But there was no other way, he had to do this at this time!

He gave official titles and made promises to the top military leaders. He did this right after he arrived. He has already given five or six military governors, five or six military commanders, one commander-in-chief, and one commander-in-chief. He also gave money and silk to the middle and lower-level officers, and promised land to the lower-level soldiers. Since ancient times, what other means can be used to motivate the army? Explain the righteousness? He did it too!

Besides, if he wins the battle, even if the farmland in Guanzhong is occupied, he can make those people give up the land. But if he loses the battle and loses Guanzhong, what should he do then?

In short, as the Zhao Song emperor in Chang'an gritted his teeth and risked everything, the huge war machine was hastily launched no matter what... and while these messy things were hastily dealt with, the rest of the armies in Guanxi had already acted according to the various instructions issued by Chang'an City.

Qu Duan, Wu Lin, and Li Yongqi were ordered to move south as quickly as possible;

Under the command of Wang De and Wang Yan, the central army of the imperial camp joined forces on both sides and advanced rapidly towards the four cities of Pucheng, Meiyuan, Xiagui and Fuping... That was the border of Huazhou and Yaozhou, and it was also the area opposite the junction of the Weibei Plain and the northern hilly plateau where Wanyan Loushi was at this time;

On the tenth day of May, the troops from Xihe Road, Lizhou Road, and Qinfeng Road, which had been rewarded with money and promised land for military merit and of course had some heads chopped off as a demonstration, finally set out. Led by their respective generals, they crossed the Weishui River and headed northeast towards the main force of the Loushi Army.

At this point, the war between Song and Jin suddenly entered a new stage.

Of course, if Mr. Kobayashi's estimate of Yue Fei's side was not wrong, what really brought the war into a new stage was of course the crossing of the imperial camp vanguard of Yue Pengju to the north during the Dragon Boat Festival.

But Zhao Jiu didn't care about Yue Fei's success or failure, or even the gains and losses in Luoyang. He wrote a private letter to Li Yanxian, asking him to intercept all military intelligence from Guandong and ensure that the Jin army in Luoyang could not harass Guanxi. By doing this, he became the first-class meritorious minister in this battle.

Li Yanxian is certainly powerful and trustworthy.

In fact, Zhao Jiu's only military response to Luoyang was one thing, which was that he sent Zhai Jin's eldest son Zhai Cong and his two hundred elite soldiers back to Luoyang from the Nanluo River trail.

That's all.

On May 12, in the height of summer, Zhao Jiu also left Chang'an, and on May 14 he arrived at Suyi Town behind Fuping and Xiagui, which was the Weibei logistics base camp reserved by the Privy Council's Office, where Zhang Jun was stationed. Zhao Jiu did not stop there, but left the "trump card" that everyone had always regarded as his, that is, the three or four thousand soldiers who had the same status and the same way as Zhai Cong, here, and continued to march northeast.

On the morning of May 15th, after a summer rainstorm that came suddenly last night but left quickly, Zhao Jiu personally led the imperial guards and two Beiwei troops to a location between the four cities of Pucheng, Fuping, Meiyuan and Xiagui, about ten miles northwest of Jingyao Town.

This is the front-line camp set up by the 30,000-strong Western Three Route Army, presided over by Liu Xi, the commander-in-chief of Xihe Route, who has the highest rank, the most seniority, and the strongest subordinates among the Western Three Route Army... This place is only seventy or eighty miles away from the camp on the south bank of Baishui where Loushi is located.

"Officials, please wait and see."

After the rain, the sun was shining brightly, and the weather was rare and refreshing. Commander Liu Xi invited the newly arrived Emperor Zhao to climb the plateau and look out over the camp. "I did not set up the camp in Jingyao Town, but behind this swamp ten miles away from Jingyao Town. First, it can avoid the heat, and second, it can also use the muddy water to delay the Jin army cavalry..."

Zhao Jiu looked where he was directed, and saw that the unique plateau terrain of the northwest had already appeared here… The so-called plateau means a terrace with steep sides and a flat middle. This is because of soil erosion, which has caused gullies to pass through the plateau, just like lines drawn on the ground, thus forming this irregular chessboard-like terrain.

Similar terms include "墚" and "峁". "墚" refers to a piece of land with a ridge in the middle, and "峁" refers to a piece of land with a hill in the middle. It can be considered a deformed plateau.

The camp set up by Liu Xi was next to a plateau with a small hill, which was called Mao. It was right under Zhao Jiu's feet, but he did not occupy this high ground. Instead, he chose to set up the camp in a lower position because there was a large green water in front of the open land.

Loess, swamps, tablelands and plains all meet here, but the plain is not very flat, the gullies around the tablelands are not very steep, the swamps are not very deep, and the loess is not completely without vegetation cover... According to locals, this complex terrain will continue to Baishui City ahead, where Loushi is located.

In fact, according to the intelligence, Lou Shi also took the initiative to cross the Baishui River and set up a village next to a swamp.

Back to the present, when Liu Xi's mouth was dry and he had been talking for a long time, the official finally spoke: "You sent a message before that you wanted to build a camp here. Did you take a fancy to this piece of water?"

"That's right, Your Majesty." Liu Xi hurriedly explained. "Although there are arguments for using gullies on high ground and plateaus, water and marshes are still the most effective in delaying cavalry."

Zhao Jiu certainly didn't understand this, so he nodded and asked again: "Are the troops deployed too widely?"

"No, the four surrounding cities are not far from each other, and the Jin army is eighty miles away from here. Once they are deployed, they will be enough to join forces with the four cities..."

"What if they take advantage of the situation and occupy the city?"

"We want them to occupy the city... Once they occupy the city, they will lose the advantage of the cavalry and it will be difficult to escape. It will be like being trapped in a trap."

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It’s even more exciting later!