Milan was the second largest city in Italy, with a population of 7.55 million and millions of migrants, and was economically the center of the European economy along with Paris, London and Berlin.

At this time, the city of Milan had effectively become independent from the Holy Roman Empire long before the outbreak of the Italian War of Independence, and became the first city in Italy after the Italian War of Independence led by Duke Ezzo II of Lombardy.

Of course, in terms of religious and political status, Milan is only slightly lower than the city of Rome, which was founded before the first century AD, has a history of more than 1,000 years, and in the fourth century it briefly became the capital of the Western Roman Empire.

At the same time, Milan is also an important town in the Catholic world, second only to Rome in status, hundreds of years ago, the Western Roman Emperor had issued the "Milan Amnesty" Catholicism as the state religion of the Roman Empire, the diocese of Milan is also the largest diocese in the world, and there have been many popes.

In addition, the Archbishop of Milan is very important in the Catholic world, it has the second largest church in the world, the first in the world: the Cathedral of the Nativity in Milan, Milan is also one of the cities with the most churches in the world, and its influence in the Catholic world is significant.

In addition to its economic, political and religious status, Milan's cultural achievements should not be underestimated. Leonardo da Vinci lived and worked in Milan, the center of the Renaissance, where he left behind many manuscripts and masterpieces of the Last Supper, and where you can find many monuments, galleries and museums, as well as many cultural relics.

In addition, it is also a capital of luxury goods and a city of education, which I will not list here.

The importance of Milan is naturally understood by William, and for the city of Milan, William is determined to win, not to mention the possibility that the city may hide the Lombard Iron Crown that he dreams of, the crown that must have been used to crown Charlemagne.

Standing on a high hill, William looked out at Milan, Italy's city of wealth, at the southern foot of the Alps, across the Po River Plain, and saw countless dense houses, dozens of towering towers, and the towering Milan Cathedral and Ducal Castle.

"Even the lowest houses in Milan are taller than the average building in Paris!" William looked at the rich city of Milan and couldn't help but sigh.

"Yes, Your Majesty, the city of Milan is a gift from God to the Normans, and its wealth is as great as the stars in the night sky, and it will be yours now." Duke Richard couldn't help but echo with emotion.

"Well, I will not share the wealth of this city alone, I will share the wealth of Milan with you! However, if you want to capture it, you will need to work together, after all, this Milan city is well-defended, and the walls are tall and twisted, which is not so easy to overcome. William nodded slightly and said aloud to everyone.

Italy's various regimes are keen to use mercenaries to sell their lives, these mercenaries are masters of bullying the weak and afraid of the hard, always love to attack weak cities when fighting, and are unwilling to attack strong cities, these factors add up, Italian cities are in the forefront of the world in strengthening city defense facilities, among which Milan is one of the strongest city defenses, it not only has a tall city made of boulders, but also dozens of tall towers to provide fire cover for the surroundings, and the zigzag city walls can provide fire cover for each other, It really increases the difficulty of attacking the city a lot.

Speaking of which, the Duchy of Lombardy is a combination of feudalism and urban republic, mixed with some political systems left over from the ancient Roman era, such as the city of Milan is obviously urban autonomy, which is why Ezzo II has two titles, of which the title of Duke of Lombardy represents his status as a feudal lord of Lombardy, and the Milan vassal is his symbol as the owner of the city of Milan.

As far as William knew, the forces of the city of Milan did not suffer much loss due to the Battle of Monaco, and the army sent by the consul of Milan was only a part of his strength, and after receiving the news that William was about to attack the city of Milan, he recruited mercenaries from all over the world to increase his military strength.

Today, there were no less than 25,000 troops stationed in the city of Milan, including 12,000 town militiamen, 10,000 mercenaries, chivalrous knights and mercenary sailors, and the equipment and training morale were not much worse than those of William's standing army, but only war experience, discipline and courage.

In the face of such an opponent, even if it is not too cautious, it is a cadre of noble generals under William who is full of confidence, and they all patted their chests and promised: "Your Majesty, please leave it to us." ”

"What's the use of a strong shield? No matter how well-defended the city is, it cannot withstand the bombardment of our artillery and counterweight trebuchets. The Duke of Richard also agreed: "Your Majesty, please leave the task of attacking the city of Milan to my Fourth Legion!" ”

"Your Majesty, my second legion is the three main forces of the kingdom, why don't you hand over the siege figures to me?" Duke Rodrigo couldn't sit still when he saw Duke Richard come forward to steal the credit, the opponent had already done his best in the battle of Monaco, and now it was his turn to show Rodrigo.

Not only the Duke of Richard and Duke Rodrigo, but also the commander of the 1st Guards Legion. Osborne, Commander of the Fifth Army, Roger. Morality. Montgomery, Eric of the Nordic Guard. Haier Lansing and others also enthusiastically participated in the war.

William was very happy about the enthusiastic participation of his noble generals in the battle, "Okay, my lords, in this battle, Duke Richard will be responsible for attacking the western wall, Duke Rodrigo will be responsible for attacking the eastern wall, and Count Roger will be responsible for the southern wall.

I'm going to order Phale. Osborne is behind you with the 1st Guards Legion, which is responsible for maneuvering artillery and trebuchets to support your fire. ”

Now Milan is just fat in William's bowl, he can't escape, his current consideration is how to reduce the loss of the siege, "encircling three without one" is the strategy he is now taking, if the enemy is surrounded on all sides, it may prompt the enemy commander to make up his mind to fight to the death. Conversely, if a gap is deliberately left behind, it can cause the enemy commander to vacillate between flight and death, and at the same time demoralize the enemy soldiers.