At the same time that Sima Yi completely defeated Gongsun Yuan, Jiang Wei had already completed the rest of Tianshui, and after leaving Wu Yi and other troops to garrison Tianshui, he personally led the army to the east, to capture the largest city in Yongzhou, the former capital of the Han Dynasty: Chang'an.

Jiang Wei handed over all the captured Wei troops to Wu Yi and Liao Hua for reorganization, and at the same time transferred a group of reserve troops from Lanzhou to assist Wu Yi in guarding Tianshui, so that Tianshui's strength reached about 20,000, even if it was attacked by Cao Zhi, it could withstand it.

The recovery of Tianshui made Wudu directly reduced to an isolated island, and all sides were under the control of the Shu army, although there were 40,000 Wei troops of Cao Zhi and Deng Ai in Wudu City, but Jiang Wei was not worried that Cao Zhi would be able to fight out, it was still difficult for a lonely city to protect itself, and it was not easy to fight a piece of heaven?

After resting and replenishing, Jiang Wei led the main force of 60,000 Liangzhou to roll eastward, including 2,000 Qilin troops of Liang Xu's department, 2,000 Bai'er troops of Fu Xu's department, 3,000 royal forest troops and 5,000 Nanban elites of Zhuge Zhan's department, 20,000 Liangzhou iron cavalry of Ma Dai's department, 20,000 Qiang cavalry of the Russian He Yao Ge department, and 10,000 Xiongnu archers and cavalry of Liu Bao.

After the army arrived in Xianyang, it joined forces with the 60,000 army under Wang Ping, Jiang Wei as the governor of Yongliang, and the special identity of the Son of Heaven to patrol Yongliang, Wang Ping decisively handed over the command of the Hanzhong army and appointed Jiang Wei as the commander of the army.

Jiang Wei also took over the command of the Hanzhong army, and then ordered 120,000 troops and came to the outside of Chang'an.

Chang'an, the former capital of the Han Dynasty, has a proud history, as a giant city towering on the land of the Central Plains, the construction scale of Chang'an City far exceeds any other city in Yongzhou, even if it is Chengdu, the capital of the Shu Han Kingdom, the scale can not be compared with Chang'an.

After Liu Bang, Taizu of the Han Dynasty, established the Han Dynasty, he ordered Xiao He to build Chang'an City as the capital of the Han Dynasty.

Chang'an City is divided into an outer city, an inner city and an imperial city, and there is a moat outside the city that is two feet wide and seven feet wide and three feet deep. The walls of the outer city are as high as four zhang, towering on the Guanzhong Plain.

There were twelve gates in the city, each with three doorways. The east is Xuanping Gate, Qingming Gate, Bacheng Gate from north to south, the south is Ann Gate, Anmen, Xi'an Gate from east to west, the north is Heng Gate, Kitchen City Gate, Luocheng Gate from west to east, and the west is Yongmen, Zhicheng Gate and Zhangcheng Gate from north to south.

The main buildings in the city include Changle Palace, Weiyang Palace, North Palace, Gui Palace, Arsenal and so on. Weiyang Palace is composed of more than 40 palaces such as the front hall and the Jiaofang Palace.

A giant city of such a vast scale can be worthy of the powerful Han Dynasty. Although with the chaos of the Three Kingdoms at the end of the Han Dynasty, Chang'an City has long been less radiant than it was back then, and many walled palaces have fallen into disrepair.

But it still does not affect the status of Chang'an in people's hearts, the meaning of the word Chang'an, its meaning has far exceeded the scope of a city, and even represents a kind of legitimacy, a kind of belief.

Therefore, Zhuge Liang lost his ambition to go on the Northern Expedition, and what he wanted was always to seize Chang'an and recover the Central Plains.

Jiang Wei led an army of 120,000 people to the outside of Chang'an City like a rolling wave, and set up a camp outside the city. Jiang Wei knew very well that in a giant city like Chang'an, it was useless to attack the city with a cloud ladder.

The city wall is as high as four zhang, so that the ladder to be erected, it is extremely difficult, even if it is erected, because the ladder connection points are too many, resulting in a decrease in load-bearing capacity.

To deal with such a giant city, Jiang Wei also has a way in his heart, that is, a thunderbolt + siege tower. However, the assembly of both siege engines takes time.

Therefore, Jiang Wei was not in a hurry, but chose to set up a hard village outside Chang'an City, preparing to spend three months to seize Chang'an.

At the same time that Jiang Wei's 120,000 troops were approaching Chang'an, Wei Yan, another famous general of Shu Han who was unswerving and wanted to attack Chang'an, also quietly brought his 10,000 Yongan soldiers and horses to Hanzhong.

