Li An stood on the command platform and observed the situation on the island with a 10x telescope. A satisfied smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. All of this was completely within his expectations.
As pirates who had never experienced a fierce battle, they could only bully merchants. Their combat strength was also at the level of five. After a few rounds of bombardment, they were completely stunned.
"Assistant Minister Li, the pirates are in chaos. Our army can land and fight."
A subordinate said happily.
Ang Lee put down the binoculars and said loudly, "Order the ironclad artillery brigade to land immediately. The Dragon Martial Army will follow behind. After landing, raise the flag of surrender. As long as the pirates are willing to surrender, they are not to be killed. If anyone dares to resist, kill them without mercy."
"Bang …"
After a signal flare rose into the air, five landing ships quickly sailed to the dock. Dozens of steam ships followed behind, ready to support the ironclad artillery brigade at any time.
The port was the only place where large ships could dock. The steam landing ships could only choose to land at the port. The other places were too shallow to land.
The five landing ships chose five positions that were close to each other and quickly opened the landing platform in front of them. Fifty armored artillery vehicles boarded the island one by one, followed by five hundred Canton soldiers. They were responsible for covering the armored artillery vehicles and raising the flag to summon the pirates who didn't want to die to gather under the flag.
How could the pirates, who were already in chaos, resist the impact of the ironclad artillery vehicles? When they saw the ironclad artillery vehicles, their souls were already scared out of their wits. They did not have the courage to resist at all.
After seeing the Guangzhou Legion raise the flag of surrender, many pirates threw away their weapons and ran under the flag of surrender. They squatted there obediently and did not move.
Afterward, Li Feiyu led thousands of Dragon Martial Army soldiers to land on the island and captured all the remaining pirates. They were escorted to the same open space and waited for Ang Lee to deal with them.
The battle progressed too smoothly. It was almost over without much effort. Of course, there were still thousands of soldiers searching the island to prevent any fish from escaping the net.
In addition, some pirates were injured and needed to be treated. Those who had died in battle also needed to be buried as soon as possible to prevent their bodies from rotting and causing a plague to spread.
Ang Lee, who was standing on the command platform, witnessed everything that happened on the island. Seeing that the pirates had basically stabilized, he immediately ordered the ship to dock. He wanted to take a look at the pirates.
"Assistant Minister Li, there may still be survivors of the pirates. The island is not safe enough. It is safer for you to stay on the ship for the time being."
One of his subordinates suggested.
Ang Lee laughed, "What's there to be afraid of? The pirates have already been scared out of their wits. What's there to be afraid of? Pass down the order, get close to the dock. This official wants to take a look at the island."
As the commander of the three armies, how could Ang Lee be a coward? Moreover, the situation on the island was already clear. There was no danger at all.
After arriving on the island, Ang Lee went to the place where the captives were placed. Looking at the captives, there were about 2,000 of them.
"Big Brother, all the captives are here, but their leader, White Wolf, is not here. He might have escaped during the chaos."
Li Feiyu introduced.
Ang Lee shook his head, "That's impossible. The island is surrounded by our army in all directions. Even a bird can't fly out. How could he escape? Could there be a secret room on this island? "
Ang Lee had absolute confidence in his deployment. Moreover, the captive pirates earlier said that White Wolf was in the nest and did not go out. So, how could he escape?
"Interrogate these pirates and see if anyone knows where White Wolf ran to. Those who have clues will be rewarded heavily."
Ang Lee knew that there would be brave men when there was a reward. And in the chaos, there must be pirates who saw where their king ran to.
"Report, found a secret room. There is no one inside, only a pair of burning ashes."
A soldier hurriedly reported.
Ang Lee frowned and quickly led everyone to see what was going on.
As soon as he walked into the secret room, Ang Lee smelled the smell of smoke. Taking a closer look, there was a ceramic basin in the middle of the secret room. There were still some bamboo slips in the basin that were not completely burned. Obviously, the ashes in the basin were caused by burning paper and bamboo slips.
Could it be that the pirates had some unspeakable secrets that needed to be dealt with in an emergency to avoid greater losses?
"Assistant Minister Li, these bamboo slips are almost all burned. There is no way to see what is written on them. Maybe it is a record of the pirates robbing a merchant ship."
One of his subordinates guessed.
Ang Lee smiled and said, "It is indeed possible. However, it could also be evidence of someone colluding with the pirates. Everything is possible."
"It is a pity that it is all burned. No one can be sure what it is."
The subordinate said helplessly.
Ang Lee thought for a moment and said, "As long as we catch White Wolf and ask him properly, he will definitely know what these burned things are."
