In the first year of Zhengyuan (254), Cao Chao (máo), the prince of Gaogui Township, ascended the throne. At this time, the situation of the Sima clan on behalf of Wei became clear.

The Sima clan held important positions at home and abroad, concentrated military and political power in one person, abolished the establishment without authorization, slaughtered political enemies, and the generals of the Cao Wei royal family attached to the party raised troops to resist one after another.

In the same year, after Sima Shi killed Xiahou Xuan, the general of Zhendong did not (Guà

Qiu Jian and Yangzhou assassin Shi Wenqin were afraid of being affected by the company, and planned to raise troops.

In the first month of the second year of Zhengyuan (255), Wuqiu Jian and Wen Qin pretended to receive the edict of the Empress Dowager Guo, raised troops in Shouchun (now Shou County, Anhui), spread to Zhuzhou County, and crusaded against Sima Shi.

Deng Ai killed the envoys, marched to Lejia City (now Shangshuijing, Henan) first, and built a pontoon bridge, so that after Sima Shi arrived, he could occupy Lejia. Wen Chin was defeated by falling behind the army. Deng Ai pursued Wen Qin to Qiutou, and Wen Qin fled to Wu and surrendered to Sun Jun, the prime minister of Wu.

Sun Jun waited for the opportunity of Wei's civil strife to lead an army of 100,000 and wanted to cross the river.

Wei Zhendong's general Zhuge sent Deng Ai to guard Feiyang. Deng Ai thought that Feiyang was too far away from the enemy and was not a vital place, so he moved to the attached pavilion and stationed there, and sent Taishan Taishou Zhuge Xu and others to fight against the enemy in Lizhi and repelled the Wu army.

In the same year, the imperial court appointed Deng Ai as the captain of Changshui. And because of his defeat of Wen Qin and a series of military exploits, he was named the Marquis of Fangcheng Township and acted as General Anxi.

In July of the same year, Jiang Wei, the general of Shu Hanwei, died of illness in the general Sima Shi, and tens of thousands of people, including Xiahou Ba, the general of the chariot cavalry, and Zhang Yi, the general of the expedition to the west, attacked Wei. In August, he arrived at Caohan (now northeast of Linxia, Gansu) and marched to Didao (now Lintao, Gansu).

Chen Tai, the general of the expedition to the west, ordered Yongzhou Assassin Wang Jing to lead his troops into Didao, and after he led the main force from Chencang (now Baojidong, Shaanxi) to arrive, he then pincered the Shu army.

Wang Jing did not wait for Chen Tai's army to attack the Shu army, and was successively defeated in the old pass (now Lintaobei, Gansu) and Taoxi, most of them were killed or wounded or fled, and the remnants of 10,000 people returned to Baodi Dao. Jiang Wei took advantage of the victory to besiege Di Dao City.

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The general Sima Zhao ordered Deng Ai to serve as the general of Anxi, and fought against the Shu army together with Chen Tai, and sent the imperial lieutenant Sima Fu as a backup.

At this time, Deng Ai et al. believed:

"Wang Jing's elite soldiers were defeated in the west, the morale of the thief army was very strong, and the victorious army could not resist, and the general led the rabble, following behind the defeated army, the soldiers lost their fighting spirit, and Longyou was in turmoil.

"The ancients had this saying: 'When a pit viper bites his hand, a strong man cuts off his wrist.' Sun Tzu said in the Art of War: 'Sometimes the convoy does not attack, and sometimes the place does not need to be guarded.'" This is due to the fact that there is a loss in the small area and preservation in the large area.

"Now the disaster in Longyou is even more excessive than the poisonous snake, and this place of Di Dao is not just a problem that cannot be guarded. Jiang Wei's army, this is the edge we should avoid. It is better to divide the danger and defend, observe the enemy's flaws, wait for the enemy to be tired, and then march to the rescue, this is the strategy to win. ”

Chen Tai said, "The book of war says, 'It will take three months to complete the repair of the big shield and the chariot for the siege, and it will take three months to complete the construction of the earth mountain.'" This is indeed not something that can be done in a hurry by light soldiers and with Jiang Wei's tricks. Jiang Wei's lone army is deep, and the food supply is not available, this is the opportunity for us to quickly march to defeat the enemy, and the so-called lightning is an inevitable situation. ”

In the end, Chen Tai stopped Deng Ai's erroneous suggestion to give up Di Dao, and the three Wei armies joined together to prepare to relieve Di Dao.

Jiang Wei's army attacked along the mountain and was repulsed by the Wei army. Chen Tai threatened to cut off the retreat of the Shu army, and the Shu army was terrified, so on September 25, the army withdrew and retreated to Zhongdi (now Lintaonan, Gansu), and the siege of Didao was lifted.

As a result, the imperial court appointed Deng Ai as the general of Anxi, and concurrently served as the captain of Hudongqiang.

At this time, most of the Wei army believed that Jiang Wei had exhausted his strength and could not send troops to the north again.