Wei Yan wrote to Liu Chan several times, hoping that he could personally participate in the Northern Expedition, but Liu Chan used Hanzhong and Yongliang soldiers and horses to make the Northern Expedition, Yong'an was the first line to defend Eastern Wu, and the 30,000 army could not be moved lightly, so he refused.

Unexpectedly, Wei Yan soon received the news, saying that Jiang Wei had led an army of 60,000 to surround Tianshui City, and the recovery of Tianshui City was only in the morning and night, if Tianshui recovered, then the next target must be Wei Yan's long-cherished wish: Chang'an.

Therefore, Wei Yan left 20,000 troops in Yong'an, selected 10,000 elite infantry, and went north in the starry night in the name of exterminating mountain bandits.

By the time he arrived in Hanzhong, Wei Yan's army rations had been exhausted, and the army had not eaten for three days. Hu Ji and Dong Que, who were guarding Hanzhong, were both surprised and surprised when they saw Wei Yan leading his army to arrive.

Hu Ji looked at Wei Yan, who was embarrassed, and asked worriedly, "Why did General Wei rush to Hanzhong, but he came to participate in the Northern Expedition at the behest of His Majesty?" ”

Wei Yan said with some weakness: "Yong'an Mountain bandits are rampant, this general is chasing and killing mountain bandits into the deep mountains, but he got lost, and finally came to Hanzhong by mistake, in retrospect, this road is really dangerous!" ”

When Dong Que heard this, he immediately understood that Wei Yan had led his troops north without authorization and participated in the Northern Expedition. He knew that Wei Yan had a deep obsession with the Northern Expedition, so he didn't debunk it, but asked:

"General Wei Yan led 10,000 Yong'an soldiers to Hanzhong, I don't know who Yong'an is guarding now?"

Wei Yan said: "Naturally, he is the deputy general of this general, and the Marquis of Xuanxiang is guarding the town, and now there are still 20,000 soldiers and horses in Yong'an, and Dongwu should not dare to attack easily." ”

After hearing this, Dong Que said: "Since the general has arrived in Hanzhong, I am afraid that he will not be able to return to Yong'an for a while, so I will write a letter to Deng Zhi, the governor of Jiangzhou, and ask him to send troops to reinforce Yong'an, in case Eastern Wu covets Yong'an." ”

Hu Ji also said: "General Wei Yan has worked hard all the way, let the brothers enter the camp to eat something and have a good rest." ”

Wei Yan did not shirk and led the army into Hanzhong to rest.

Hu Ji and Dong Que hosted a banquet to entertain Wei Yan, and during the banquet, Wei Yan asked the two of them, what is the situation of the Northern Expedition now?

Hu Ji said: "General Wei Yan doesn't know, Tianshui City has been recovered, Jiang Wei Dudu led the army to break through Tianshui City, killed Cao Wei Yongzhou Governor Guo Huai, and captured tens of thousands of Wei troops, such as today Shuicheng has returned to the Han territory. ”

"Really?" Hearing this, Wei Yan's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help but sigh:

"Tianshui City, that is the city that the prime minister took in the first Northern Expedition, but later because of that nerd Ma Jian was lost, alas, it is still a powerful boyo, and Tianshui was recaptured, so that the entire Yongzhou has basically been attributed to the Han Dynasty!"

Dong Que said with a smile: "Yes, yes, not only Tianshui City has been recovered, but Jiang Weidu Governor has also led the army out of Tianshui, and has led the Liangzhou army and the 60,000 Hanzhong soldiers and horses under the command of Wang Ping, the governor of Hanzhong, to join forces in Xianyang, and now Jiang Weidu has a total of 120,000 troops under his command, and he must have been rolling to Chang'an City." ”

"What!" Wei Yan was so excited that he clapped up, both excited and disappointed, if so, wouldn't he miss the good opportunity of the Northern Expedition to Chang'an?

Wei Yan said to the two: "Hey, it seems that I am still a step late, maybe I won't be able to attack Chang'an!" ”

Hu Ji and Dong Que looked at each other and smiled, sure enough, Wei Yan came to Hanzhong with troops without authorization.

So Hu Ji said: "General Wei Yan doesn't have to worry, that Chang'an City is a giant city in the world, how can it be so easy to capture, I received information that Jiang Weidu has already set up a hard village outside Chang'an City, and is ready to spend three months attacking Chang'an City, and it is too late to go now!" ”

Hearing this, Wei Yan breathed a sigh of relief, and thought in his heart: "Jiang Wei led an army of 120,000 to attack Chang'an, which can be regarded as withstanding the front of the Wei army. ”

So Wei Yan secretly made up his mind in his heart, he was going to rest in Hanzhong for a day, and then lead his troops to the Meridian Valley, the closest to Chang'an, in Hanzhong, and attack Chang'an.