Okay, here's the English translation of the provided Chinese text, adhering to all the given rules and stylistic guidelines:

Without needing *On War* from foreign countries to popularize centuries later, anyone with a bit of common sense knows that strategic victories are generally concluded with the gain or loss of key strongholds and strategic decisive battles, and the priority of strategic decisive battles is generally far greater than the gain or loss of strongholds... To lose territory but keep the people is to lose both people and territory; to lose territory but keep the people is to keep both people and territory. This principle is beyond doubt.

As for the military leaders of the Western Army and the Imperial Guards, although they may not be able to articulate all the finer points, as seasoned veterans, who doesn't understand this reasoning? Everyone knows that once the entire army abandons the city defense perimeter and begins to advance, actively seeking a decisive battle, it truly becomes a moment to determine the fate of the nation with one fight.

Therefore, after the day's events, Zhao Jiu relinquished the central military tent to Wu Jie and retreated to the rear camp to rest. The officers who sought private audiences came and went in a constant stream. Even those who didn't come sent notes through Yang Yizhong.

And Zhao Jiu was straightforward, summoning the officers who requested meetings and sent notes one by one for private audiences.

Among these individuals, some came to advise the Emperor not to personally take risks, others to persuade him to change course, and still others simply to express their determination... But at this crucial moment, regardless of who they were or their intentions, as the Emperor, Zhao Jiu had to do his best to unite and encourage them, focusing their minds on the decisive battle.

He had no choice. He wasn't Li Shimin; he couldn't rely on his own battlefield prowess. This was one of the few ways he could exert his influence as an Emperor.

Thus, these exchanges continued late into the night, with almost all the commanders of the Imperial Guards coming for an audience. Only then did it end. The next morning, according to Wu Jie's military orders, the officers of the Imperial Guards returned to lead their troops, and the Western Third Route Army here at Jingyao formally began to move north, attempting to press on Baishui.

The first day was uneventful. Wu Jie signed the military order, and the army immediately set off north, but it wasn't a complete evacuation. The large camp located at Jingyao Town would continue to be used by Zhang Jun, forty *li* away, who would simultaneously move the logistical center forward to this location. The troops only advanced twenty *li* and camped again at a parallel position ten *li* west of Pucheng, calmly waiting for the Imperial Guard troops from the surrounding cities to gather.

After waiting for two more days, once the entire army had assembled and moved north again, the atmosphere changed completely. From this day forward, the Song army would lose the protection of the cities on its left and right flanks, exposing the main force in the open fields, within range of the Jin cavalry's attacks.

Moreover, as the various units of the Imperial Guards from the surrounding cities gathered together, the army seemed disorganized and unwieldy... In other words, it became bloated.

In response, Wu Jie personally commanded, spending most of the day from dawn to unify the deployment. He abandoned the single-line formation and instead arranged for Wang De's units of the Imperial Guards to be in the front, the Eight Character Army in the center, the Xihhe Route and Lizhou Route troops of the Western Third Route Army on the left and right flanks, the Qinfeng Route troops with laborers and supplies in the middle, and finally, the two Beiwei armies and Zhao Jiu's Imperial Guard acting as the rearguard.

Not only that, the newly appointed Grand Commandant Wu also ordered that within each unit, spearmen must be deployed in the front during marches, crossbowmen in the rear, supply vehicles on the left and right flanks for readiness, and cavalry concentrated on the right to assist the Lizhou Route, which had fewer cavalry.

This was a typical marching formation to defend against cavalry raids.

But to be honest, before this, no one really believed that an army of eighty or ninety thousand could move in such a unified marching order under unified command... Especially the last point, dispatching their most valuable cavalry to be unified used by Liu Qi of Lizhou Route as flank support… This was simply unheard of for the Zhao Song army of the past.

However, thanks to Emperor Zhao personally staying in the rear without uttering a word, the cavalry was indeed dispatched, and the marching order was indeed arranged in this way.

Of course, there was a price... On this day, the entire army set off almost at dusk, and then hastily settled down in the simple large camp that the auxiliary soldiers had already prepared, only advancing ten *li*.

This day's efforts were less like marching and more like inspecting troops!

In fact, it was indeed so.

Others may not have been clear, but Zhao Jiu, who had been silently under Yuwen's banner all day, had realized it early on – he clearly understood that Wu Jie was not only preparing for cavalry raids and strengthening his own authority but also, and perhaps more importantly, trying to understand the combat strength and actual numbers of each unit.

