Now that William's ambitions and wars against the Kingdom of France had been exposed, he no longer hid it, and he recruited soldiers and ships in large numbers to prepare for a major southward march.

At present, in addition to the 1st Legion, which was responsible for the defense of the Kingdom of England, the rest of the legions, such as the old 2nd and 3rd Legions, as well as the newly created 4th and 5th Legions, will be used by William in the war to conquer France in the south.

At the same time, not only the ports of William's Territory were constantly recruiting ships for transporting soldiers and supplies, but the Five Ports Alliance and the Normandy Chamber of Commerce were also asked by him to provide a large number of ships, and it was estimated that more than 300 warships would participate in the battle, and there would be as many as 1,000 transport ships and merchant ships.

Not only did William intensify his preparations for war at home, he was also trying to win over allies to join him, as King Henry I of France was doing now.

Not only William's traditional ally, the Kingdom of Castile in Spain, but also the various princes of France were the objects of William's wooing, and these French princes who could influence the situation of the war were the focus of contention between William and Henry I.

At present, William has co-opted the French princes such as Ebel, Count of Vimanduis. Carolingian, Duke of Burgundy, Robert. Morality. Burgundy, Count of Bourbon, Alchambeau. Morality. Bourbon, Count of Auvergne. Morality. Auvergne and former Duke Gatões Vétana II. Morality. Gascogne.

Among them, Robert of Burgundy, who also had a great appetite, asked for the entire Count of Bourges and canonized him as Duke of Berry, but William did not want to lose his support, so he agreed to his request.

To be honest, William did not have much expectation at the beginning of his life to win over the French princes, his purpose was only to disturb the situation in the French kingdom and make Henry I take care of himself.

Rather, the former Duke of Gascony, now the Count of Dax, the Count of Agen, and the Count of Marsan Bétana II. Morality. The addition of Gascony was a bonus.

From the surname of Count Betna II de De. Gascony can be seen in the illustrious history of the family to which Bethna II belonged.

The Duchy of Gascony has always been a German one. The domain of the Gascony family, as early as 300 years ago in 768, de . The Gasconies took control of the Duchy of Gascony and served as Duke of Gascony, the first Duke of Gascony I by Nope I.

For the next three hundred years, the title and domain of Duke Gascony were all German. The property of the Gasconies was usurped by conspiracies by Duke Ode of Poitou and William VIII, now Duke of Aquitaine. The Gasconies lost the Duchy of Gascony.

But even so, Betna II still owned a large territory in the Duchy of Gascony, including the three most fertile counties of Dax, Agen and Marsan, and he also had unparalleled influence among the nobility of the Duchy of Gascogne, as long as he led the cavalry against the rule of the Duke of Aquitaine, the Duke of Aquitaine could not send troops to support Henry I, unless he was willing to lose the entire Duchy of Gascony.

The ambitious William and Betna II hit it off, with William offering him support as Duke of Gascony in exchange for his support.

William's determination to split the Duchy of Aquitaine never wavered, and for this reason he tried to split the Duchy of Aquitaine by seeking the claimants of the Duchy of Aquitaine and the Duchy of Poitou, by supporting them to replace William VIII, Duke of Aquitaine.

However, due to the early death of the former Duke William VII, there was no male heir, so in addition to his brother William VIII, only two female members survived, namely William V's daughter Beatrice. Morality. Poitou and Anse, daughter of William VII. Morality. Poitou.

William could not have supported a woman to become a duke, so he had to look for them from among the vassals of the Duke of Aquitaine, among whom Ardabet, Count of Marsh and Perrigore, was a good candidate.

Aldabet was born into the illustrious De. With the La Marche family, Hugo, Count of Lucien, his nephew, and the Duke of Toulouse his brother-in-law, and his Frenchness, the ambitious Count of Aldabet was willing to work with William against the Duke of Aquitaine.

In the contest between the princes of the Kingdom of France, Henry I and William were evenly matched, William was supported by the Duke of Burgundy and several counts, and Henry I was also supported by Baldwin V, Duke of Flanders, Thibaud, Duke of Champagne, Archbishop of Reims, and Count of Tours.

At the same time, William heard that Henry I wanted to win over William VIII, Duke of Aquitaine, to join the war, and he planned to grant him the title of King of Aquitaine after the war, which William would never allow, because if this happened, even if William succeeded in seizing the throne of France, he would only get half of the kingdom of France.

Not only the princes of France, but also the princes and monarchs around France were the objects of competition between William and Henry I.

The Duchy of Lower Lorraine, the Duchy of the Netherlands, the Duchy of Luxembourg, the Duchy of Upper Lorraine, the Count of Burgundy, the Duchy of Savoy, the Duchy of Provence, and the Republic of Genoa were all courted by William and Henry I.

Among those who have been confirmed to join William's side is the Republic of Genoa, the Viceroy of the Republic of Genoa, Ansaldo. Doria was willing to provide William with mercenaries and ships in exchange for more trade privileges.

Because the Duke of Lower Lorraine, Friedrich. Feng. Luxembourg's wife was the daughter of Eustache, former Count of Boulogne, and had a grudge against William for killing his father and depriving the family of his domain, so at the persuasion of his wife, the two princes, Friedrich, Duke of Lower Lorraine, and Gisbert, Duke of Luxembourg, had been confirmed to join the side of Henry I.

The Dukes of the Netherlands and the Counts of Burgundy agreed to join Henry I's side because they had been promised a domain.

It can be said that with the exception of the Duke of Haute Lorraine and the Duke of Provence, most of the other princes around the Kingdom of France joined the side of Henry I.

In this regard, William had to sigh that Jiang was still old and spicy, worthy of his father's contemporaries, and could stand tall in the Kingdom of France, where there were many princes, and Henry I was indeed a capable monarch.

Henry I used his talents for diplomacy and intrigue to win over most of the princes around France and compete with William for the princes, but also targeted the Danes and Norwegians, who had ambitions for England.

At this time, a war broke out between the Danes and the Norwegians over the throne between their monarch Swain II and King Harald, but the war that lasted for several years still exhausted both sides, and Henry I saw the opportunity to win over the two countries with the intention of concluding an alliance with them.

William, naturally unwilling to succeed King Henry I of France, sent Russell. Morality. The Count of Brewell traveled to Denmark and Norway with the intention of spreading rumors and provoking a new round of disputes between the two countries, and at the same time he had another mission, which was to assassinate the French envoy and sabotage the other party's plans.