When the dawn pierced the darkness, Count Gerbo ordered the North Sea Fleet and the Five Ports Alliance fleet to disengage from the Vikings and slowly retreat.

Truth be told, leaving behind hundreds of intact Viking longships was painful for even Count Gerbo, who had given the order, but he had to do it.

Although the North Sea Fleet and the Five Ports Alliance Fleet won a brilliant victory over the Viking Fleet with inferior forces, Count Gerbo was well aware that their victory over the Vikings was based on the surprise of the night and the terrifying power of Greek fire.

However, now that the night is about to pass, and when the dawn comes, they will lose the cover of the night, and besides, after a night of fierce fighting, the fleet's Greek fire reserves have bottomed out, and it is impossible to organize a new offensive again, so there is no point in remaining on the sea surface of Calais to continue to deal with the Vikings.

In the Viking camp in Calais, King Harald IV of Norway looked at the ruined Norwegian camp and wept without tears.

Not only were most of the 5,000 soldiers he left in the camp killed and wounded in the Normans' night raids, but more importantly, their food, supplies and other baggage were burned by the Norman knights, and if Harald IV could not find food and medicine in a short time, not only would the wounded not be treated in time, but even the 16,000 Norwegian soldiers who survived would suffer from starvation.

As a last resort, Harald IV had to seek support from the less damaged Danes, who would provide them with food supplies to protect them from starvation and cold.

However, the haughty Harald IV could not stand the cynicism of King Swain II, and Harald believed that King Swain was suspected of preserving his strength in this battle, and there was a new and old enmity between the two, so their meeting lasted nearly a quarter of an hour.

Harald IV was disappointed, and his army would not last long with only a small supply of food, even if it was added to the unloaded Viking longship.

Just as Harald IV was returning to the camp with his men, he suddenly saw the Norman fleet swaggering away in defiance of the Viking fleet, and he only felt a stuffiness in his chest, a sweetness in his heart, and a poof, he vomited a mouthful of blood and fainted to the ground.

Soon, the news of Harald IV's fainting spread throughout the combined Norwegian and Danish armies, as well as to Andrew and others at Calais Castle.

......

In the hall of the castle of Calais, Duke Andrew, William of Genie. Morality. The Earl of Creppon, and his barons, were gathering together to discuss the news that had just arrived.

"Lord Duke, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, we must seize the opportunity to attack with all our troops, defeat the Vikings in one sentence, and drive them into the sea!" Ghent Mayor Justin was the first to take the initiative.

Ghent is a big city in Belgium and Bourges, and the mayor of Testin, as the lord of Ghent, is not only the military governor of the Principality of Belgium, but also controls the levies and mercenaries in most cities of the Principality of Belgium, and has a great say in the Principality of Belgium.

Therefore, when Mayor Testin proposed to take the opportunity to attack the Vikings, the nobles in the lord's hall responded one after another, echoing Mayor Testin.

However, as the Duke of Belgium under William, Andrew would not change his strategy because of the initiative of his subordinates, he looked at Mayor Testin noncommittally, and turned his head to William, Earl of Genie. Morality. Crepon asked:

"Count Ginny, do you have any different opinions on your side? Tell us about it, maybe you will have a different way of thinking. ”

"Lord Duke, I don't agree with Mayor Testin, it's not the best time to send troops.

Let's not talk about whether the news that King Harald IV of Norway vomited blood and fainted is true, but at least now the Norwegians have not yet reached the end of the mountain, and they still have a strong fighting force.

What's more, the Danes not far away did not suffer much loss in the battle they had finished, and their combat strength was well preserved, and if our army abandoned Calais Castle and hammered it hastily, the Danes would certainly not sit idly by. "William, Earl of Genety. Morality. Crepon ignored Mayor Testin's angry eyes and said with a composure look.

After William, Earl of Genie, finished speaking, the barons, lords, and knights in the hall immediately echoed his opinion.

Now there are two opposing factions in the field, one is the mayors of the cities, the mercenary chiefs and the militia captains led by the mayor of Testin, and the other is the feudal nobles such as barons, lords and knights led by the Count of Genie.

Since the Principality of Belgium is located in the Flanders region, with a developed economy and many cities, the urban nobility and the feudal aristocracy are evenly matched, and neither can subdue the other.

Duke Andrew did not express his opinion, he then looked at the seemingly neutral bishops and priests, and asked: "Bishop Russad, do you have any opinion on your side?" ”

The Duke of Andrew was the Bishop of Dame Parish of Bourges, Fr. Russard, Bishop of Belgium, who presided over the affairs of the Duchy Church, and who was also the commander of an army, a war priest, who led the troops he had recruited from the monasteries of the Belgian Church.

It was because Bishop Russard was in power that Duke Andrew respected his opinion so much.

"Back to Lord Duke, I agree with Lord Count Genie that now is not the best time to send troops, we need to be patient and prepare for the final victory." Bishop Russard pondered for a moment, looked at Ender and said.

After listening to Bishop Russad's words, Duke Andrew nodded slightly, looked at everyone and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, now is not the best time to send troops, like the words of Lord William, Count of Genie and Bishop Russad, they have already made clear the reasons why they cannot send troops, and my opinion is the same, we need to be patient and wait for the time to wait for the Vikings to be exhausted before launching the last episode." ”

Duke Andrew put an end to the heated debate. This was a method he had learned from his own monarch, His Majesty William, and he usually did not give his opinion first, leaving it to his vassals to discuss it to his heart's content, and then he made a final decision, which was justifiably convincing.

Of course, waiting patiently for the right moment doesn't mean doing nothing. Morality. The Earl of Breville sent spies to the Norwegian camp to find out whether it was true that King Harald IV of Norway had vomited blood and fainted, and at the same time he kept gathering his soldiers and sent letters to the Duke of Richard, who was stationed in Bourges, to contact him to come and join him as soon as possible.

The most important thing was to block the Vikings' supply lines by sea, as long as they could not obtain supplies by sea, the Viking army entrenched in the port of Calais would collapse without a fight.