"Very well, ladies and gentlemen, I am glad that you are willing to share my worries." After hearing the affirmative replies of the three people, William nodded, smiled and said:

"After this incident, the North Sea Fleet and the Five Ports Alliance Fleet are in disarray and have lost their combat effectiveness, which shows that our navy is in urgent need of drastic reform.

Therefore, I decided to reorganize the North Sea Fleet and the Five-Port Alliance Fleet and split them into three fleets, namely the North Sea Fleet responsible for the North Sea surface, the Channel Fleet responsible for the English Channel, and the Atlantic Fleet responsible for the Atlantic Sea.

The three of you will serve as the admirals of these three fleets, including Randolph. Morality. Viscount Gale will assume the post of Admiral of the Atlantic Fleet. Morality. Sir Sir St. Pol will assume the post of Admiral of the Channel Fleet. Baron Leblon will assume the post of Overseer of the North Sea.

Do you have any questions? William looked at the three of them and said what had been done for them.

"We have no objections." The three of them once again knelt on one knee and kowtowed.

"You go to the ports of Le Havre and Portsmouth, gather my fleet as quickly as possible, and reorganize it, I want you to restore the fleet to combat strength in the shortest possible time, and this war still needs your active performance." William commanded.

"Yes, Your Majesty, I'll retire." After receiving William's orders, the three of them retired and left.

"Your Majesty, I have just received news that the combined forces of the princes of Lower Lorraine, Holland and Luxembourg, who had previously besieged the city of Bruges, have all withdrawn from the county of Bruges and retreated to the castle of the county of Gunde.

The Flemish rebels and Baldwin V also retreated south to the county of Hainaut. After Faller and the other three left, they reported to William.

"It seems that they have received the news that we have defeated the Vikings, and they know that they will not be able to defeat us on their own, so they can only retreat temporarily. Count them as self-aware. William took the information sent by Faller, looked through it, and nodded slightly.

"Your Majesty, should we march into Gende immediately, defeat the HRE princes who dare to offend us, and then march to Ainaut, and capture the remnants of the Duchy of Flanders." Faller suggested.

Now, except for the Earldom of Gend, the rest of the defenses in Flanders have been easily recovered by several legions under William's command, as long as the HRE princes are defeated and the Duke of Flanders is captured by marching to Hainaut, the war can be temporarily over.

"Good proposal." William nodded, put down the information in his hand, and asked, "Fale, the other princes of the HRE Empire may have signs of joining the war. ”

"Back to Your Majesty, for now, except for the three princes of Lower Lorraine, Holland and Luxembourg, the other princes of the HRE who were interested in joining the war have all put away their minions and have not moved.

They must have been intimidated by your defeat of the Vikings, and they would not dare to offend you. Faller said with a laugh.

William shook his head slightly and said: "I have a hunch, this matter must not be so simple, King Henry I of France, Emperor Shinra, and the princes must be brewing something, we can't take it lightly."

You need to intensify your investigation of the intelligence of the Nassau court and the princes of the HRE, and I want to obtain more timely and detailed information. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty." Faller. Osborne was slightly disappointed and nodded.

"But your words do make sense, now is our great opportunity to recover the county of Gende and seize the county of Hainaut." William waved his hand in agreement.

The county of Hainaut is located in the middle of the Duchy of Flanders and the Duchy of Valois, and it can be reached directly from Flanders to the county of Hainaut.

It can be said that its geographical location is extremely important, with the county of Hainaut, William's fiefdom of Boulogne, Amiens, Paris and other places will be protected from the direct threat of the HRE Empire.

Countess of Hainault was the widow of Herman, Count of Ainaut, and both belonged to the Rekinar family, and in early 1050, Herman, Count of Ainaut, died, leaving the title of Count of Ainaut and a large inheritance of the domain to his wife, Richmond.

At that time, William had not yet started a war with France, and Baldwin V, Duke of Flanders, in order to seize the huge fortune of the Count of Hainaud and the Rekinar family, he had his eldest son Baldwin. Fan. Flanders married a widow who was ten years older.

Later, with Duke Baldwin defeated by William, he had to flee to the county of Hainaud with his family and nobles, preparing to regroup there.

It can be said that with the conclusion of this marriage, the county of Hainaud also became a fan. One of the fiefdoms of the Flanders family.

As the conqueror of Flanders, William believed that he had the right to the county of Hainaut.

......

Soon, William gathered his Guards Legion, the second, third, fourth, and fifth standing legions, and the improvised Sixth Legion, which consisted of English vassals, and marched to the county of Ghend in the east.

Although the two main armies, the Guards Regiment and the Second Legion, had a large number of troops assigned to other tasks, the number of troops gathered outside Bourges still exceeded 40,000. More militias and vassals are coming along the way, and William's army will only grow in number.

At the end of January 1051, over the past month, William's army quickly captured the towns of Ghent, Kerret, and Tursen, the towns of the Earldom of Gunde, and the area was recovered by the Normans, with the exception of the enemy's last stronghold, Oldnard Castle.

Intelligence indicated that the combined forces of Lower Lorraine, Luxembourg and the Netherlands were retreating towards Bratt to join Baldwin V's forces.

The defenders who remained at Fort Odenald were the troops they remained here to take charge of the break, and their task was to delay time.

As the capital of the county of Gunde, the city of Oudnaardburg is too thick to conquer in a short period of time.

In order not to waste precious time, William decided to keep Roger. Morality. Montgomery's Fifth Legion, along with the militia that arrived after him, was responsible for the siege of Fort Odenald.

And he himself led the remaining troops south to the county of Bratt to find the main force of the enemy for a decisive battle.

The flat terrain of Brattbon and Hainaut, with endless plains as far as the eye can see, is just right for the Norman knights.

William ordered the Duke of Andrew, the Earl of Crépon of Gende, and Roger. Morality. The Earl of Beaumont led a total of 5,000 light and heavy cavalry to pursue the retreating enemy army in the south, blocking the enemy's march.

Of the 5,000 light and heavy cavalry, the number of heavy cavalry was as high as 2,000, and the rest were mostly composed of medium cavalry, light cavalry and knights' attendants, which were auxiliary units of heavy cavalry.

The cavalry heading south successfully found traces of the combined forces of Lower Lorraine and the Duchy of Luxembourg near the Black Forest, on the edge of the Rhine tributary, and as for the Dutch army, it seems that they had returned to the Dutch Duchy by boat long before.