When the armies of the Tang Dynasty were grinding their fists and preparing to launch a new round of large-scale offensives, the Ming Dynasty was also aware of it, and it would not work if they didn't notice it.

The movements of the Tang Dynasty were so big, boats and boats of materials were transported to Xuzhou, and almost all the Tang Army on the Huaihe River Valley was frequently mobilized, as long as the spies on the Ming Army's side were not blind, they could basically judge that a new round of large-scale offensive of the Tang Army was about to begin.

For this reason, Emperor Zhengde also urgently dispatched troops to prepare for the battle!

And he sent people to make contact with the cavalry of Altan Khan, asking them to continue south!

Since going south last winter, Altan Khan was still cautious at first, for fear of falling into the trap of the Ming army, and the 20,000 cavalry sent was only near the border town at first, and did not dare to continue south.

But then he became bolder, gradually increased his troops to 50,000 cavalry, and gradually went south to Taiyuan, Shanxi, and then sent part of his troops south to the area of Shunde Prefecture.

Now Emperor Zhengde sent people to ask them to go south, and Altan Khan, who personally led them, decided to continue to go south after thinking about it.

The main purpose of going south was naturally not to help Emperor Zhengde, but still with the mentality of fishing in troubled waters, on the one hand, he did not want to see Emperor Zhengde's army completely defeated by the Tang army, and on the other hand, in fact, he did not want the Ming army to defeat the Tang army.

The best result is that both the Ming army and the Tang army are defeated, and then he will lead the cavalry to sweep the whole field and directly kill the remnants of the Tang army and the Ming army, so that the situation in the whole north will be greatly beneficial to Altan Khan.

If this really happens, he doesn't even plan to return to the grassland again, but directly occupy the north and seize Youzhou, who dares to say that he can't occupy the Central Plains at that time, establish a great dynasty, and repeat the glory of Mengyuan back then?

And before coming, he was also completely prepared, when he went south, in addition to bringing the core tribal cavalry as the main force, he also wrapped the side tribes, basically brought the elite main forces of the tribes that were not very obedient to him before, even if it was a crushing defeat in the south this time, it was those side tribes that died first.

And he had already decided that no matter what would happen to him when he went south, the main force of his descendants would never be easily used and damaged.

In this way, he can ensure that no matter what happens after going south, he can control the power of the grassland, even if the unlucky southward journey fails, and finally flees back in embarrassment, he will only bring his descendants back, as for those side branches, don't expect to be able to go back alive.

This time he went south, and Altan Khan was not prepared to let the cavalry of the side tribes return alive.

Altan Khan's cavalry is mostly a horse, two or even three horses, the ability to maneuver is extremely fast, when the situation in the south has changed, Altan Khan quickly led the troops south, in a short period of time is to march hundreds of kilometers, and then the main force arrived in Shunde Province, and the five thousand cavalry vanguard, has arrived at the Daimyofu.

This way to the south, naturally there is inevitably looting along the way!

Of course, those big cities Altan Khan will naturally not attack, after all, on the surface, he is still invited by Zhengde, and he can't be too ugly, but in some small states and counties, he will naturally not be polite, and he will grab a place when he passes by, at least to grab the military rations.

You must know that this time Altan Khan went south, just like the previous Mongols went south, it did not carry grain and grass, and the grain was plundered along the way, and for a while, the people in various places along the way were miserable.

It's just that in this troubled world, no one cares about the lives of ordinary people in the north!

Zhengde himself doesn't care anymore, Altan Khan doesn't care even more, and the local officials, some of them care, but there is no way to care, they can only stick to the city and not let Altan Khan enter the city, and they also spend money to buy peace, and take the initiative to donate food and property to avoid Altan Khan's cavalry from attacking their city.

And more officials just didn't see it.

In fact, many Ming Dynasty officials in the north are now a little confused and even shaken.

If a few years ago, when the puppet Tang Dynasty was just rising, they still supported the extermination of the puppet Tang Dynasty, then in Yangzhou, Huai'an, Xuzhou, Anqing and other important cities in Jiangbei fell one after another, the entire Ming Dynasty fell into a huge crisis, and when the building was about to collapse, they were already shaken.

Many people are already thinking that if, in case, if the emperor's army is defeated miserably, and the puppet Tang thief army kills them, maybe they should also abandon the Ming and join the Tang Dynasty.

As a sensible and intelligent person, standing on the side of the winner is the most correct choice.

Besides, when you get to Datang, you can continue to be an official.

