Lu Xiangsheng and Xiong Tingbi had already drawn up a set of operational plans, which condensed the collective wisdom of the General Staff Headquarters and listed various contingency plans in an effort to achieve perfection. However, a plan is just a plan after all, and when the battlefield changes rapidly, some small details still have to be corrected on the battlefield.

This was the first time that the General Staff had drawn up a plan before the war, and many officers and men felt that it was unnecessary, but Zhu Youxiao insisted that it must be carried out in this way. In the Ming Dynasty, when fighting in the past, it was only a simple deduction, but Zhu Youxiao required a strict military chess deduction, and the General Staff made a detailed sand table based on the intelligence, taking into account all factors such as terrain and weather, and referring to the possible actions of other military forces, before formulating this plan. After Zhu Youxiao saw it, he named it "Hanwu Action".

The Hanwu operation required the mobilization of 80,000 guards, which were divided into three parts. In the north, Zhou Yuji was the main general, under the jurisdiction of Sun Fumin, and Xue Boling's two reinforced divisions totaled more than 35,000 people. The northwest was led by Man Gui as the commander-in-chief, and the two reinforced divisions of Wang Zuomin and Du Guangting were under the jurisdiction of a total of 35,000 people. In addition, Zhang Xinchen led a division with a total of 10,000 men as a special commando team, which was responsible for operating in the gap between the Northern Military Region and the Northwest Military Region, and supporting both sides at any time.

In February of the ninth year of the Apocalypse, the issuance of Hetao bonds began. A 100-yuan bond obviously has little to do with ordinary civilians, and those who can buy it are big families or merchants. Because the newspaper has been promoting it for a long time, it sold more than 7 million yuan in the capital on the first day of publication. And this bond is issued nationwide, so Li Zhizao estimates that the total amount should reach 20 million yuan.

Yang Sichang's logistics department had already transported the ammunition, food, clothing, and other materials needed for the battle to Xuanfu and Ningxia Weihe Zhenqiang Fort, and the army would set off from these three places and head straight to Hetao.

In March of the ninth year of the Apocalypse, 80,000 guards were already in place. According to the Hanwu plan of action of the General Staff, March 12 was the day of the all-army attack. At this time, the grass on the steppe had not yet grown, and the Mongolian tribes had not yet breathed after the cruel winter, and it was when they were at their weakest.

On March 11, the envoy sent by Sun Chengzong arrived at the Wanhu garrison in Ordos to make a final persuasion to the Erdos Ngan Phochen. And ensure that the Ming Dynasty only needs agricultural land, and the grazing land is still owned by Ordos Wanhu.

Erjin Phochen said angrily: "When you came last time, I already had a clear answer, don't you understand? Or do you think that our Mongol knives are not fast enough to cut off your head? ”

The envoy smiled and said: "Since Dayan Khan, the Ming Dynasty has been at peace with the Mongolian tribes, and Jinong, you actually threatened to cross the Great Wall to fight the Ming Dynasty, my emperor was furious, and the generals of my guards asked our emperor to send troops to the Hetao to retrieve the land of the ancestors. My Emperor is merciful and wants to give you one last chance. Jinong, your knives are indeed fast, but I don't know if they are as fast as our guns and cannons. ”

"Your mouth is quite hard, I cut off your head now, what will your emperor do to me?" ”

The envoy said solemnly: "Emperor Daming's holy decree: If Ordos is stubborn, then the Ming Guards will send troops to the Mongolian Ordos Department on March 12, the ninth year of the Apocalypse, to retrieve the land of the Chinese ancestors. ”

"Well, I'll be here tomorrow waiting for your guns and cannons, and see if your guns are powerful or our sabers are powerful on this grassland." Escort me down, and when we win, let him take us to Beijing to grab something. ”

The Mongols burst into laughter, and naturally someone took the envoy down. The messenger smiled and looked at the laughing Mongols, shook his head and sighed.

On the morning of 12 March, two reinforced divisions of the Northwest Military Region marched out of Ningxia and divided their troops into two routes, with Man Gui leading Sun Fumin's First Northwest Field Division to attack the Linhe area directly, while Xue Boling led the Second Northwest Field Division to directly attack the Etoke tribe in the northeast.

Linhe originally belonged to Sui Wuyuan County, and then occupied by the Western Xia for a long time, and belonged to the jurisdiction of Ningxia Wei after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, but it was soon occupied by the Yuan and Mongolia, and is now owned by the left wing of Ordos. This is the back loop of the Hetao area.

The Guards have been training for a long time to ride for this day. However, for most soldiers, it is enough to be able to ride steadily on their horses, while those who are better at riding will become scouts and cavalrymen. The 1st Division had about 3,000 cavalry, and it was impossible to engage in cavalry combat with the Mongols, mainly to deliver news and pursue small groups of the enemy.

It was about four hundred miles from Ningyuanwei to Linhe, and Mangui ordered three days to rush to Linhe, which was a difficult order to complete, even if there were horses, because it was impossible for the road to be without obstruction and fighting.

But no one in the Guards questioned this order, and if there was no battle, it would not be much of a problem to rush to the river on horseback for two days, and if there was a battle, the Guards believed that it could be solved in a very short time.

The mighty horse team passed through Shizui Mountain and headed north. The scouts kept delivering messages to the back, and until noon, there was no fighting.

After a short break and some fried noodles, the army continued to advance. At this time, the scout reported that there was a Mongol tribe settlement forty miles ahead, about a thousand tents. The cavalry did not attack because there were too few of them.

Sun Fumin was overjoyed and said: "We are marching fast, and the Mongols should not have reacted yet, just to catch him off guard." “

Man Gui thought for a moment and said, "The question is how to deal with these herdsmen? If they were captured, it would greatly slow down our journey. “

Sun Fumin asked, "General, do you want to kill them all?" “

Man Gui said angrily: "What else am I worried about if I want to kill them all? But if we don't kill us, the rear is unstable, and it's a big problem. The General Staff did not say what to do with the captured Mongols, saying only that we would deal with it ourselves. “

Sun Fumin nodded and said, "It's indeed a problem. But the general thought that the General Staff would certainly not be able to say that we should kill all the Mongols, but if we did, they would not blame. However, if we do not kill some people, it will obviously be impossible. The last general felt that we could kill all the Mongols who resisted, and then collect their weapons, and let them stay where they were, or go to other tribes, so that there would be no harm to the heavens. “

Man Gui nodded and said, "Now it's all about that." What does Commander Wu think? “

Wu Mengming shook his hand and said: "Don't worry about me, Your Majesty said before we came, we will watch and listen with our eyes and ears, the mouth is specially used for eating and drinking, we don't care what you do." However, Lord Earl has always been friendly with our Jinyi Guard, I will say one more thing, our emperor is a merciful lord, but he pays more attention to whether his own goals can be achieved. “