And coincidentally, Emperor Zhao also wanted to know, so he sent Lin Jingmo and Yang Yizhong, leading many *Jinshi* scholars who accompanied the Imperial Guard, to act together, starting with the Imperial Guards, which were also full of military *Jinshi* scholars, to fully audit the troops.

In fact, it was not until this moment that the Emperor, through this method, and by taking advantage of this unified marching order created by Wu Jie, figured out the true number of his troops for this battle.

That's right, it was said that there were one hundred thousand troops in Guanzhong without a doubt, but it was clear that the quality of each unit varied, and the organization was different. Without gathering them together and counting them face-to-face, you simply couldn't know how many troops you actually had and what they were like.

After Yang Yizhong and scholar Lin and others endured the scorching sun and worked hard for almost an entire day of inspection, they calculated a result that could only be described as barely satisfactory before reaching the designated camp ten *li* away:

Among them, the Eight Character Army of twenty thousand came with nineteen thousand, which was considered nearly full strength... After all, although Wang Yan's unit suffered slight losses under Yanling City early last year, it had been stationed in Zhengzhou for a year afterward, and it could timely receive supplements of Hebei refugees next to Tokyo.

But from the perspective of marching deployment, the Eight Character Army also exposed its own problems, that is, private attributes were too heavy. Everyone knew that the leader of the Eight Character Army, Wang Yan, enjoyed supreme authority in the army, and this person was usually strict in his command, but he was a little narrow-minded, so he grasped the army very tightly.

Thus, for a long time, there were only two commanders in the Eight Character Army, Jiao Wentong and Meng De. Last year, Zhao Jiu personally intervened, forcing Wang Yan to promote Liu Ze as a commander and Fan Yihong as a commander, but even so, this time he found an excuse to leave Fan Yihong, a member of a famous family, with a thousand people at Sishui Pass.

According to the 'unreliable rumors' reported by Yang Yizhong at that time, Wang Yan seemed to have fallen out with this trusted old subordinate. He thought that Fan Yihong's direct acceptance of the Tokyo transfer order was an attempt to climb the social ladder, which was a betrayal to him. If Zhao Jiu remembered correctly, this should be the third time that this commander, whose ability, loyalty, and determination to resist the Jin were beyond doubt, had fallen out with his subordinates after Yue Fei and Fu Xuan.

But no matter what, returning to the present, Wang Yan's unit of nineteen thousand people, all with Imperial Guards treatment, a nearly 50% armor rate, actually only had his central army and the three commanders Jiao Wentong, Meng De, and Liu Ze, divided into four units.

Correspondingly, the Wang De unit, which was at the forefront and was directly controlled by Zhao Jiu after several reorganizations, was much more elite.

Under Wang De, Zhang Jing, Qiao Zhongfu, Fu Qing, Xin Yongzong, Xin Qizong, Li Qiong... Except for Huyan Tong, who was stationed at the strategic location of Lantian, there were a total of seven units. Wang De's unit had four thousand, Zhang Jing's unit had three thousand, Xin Yongzong's unit had two thousand, and the rest had 2,500 people each. Discounting a few reductions, it was also about 19,000 combat soldiers, but the armor rate was above 70%.

In other words, the so-called Imperial Guards of forty thousand were actually only about thirty-eight thousand.

But these troops, especially Wang De's units, were superior because they had received financial support from the Southeast, Sichuan, and Hubei since the Nanyang period, with sufficient military pay and priority access to equipment. They were stationed, trained, supplied, and reorganized under Emperor Zhao's very nose, largely directly controlled by Emperor Zhao, and the emperor, after all, didn't need to exploit the soldiers. He could live by exploiting the blood of the two noble concubine's families, so these troops were really something to see.

In fact, this armor rate of over 70% was itself a terrifying statistic, second only to the Imperial Guard and possibly only matched by Yue Fei's unit.

In any case, this unit, plus the Hebei Eight Character Army of Wang Yan's unit, who had deep-seated hatred for the Jin, the so-called Imperial Guards of 38,000, was Zhao Jiu's true foundation for this battle! It was the undisputed main force! It was the regular army among the so-called surprise and regular armies! And it was the most regular of the regular!

As for the Shaanxi Western Third Route Army, namely the Xihhe Route, Qinfeng Route, and Lizhou Route, they were of course also considered regular armies, and unexpectedly, after inspection, scholar Lin and Yang Yizhong found that they were actually overstrength... The three route armies, apart from the cavalry supported by other units, actually had 34,000 or 35,000 people.

