In terms of talent, Yimang is just ordinary. If it is placed in the Tang Dynasty, it can even be said to be inconspicuous. I am afraid that the General of the Sixteen Guards and the Governor of the Border Prefectures will probably be stronger than him if he is pulled out. But such a person has caused Li Ke a lot of trouble in such a position.

At night, on the banks of the Dab River.

The night was already deep. If it were in the past, it would have been late at night. But today, on the first day of Li Ke's army's arrival at Yu Dujun Mountain, this night was destined not to stop.

"Grandmaster, the enemy seems to be prepared." On the low slope on the opposite bank of the Dabu River, Li Ke and Su Dingfang stood side by side. Su Dingfang looked at the other bank and said to Li Ke.

It was already dark, and it was the time when the soldiers were most sleepy and the time when the garrison was most relaxed. However, the Xueyantuo defenders on the other side were not tired at all, and they were still staring at the Tang army on the other side of the river, unswervingly.

Li Ke also said, "Although this Yimang uses his troops dull and does not know how to adapt, he is quite capable of defending the ground."

Su Dingfang said: "What Your Highness said is so true. The last general has been watching here for most of the day. After watching this for most of the day, Xueyantuo's army on the other side has indeed not relaxed."

Li Ke asked: "Dingfang has seen the habit of Yimang's daily patronage?"

Su Dingfang nodded and said, "According to the last general, the soldiers on the other side will be rotated every three hours, and four shifts will be on duty every day, with each shift worth 10,000 people."

Li Ke thought for a while and said, "According to Ashinazhong's words, Xueyantuo's soldiers on the other side have only about 40,000, and four shifts are rotated every day, and each shift is on duty, and they think that each person has a fixed time for duty every day?"

Su Dingfang said: "What Your Highness said is extremely true, and it is precisely because the opponent's defense can be so strict."

There are four shifts per day, and each shift only takes three hours. The time is not long, so the soldiers on duty will naturally not feel too tired.

Li Ke thought for a moment, but couldn't realize too much inappropriateness for a moment, so he ordered Su Dingfang: "Send the order to cross the river and attack him first. I want to try the depth of Xue Yantuo."

"No." Su Dingfang responded immediately after getting the order.

After Su Dingfang responded to the promise, he took out the flag behind him, first slowly circled it in the air, and then waved forward. The Tang soldiers who had been waiting for a long time on the banks of the Dabu River got the order and headed straight for the riverside.

The soldiers of the Tang Dynasty charged like a fierce tiger. The soldiers in the front raised the round shield in their hands and pressed them in front, while the soldiers in the back held driftwood and other bridge objects, followed closely behind, trying to build a floating bridge to lead the army to cross the river.

Li Ke handed over the command of the battle to Su Dingfang, and stood on the low slope, watching the Tang army charge to cross the river, with a calm expression, just staring at the Xueyantuo people on the other side of the river, motionless.

Li Ke has been in command of the army for some time, and he has quite some experience, but he is not as good as Su Dingfang when he is in the battle, so Li Ke will not casually interfere with what Su Dingfang does.

The soldiers of the Tang Dynasty moved, but a moment later, the Xueyantuo soldiers on the other side had already noticed it, and then there were long and loud sounds of horns on the other side, and the Xueyantuo people also started to move.

The Xueyantuo people were naturally prepared for the attack of the Tang army. As soon as the Tang army moved, the Xueyantuo people's arrows fell like heavy rain, trying to block the Tang army's offensive.

If we talk about the elite forces of the two armies, just because they are good at fighting, Li Ke is the Hedongbian Army, which has been through many battles, and Yimang has many newly recruited soldiers in recent years. The Tang army naturally has been much better than that, but the Xueyantuo people are defending and waiting for attack, so they naturally occupy the Dabu River.

The Xueyantuo army was separated and defended, and the two armies were not allowed to connect. Even if the Tang army was good at fighting, there was no good way to deal with the Xueyantuo people for a while, so they could only move forward in the rain of arrows.

The Tang army was good at fighting and was not afraid of death. They only followed the arrow rain of Xueyantuo people and did not look back at all. However, every time they took a step forward, the arrow rain of Xueyantuo people became more and more dense. Even with shield soldiers, there were inevitably many casualties. It can be said that every inch of the Tang army's forward was almost stacked with corpses.

What Ci did not control the army, and the two armies fought, there were no casualties. Li Ke saw his subordinates go on one after another and fell to the first step of the Northern Expedition, and naturally he felt ache in his heart, but his face was still silent.

Li Ke looked at the bodies of the Tang soldiers who were gradually densely packed on the ground, frowned, and asked Su Dingfang: "Dingfang, in your opinion, if you attack like this, how long will it take to force the Dabu River?"

Su Dingfang looked at the battle situation of the front army with his eyes, and his expression was equally solemn. Su Dingfang said to Li Ke: "If there were no strange troops, just such a strong attack could be reached within three days, but the casualties were probably no less than 30%.

Li Ke nodded when he heard this. The numbers Su Dingfang said were not far from what he thought.

Thirty percent is more than 20,000 people, more than 20,000 living lives, and this is just the first step of the Northern Expedition. I don’t know how many tough battles will be fought later.

The reinforcements from Yu Dujunshan arrived soon, and Li Ke did not dare to delay here, but if he forced time to attack, death and injury would inevitably be inevitable. Either he exchanged his life for time, or waited for Yu Dujunshan’s reinforcements to arrive and found another way, Li Ke was also in a dilemma for a while.

While Li Ke was thinking about crossing the river, before he knew it, the Tang army had already passed a stick of incense.

During this incense stick of time, although the Tang army also advanced about a hundred steps forward and the front had already begun to build a floating bridge in the river, the Tang army's casualties had exceeded 1,000, and at this time, the number of defenders on the other side was increasing.

Su Dingfang looked at the other side of the river, pointed at a person on the slope of the other side, and said to Li Ke: "Grandmaster, Yimang has also arrived to lead reinforcements."

Li Ke looked around and saw that the number of people on the other side of the river was even more than twice as high as before. It must have been reinforcements brought by Yi Mang.

Li Ke said: "Yi Mang came so quickly. Judging from the situation on the other side, I am afraid there are nearly 30,000 people."

Su Dingfang replied: "What Ashinazhong said is not bad. This Yimang is really cautious. Only when our army crosses the river and tests, he almost came out in full swing."

Yimang acted cautiously. When Fang Yi learned that the Tang army crossed the river, he could not trust others, and was afraid that he would not be there, so he asked the Tang army to take advantage of the loopholes, so he hurriedly led the heavy troops to guard himself to be at ease.

Yi Mang was so cautious that he did not dare to take any risks, which made it even more difficult for the Tang army to cross the river. Li Ke looked at the increasing casualties, and felt like a huge rock was pressed into his heart.

Li Ke was depressed. He first held his forehead and frowned and thoughtful, but after a while, when Li Ke looked at Yi Mang, who was busy back and forth on the opposite slope, he remembered something, and his originally frowning brow slowly unfolded.
Chapter completed!