he knew that he could not hesitate any longer, and must withdraw to Oxfordshire as soon as possible and wait for his reinforcements to arrive.

William looked up and saw a commotion among the defenders of York, and then cheered, presumably they must have known the news that the Vikings had come to their aid.

At this point, it was impossible to storm the city of York in one day, as he had done before, and even if William blew the walls with gunpowder again, the defenders of the city, who had been demoralized by the Vikings, would not be dispersed, and they would hold on to the city and wait for reinforcements to arrive.

If the main Norman army were to fall into York, and the Viking army was in the rear, it would be dangerous to imagine.

"Lord Richard, Lord Rodrigo, and Andrew, I have bad news for you, the Vikings have landed on the coast of Yorkshire, with at least seven hundred warships and more than thirty thousand troops." William summoned the three generals, Duke Richard, Duke Rodrigo and Duke Andrew, and said solemnly.

"It's actually the Vikings, and there are more than 30,000 troops, our army is definitely not capable of the enemy, and we should withdraw to Oxfordshire as soon as possible." When the Duke of Rixia heard the news, he was taken aback, and immediately suggested to William.

It was the young and vigorous Duke of Belgium Andrew. Dalton spoke with high morale: "Your Majesty, we should take advantage of the fact that the Vikings are not gaining a firm foothold and use the advantage of our cavalry to raid the opponent's camp, as long as the Vikings can deter the other side with huge casualties, then the victory will still be ours." ”

"And what do you think, Lord Rodrigo, Duke of Munster?" William looked at Duke Rodrigo, who was noncommittal, and asked.

"I agree with Lord Duke Richard, and it is safe to do so, that our army should retreat first, and then fight to the death when subsequent reinforcements arrive. Of course, whatever decision you make, we will follow your orders. Duke Rodrigo looked at William and spoke his mind.

"Well, ladies and gentlemen, I have decided to retreat to Readingburgh in Oxfordshire, and wait for reinforcements to gather before fighting it.

According to the current situation, if our army continues to fight against the combined forces of the northern princes and Vikings, it will only be us Normans who will suffer.

Only by taking back the power and regaining the strength can the strongest blow be unleashed, so there is no shame in retreating, in order to defeat the northern princes and Vikings and achieve the final victory. William made up his mind, nodded, and said in an impassioned tone.

"Yes, Your Majesty, I have no objection." Andrew replied with a bow.

"Alright, my lords, lead the army and retreat, don't let the Vikings catch us by the tail, and Andrew and Rodrigo, you must send cavalry to break the rear to prevent the Duke of Northumbria in York from sending cavalry in pursuit." William nodded slightly, arranged.

"Yes, Your Majesty." The three of them bowed in response.

......

William's Normans moved quickly, and it took only a few hours, and before noon, they had already reloaded their siege equipment and supplies and began to retreat.

Fortunately, William controlled the valleys of the Rivers Oise and Trent, which connect Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and Leicestershire, and he was able to transport supplies and men by boat, much faster than by land.

Riding on his horse, William kept an eye on the city of York behind him, wondering if the Duke of Northumbria would send cavalry in pursuit.

Sure enough, Sword. Sure enough, the Duke of Northumbria sent his confident cavalry in pursuit of our army.

The Duchy of Northumbria was the main provider of cavalry in the Northern Princes' Alliance, with a large number of cavalry units. The Duchy of Northumbria tried to preserve its strength, but at this critical moment, he no longer spared the precious cavalry at hand, and scattered all the six or seven thousand Northumbrian knights and cavalry gathered in York.

Fortunately, William was prepared, he deliberately left the cavalry palace, his guards cavalry, the cavalry of the second and third legions, a total of more than 8,000 people, compared with the pursuing Northumbrian cavalry, the number is slightly superior, but the combat effectiveness is still superior, whether it is equipment or training morale, far more than the other party.

As soon as the two sides met each other, the Northumbrian cavalry, which was pursuing violently, was hit by William's Norman cavalry and was almost routed, leaving thousands of corpses to wander away.

Suffering such heavy losses that the Northumbrian cavalry did not dare to pursue them any longer, but remained far behind the Normans until William and his army left Yorkshire.

William returned to Leicestershire in the Duchy of Mercia along the River Trent, where he did not stop long, and led his army south through Warwickshire to Readingburgh in Oxfordshire.

It was not that William did not want to hold on to the three places of Warwick, Derby, and Leicestershire that he had taken, but that the forces at hand did not allow him to continue to disperse and garrison these newly occupied counties.

"If you lose your land, you will lose your land; If people lose land, people and land will survive. "Everyone should understand the meaning, right? Insist on the vitality of the force, regardless of the gains and losses of a city and a pool, there will be anything in the future, and if you only know how to occupy the city and plunder the land, but you will fight all the people,

In the end, there is nothing left.

This is a very simple and easy to understand truth, and William naturally understands that only by destroying the current great enemy, the alliance of the northern princes and the difficult Vikings, can he truly obtain the two principalities of Mercia and Northumbria, and truly unify the power of England.

Back in Readingburgh, Oxfordshire, William combined the follow-up forces of the Second and Third Legions, the native militia of Wessex, and thousands of mercenaries, and his strength swelled to 34,000 men, but it was still far from the forces of the northern princes and Vikings.

So William issued a mobilization order again, ordering his four dukes of Ireland, the three dukes of Wales, the dukes of Anjou, and the dukes of Belgium to send troops to support, and at the same time, there were more than 20 barons and viscounts in his direct territories of the Duchy of Normandy, the Duchy of Brittany, Amiens-Wiisant, and the Duchy of Wessex, each of which could provide 500 to 1,000 troops, and the combined army of these vassals should be about 30,000 people.

In this way, William's army would be no different from the enemy's, but it would not be enough to outmaneuver the enemy.