"Manfrido, the governor of Genoa. Lord Doria. William said as he looked kindly at Manfrido, the governor of Genoa.

"Your Majesty, please call me Manfrido." Manfrido, the governor of Genoa, bowed respectfully.

Since the other party knew the current affairs so well, William was very happy in his heart, and discussed kindly: "Manfrido, our army will march into Milan and Italy next, there is a shortage of material supplies, and in addition, our army is not familiar with the human geography of Italy, and we still need your support." ”

Manfrido, the governor of Genoa, was immediately flattered when he received such courtesy from William, who was known as a tyrant, "Your Majesty, the retainers and the Republic of Genoa are already your vassals, and whatever you need, we will do our best to meet them!" We can provide you with six months' supplies and military expenses for 50,000 men, send you the most knowledgeable explorers, diplomats, and scholars, and Genoa can provide you with an Italian mercenary force of 5,000 men as your auxiliary. ”

"Your Excellency Manfrido, I have received your loyalty, and in return, the commercial interests of Milan can be exclusive to you for two years, how about it?" William would never let his vassals pay for nothing, and since the other party was so generous in showing his loyalty, he was also willing to give the other party some compensation for his benefits.

"Thank you very much for your majesty's generosity, the ministers and the people of Genoa are very grateful, my Genoa treasury and material warehouses and trading posts will be at your disposal!" Governor Manfrido was flattered again.

The city of Milan was the most prosperous and wealthy city in Italy except for Rome, and as long as it could monopolize all the commercial interests of the city, even if it was only two years, it would be enough for the Genoese to expand their commercial power to the rich and fertile Po River Plain and the whole of northern Italy, and the benefits that could be reaped could not be compensated by a few material supplies and military rations.

With the help of the Genoese native Italians, and the support of Matilda, the Grand Duchess of Tuscany, William had the confidence to conquer the Po Plain and bring Rome under his rule.

After Governor Manfrido succumbed and retreated, William and Duke Richard and Duke Rodrigo discussed: "Lord Richard, Lord Rodrigo, after taking Nice, we still have 50,000 troops in our hands, do we need to merge Count Baldwin's Ninth Army and Count Richard's Tenth Army, and wait until Duke Hubert destroys the Duchy of Barcelona, gather Hubert's 30,000 men, gather 100,000 troops, and then march into Italy?"

Or did you directly rely on 50,000 troops to advance into Milan?

I need to listen to your advice on this. ”

"Your Majesty, the old minister thinks that it is still necessary to cooperate with Baldwin and Richard's two legions first, to destroy the last resistance of Provence, the Count of Virgins, to inflict heavy damage on the army of the Duke of Savoy and to force the other side to negotiate peace, and to remove the threat from our rear, it is more prudent to gather 70,000 troops to march into Italy.

As for the army of Lord Hubert, the old minister believed that the Duchy of Barcelona was not an easy country, and the powerful Carolingian monarch Charlie the Hammer had also suffered in Barcelona two hundred years ago, so this war would be a difficult and protracted war.

Therefore, it is not an appropriate note to wait for Duke Hubert to settle the Duke of Barcelona before marching. Duke Richard stroked his beard and spoke first.

"Reasonable, worthy of Lord Richard." William smiled and nodded approvingly.

After listening to Duke Richard's opinion, William turned his head to Duke Rodrigo and asked, "Lord Rodrigo, what do you think of Duke Richard's suggestion?" ”

"Returning to Your Majesty, the opinion of the Duke of Richard, the minister does not dare to agree!" When Duke Rodrigo heard this, he shook his head slightly and said: "The minister thinks that it is advisable to lead 50,000 male soldiers into Milan as soon as possible, and take advantage of the low morale of the other party and completely occupy the entire Po River Plain when it is too late to organize effective resistance.

If we miss the occupation for the sake of stability, I am afraid that when our army marches into Italy, we will face not only the Italian states, but also the Papal States, the German princes, Croatia, Hungary, Venice and many other forces, and even if we have more troops, we will not be able to gain a firm foothold in Italy surrounded by wolves.

As for the lack of troops, this is easy to solve, don't we still have His Excellency Manfrido, the governor of Genoa, with the wealth of the Genoese people, enough to form a mercenary force of more than 10,000 people again.

The Ninth Legion of Count Baldwin and the Tenth Legion of Count Richard thought that they could be ordered to be responsible for attacking Furkier, defending against the attack of the Duke of Savoy, and relieving our army's worries. ”

"You!" Duke Richard was very unaccustomed to this Spaniard, and when he saw that his suggestion was refuted by the other party, he hurt his face, and immediately shouted that it was important, and he wanted to stand up and reason with the other party.

But before he could break out, William raised his hand to stop him, "Lord Richard, don't be angry yet, what you and Lord Rodrigo said has their own reasons, and we should be fair in official affairs, and we should not be rash." ”

Duke Richard was persuaded by William like this, and immediately felt a little ashamed, bowed his head slightly and apologized: "Your Majesty, what you said is that the minister was rude. ”

"It's okay, everyone is dedicated to the common good, which is understandable." William smiled and said, "Time is running out now, Lord Richard, Lord Rodrigo, please go down and put the army in order quickly. After Osborne and Count Roger, let's go! ”

"Yes, Your Majesty." When the two heard this, they bowed down and retired.

After William's victory at the Battle of Monaco, the city of Nice, which had completely lost hope of victory, quickly opened its gates and asked William's representative, Phalle. Osborne handed over the keys to the city gates, with the help of Manfrido, the governor of Genoa.

After repairing the city of Nice for two days, replenishing the battle damage and supplies, and gathering a total of 50,000 troops, including the 1st Guards, the 2nd and 4th Legions, the 5th Legion, and the Nordic Guards, they marched to Milan under the guidance of the Genoese.

Along the coast of Liguria, William took advantage of the two states of Saluzzo and Monferrato on his way to Milan, the monarchs of these two states have now been captured by William, and his main army was killed and captured in the Battle of Monaco, and the remaining nobles did not resist the attack of as many as 50,000 troops.

William and his army of 50,000 marched quickly, especially with the help of the native Genoese, and William was supported by many Italian cities, which saved him a lot of effort in conquering the Po Plain.

Within a few days the army had entered the territory of the Duchy of Lombardy, less than a hundred kilometers from the city of Milan.