Now that the target has been determined, for Mecklenburg and Pomerania, William immediately issued a partial mobilization order, and asked each army under his command to send a part of the men and horses to form an expeditionary force.

Most of the men who were drawn to form the expeditionary force were Normans who were hungry for war, eager for meritorious deeds, eager for wealth, land, and titles.

Of course, there were also many foreign nobles loyal to Wilhelm who were also eager to join the war against Mecklenburg and Polamenia, among which the German nobles represented by the Hohenzollern brothers Mephistopheles and Albert were the most active.

Looking at the three Hohenzollern brothers, the eldest brother Bourchard, the second brother Albert, and the three Mephistopheles, who were kneeling in front of William, came to the Palace of the Causete to meet them and ask William for permission to participate in the conquest of Mecklenburg and Pomerania.

"I agreed." William nodded, and then ordered the three of them separately: "Burchard, you lead an infantry regiment to join the expeditionary force, Albert and Mephistopheles, you are the Duke of Gwynness of Wales and the Duke of Leinster of Ireland respectively, so I name you two to lead the soldiers of your respective territories to join the expeditionary force."

As for how many troops you can send, I don't limit it, but I'm not responsible for the two of you.

Your corps will be specially organized as an auxiliary corps of the expeditionary force to cooperate with the expeditionary force. ”

After receiving William's order, the three of them bowed their heads and bowed again: "Yes, Your Majesty." ”

"Your Majesty, I wonder who is in command of this expeditionary force? We were curious. "The youngest Albert. Feng. Hohenzollern asked, raising his hair.

"This expedition will be led by Otto, Earl of Kent, and Robert, Earl of Norfolk, respectively, and the three of you must obey orders and not disobey them, you know?" William said, looking at Albert.

"I will do as you ask, Your Majesty." The three of them responded in unison.

This time, William sent his two half-brothers, Otto and Robert, who were William's most trusted people, and they were the most reassuring for William to control the army.

William would not personally command this expeditionary force, so he would have to hand over another general to take charge of the battle in his place, but the question of personnel was still a big problem, and William was very cautious about who to hand over this elite army.

Once this legion was in the hands of ambitious men, it would be extremely dangerous, and he could only be reassured by leaving it in the hands of a nobleman who trusted William.

His two younger brothers, Otto and Robert, were really candidates who met the above criteria, and they were not only brave and good at fighting, but also reached out to William's trust, but unfortunately they debuted too late and did not catch up with the good time, so that they were only earls until now, far from the other contemporaneous nobles, Duke Andrew.

This was an iron rule in the Middle Ages, especially in the Norman kingdom, and William defended it, leading by example not to break this rule, so even if he wanted to clumsy Otto and Robert, he had to make sure that both of them had enough military exploits.

In William's view, the war to conquer Mecklenburg and Poracenia was not yet easy to capture, the opponent's enemy army combined was only 20,000 people, and the mobile force would not exceed 10,000, but the scale of the expeditionary force reached a huge scale of 22,000 men, which was unprecedented, and the huge number of troops undoubtedly gave William and the noble generals full confidence, and they firmly believed that this war would lead to the final victory.

Preparations for the war lasted for two months, during which time William prepared sufficient supplies for the expeditionary force, especially cotton clothing, cotton hats, and gloves to protect against the cold.

In addition to this, William was also politically preparing for the pagan expeditions to Mecklenburg and Pomerania, more precisely how to make the war more justifiable.

So, William recruited Hildebrand, the patriarch of Aquitaine, in the hope that he would give him some help.

"Hildebrand to see Your Majesty." Hildebrand bowed slightly.

"Hildebrand, I have something I need your help with." William looked at the person and spoke.

"Your Majesty, please speak."

"Do you know Mecklenburg and Pomerania?"

"Your Majesty, of course your courtiers know that it was originally the domain of the Duke of Poland, and that the inhabitants of it were the Lamb of the Lord, but eighteen years ago the odious infidels rebelled against the Lamb of the Lord, and turned Mecklenburg and Pomerania into pagan fiefels."

As he spoke, Hildebrand touched the tears that welled up in the corners of his eyes, as if he was grieving for the loss of Christians.

"As the king of the Normans, the king of France and England, and a believer in the Lord, I am equally angry at the atrocities of the infidels who slaughter my Christians, and I do not want to reclaim the lord's land at all times." William spoke impassionedly.

"Your Majesty, what do you want me to do?" Hildebrand asked, looking at William.

"This time, I have prepared three thousand Norman knights and a large army of twenty-two thousand men for the conquest of Mecklenburg and Pomerania, and I would like you to write to His Majesty the Holy See of Victor, asking him to support my expedition, to grant me the banner of St. George, and to recognize the pagan territories I will occupy in the future." William spoke slowly.

"Your Majesty, it is naturally my duty to ask me to personally go to Rome to see His Majesty the Holy Father and convey your request to him." Hildebrand looked righteous and awe-inspiring, and opened his mouth to plead.

However, before Hildebrand could finish speaking, William had already realized that the old boy had not yet solidified, and he was wondering: "Will Hildebrand take this opportunity to escape from the Palace of the Sythi and Farasi, the place where he is a cage." ”

Even if Hildebrand didn't have that idea at this time, William couldn't take the risk.

Then William shook his head and refused: "Your Excellency Patriarch Hildebrand, you are of a noble position and busy with affairs, so there is no need to bother you to go out in person, I will send a knight to escort a priest to Rome." ”

"Your Majesty, don't you really think about it, if I go to Rome in person, I may be able to convince the Holy See to give you more help." Still unrelenting, Hildebrand asked again.

"No need, I only have a plan in mind, and please help me complete this matter as soon as possible and hand over the letter to me." William shook his head, still holding on.