"The Rhône, a river system that connects the northern, eastern and Mediterranean coasts of France, has eight towns along the more than 100-kilometer stretch of the Lyon to Vienna, especially the city of Lyon, which is the beginning of the Mediterranean waterway of the Rhône, and is on a par with Dijon, the capital of Burgundy.

But I am looking forward to Arles, the capital of Provence, the terminus and estuary of the Rhône waterway, and when I conquer it, the control of the sea in the western Mediterranean will also fall into my hands. ”

Along the way, William and the others were not so much marching and fighting as they were holding a grand handover event, with bards singing poems on the boats, ladies dancing in the drizzle, and the morning march was a bit tedious, but the lively discussion and energetic dancing rehearsed the boredom along the way.

"My Majesty, do not be careless about the enemy, although our army has 70,000 people, and there are many elites, but the enemy coalition army has no less than 30,000 people, the resistance of the Provençals should not be underestimated, and there are even more brave and warlike Lombards, plus they have geographical advantages, if they are not careful, they may suffer defeat." Duke Rodrigo couldn't help but remind William when he saw William's profligate appearance.

Rodrigo's exhortation was quite reasonable, and it was pointed out by the other party in person, and although William was a little embarrassed when he heard it, he immediately put away his debauchery and casual appearance, waved his hand to the bards and noblewomen in front of him and ordered: "Disperse, disperse!" ”

William was not a disobedient man, on the contrary, he was willing to listen to the helpful advice of others, and he was not angry at Rodrigo's advice, but very grateful.

"Lord Richard, how have we been on this journey, and have we encountered a large number of enemies? Has there ever been a shortage of logistical supplies? As soon as the bards and ladies had retired, William immediately inquired about the state of the war these days.

Duke Richard was the oldest noble vassal under his command, he was already 74 years old, and one of the most respected men in the Norman kingdom, almost on a par with Duke Hubert, and even surpassed William's uncle, Duke Ladolph, in terms of seniority.

In fact, most of the command of this war was in charge of the Duke of Richard, and the Duke of Rodrigo was willing to be his deputy.

"Returning to Your Majesty, our army has advanced along the Rhône in three directions, and has now occupied the main kingdoms of Vine and Vivalé between the Alps and the Central Plateau, during which they have not encountered a fierce counterattack by a large number of enemy troops, only the local nobles have raised troops to resist, and have been completely extinguished by our army." When Duke Richard heard William's inquiry, he opened his eyes, walked out of the direction of William's right side, and bowed slightly.

"That's a bit weird, it stands to reason that the other side should rely on strategic depth to resist, did they choose to give up? Where exactly are their main forces assembled, and have the sentinels on the front line sent back relevant information? William asked with his chin in his right hand and a slight shake of his head.

"Your Majesty, our army has 70,000 troops in the south this time, and such a large army, even if both Provence and the Lombards are combined, will not be our opponent in a head-on decisive battle, and if you put yourself in their shoes, they will not easily waste their forces on meaningless blocking battles.

If I were the Duke of Provence, he would have defended the Rhône valley not far ahead, a complex terrain of alternating gorges and basins, which would have been used by the other side to block the advance of our army. The Duke of Richard thought for a moment, took out his baton and pointed to a map hanging in the cabin, and told William his guess.

From the city of Lyon, the Rhône flows through the valley between the Massif Centrale and the Alps, a strait that covered the present-day Rhône valley by which the sea rose between 66.4 million and 1.6 million years ago. At the end of the Tertiary period, the bay was raised to expose the lower Rhone Valley.

The Rhône-Saône corridor has now been buried by sediments from the Tertiary period, and most of its present-day ground was formed by rock chips deposited by river valley glaciers that stretched out from the Alps during the Pleistocene (1.6 million ~ 10,000 years ago). These sediments play an important role in forming deep gullies at the edge of the central plateau that cuts through the crystalline rocks, as can be seen in Vienna and Tain.

As a result, the valley forms a series of alternating canyons and basins, often with a series of gradually decreasing terraces depending on the river ice and river level.

The tributaries of the Rhône, especially the Ardèche, are powerful and terrible when they pour from the central plateau to the Rhône in flooding, but the large Alpine-type rivers that flow from its left bank, the Isère and the Durance, have an extremely important influence on the sediments and flows of the Rhône riverbed.

"It's true that this area is a difficult terrain, so we should be careful." William nodded in agreement, and he turned to Russell who was waiting on the side. Morality. Count Bailjoll asked, "Count Russell, you are in charge of battlefield intelligence, do you have any information about the enemy?" ”

"Your Majesty, I have something important to report to you!" Russell. Morality. Bayol bowed and said.

"Please."

"Yes, Your Majesty. I learned from the spies and sentries planted in front of me that the army of the Duke of Provence was unexpectedly preparing to stop us near Valence, in the Rhône valley. ”

"Is there an army of the Lombards?"

This question is the most relevant to William, if there is only the army of the Duke of Provence, William can lead his troops to break through strongly, but if the other side has the help of the Lombards who can fight well, William has to be cautious.

"Back to Your Majesty, no trace of the Rumba people has been found, and their main force is still gathered in the city of Milan and has never left." Count Russell replied, shaking his head slightly.

"It seems that the Tuscans helped me to hold back Ezzo II and the Lombards, and I will thank my daughter-in-law when the war is over." A smug smile appeared on William's face, he had previously contacted the Archduchess Matilda of Tuscany, but he had not expected such an unexpected result.

"Lord Richard, Lord Rodrigo, I ask you to do everything, remember to break through the bottom of the Rhône valley in the shortest possible time, and open the passage for our army to march into Rome, otherwise when the Lombard and Pope's armies react, we will not be as relaxed as we are now." William looked at Richard and Rodrigo and said solemnly.

"Yes, my majesty."