"Report! Your Majesty, in the military camp of the HRE Empire, there is an army of about 6,000 people heading east under the banner of Duke Meissen. ”

Suddenly, a knight, led by the guards, entered the central tent and knelt on the ground and shouted.

"Got it, let's go down." William's face did not move, he waved his hand to retreat, turned to look at the people on the left and right of the account, and said: "My lords, it seems that our Count Roger of Hainaud has succeeded, and he has led the cavalry to successfully cut off the rear road of the HRE coalition army, so that they have to divide their forces to the east towards Ulych.

What do you think is going to happen next? ”

"Your Majesty, since Lord Count Roger has successfully attracted the attention of the HRE coalition army, our army should cross the river south in one go, and take advantage of our army's superiority to fight the HRE Imperial army!" Duke Andrew was the first to speak.

"Well... Not bad. William nodded slightly, looked at the crowd and said, "What else do you think?" ”

"Your Majesty, the old minister thinks that the fighter plane is not yet mature, the HRE Imperial Army has not seen panic, and it is not a plan of the enemy army to lure the enemy, we should wait patiently for a while until the fighter plane appears." Duke Richard stepped out of the ranks, glanced at Duke Andrew beside him, and spoke.

"Well, Lord Richard is really the old man who is planning the country, the Duke of Meissen led the army east, at this time our army has a slight advantage in combat power, but there is no guarantee that our army can win." William nodded slightly, and said, "Lord Andrew and Lord Richard's words are reasonable, what do you think?" ”

As soon as William's words fell, Duke Hubert stepped forward to speak: "Your Majesty, I mean to be Lord Andrew's opinion, this is a godsend, and this is a heaven-sent opportunity, and it must not be missed. ”

William glanced at Duke Hubert, and if it weren't for his usual expression, William would have thought that he was supporting Duke Andrew in his own camp.

"What about Duke Rodrigo? Please tell us what you think. "Now that Hubert and Richard are going to be at loggerheads, William needs to consult the neutral Duke Rodrigo.

"Your Majesty, please allow me to be the vanguard of the river crossing." Duke Rodrigo apparently supported the views of Duke Hubert and Duke Andrew, believing that it was advisable to win quickly.

"You—" Duke Richard was a little angry, glaring at Duke Rodrigo, but didn't say anything.

Most of the new nobles under William's command are friendly with Duke Hubert and others, and they have some problems with Duke Richard, who is a representative of the old-school aristocracy, and the choice of Duke Rodrigo and others is also reasonable.

"Very well, now that the fighter plane has appeared, what are we still cowering for?

Lord Rodrigo, I have ordered you to be the vanguard of the whole army, and to be the first to cross the river at dawn to open up a landing ground.

Sir Hubert, I command you to cross the river with your whole army after you, and to establish yourself on the south bank of the Maas River.

Lord Richard, my lords, this battle is about the life and death of my Normans, the rise and fall of the kingdom, and I ask you to do your best in this battle! William said excitedly.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" The crowd shouted in response.

Under William's orders, all the Normans began to move, nervously making final preparations for the decisive battle.

Of course, in order not to startle the snake, William specially instructed the noble generals under his command, ordering them to be cautious and not to make a big move, and at the same time sent cavalry around to clean up the scout cavalry of the HRE Empire to prevent the enemy from peeping.

Under William's careful arrangement, the HRE Emperor Henry III and others did not notice the anomaly of the Normans, but only sent cavalry to patrol around as usual to prevent a small group of Norman troops from landing and sneaking attack.

In the past few weeks, the frequent attacks of the Normans have made the HRE army anxious, and at the same time, they are also accustomed to the movements of the Normans today, believing that they are just carrying out a new wave of sneak attacks and harassment.

Not only ordinary soldiers, but also their Emperor Henry III and his princes thought so, and their carelessness was destined to bring them irreparable consequences.

From midnight to dawn, the Norman heavy cavalry gathered and the ships were shadowed, and the whole army advanced to the north bank of the Maas River, so that the night on the banks of the Maas River would no longer be silent, the dawn of the Duchy of Lower Lorraine would no longer be silent, and the sky of the HRE Empire would no longer be silent.

As dawn approached, Duke Rodrigo's 2nd Legion and Duke Andrew's 3rd Legion had all stepped onto hundreds of ships that had been prepared for a long time, and with the sound of oars rocking, the whole army of more than 25,000 people began to gradually cross the wide Maas River.

The first to arrive at the river were Duke Rodrigo's Second Legion, who landed on the banks of the Maas River to the right of the HRE Empire's camp, and immediately unloaded the prefabricated fences and stakes from the ships and began to intensively construct the camp.

The key to this battle is whether Duke Rodrigo can build a strong wooden castle camp before the HRE Empire reacts.

Only by relying on the strong wooden fort camp could the Norman army of more than 68,000 people successfully land on the south bank of the Maas River and gain a foothold here.

As for why William didn't order Duke Rodrigo to take advantage of the cover of dawn to raid the camp of the HRE Imperial Army, on the one hand, William was not sure that he would be able to use the surprise attack to defeat the HRE army in one fell swoop, and once it failed, the consequence would be that Rodrigo's second army would be surrounded by the HRE army.

Such a risk is not worth it in William's opinion, he does not want any of his legions to suffer losses, and he can't afford to lose, the 70,000 troops in his hands are already the limit of the Normans' combat power, if the loss is in the middle, I am afraid that the Normans will not be better than Zhao after the Battle of Changping.

Of course, William was also confident that he could outperform the opponent in a head-to-head confrontation, and he had confidence in the nobles and soldiers under his command, so he naturally did not need to risk a sneak attack.

With the successful landing of Duke Rodrigo's Second Legion, it was followed by Duke Andrew's Third Legion, Duke Hubert's First Legion, Duke Richard's Fourth Legion, and Roger. Morality. Count Montgomery's Fifth Regiment and other legions also sailed across the Maas River to the camp on the south bank.

With the addition of this new force, the construction of the camp on the south bank of the Maas River was rapidly accelerated, and several tall and small wooden forts were already taking shape.

Although these small wooden forts could not accommodate even one legion, their tall walls still gave the Norman longbowmen stationed on them a powerful damage bonus.

These wooden forts were the most covering, and even if the HRE army reacted, they would not be able to break through the Norman camp composed of wooden forts, moats, and horses.

As dawn dissipated, most of the Norman legions had landed, and they were no longer cautious or secretive, digging trenches with great fanfare to build defensive positions.