Deng Ai doesn't think so. He noted:

"The defeat of Taoxi can be described as not small, the army's morale is defeated, the warehouses are empty, the people are displaced, and they are almost completely defeated. Now, the enemy has the momentum to take advantage of the victory. And our side is weak, and this is the first reason. The enemy's officers and men are at the same level and their weapons are sharp. And our generals have changed, most of the soldiers are newly replenished, and the armaments are also outdated, which is the second reason.

"The third reason is that the enemy travels by boat, and we are on foot. Didao, Longxi, Nan'an, and Qishan, each of which needed garrison troops, concentrated on attacking one city, while our side was divided into four. This is the fourth reason. From Nan'an and Longxi, it is necessary to requisition the grain of the Qiang people, and if you march to Qishan, it will be easy to get grain, which is the fifth reason. The enemy also has cunning schemes, and they will definitely attack. ”

After analyzing the above situation, he asserted that Jiang Wei would still wait for an opportunity to attack and step up preparations for war.

In June of the first year of Ganlu (256), Jiang Wei, a general of Shu, and Hu Ji, a general of Zhenxi, agreed to meet in Shangbang (now Tianshui, Gansu). In July, Jiang Wei took the lead in sending troops to Qishan (now the southeastern mountains of Gansu), and when he heard that Deng Ai was prepared, he changed his attack on Nan'an (now southeast of Longxi, Gansu) from Dongting (now Wushannan, Gansu).

Deng Ai led his army to seize Wucheng Mountain (now southwest of Wushan, Gansu) and refused to defend it.

Jiang Wei saw that the geographical advantage had been lost, and the strong attack could not be overcome, so he crossed the Weishui River to the east that night and marched along the mountain road to Shangqi.

The two armies fought at Duangu (southwest of present-day Tianshui, Gansu). Hu Ji did not arrive at the deadline. Deng Ai defeated the Shu army, and the Shu soldiers were scattered, with many dead and wounded.

Jiang Wei was defeated and asked to be demoted to the rank of general.

In this battle, Deng Ai accurately predicted the enemy before the war, and due to changes in the mechanism during the battle, he always held the initiative in the campaign, leaving valuable experience for future generations of defensive operations. In the same year, Cao Chao issued an edict to praise Deng Ai, and ordered Deng Ai to be the general of Zhenxi and the military governor of Longyou, and to be named Deng Hou. It is divided into 500 households, and the son Deng Zhong is the pavilion marquis.

During this period, it was relatively leisurely, and Deng Ai was able to become a marquis, so he opened a government to build a mansion, bought maids and recruited servants, and accepted three concubines in a row.

The matter of taking a concubine, the original partner was very opposed, but the Kefu girl actively supported it, she even comforted the original partner for half a month, and the original partner untied the mustard, and the family dispersed in a day.

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In May of the second year of Ganlu (257), the Wei general Zhuge Dan united with Eastern Wu to raise troops against Sima Zhao in Huainan.

Sima Zhao transferred troops from Guanzhong to the east to crusade against Zhuge Dan.

The Shu general Jiang Wei took the opportunity to attack Wei Qinchuan (Weishui Basin). In December, Jiang Wei led tens of thousands of troops out of Luogu (present-day Zhou-southwest, Shaanxi) and reached Shenling (present-day Zhou-south, Shaanxi). At that time, Wei had accumulated a large amount of military rations at the Great Wall (present-day Zhouzhinan, Shaanxi) and had weak defenses.

Deng Ai (then General Anxi) and Zhengxi General Sima Wang, fearing that Jiang Wei would attack and seize the Great Wall, immediately joined forces to defend it.

Jiang Weijun entered Mangshui and camped in the mountains. Deng Ai and Sima Wang led the army to build a village near the water.

The Shu army challenged many times, but Deng Ai and Sima Wang could not hold out, and the two armies faced off for a long time. In March and April of the following year, Jiang Wei heard that Zhuge was defeated and had to lead the army back.

Deng Aiyin Gong was promoted to the general of Zhengxi, and a total of 6,600 households were added before and after.

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In October of the third year of Jingyuan (262), Jiang Wei, the general of Shu Han, raised troops to attack Wei again and invaded Taoyang. Deng Ai led his troops to meet the battle. Deng Ai analyzed that Jiang Wei's expedition was long, the front was long, and it was difficult to provide for it, which was difficult to last.

So, seize the advantageous terrain, set up a position in Houhe (now northeast of Zhuoni) east of Taoyang, wait for work, block the Shu army, after a fierce battle between the two sides, the Wei army launched a counterattack, the Shu army was defeated and fled, and Jiang Wei retreated to Yuzhong (now northwest of Zhouqu, Gansu).

In the same year, Sima Zhao, the general who was in charge of the government, formulated a strategy of destroying Shu first and then destroying Wu along the river, and appointed Zhong Hui, the commander of Sili, as the general of Zhenxi, to go to Guanzhong to reorganize the army.