The Wei army arrived at Jiange Pass a few days earlier than Simalun. After arriving at the Pass, they did not wait for the troops, but launched an attack as soon as possible.

Obviously this kind of attack is tentative, and Deng Ai's purpose is also very clear, which is to try the defense of Jiange Pass.

Jiange is the gateway to northern Shu. It is naturally dangerous, magnificent and towering. One man is at the gate, and ten thousand men cannot open it. It is an important throat channel for entering Shu from Hanzhong and Yinping.

Jiange is also called Jianmen Pass. The reason why it is called this is that the east side of Jiange Pass is called Dajian Mountain and the west side of Jiange Pass is called Xiaojian Mountain. The seventy-two peaks of Jianshan are all thousands of feet high cliffs, like swords that are cut by a knife and chisel, and are like swords standing proudly, so it is called Jianshan.

Jiange is in a deep canyon between the big and small Jianshan Mountains. The cliffs on both sides are steep and flat as a door. The narrowest part in the middle is only a few dozen steps wide, so it is called Jianmen or Jiange. It has been a dangerous place in the world since ancient times, easy to defend but difficult to attack.

Of course, Deng Ai also knew the steepness of Jiange, but the Wei army's goal this time was not just to take down the Yinping of Hanzhong, but to point the sword at Chengdu. If you want to fight to Chengdu, Jiange is a hurdle that cannot be avoided. No matter what the situation, the Wei army must break through Jiange before reaching Chengdu.

Therefore, after Deng Ai and Ma Longqianhong met at Baishui Pass, they occupied the already empty Baishui Pass, and then rushed south and arrived at Jian Pavilion.

After arriving at Jiange, Deng Ai did not even station troops to observe, but ordered Shizun's camp to take the lead in attacking Jiange. Deng Ai wanted to test Jiange's defense ability before making appropriate adjustments.

Although Jiange is dangerous, the deployment of troops and defense facilities for defense are not very complete. Judging from the fact that the Shu army usually only stationed 1,000 people, Shu did not pay attention to Jiange as an important pass.

This is actually incomprehensible. After all, Jiange is located behind Hanzhong and Yinping, and is about a thousand miles away from the front line of the Qinling Mountains. In addition, the Shu army has very limited troops, so it is naturally impossible to set up heavy troops at the rear pass thousands of miles away to guard it.

Qian Hong's mistake in Yinping this time was actually fatal. If Qian Hong was not fooled by Zhong Hui and rushed to the Yinping Bridge first, the Wei army would have the opportunity to intercept Zhong Hui's men and horses in Yinping. Even if it was impossible to annihilate all Zhong Hui's men and horses, as long as they could prevent Zhong Hui's men and horses from retreating south, Deng Ai's main force could take advantage of the situation to move south after taking Yangping Pass and seize the empty Guancheng and Baishui.

At this time, the Jiange had only one thousand defensive forces, and as long as Deng Ai's movement was fast enough, the Shu army would hardly have time to increase troops to the Jiange. For the Wei army, even the most dangerous Jiangge would naturally be like walking on flat ground. The defenders of these thousand people would not be able to stop the Wei army.

Although there is a saying that Jiange has a man who is the pass and cannot be opened, it is just an adjective. Even if Jiange is really a natural danger, one person can stop ten thousand people. What a joke, even if one person spits, it is enough to drown a person.

So, if there are only one thousand people in Jiange to defend, it will be really unstoppable. The Wei army can take it down without any effort.

However, Qian Hong's mistake was equivalent to the fact that he would return to the mountain. After the more than 20,000 people from Zhong Hui were lucky enough to escape from the sky, he naturally defected to Jiange.

Although the Wei army can still have a clear advantage in terms of the strength of the two sides, at least there will be no huge gap between 1,000 and 80,000 people. Zhong Hui's more than 20,000 troops can still be easily guarded by Jiange.

This is also the main reason why Zhong Hui took the initiative to abandon Baishui Pass and retreated to Jiange. Although the terrain on Baishui Pass is dangerous, it is still too far from that compared with Jiange. The majestic and steepness of Jiange is famous in the world. The difficulty of Shu Road lies in Jiange.

On the other side of Baishui Pass, the Wudu of Hanzhong in the north and the Yinping in the west. If Zhong Hui had to stick to it, he would have to be attacked by two enemies. Such a combat situation is undoubtedly the worst, so Zhong Hui took the initiative to give up Baishui Pass.

With Zhong Hui's strength and holding on to Baishui Pass, he might be able to deal with all the people from Hanzhong or Yinping, but the Wei army arrived at the same time. If he attacked each other in front and back, Zhong Hui would definitely not be able to hold on.

Therefore, the withdrawal of the Jiange was the result of Zhong Hui's judgment of the situation. To this end, all the three counties of Pingwudu in Hanzhong Yin were lost. It would be irrelevant to throw an additional Baishui Pass. As long as Zhong Hui could defend Jiange, he could protect Shuzhong and delay the demise of Shu Kingdom.

Of course, Zhong Hui's choice was wise and correct, but the difficulties he faced were also quite great. First of all, the problem of insufficient troops. After the Wei army seized Yangping Pass, he went south with the situation and joined Ma Longqianhong's men and horses, the total force reached more than 80,000, which was known as a 100,000.

Of course, this is not a false situation. The Wei army had 80,000 combatants just by themselves, and the logistics auxiliary soldiers and civilians of tens of thousands were even more than 100,000. This shows that the Wei army is so powerful that it is determined to win the Jiange.

Zhong Hui collected all the troops, but only 26,000 people. This added the army originally stationed by Jiange. Originally, there was a commander in Jiange who was in charge of him. However, when Zhong Hui came, he naturally took down the power of Jiange and he would preside over the defense of Jiange.

But this little force still made Zhong Hui not have much confidence. After all, he knew the strength of the Wei army very well. His experience in many battles told Zhong Hui that even when the Wei army was weak, he could not underestimate it, let alone the Wei army now had the advantage in its military strength, which could completely crush the Shu army.

If Zhong Hui had not occupied the natural danger of Jiange, his only few troops would have been impossible to be an opponent of the Wei army. In front of the powerful Wei army, it was really just a piece of cake.

In addition to the issue of military strength, Zhong Hui also faced another more urgent and important issue, that is, the defense facilities of Jiange.

Although Jiange is a natural danger, if it does not deliberately deploy defense, no matter how dangerous the barrier is, there will be loopholes.

The investment in Jiange in recent years is quite limited, and I am afraid that even one-tenth of Yangping Pass cannot reach it. Of course, this is related to the fact that the Shu Kingdom is deep in the rear of Jiange. The Shu court has limited economic conditions, with little money and little food, and some funds, and has invested it to the front line. As for Jiange, it is indeed not taken seriously.

Even the more than a thousand people sent, most of them are garrison troops with little experience, and their defense capabilities are extremely limited.
Chapter completed!