Attacking an ancient pass city was too difficult! Climbing to the base of the city walls would leave one's legs weak

The Great Wall is famous for its numerous strategic passes, with Shanhaiguan in the east and Jiayuguan in the west, and in between, there are Niangziguan and Yanmenguan. Each pass city is a formidable fortress, easy to defend but hard to attack. Traveling from Dai County to Yanmenguan, one would pass through the Yanmenguan ambush site, a region with winding mountains that indeed makes for an excellent spot for ambushes. The mountain roads are many, and it's hard to tell how long it took to finally reach the Yanmenguan scenic area. Yanmenguan is located on the Gouzhu Mountain ridge north of the ancient city of Daizhou. It controls the Central Plains to the south and the desert frontier to the north, and is a grand military defense project from ancient China. It was known as Beiling and Xi in ancient times, listed as the foremost of the Nine Fortified Passes during the Warring States period, called one of the Northern Court's Three Passes during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and known as one of the Inner Three Passes of Shanxi during the Ming Dynasty. Yanmenguan has a Wengcheng (jar-shaped city). The gate of the Wengcheng, commonly known as the 'Small North Gate', has a stone archway on top, with a plaque inscribed with the three large characters 'Yanmenguan'. The Yanmenguan scenic area is mainly divided into two parts: the Ancient Yanmenguan scenic area and the Ming Yanmenguan scenic area.