This was not to say that these people did not exploit the soldiers but to say that the ‘more than ten thousand’ that Zhang Jun reported at the beginning was indeed 'more than ten thousand,' and even during the days when Emperor Zhao waited in Chang'an, these troops were still constantly merging and concentrating.

As for the organization, it was not until this time that Zhao Jiu understood that, according to the organization, these three route armies should have had 70,000 people! But after multiple defeats, dispersals, and internal conflicts over the years, there were only these 35,000 left.

These three route armies were all in the traditional Western Army organization. Below the pacification commissioner were the military commanders, the first and second commanders of the route, each in their respective positions, appearing complex and self-contained. As for those whom Emperor Zhao could directly contact, they were nothing more than the generals from Liu Xi down, including Liu Qi, Zhao Zhe, Murong Wei, Li Yanqi, Zhang Zhong, Qiao Ze, and Sun Wo.

So these troops, plus Zhao Jiu's own two thousand Imperial Guards, and the six thousand Beiwei army entrusted to Wu Jie, were the main force of the Song army forcing Baishui this time, totaling more than 80,000 soldiers!

The number of 80,000, not counting Huyan Tong guarding Lantian, not counting the local Jingzhao troops guarding Chang'an and Weibei, plus the so-called 'trump card' that followed Zhang Jun's logistics, which was a mixed full-armor unit of three or four thousand that Zhao Jiu acquired by deploying elite troops from various units; plus the troops that Qu Duan and Wu Lin had collected from Jingyuan Route and Huanqing Route in the Northern Third Route; plus Li Yongqi's unit, which could be regarded as a divine army; plus the Fangzhou garrison... indeed, in this battle, the Song army side, by any calculation, exceeded 100,000!

Returning to the present, without considering the 20,000 troops distributed in other parts of the battlefield, the 80,000 troops at hand were not just 80,000 troops. Tens of thousands of Guanzhong laborers, from Jingzhao, Huazhou to Yaozhou, had been conscripted long ago, leaving their houses, saying goodbye to their families, and discarding the fields that should have been cared for, either following the army to transport supplies, or accompanying them in cloth clothes and holding bows and spears as auxiliary soldiers.

Without even investigating, Zhao Jiu could imagine what the scene was like when they were conscripted: the Three Officials and Three Partings, the suffering of the people from prosperity and decline, but what else could be done? At the beginning of the year, Wanyan Loushi's eldest son, Wanyan Hoolv, had slaughtered a small town called Fushui, right in the Huazhou territory where the army was located.

Of course, putting aside those thoughts, another day passed, and the army set off again. The formations of more than 100,000 troops formed a formation, rolling forward like waves, vast and boundless, and people in it also felt invigorated.

Zhao Jiu didn't come to the designated camping spot until this afternoon. He climbed a hillside before the entire army set up camp and looked out, and for the first time, he saw the full scope of this army.

“With so many soldiers, in the past, we could have falsely claimed to have 400,000!” Wu Jie led the generals to accompany Zhao Jiu up a hillside, and couldn't help but feel emotional. “If used properly, where can't we go?”

Zhao Jiu nodded slightly, not commenting, but only pointing to a distant obvious mountain and asking casually: "Compared with the south, this place not only has the *yuan* and swamps, but also several decent hills. What are they called?"

"To inform the Emperor, the mountain we are standing on belongs to Yaoshan, which is the largest mountain range on the Weibei Plain, trending northeast and southwest." Liu Xi eagerly replied. "As for the mountain that the Emperor is pointing to in the northeast, it is called Jin Su Mountain, which is exactly where the remaining veins of the Five Dragon Mountains can be vaguely seen behind it. Jin Su Mountain is best known for Tang Xuanzong's Tail Mausoleum, which is located behind Jin Su Mountain!"

Zhao Jiu waited quietly for the other party to finish before smiling: "I have already said, don't call me Emperor, and don't call yourselves subjects. Otherwise, if the soldiers hear it, and it spreads widely, and then you are captured by Loushi, it will be a waste of effort to conceal it. If you must call me something, call me Deputy Commander, but you must call Grand Commandant Liu Marshal."

Liu Xi quickly apologized.

Zhao Jiu didn't mind, and continued the casual conversation, looking at the mountain in front and feeling emotional: "From leaving the Wei River to here, there is first Suyi Town, and then Jin Su Mountain. It can be seen that the land of Weibei is fertile and abundant, truly a great landscape."

The people around him naturally echoed him in a hurry.

“Emperor…Deputy Commander.”