Although there are many things that they dislike on the Datang side, especially the tax policy that kills a thousand knives, even if it is disgusting, for the sake of life and official position, this should be endured!

Therefore, now many officials of the Ming Dynasty in the north have begun to wait and see!

If Zhengde wins, then there is nothing to say, everyone continues to be officials to make money.

If Zhengde loses, then they will have to seriously consider surrendering to the thief, no, it should be said that it is a matter of surrendering to Tang.

After all, both sides are Han orthodox dynasties, and there is no shortage of righteous names, and if they vote for the Tang Dynasty, they don't have to bear the infamy of defecting to other races, and they don't have much psychological burden.

Otherwise, as the Tang Dynasty is getting stronger and stronger, there will be no more and more former Ming officials in Jiangnan, Jiangbei, Jiangxi, Zhejiang and other places.

Because they don't have much psychological burden on it!

Emperor Zhengde, perhaps also aware of the strange thoughts of many officials, has almost not reused civilian officials to command the army in the near future, but is all traditional generals and nobles.

In just half a year, the nobles and generals who have been neglected for a hundred years have finally regained their dignity and power again.

However, can these nobles command the army to win?

That's a huge question mark!

Since the Tumubao Change, the noble class of the Ming Dynasty has almost completely decayed, except for a very small number of people, most of them are mixed eating and waiting for death, and at the same time, they have not forgotten to destroy the foundation of the imperial court.

They are already degenerate!

And in fact, in the previous battles with the Tang Army, except for the special exception of Yu Dayou, almost all the others were civilian generals, although most of them failed, but to be honest, they had done a good job.

If it is replaced by these nobles, can you win?

Outsiders' questions about them, but those nobles don't know, a group of nobles who only knew how to bully the ordinary people in the past, and were constantly pressed to the ground by civilian officials, are now freshly dressed and angry, and they are full of spirit to become the commander of the army.

Except for the eunuchs who supervised the army, they definitely didn't have a good look at the civil officials.

After the Third Army was ready, Hao Bonian officially issued the order to fight, and on March 29, the Fifth Infantry Division of the Third Army took the lead in launching an attack along the canal north.

Of course, it would be incorrect to say that it was an attack, because on the first day of departure, there were no Ming troops on the opposite side.

The main force of the Ming army is now a small force in Shandong and Henan, and there are only a few small-scale troops around Xuzhou.

Therefore, it is more accurate for the Third Army to say that it is an offensive than a march.

However, the Third Army moved, and Emperor Zhengde also quickly got the news!

Emperor Zhengde did not think about it for too long, but soon decided to take the initiative, and immediately marched west with an army of 60,000 troops stationed in Jinan, and then entered Anping Town, a small town in the north of Yanzhou Prefecture.

Anping Town, a small place located at the confluence of the canal and the Daqing River, is a very important strategic base in contemporary times, with access to Jinan in the east, Dongchang in the north, Daimyo in the west, and Yanzhou and Xuzhou in the south.

Emperor Jeongdeok chose to garrison there, rather than the capital of Yanju or Jeju, further south, because he needed time to mobilize other troops, and also because Altan Khan's cavalry could help him share the pressure.

Emperor Zhengde can be said to have already chosen the decisive place in advance, waiting for the Tang Army to go north.

At this time, the Tang Army, which had made many plans and preparations before, did not expect that Emperor Zhengde did not choose to stick to Jinan, but was ready to come directly to fight them.

After the news arrived, the third army was overjoyed, since you Emperor Zhengde ran out to meet the battle by himself, then they were not welcome.

But then when Chen Keqiao got the news that a large number of Tatar cavalry had been found in the area of the Daimyo's Mansion, he immediately frowned!

Altan Khan went south, he already knew about this, but as far as he knew, although Altan Khan went south, he had been wandering around the border towns, and he had not gone south at all, and now he actually appeared in the Daimyo's Mansion.

And in this way, all kinds of pre-war plans will not work!

It is one thing to fight the tens of thousands of troops led by Emperor Zhengde himself, and it is another thing to fight the tens of thousands of cavalry of Altan Khan.

Immediately, Chen Keqiao sent someone to send a message to Hao Bonian in the rear, telling Hao Bonian the news that the main force of the Tatar cavalry had been discovered!

After Hao Bonian, who was still in Xuzhou at this time, learned the news, he took out the map and looked at it, and then said to the adjutant on the side: "Order the Fifth Infantry Division to act according to the original plan, capture Jeju and Yanzhou, and then continue to move north along the canal."

"Then order the third cavalry detachment to march into the area of Juye to monitor and guard against the enemy cavalry!"