The two Earls, Jeffrey and Baldwin, were victorious, capturing more than 100 local knights, and achieving good results, but they now pleaded guilty before Duke Richard and begged for his forgiveness.

The Normans were unruly, but they respected their superiors more and respected the prestigious Duke of Richard, so they consciously asked the Duke of Richard for their guilt without fulfilling each other's instructions.

"Two of you, please get up, the next battle will require the two of you to go all out." Duke Richard didn't care about this, it was a critical moment before the war, and he didn't want to contradict his generals.

The Duke of Richard did not feel much loss about the defeat of the two, in fact, in his opinion, no matter how the Duke of Champagne Thibault responded, in front of the powerful Normans, his defeat was already doomed, and it was nothing more than the price paid to defeat him.

"My lords, the Duke of Champagne has made a big mistake, he thinks that he can stop us with the defense and geographical advantages of the city of Chartres, but he is very wrong, so far no city can stop our Norman attack, and this city of Chartres is no exception.

Gentlemen, follow me to attack the city of Chartres, defeat the Duke of Champagne, and march to Paris! The Duke of Richard, riding an Andalusian horse, gave a pre-war speech in front of the army, encouraging.

"Victory! Win! Win! ”

Listening to Duke Richard's speech, the crowd was full of enthusiasm and cheered with their weapons raised.

In fact, as Duke Richard said, no city could withstand the Norman attack, not even the walled cities of Constantinople and Rome.

Looking around Europe, there was no better siege than the Normans, and William's invention of the counterweight trebuchet and gunpowder bombing greatly enhanced the Normans' siege capabilities, allowing them to capture castles and cities that were previously difficult to conquer at a very small cost.

"Lord Duke, all siege equipment has been prepared, please instruct." Humbert came up to Duke Richard and bowed to report.

"Very well, it's only noon, and after lunch, we're going to take the city of Chartres in one go! Capture Thibault, Duke of Champagne! Duke Richard looked at the crowd and announced loudly with a wave of his hand.

"Oh! Oh! Oh! The crowd cheered again.

Soon the cooks brought food in the carts, and the Normans enjoyed a delicious lunch in their freshly pitched tents.

The food in the Norman army was basically three meals a day. Lunch accounted for 50 per cent, dinner 33 per cent and breakfast 13 per cent, in line with the Norman habit of making lunch the centre of their daily meals.

Compared to other armies at this time, the Normans had a very rich diet, consisting of half a piece of black bread without sawdust, a chowder from a large pot, 150 grams of meat or cheese, and a glass of rye beer as a drink. Rye beer and other alcoholic beverages, which were often needed by the Norman troops, were drunk by the soldiers whenever possible.

Of course, the officers' food was even more abundant, and they could not eat fluffy white bread, but could enjoy delicious dishes and drinks.

William attaches great importance to the army's food, and at the same time he also knows that this area is the hardest hit area of corruption, and if the quartermaster is allowed to be greedy, it will seriously affect the combat effectiveness of the army, so whether it is the use of military expenses or the purchase and use of materials, the noble officers will supervise and implement them on the spot.

The Normans finished their lunch, and the army began to assemble under the city of Chartres.

In this siege battle, as usual, the counterweight trebuchet took the lead, and twelve spherical stone projectiles the size of a millstone smashed into the impenetrable walls of the city of Chartres, which immediately opened several gaps in the walls, and countless pieces of rubble rolled down.

"The counterweight trebuchet concentrated on the gap, the rest of the catapults and bed crossbows covered the city wall, the longbowmen stepped forward to suppress the defenders on the wall, the siege towers and ladders stepped forward, and the whole army began to siege the city." Duke Richard continued to issue orders, and his heralds conveyed his orders to each of the troops.

The Norman army approached the city of Chartres like a large and monstrous monster, much to the horror of the Duchy of Champagne at the city's head.

Thibaud, the Duke of Champagne in Chartres, was also unable to do so, he did not expect that the Normans would launch an attack on the city of Saudis so quickly, and he did not have any effective countermeasures in a hurry.

Defending the city was not a simple matter of pulling the army into the city, and it required sufficient time to prepare the defensive equipment and arrange the troops, but the Norman attack disrupted his deployment, and with its powerful trebuchet and longbow firepower, the unprepared Duchy of Champagne army had no intention of gaining a foothold in the city.

"Withdraw and withdraw the troops to the Chartres church." Thibault, Duke of Champagne, ordered.

There is no point in continuing to hold on to the crumbling walls, relying on a strong church is the best option.

"My Majesty Henry, I can only buy you a week at most, and if you can't defeat William within a week, I'll have to lead my army back to Troyes." Thibaud, Duke of Champagne, thought to himself.

Previously, he had made an agreement with Henry I that he would take charge of the defense of the western part of Paris and buy him time to defeat William, but now it seemed that his army would probably not be able to hold up even a week in the face of a powerful Norman offensive.

At this time, he really regretted that he should not have turned against William for some interests, and cut off the back road of reconciliation with the Normans, how stupid and ridiculous, not on the side of the victor was the biggest mistake he made.

At about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the Duke of Richard finally led the Fourth Army to break through the walls of the city of Chartres and led his army to advance to the Chartres Church in the center of the city.

However, after breaking through the city walls, the Duke of Richard no longer rushed to attack, but began to steadily clear the city of enemies, gradually tightening the encirclement.

On a tall building occupied by the Normans, the Duke of Richard observes the Chartres church in the center of the city with a telescope.

Like other churches at this time, the Chartres Church was a fortified fortress made of masonry, in addition to all the functions of a church.

Because the counterweight trebuchet could not be deployed in the city for a while, the attack on the Chartres church may not be so smooth.

"Lord Duke, ...... with oil and oil" Baldwin. Morality. The Count of Brionne came forward to propose, but before he could finish speaking, he was stopped by the Duke of Richard.

Duke Richard knew what he meant, but burning the church with fire oil was an offending business, and if the Holy See knew about it, the Pope, who was hostile to William, did not know what kind of punishment would be inflicted.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we still have plenty of time, the Duke of Champagne Thibaud is just a grasshopper after autumn, he won't be able to jump for long, and there is no need to use the last resort." Duke Richard shook his head and refused.