As the crowd's words gradually subsided, Wu Jie hesitated for a moment, and finally pointed to the northeast, and continued to seriously inform the military situation. "Yaoshan stretches for about thirty *li*. We have entered Yaoshan for several *li* now, and Loushi is located ten *li* northeast of Yaoshan, then camping next to a swamp, which is about thirty *li* away from here... If nothing unexpected happens, once the Jin army comes to fight, the victory or defeat should be determined on the several *yuan* between Yaoshan and Jin Su Mountain."

Zhao Jiu nodded slowly, his expression also slightly serious.

"Deputy Commander...Marshal." Hearing this, Liu Xi hesitated for a moment, and suddenly interjected. "I see that there is also a large area of ​​swamps under the *yuan* over there. It is better to imitate the layout of the previous Jingyao camp, setting up camps near the swamps..."

Zhao Jiu finally took the attitude of inquiring about military affairs. He turned his head to look at Wu Jie with a serious expression, which meant very simple, as the commander-in-chief, and who has always known the surrounding terrain, coming to a place only thirty *li* away from the enemy to prepare to set up camp, this place may be the big camp before the decisive battle, didn't you have a good plan for setting up camp?!

As expected, Wu Jie frowned slightly, and immediately pulled his yellow face and seriously opposed Liu Xi: "Haven't I already ordered the entire army to quickly set up camps on high ground along Yaoshan? Auxiliary soldiers and laborers have been ordered to go to the mountains to cut down trees. Why change the camp setting strategy?!"

Zhao Jiu said nothing and looked at Liu Xi again.

Liu Xi hesitated for a moment, and still seriously bowed: "Deputy Commander, Marshal, I am definitely not disobeying military orders. My unit has already gone to cut down trees in accordance with military orders... But I really think that to deal with the advantages of the Jin army cavalry, the first is to swamps! And Yaoshan, although it is only more than thirty *li* long, there are dangerous peaks in the middle that the army can hardly pass through or station in. The so-called setting up camps along the mountain only means setting up camps on the gentle slopes in front of the mountain, but setting up camps like this may not be as useful for blocking cavalry as summer swamps, and we must be careful of the Jin people setting fires."

This had a bit of a serious attitude of reasoning. In fact, many people were moved by this statement. But the topic had progressed to this point, Zhao Jiu no longer participated, but turned his head to look at the scenery. Obviously, the Emperor was still prepared to unconditionally respect Wu Da's authority.

However, Wu Jie knew very well that if he wanted to convince everyone, it was impossible to rely on the Emperor's prestige again and again, so it was best to give a reason. Therefore, he also immediately responded:

"What Liu Jinglue said is very true. I also think that swamps are more useful for dealing with cavalry... But don't forget, in the summer, the water rises, the ditches overflow, and most of the gullies and depressions between the *yuan* become swamps. With tens of thousands of Jin army cavalry, once the battle starts, spreading out may cover tens of *li* of land. As long as the swamps are there, no matter whether our camp is in front of the swamps or at the foot of the mountains, some of the Jin army cavalry will inevitably fall into them. In comparison, setting up camp in front of the mountains, although you have to be careful of arson, has a huge advantage that setting up camp in front of the swamps can't compare..."

Liu Xi looked at the back of Emperor Zhao's head, who was looking down the mountain, and also frowned and bowed to Wu Jie: "Please enlighten me, Marshal."

"Our army is complicated and numerous!" Wu Jie said seriously with a serious face. "Once each unit engages in battle, I am afraid they will fight on their own. At this time, only by occupying the high ground can we observe the overall situation of the battle, and then deploy each unit to respond and support! If, as Liu Jinglue said, we covet the benefits of the swamps and only set up camps in front of the swamps, then once we are attacked, and each unit fights on its own, even I, the commander-in-chief, may only be able to respond to the troops in front of me, and it will be difficult to deploy troops. Instead, the Jin army cavalry can take the opportunity to rush up to the surrounding high ground to watch the battle, and adjust their tactics accordingly..."

Liu Xi was silent, and no general around him echoed Liu Xi anymore.

"Not only that." Wu Jie continued with a straight face, pointing to a piece of whitening swamp and said: "Liu Jinglue, you and I are both Guanzhong people, do you not know why this kind of swamp arises? It is nothing more than the fact that the Guanzhong loess *yuan* cannot store water, and it is easily blocked by the yellow mud, so it cannot flow out. Then, once there is a rainstorm in summer, it will overflow from the ditch and flood into the gullies between the *yuan*, forming swamps... This kind of swamp will rise once there is a rainstorm, but if it doesn't rain for a few days, it will become a muddy place, and if it doesn't rain for a few more days, it will simply dry up... Although there may be rain in summer, are we really betting on astronomy? If it really doesn't rain for days, and the Jin army doesn't fight for days, waiting for the swamps to dry up, what should we do?"

