William's decision to immediately send an army to Italy to support the Duchy of Tuscany coincided with the Duchy of Tuscany's heavy defeat at the Battle of Rivoli, and they did continue to build up their combat capabilities with a strong force.

At the Battle of Rivoli, Palma of the Duchy of Tuscany and the line of the Verona and Adige rivers garrisoned by Count Adonoi of Corsica were the only lines of defense breached by the forces of the HRE Empire.

After the war, although Count Adonoy once again gathered more than a thousand remnants, the courage of this army has been exhausted, and in the face of the HRE Empire army, they no longer have any combat effectiveness.

At this time, the only ones in the Duchy of Tuscany who still retained their fighting power were the Norman mercenaries sent by William and the more than 4,000 Italian legions under the Duchess.

In order to strengthen the military power of the Duchy of Tuscany, William decided to send Maurice. The Duke of Welf led eight thousand Norman mercenaries and his private troops to support the Duchy of Tuscany.

Take Maurice. Welf's hatred for Ezzo II will definitely become an important force to contain Ezzo II, even if they don't fall out, Ezzo II is really relieved to hand over the backup to Maurice. Welf?

The force consisted mainly of mercenaries, and was also nominally hired by the Grand Duchess Matilda to fight for Tuscany.

Recruiting troops in Italy under the guise of accepting employment from the Duchess of Matilda was an effective way to reduce the Italian states' sentiment towards the Normans.

When everything was said and there was no war in the country, William set his sights on the surviving kingdom of Scotland.

The hungry wolf in the Kingdom of Scotland has long been covered in bruises, but William never underestimated his thoughts, and the hungry wolf in his hands is often the most ferocious.

William had been patient with the Kingdom of Scotland for a long time, and whenever there was a war in the Norman Kingdom, Scotland always got involved with William's enemies and threatened the heart of England.

I remember the last time I fought with the HRE Empire, it was the Scottish and Norwegians who attacked England side by side, and the situation in England was precarious, and the lives of the Uraka mother and son who stayed in London were also in danger. In order to deal with Scotland, William even had to temporarily put aside the decisive battle with the HRE Empire, and turned north to England, first to deal with Norway and the Danes, and then defeat the Scots, and contact the threat behind the flank.

But this time, William no longer had any enemies, at least no one who dared to jump out and blatantly oppose him, and it was a godsend to solve the problem of Scotland, and he could concentrate his forces and besiege the Scottish Highlands from all sides.

The Scottish Highlands is the name given to the mountains to the west and north of the Scottish Highlands boundary fault. Many people refer to the Scottish Highlands as the most scenic region in Europe.

The Scottish Highlands are sparsely populated and have several mountain ranges, including Mount Benneves, the highest peak in the UK. Although it is located on the densely populated island of Great Britain, it is less densely populated than places like Sweden and Norway at similar latitudes.

Scotland's harsh climate is characterized by deserted and steep roads, as well as tenacious and warlike Highlanders, who have formed numerous clans and formed Highland Councils to govern themselves, with no interference from King MacPeth.

It can be said that the Scottish Highlands were a very exclusive place, and when the Norman army marched into the highlands, they would not only face the harsh terrain and climate, but also be attacked by the Scottish Highland clans and King MacPeth's forces who were hostile to the Normans.

But none of this could stop William's determination to eradicate this trouble.

In this war against the Scottish Highlands, William decided to use the troops of England first, including the vassal troops of the dukes and earls on the island of Scotland, and the vassal troops of the nobles in Wales, including Lancaster, Hereford, Schulsebury, Chester, Northumberland, Lothian and other vassal troops.

These three troops, William organized them into three regiments, which were formed by the Duke of Connaught of the island of Ireland, Guy Lunde. Morality. Pontier, Albert, Duke of De Hebas of Wales. Feng. Hohenzollern, Earl of Lancaster of England, Ferdinand. Grylls commanded the Scottish Highlands from three directions at the same time, east, west and south.

Of course, although the number of vassals and vassals is large, more than 16,000 people, they have the advantage in terms of troops, especially the soldiers in Wales are better at fighting in the mountains, but with only these noble vassal troops, William is really a little uneasy.

It happened that Duke Rodrigo's Second Army was being repaired in his Northumberland defense area, and William immediately appointed him as the commander-in-chief of the entire army for the conquest of the Scottish Highlands.

As for the pretexts for war and de jure claims and so on, where would William care about these, the Normans and the Scots in the Scottish Highlands who occupied England, Ireland, Wales and the south of Scotland have long been immortal, either you die or I die.

Pretexts and declarations for war or something, William directly instructed Prime Minister Ladolph to forge one, one is not enough for two, as much as you want, as long as you send a fleet to block the coast of Scotland, and when everything settles, in the end, it is not William who has the final say, where can the Pope intervene?

William was not unprepared for the Scots, not only through the caravan depots in and out of the Scottish Highlands, but also in contact with a large clan in the Scottish Highlands, the MacDonald Clan.

The MacDonald Clan, also known as the Donald Clan, is one of the largest and oldest clans in the Scottish Highlands.

As early as the 13th century, the lords of the Donald clan founded Fort Ferragran on the shores of Lake Ferragrain on Islay. Throughout the 14th and 15th centuries, the MacDonald clan was the most powerful tribe in Scotland, ruling over the entire Gorge region of West Scotland and the surrounding islets, known as the "Kings of the Outer Islands". Once a military stronghold and permanent residence of the MacDonald clan, Fort Philagrain was also used as a prison by the clan lords to imprison prisoners, but between the 15th and 16th centuries, it was gradually abandoned, and today only a ruin remains on the shores of Lake Villagran.

Although the MacDonald family has not yet reached the peak of later generations, the strength of this clan at this time should not be underestimated, and more importantly, the MacDonald family is ambitious, what they want is something that King Macpeth of Scotland can't give, and William's side can just give it to the MacDonald family.

William promised that if the MacDonalds had contributed to the war against the Kingdom of Scotland, he would give the Islay the entire Islay to the Macdonalds and give them the title of Earl of Islay.

William's promise to the MacDonald family was a lucrative bait, and they would have done their best to lead the way.