Bidding farewell to the city of Reims, William led an army of more than 43,000 men to the Counts of Troyes in Champagne, intending to wipe out the Duchy of Champagne and the Duchy of Burgundy.

Because the enemies he faced this time were all in the south of Reims, in order to defeat the enemy army in one fell swoop, William decided not to divide his troops for the time being, and he wanted to hold a decisive battle with the enemy before dividing his troops to seize the territory, which was the best strategy.

However, when William confidently led his army into the county of Troyes, the last territory of Champagne, he was resisted by the Dukes of Champagne and the Dukes of Burgundy, who relied on castle fortresses such as the Château de Troyes and the Château de Brenne to defend against Norman attacks.

Despite the fact that the Duke of Burgundy, Robert. Capet had such and such shortcomings, he was an unpopular robber nobleman, but he still knew the reason for his cold lips, without the Duchy of Champagne to attract the attention of the Normans, his Duchy of Burgundy would have been poisoned by the Normans.

Therefore, even if he was reluctant, he had to send troops to support Thibaud, Duke of Champagne.

William sent envoys several times to ask the Duke of Burgundy and the Duke of Champagne to fight him, but each time to no avail, it was clear that the other side seemed determined to fight a hard and protracted war with the Normans, trying to win the victory by delaying the change.

Williamton's army was under the castle of Troyes and could not be conquered for a long time, so he had to divide his forces and send the fourth army of the Duke of Richard as a partial division through the Count of Sens to the Count of Auxerre in Burgundy, and at the same time he also sent the headquarters of the third army of the Duke of Andrew and part of the militia troops, ordering him to bypass the enemy's main force and go south to the capital of the Duchy of Burgundy, the county of Dijon, forcing him to lead the army.

William's strategy was surprisingly effective, and the Duke of Burgundy could not help but worry about the safety of his territory when he saw that he had sent two separate armies south to the Duchy of Burgundy.

The Duke of Burgundy now had most of his forces concentrated in the county of Troyes, while the troops left behind in Dijon were too weak to withstand the all-out attack of the Normans.

Fearing for the safety of his territory, the Duke of Burgundy had to leave the county of Troyes with his army and eagerly move south to Dijon.

Robert, Duke of Burgundy, was completely expected by William, and although his heavy cavalry and infantry were not allowed to leave because they were to besiege the castle of Troyes, he had already ordered Roger to besiege the castle of Troyes. Morality. The Count of Montgomery laid an ambush on his retreat with a thousand heavy knights and two thousand light cavalry, and pursued the Duke of Burgundy's army as soon as he appeared.

Having lost more than 18,000 reinforcements from the Duke of Burgundy, Thibaud, Duke of Champagne, was left to rely on 6,000 remnants of his army and the fortified Château de Troyes.

"The whole army is attacking the city!" William knew that the opposite side would not hold out for long, and the morale of the Duchy of Champagne, which had lost reinforcements, was low, and it was really the best time to attack.

Soon the prepared trebuchets and longbowmen covered the entire castle of Troyes with endless firepower, and countless Norman infantry under the city were slowly approaching the castle walls with more than a dozen heavy siege towers.

The defenders of the castle walls of Troyes hid behind the battlements, peering out at the approaching siege towers, not screaming and screaming.

The Duchy of Champagne, having lost their courage, could not withstand the attack of the Norman army, which was several times larger, even if they had the fortified castle of Troyes to rely on.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, the Château de Troyes was breached, and Thibaud, Duke of Champagne, was also killed in the main tower of the Château. Osborne was captured, and a powerful prince, Thibaud, Duke of Champagne, withdrew from the stage.

"See Your Majesty, Roger. Morality. Montgomery came to meet him. Earl Roger, dressed in armor and military uniform, knelt down on one knee and saluted.

"Lord Roger, please, how is your character in charge of pursuing the Duke of Burgundy executed? The result? William asked, holding his right hand, looking at Count Roger.

"Your Majesty, I was about to report this to you." Earl Roger still didn't get up when he heard William's words, he lowered his head and said apologetically: "I'm sorry Your Majesty, what you explained to me was not completed, and I ask you to forgive me." ”

"Tell me how it goes!" I didn't expect Count Roger to be unexpectedly stubborn and inflexible, it can also be said to be trustworthy, it is rare for him to take the initiative to ask William for guilt, William is quite pleased with this, so he does not mean to blame Count Roger.

"Your Majesty, the Duke of Burgundy, the vassals Charlotte and the Count of Chalon, Thibaud. Morality. Samuel and his son Hugo. Morality. Samuel sniped our cavalry with Burgundian knights, so much so that we could not take advantage of the situation after defeating a single Burgundian infantry.

Especially Hugo. Morality. Samuel was very powerful, and the cavalry he led had cut out our light cavalry several times, and if it had not been for the arrival of our heavy cavalry, I am afraid that our light cavalry would have suffered heavy losses. Count Roger replied truthfully.

The words of Count Roger aroused the interest of William, especially Hugo, whom he praised for his outstanding award. Morality. Samuel paid special attention to him.

William has always been too many capable generals, especially Hugo, who was praised by Count Roger and could only defeat our light cavalry, made William even more curious.

You must know that although the light cavalry under William's command is not as good as the Spanish light cavalry, its combat ability is far beyond that of ordinary squire knights, and the combat power of ordinary knights is almost the same. Morality. Samuel was only able to inflict heavy damage on the light cavalry by surprise with his inferior forces, which shows his outstanding ability.

"Well, it is indeed surprising to me that the Duke of Burgundy has such an outstanding general, but it is also reasonable, and I do not blame you. Count Roger, you should now lead the cavalry home, and we will march to Dijon, Burgundy, and meet the Duke of Richard and Duke Andrew. William frowned, smiled and picked up Count Roger and said.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Count Roger was relieved and bowed away.

"Faller!" William called.

"Your Majesty, I'm here." Phale, who was waiting beside William. Osborne stepped forward.

"Fale, you send someone to persuade Hugo. Morality. Samuel is loyal to me, and if he fails, he can be assassinated. William commanded with a blank face.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Phaller knew that his master wanted to recruit these capable generals again, and the stronger Hugo's ability, the more William liked it, so he did not say much and bowed down.

......

At the end of October 1050, the war against France had been going on for nearly five months, and William had defeated the Duke of Champagne before marching on Dijon, the capital of Burgundy.

However, in the Duchy of Burgundy, William was met with fierce resistance, and countless French nobles gathered troops to fight him.

They were reluctant to see the Normans become kings of France, and Duke Robert, who had the blood of the Capetian family, became their last hope.

While William was at war with the nobles of the Duchy of Burgundy, the two kings of Denmark and Norway, Swain II and Harald IV, declared war on William, and they joined forces for the first time to march into France.