In plays like this one that was performed in Rome and elsewhere, William only regarded them as a dispensable means, success was gratifying, failure did not matter, and the final decision of success or failure could only be the comprehensive strength of the two sides.

Surprisingly, however, the performances of these plays yielded unexpected results, and many people of insight began to have a problem with the darkness of the Holy See, and the common people no longer obeyed the instructions of the Church, and this was enough, as long as they did not become an obstacle to William's march into Rome, and did not become a force to help the Holy See, his efforts would not be in vain.

"Hubert, is my army ready?" On the colonel's field, William asked Duke Hubert beside him.

"Your Majesty, everything is ready to go!"

"Well, that's good." William nodded slightly, stretched out his right arm, and ordered the herald beside him: "Pass my order, order the expeditionary fleet to set off from the port of Le Havre first, go to the port of Montpellier in Toulouse, and use this as a base to attack the sea forces of Provence, Pisa, Venice and Rome, and ensure the sea supply lines of our army." ”

"Yes!"

"Hubert, I command you to gather a large army and march south with me to Rome! Roger. Morality. Altwell, I order you to be the vanguard of our army and lead the cavalry brigade to open the way ahead! ”

"Yes, my majesty." Hubert and Roger came out one after another, bowing down to receive the order.

The generals who accompanied William on this expedition included Hubert, Duke of Anjou, First Marshal of the Kingdom and Commander of the First Legion, First Samurai, Duke of Munster, Marshal of Barcelona, Count of Blatterbon, Commander of the Second Legion, Rodrigo, Chief of Staff of the Kingdom, Duke of Ulster, Count of Vimanduva, and Commander of the Fourth Legion. Morality. Vassy, Earl of Chester, Commander of the Fifth Legion, Roger Murphy. Morality. Montgomery, Earl of Hereford, Commander of the Ninth Legion, Baldwin. Morality. Brionne, Count of Derby, commander of the Tenth Legion, William's brother-in-law Richard. Morality. Afranche, as well as the Count of Hainaut, Commander of the Guards Cavalry, Roger. Morality. Ottwell, Commander of the Guards, Duke of Gwynness, William. Faller Osborne, Admiral Dirk, Randolph. Morality. Gale, Norse Guard Commander Eric and others.

William commanded his two most trusted brothers, the Duke of Leinster and the Earl of Kent, and the Second Guards Legion. Morality. The Duke of Contville and De Hebas, the Earl of Norfolk, and the commander of the Sixth Legion, Robert, remained in Paris to defend the royal capital, and Andrew, Duke of Flanders, commanded the Third Legion to monitor and defend the Holy Roman Empire.

Before leaving, William summoned his generals and convened a simple military meeting to convey his military plans to all the noble generals involved in the battle.

"My Excellency, our army will depart from Paris, march with a hundred thousand men along the Seine to Troyes in Champagne, and then march south to Dijon, Burgundy, a place of our army's staging.

After a slight repair of Dijon, our army will continue southward to the country of Chalombau, not far away, where we will encounter the Rhône, which leads directly to the Duchy of Provence and the Mediterranean coast, and we will follow the Rhône down the river to the south into Faure and Lyon, in the territory of the Holy Roman Empire.

I have communicated with Anno II of the HRE Empire, and our army will only pass here for a short time to purchase supplies there, after which our army will leave Lyon and enter the territory of the Duchy of Provence.

Entering the Duchy of Provence means that we will fight the first enemy on our way to Rome.

We must not act carelessly, for our enemies are not only from Provence, but also from his allies, Duke Ezzo II of Lombardy, and the Italian states, as well as the unexplained princes of the HRE.

The Genoese are our allies, but they are not to be trusted, and the merchants are the most merciful, and if the interests are sufficient, they do not mind betraying us completely, so I allow you to attack Genoa and take complete control of the land if necessary. ”

War has always been a fight for logistics, in ancient times as long as there are conditions, the army will definitely attack along the river, because in ancient conditions only the river can transport materials in large quantities at low cost, the reason why the Mongolian army tossed under the city of Xiangyang for so many years, is also because the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal has been blocked at that time, only the Han water outside the city of Xiangyang can support the logistics and transportation of hundreds of thousands of troops, in order to ensure the safety of logistics, the Mongolian army must obtain control of Xiangyang City, as for the land route, it is not impossible to go, Rather, it cannot support the long-term logistical needs of hundreds of thousands of troops.

Therefore, in order to support the logistics and transportation of the 100,000-strong army, William's chosen route this time was to go south along the Seine-Dijon-Rhône route, and use the advantages of inland river transportation to reduce the logistical pressure of our army.

After hearing William's arguments, the Duke of Hubert came out and proposed: "Your Majesty, can you order me to lead a detachment from Paris, along the Loire River into the Bay of Biscay, and then along the Garonne River in Aquitaine into the territory of the Duchy of Toulouse."

I will lead an attack from the east of Provence, and together with your army we will flank Provence.

In this way, we can not only gain more strategic advantages, but also reduce the logistical pressure on our army. ”

Duke Hubert's proposal made a lot of sense, and William was also worried about the logistics of the 100,000 army under his command, so why didn't William accept such a suggestion?

"I accept your suggestion, Lord Hubert, and I order you to march along the Loire-Garonne route with the 1st and 10th legions, and your Anjou army, with a total of 30,000 men." William then issued an order to Duke Hubert.

"Yes, my majesty." When Duke Hubert saw that his order had been taken by William, he gladly accepted it.

"Lord Hubert, Lord Rodrigo, Lord Richard, everyone, time is pressing, and without further ado, we can set off on Rome!"

"Yes!"

With William's order, the 100,000-strong army, which had already been assembled on standby, immediately moved south, divided into two routes, one of 70,000 men was William's main army, which would go south along the Seine-Dijon-Rhône, and the other would go south along the Loire-Garonne to Toulouse in southwestern France.

All the generals were skilled, including elite gendarmes in plate armor, feudal knights in ancestral robes, scales, armor and chain mail, hoplites in full plate armor, light infantry and crossbowmen in half-length plate armor and chain mail, most of their equipment was provided by William and their monarch, and some were ancestral equipment, William provided them with a good salary, and those with his own equipment would provide them with a lot of equipment maintenance and supplementation.

Despite the complexity of the equipment of William's army, the armor rate of his army reached an astonishing 63 percent, much higher than that of other feudal armies, and there were more than 100,000 horses used to transport supplies and supplies, and those cavalry and hoplites had more horses to transport their equipment for them, with an average of two pack horses per person.