Tongguan guards the east gate of Guanzhong, located at the intersection of the Yellow River, Luo River and Wei River. It is adjacent to the Yellow River in the north, Qinling Mountains in the south, Huashan in the west, and Hongnong in the east. The terrain is dangerous and majestic, with a momentum of "one man is at the gate, and ten thousand men cannot open". It has always been a place that military strategists must fight for.

Despite this, Cao Wei did not attach much importance to Tongguan before, because no major war occurred in the Yongliang Prefectures in the previous few years. Moreover, the core area of ​​Cao Wei was in Luoyang and other places to the east. Therefore, there were not many defenders in Tongguan, only a thousand people.

It was not until recent years that the Han army repeatedly made northern expeditions and threatened Guanzhong that Cao Wei strengthened the defense of Tongguan just in case. At present, the number of soldiers in the Guanguan increased to more than 2,000, led by General Li Cheng.

Tongguan is mainly to guard against enemies from the east, so the easiest and difficult place for Tongguan to defend and attack is the East Gate Tower.

It is surrounded by the natural danger of the Yellow River in the north, the corner of Qilin Mountain in the south, and the Yuanwanggou and the natural chasm in the east. It is the only gate to enter the pass from the east, which is very steep. People enter the pass from the east, and can only climb up the steep slope outside the east gate. It is extremely easy for the defenders to defend.

Compared with the East Gate, other directions are not so steep, but this does not mean that the other three are easy to break through, but the difficulty is slightly reduced.

On that night, an army of thousands of people appeared quietly in the Qinling Mountains south of Tongguan. They were ragged and unkempt, and they seemed to have been traveling a long distance, and almost every soldier was in a state of depressed spirit.

But even so, their morale was still high. After all, they finally arrived at their destination without realizing it.

This army was the Han army led by Wu Ban. Ten days ago, they quietly left Ziwu Road, followed Xunshui eastward and turned into Yugu Road, then crossed Wuguan Road and entered Huayin County, and finally followed the northern foot of the Qinling Mountains to approach south of Tongguan.

Along the way, they crossed mountains and rivers, and the Han army traveled starry night and many people fell behind along the way. Before leaving, there were nearly 5,000 soldiers under Wu Ban, but after he arrived, there were only more than 3,000 people left.

Although the army suffered serious staff reduction, Wu Ban's determination to attack Tongguan was not reduced at all. However, Tongguan was extremely steep and it was difficult to attack hard, so he could only take his wits. So Wu Ban ordered people to find You Wei in Huayin, and decided to find the situation in Tongguan before making any mistakes.

"General, this is the commander of the Youwei of Huayin County, Qu Wei Bao Zhong." Captain Mao Yong led a man with a farmer into the valley where the army was hiding.

"I have met General Zhenxi."

Wu Ban waved his hand and said, "Wei Bao Quwei doesn't have to be too polite. What is the situation in Tongguan now? How many Wei troops are there in the pass?"

"Reported to the General Zhenxi, Tongguan has more than 2,000 Wei troops, and Wei general Li Cheng is responsible for guarding it. The distribution of the Wei troops in the pass is roughly 800 people in the East Gate, 600 people in the West Gate, 300 people in the North Gate, and 400 people in the South Gate, among which Li Cheng is in charge of the West Gate." Bao Zhongdao.

Wu Ban nodded slightly, pondered for a moment, and then asked, "Is there anyone in the pass? How many people are there? Can you seize the city gate and cooperate with the army inside and outside?"

"I worked hard in Huayin for several years, but thirty-seven people have penetrated into Tongguan one after another. However, these people have the highest status among the Wei army, only the team leader. They are not in the same place. It is probably not easy to seize the door with this little person." Bao Zhong replied with a puzzled look on his face.

Hearing this situation, Wu Ban was disappointed, but he still said excitedly: "There are fewer people, but as long as there are our people in the pass, you can support the army in any case."

He walked to the side, thought to the two of them, and after a long time he turned around and said to Bao Zhong, "In this way, Bao Quwei, the guards in the pass do not have to seize the closing. Tomorrow night, you ask them to set a fire in important places such as granaries and arsenals to attract the Wei army to put out the fire. Of course, the most important thing is to open the South Gate to reduce the pressure for us to solve the problem."

"Yes, I understand."

Wu Ban reminded again: "Before leaving, Prime Minister Zhuge asked us to take down Tongguan, so Bao Quwei must tell his brothers to make the bigger the momentum, the better. At this critical moment, don't worry about being exposed. After the matter is completed, I will ask for me personally."

"General, don't worry, we have been lurking in Huayin for many years. We are waiting for this time. In order to restore the Han Dynasty, we will never refuse to die." Bao Zhong bowed and his tone was firm.

Wu Ban clasped his fists and bowed: "I'll ask you all for the big deal." Then, he called out several of his subordinates to the school captains and decided on the time, signal, sign and other details with Bao Zhong.

Soon the next night, after a day and night of rest, the Han army's physical strength was restored. In addition, he had a full meal before the attack, and the soldiers' strength became more abundant, and they were all ready to wait for the orders of the general.

When the afternoon was about to pass, Wu Ban ordered the departure. Under the cover of night, more than 3,000 Han troops came out of the valley and touched the Qilin Plain south of Tongguan. Then, it took more than an hour to get down from the land to the foot of the mountain, and hid in a forest hundreds of steps away from Tongguan.

At this time, most of the Wei troops in the pass were asleep, only the guard posts on the city walls and the patrol teams on the street were still walking around. However, seeing their yawning, they obviously did not notice that the danger had arrived.

When the three Wei troops attacked Shu, the Tongguan defenders were still on high alert and maintained a high degree of vigilance at all times. However, as the war dragged on longer and longer, no enemy appeared in Tongguan and even the entire Huayin territory, and the Tongguan defenders gradually became careless.

Although news of Chang'an's emergency has long been spread, Tongguan is three hundred miles away from Chang'an. It is said that things are not about yourself and they are hung high. The defenders of Tongguan will not feel nervous until the fire is in a blink of an eye.

The guard Li Cheng had this idea. At the beginning of the war, he could still keep his sadness and horses and his armor, but now he no longer has the same vigilance as before.

However, considering that the battle situation in Chang'an was fierce and the Han army could come from the west at any time, Li Cheng was still very cautious and moved his residence from the east gate to the west gate. He thought that he would personally take charge of the west gate, and even if the Han army suddenly came, he could respond in time.

Li Chuang is a person who loves alcohol. At first, he was able to self-discipline and ban alcohol, but now he can't fall asleep without drinking a few glasses every night. The same is true to this evening. He lie down early and slept hard, not knowing the human affairs.

"It's gone, it's gone..."

The loud gongs and noisy shouts woke Li Cheng up from his sleep. It was already the second half of the night. He was not much drunk when he was still drunk. He heard the noise outside and rushed out of the city tower to check.

"What happened?"

He pointed to the granary left and right and replied: "General, the granary is on fire!"

Li Cheng looked at it with the flow, and saw the sky-sky fire rising from the granary located in the center of Guancheng, and he couldn't help but shouted in surprise: "What do the people on duty do for food? How can they cause such a big fire? I must punish them severely."

After saying that, he suppressed his anger and ordered to his left and right: "The King of Quick Life led his troops to put out the fire, and the rest of the songs are not allowed to move randomly."

Despite his anger, Li Cheng remained calm and only let the rest of the sergeant go to put out the fire, without mobilizing the defenders at the city gates around him.
Chapter completed!