William, who was originally trapped in supplies, planned to divide his army into four directions, and some of them went to the Netherlands, Utrecht, Nijmegen, Münster, Cologne, and Mainz on the right bank of the Rhine to collect supplies, and by the way, destroy the war potential of the HRE Empire.

As for the other part of the soldiers, William was ready to order them to go south to Luxembourg, Verdun and the Duchy of Upper Lorraine, preparing to take the de jure territory of the Kingdom of Lorraine, Lower Lorraine and Luxembourg in one fell swoop.

However, this brilliant proposal of the Duke of Richard made William a little uncertain.

The three principalities of Upper Lorraine, Lower Lorraine and Luxembourg were naturally to be taken, and William did not change his intentions, but whether to march into the Dutch lowlands or go straight to Nassau made him a little uncertain.

The Dutch lowlands are naturally extremely rich, and the Wadden Sea coast, including the Duchy of the Netherlands, has long been coveted by William, which is not only very developed in agriculture and animal husbandry, but also extremely prosperous in commerce and handicrafts.

On the other hand, it would be of much benefit to him and the Normans to raise an obedient HRE emperor, at least an emperor who had a good impression of William and the Normans, at least not as it is now, as soon as the Pope issued an edict, Henry III, who was hostile to William, immediately responded to the call to war with William.

William couldn't tell which was more important, one was good for his own strength growth, and the other was good for diplomacy.

It is not that it is impossible to have both, but it depends on whether Henry III gives William enough time, and he expects that once Henry III returns to Nassau, he will prepare for Cointre and fight against him again, and he will not have to act before Henry III is ready.

"Lord Richard, do you have any suitable candidates for the new emperor of the HRE Empire?" William thought about it, but decided to see if Duke Richard had any good advice before making a decision.

"Your Majesty, the new HRE Emperor must not be a person from the Salian family who is hostile to my Normans, nor can he be a very powerful prince, and a Duke of Saxony is very inappropriate." Duke Richard said solemnly: "Of course, as the new Holy Roman Emperor, he must have enough prestige to be able to convince the public. ”

"With the exception of Bernhard II, Duke of Saxony, the Duke of Meissen, the Duke of Brandenburg, and the Duke of Bohemia are not suitable, and they are very good allies with Emperor Henry III, either hostile to the Normans, or too powerful, so they are not suitable."

"Oh? So who we should choose to support. William was a little confused, there were only a few princes who could hope to become the Emperor of the HRE, and apart from these few people, he couldn't think of anyone else who could support them.

"Otto III, Duke of Swabia of the House of Babenburg in Austria." Duke Richard proposed.

Duke Otto III of Swabia (died September 28, 1057), known as Otto "Swinfert", was Margrave of Nozio (1024 - 1031) and Duke of Swabia (1048 - 1057).

He was one of the most powerful East Franconian princes, and in 1024 he inherited his father's estate, owning large tracts of land in Radoff and Schweinfurt.

In 1034, he became Count of Lower Nabuor. From then on, he was appointed Count of Swabia, and he took part in many imperial expeditions, entering Bohemia, Hungary and Poland.

In January 1048, after the death of Otto II of the House of Ezzorn, former Duke of Swabia, the Duke of Swabia was briefly vacant, and King Henry III made him Duke of Swabia.

Otto III was so loyal to Henry that he married Matilda, the daughter of Margrim of Turin for Henry III's plans for Italy.

Otherwise inactive, he died after a nine-year reign and was buried in Swindford.

These memories flashed through his mind, and combined with the Duke of Richard's narrative, William had a certain understanding of Otto III, Duke of Swabia.

William shook his head and said, "Lord Richard, according to what I know about the Duke of Swabia, he is a loyal minister of Emperor Henry III, how can he accept our help and raise an army to launch a rebellion against Henry III?" ”

"This—" Duke Richard thought about it, and it was true, according to the intelligence, the Duke of Swabia was indeed loyal to Henry III.

"Your Majesty, it is better to choose the Duke of Austria Aldebert. Feng. How is Babenburg, this man has always been ambitious, and von. Born in the Babenberg family, he was cousins of Duke Otto III of Swabia, and easily gained the support of the princes. The Duke of Richard then proposed.

Aldebert was a duke of Austria, known as Ardbert's Victory, from 1018 until his death in 1055.

Aldebert was the third son of Duke Leopold of Austria, who succeeded in becoming Duke of Austria after the death of his brother Henry I.

He extended the eastern borders of Bavaria to the Morava and Liser rivers and supported Emperor Henry III in the wars with Hungary and Bohemia.

Throughout, Duke Aldebert was a man of action for more territory and more power, and he was the one who was ambitious.

"Alright, Lord Richard, I accept your suggestion, but it is up to the question of who exactly to support." William shook his head and said, "We can push Henry III again, just see which prince is ambitious and ready to move at this time, who we will support."

For now, we will first take the three principalities of Upper Lorraine, Lower Lorraine and Luxembourg in one fell swoop, and then go east out of the Rhine. ”

William felt that neither of the two candidates proposed by the Duke of Richard was very suitable, and that both of them were von Richard. People from the Babenburg family, he is not interested in this.

In the end, he decided to stick to his original plan and seize the Upper and Lower Lorraine regions, while also preparing to see if there were any ambitious princes within the HRE Empire who were willing to cooperate with him.

......

While William was marching southward across the Duchies of Upper Lorraine, Lower Lorraine, and Luxembourg, and attacking the Dutch Duchy on the other, Otto III, Duke of Swabia, who was supposed to be at the court of Nassau, secretly returned to the Duchy of Swabia with his army.

Looking at the well-equipped appearance of his army, it is clear that he did not take his army to the battle of the Maas River with the Normans, otherwise his troops would not have been intact.

It seems that the historical data in William's memory is wrong, or that Otto III, Duke of Swabia, was indeed ambitious, but he had to pretend to be loyal under the suppression of Henry III.

Now he returned home with his army and began to recruit soldiers, as if he was preparing something.