So Deng Ai was betting that they did not dare to leave the city. As long as seven thousand people were placed there, it would be a huge deterrent to the defenders of Seoul and Lecheng, making them dare not act rashly. They didn't even have the courage to open the city gate, so how could they dare to go out of the city to fight?

After all, Deng Ai needs to concentrate the main force into the attack, rather than siege the Han Le City, otherwise that would be Jiang Wei's thoughts.

The core of Jiang Wei's defense system in Hanzhong is these fortress cities. Jiang Wei's purpose is to ask the Wei army to come to siege the city, drag the main force of the Wei army under Yangping Pass, Lecheng, Seoul, and rely on the strong city to fight a protracted war of attrition with the Wei army.

There is no problem with these cities in defense. They can completely withstand the attacks of the Wei army's catapults. The full defensive forces, sufficient food and weapons, and also allow the Shu army to withstand the saturated attacks of the Wei army.

In other words, the Shu army is fully prepared for the defense of the three major fortresses in Hanzhong. If the Wei army attacks according to the routines organized by the Shu army, it will definitely not be able to do a good job. After all, in terms of the forces invested, the Wei army may not have much advantage over the Shu army. Once it enters the script set by Jiang Wei, the Wei army will definitely suffer a loss.

The strong city is hard to overcome. If the Wei army is dragged into a protracted war of attrition, the result of this war will be self-evident, and the Wei army will eventually be dragged down by huge logistics supplies.

This is also the ending designed by Jiang Wei.

Of course, Deng Ai would not follow Jiang Wei's script. After the Wei army entered Hanzhong, he decisively gave up the siege of Han Le City, and sent only 14,000 people to siege the second city for a long time, gathered the main force to attack Yangping Pass.

What if the defenders of Han and Le City really left the city? Deng Ai was actually not worried. Although most of the besieged troops were garrison troops and the field combat capabilities were insufficient, Deng Ai did not need them to engage in field battles. The Wei army deployed a large number of horse-resisting horses and deer antlers around the camp. Once the Shu army wanted to launch an attack, they would also face the strong camp of the Wei army.

Although the garrison army is not strong in field battles, there is almost no difference between guarding camps and guarding cities. The Shu army also focuses on defense. If they ask them to launch an attack, they may not be outstanding.

What's more, in addition to the four thousand garrison troops, Deng Ai also configured three thousand ***s, so even if the Shu army went out of the city to attack, it would be no easy task to break the Wei army's encirclement position.

Deng Ai's configuration not only ensures control over the defenders of Han and Le City, but also does not need to use large-scale troops. He can completely draw the main force out and participate in more important battles.

In Deng Ai's plan, Yangping Pass was a target that the Wei army must seize. Under the leadership of Ma Long and Qian Hong, Ruiqi Camp and Zuowei Camp have marched from Didao and Qishan Road to Yinping Wudu. Although Deng Ai has not received any war reports from Yinping, Deng Ai believes that the strength of Ruiqi Camp and Zuowei Camp should not have too many problems in winning Yinping and Wudu.

Yangping Pass is a throat fortress that lies across Hanzhong, Shuzhong and Wudu. If the Wei army cannot conquer Yangping Pass, the troops entering Hanzhong and attacking Yinping Wudu will be isolated and unable to get in touch, and will not be able to break through Hanzhong and enter Shuzhong.

Therefore, Deng Ai was determined to win the Yangping Pass. After arranging the siege of Seoul and Lecheng, Deng Ai gathered an army of nearly 45,000 people and launched an attack on Yangping Pass.

Yangping Pass is located at the westernmost end of the Hanzhong Plain, also called Yang'ankou. It is the Qinling Mountains to the north, Daba Mountains and Micang Mountains to the south, and Yangping Pass is located between these two steep mountains. It can enter Sichuan in the south, connect Wudu in the west, connect Chencang in the north, and Hanzhong in the east. It has a very important geographical location and is called the key to entering Shu, which is not bad at all.

Yangping Pass is surrounded by mountains and rivers, easy to defend but difficult to attack. It has always been a place that military strategists must fight for. When Zhuge Liang was alive, he attached great importance to Yangping Pass.

The original Yangping Pass was built on the northern mountain of Hanzhong. Zhang Lu was in Hanzhong and built a city of more than ten miles on the northern mountain of Zuomaling. Zhang Lu's younger brother Zhang Wei once repelled Cao Cao's attack here. Later, when Zhuge Liang was stationed in Hanzhong, because the two mountains between the north and south were too wide and could not block the Wei army's entry into Sichuan, Yangping Pass was moved to the valley below Zuomaling and built a new pass.

Although Zhuge Liang strongly advocated the Northern Expedition and used attack instead of defense, it did not mean that Zhuge Liang completely gave up defense. On the contrary, while Zhuge Liang was stationed in Hanzhong to plan the Northern Expedition, he was also thinking about Hanzhong's defense system at all times.

Yangping Pass was built by Zhuge Liang. Yangping Pass was not only an urgent place for Hanzhong's defense, but also a gateway to Sichuan. Yangping Pass went westward, and Wudu County. During the Battle of Hanzhong, ** first broke through Wudu's Xiabian, so that the Shu army attacking Hanzhong was under pressure from the enemy from both sides. Defending Yangping Pass was equivalent to defending the western gate of Hanzhong. The enemy troops attacking from Yinping Wudu could not enter Hanzhong from here.

Secondly, although Hanzhong is a major defense area for Shu Kingdom, the more important thing is Shuzhong. Therefore, the existence of Yangping Pass also ensures that even if Hanzhong is lost, the gates of Shuzhong will not be opened.

That is why Zhuge Liang, who has a very strategic vision, rebuilt the new Yangping Pass under Zoumaling, and with the goal of building a solid city, he spent a lot of manpower and material resources to quarry to build walls and build Yangping Pass with the highest standards.

At that time, many people were puzzled. After all, quarry building and rammed earth building are completely different concepts. The cost of quarry building is at least five or six times that of rammed earth building. Many subordinates suggested that Zhuge Liang did not have to spend such a large cost to build a Yangping Pass that seemed to be useless at all.

However, Zhuge Liang opposed the opposition and used the highest standards and specifications to build Yangping Pass. Because the construction of Yangping Pass was quite laborious, it was barely completed until Zhuge Liang's last Northern Expedition.

When this new pass stands among the mountains and valleys, the people of Shu praised it one after another, and it is really a momentum that one man can pass by the pass and ten thousand men cannot open it.

When Cao Shuang attacked Shu, he was defeated under Yangping Pass. Such a strong city fortress has always become a key link in Hanzhong's defense.

Jiang Wei's plan to gather troops and gather valleys this time regarded Yangping Pass as the top priority. The defenders of Yangping Pass were twice as big as those of Seoul, and the guards were also equipped with one chief and one deputy. This shows that the importance of Yangping Pass has an irreplaceable role in the entire Hanzhong defense system.
Chapter completed!