Liu Xi looked at the back of Emperor Zhao's head again, and could only bow and say: "I was short-sighted."

"It doesn't matter." Wu Jie rarely chuckled. "It's all for the country!"

Hearing that the bickering was over, Zhao Jiu was about to turn around to speak, but at this moment, a cloud of smoke billowed in the distance to the northeast, immediately causing all the generals on Yaoshan to become solemn, because without waiting to get closer to see clearly, everyone could guess that it was definitely a team of no less than several thousand Jin army cavalry, coming from the northeast along Yaoshan.

The Song army on the mountain and at the foot of the mountain saw it from a distance and were naturally shocked. Liu Qi, who was in charge of the cavalry of each unit and was responsible for the right-wing protection of the army, immediately jumped on his horse and rushed down the hillside to personally return to his unit to deal with the attacking Jin army. Many other officers also said goodbye and went down the mountain one after another to prepare their troops to deal with it. For a time, only Zhao Jiu, Wu Jie, Liu Xi, plus a few Imperial close ministers were still looking into the distance on this hillside.

Not long after, in the setting sun, the people on the mountain could see clearly that those thousands of riders were rushing towards them. The *yuan* terrain could not hinder them too much. Soon they approached the big camp that had not yet been properly organized, causing many Song army laborers and auxiliary soldiers to panic. However, when these cavalry reached the white swamp, they were completely helpless. After several attempts, the large troops could hardly pass smoothly. A few lucky people who groped their way along the roads in the swamp were met by a large number of Song troops and easily hunted down... Helpless, this force could only detour to the east, seemingly trying to bypass this summer swamp from the direction of Jin Su Mountain.

However, this force had not been moving east for long. Perhaps seeing that the Lizhou army had already calmly deployed under the command of Liu Qi on the right wing of the entire army, that is, the east side of the army. Spears were in the front, crossbows were in the back, and cavalry were lined up on the left and right, obviously waiting in battle... They simply and neatly gave up detouring and turned back directly to the northeast... still with rolling smoke and dust.

The Jin people came and went in a hurry, and the mountain and foot of the mountain naturally cheered each other, and the work of setting up the camp continued calmly.

However, Wu Jie, the commander-in-chief of the entire army, couldn't help but frown – the Jin army gave up too quickly and came too late. This didn't look like they wanted to fight but seemed to be testing and showing off in front of someone.

“Have you seen and memorized the terrain and army organization clearly?”

More than ten *li* away, on Jin Su Mountain, Wanyan Loushi, who had been sitting for most of the day, suddenly turned his head, and behind him, there were hundreds of Jin army officers, *Meng'an* and *Mouke* countless, but all of them were standing respectfully.

The grass and trees were abundant in summer, and the shadows of people could not be seen from several *li* away at the foot of the mountain.

Among them, the leading general was Deputy Commander Wanyan Boli Su. He immediately stepped forward and nodded.

"How is it?" Loushi asked sternly.

"A bit troublesome." Boli Su said frankly. "First of all, the terrain, one is that the swamps are scattered and messy in the center of the battlefield, and the cavalry is naturally hindered, and the other is that the Song army actively set up an array on the mountain, commanding the heights... However, these are fine, the key is that the Song army has a large number of troops, several times more than us, but they can actually arrange such a proper formation to advance, it can be seen that the Song army, whether it is the generals or the troops, is not what it used to be. Of course, there are also inferior soldiers among them, such as the unit wrapped in the middle."

Loushi couldn't help but laugh: "After the Battle of Yanling, whoever still thinks that the Song people are weak and can be bullied is ridiculous; and after the Battle of Fangzhou, whoever still thinks that the Song army has no good generals and no army that dares to fight is also ridiculous; and if anyone thinks that the Song army has been completely transformed within a year and that everyone has become a strong army, that is still ridiculous... I have remembered the banner of the unit in the middle, you just say how to deal with it?"

"The Song army has too many troops, and time is running out. Let's quickly call Hoolv to come to support!" Wanyan Boli Su said a matter-of-course remark. "With General Hoolv's ten thousand soldiers, adding our four thousand soldiers, we can still fight."

Loushi, who had been eager for a decisive battle, and even crossed Baishui to the Yaoshan area, obviously intending to lure the enemy, was silent for a while, but stood up and shook his head repeatedly: "Let's wait a little longer... Let's go back to the camp first today."