"If these are really the records of White Wolf robbing a merchant ship, will he admit it?"
The subordinate said.
Ang Lee also knew that White Wolf may not cooperate with him. However, these things have been burned to ashes. There was no better way than to ask White Wolf.
"Big Brother, Big Brother, several pirates confessed. They saw White Wolf braving the gunfire and running to a small boat."
Li Feiyu ran over and reported.
Ang Lee was shocked when he heard this and hurriedly asked, "Small boat, which small boat is it? Immediately send troops to search."
"Big Brother, I have already sent people to search. I believe that they will soon find the small boat where White Wolf is hiding."
Li Feiyu said loudly.
Ang Lee looked around the secret room a few times but did not find any secret rooms. Then, he stepped out of the secret room and went to the port where the pirates parked their boats.
"Search carefully. Search carefully. Don't miss any corner. Catch White Wolf and you will be rewarded."
The petty officer of the Tang Army in charge of the search shouted loudly.
Hundreds of Tang Army soldiers received the order and searched back and forth in the port. They had to conduct a strict search of every pirate ship. They did not miss any corner.
White Wolf and his henchmen hiding in a ship wanted to take advantage of the chaos to drive the ship away. However, most of the pirates had run away. It was impossible for their ship to rush out alone. The only result of rushing out was that it would be sunk by the steam cannon ship of the Tang Army not far away.
Helplessly, they could only choose to hide in the cabin, trying to avoid the search of the Tang Army, and then secretly leave at night with their familiarity with the terrain.
But now, their wishful thinking did not work. A large number of Tang Army soldiers had rushed over and began to search ship by ship. It was only a matter of time before they were caught.
Listening to the approaching noise, White Wolf and his men suddenly collapsed. The Tang Army soldiers were about to find them, but they could do nothing.
"Your Majesty, what should we do now? We are about to be found."
"Your Majesty, the Tang Army has a large number of soldiers and horses. We can't escape death if we resist."
"Bastard, we have done so many things. Even if we surrender, we can't escape death."
"We will die if we surrender, we will die if we are caught, and we will die if we fight to the death. At worst, we will fight with them. Killing one of them is enough."
"How do you know that we will die if we surrender? As long as we are still useful to the Imperial Court, we may not be executed."
"We are all pirates who kill people. What use can we be to the Imperial Court? Do the Imperial Court officers and soldiers expect to get rewards from our heads?"
A group of pirate henchmen quarreled.
"Stop quarreling. Anyway, you are about to die. Do whatever you want! I don't care about you anymore. "
White Wolf was completely helpless at this moment. Anyway, he was about to die. What difference did it make what choice he made?
"I surrender, I surrender."
One of his henchmen did not want to die. He rushed out of the cabin and exposed White Wolf's hiding place.
"Here, here."
Many Tang Army generals and lieutenants rushed over when they heard the news. They boarded the ship and asked all the people in the cabin to come out and surrender.
White Wolf had no choice but to surrender. He led more than a dozen of his henchmen out of the cabin where they were hiding.
"Are you the Pirate King White Wolf?"
Li Feiyu stepped forward and asked.
"Yes, it's me."
White Wolf had an indifferent expression.
"Congratulations, you have been captured by us. Please!"
Li Feiyu was very polite and did not mean to make things difficult for him.
White Wolf and his men were taken to the prisoner concentration camp and detained separately.
At this time, the sky was already bright, and it was time for breakfast. They were busy fighting just now. The Tang Army soldiers did not have time to eat breakfast, and the pirates did not have time to eat either.
Ang Lee could not let the soldiers starve. He immediately ordered the soldiers to start eating breakfast. At the same time, he also sent a portion to the pirates. There was meat and vegetables. The food was not bad.
"Big Brother, this island doesn't look very big, but it has more than 2,000 people stationed here. It's really surprising."
Li Feiyu said in surprise during breakfast.
"Yes! This island is too small. If it is self-sufficient, it will be difficult to feed 20 people, let alone 2,000. However, these pirates rob everywhere. They don't have to worry about food and clothing, and they don't need to reclaim the land. "
Ang Lee replied with a smile.
"Big Brother, I asked the soldiers to count. The pirates' granary has at least 20,000 kilos of food, enough for them to eat and drink for two or three years."
Li Feiyu said in surprise.
"These pirates also know that they are bandits. They lack a sense of security, so they have to keep robbing and hoarding enough food and fodder to embolden themselves. But now, all the food and fodder belong to us."
Ang Lee said happily.
"Big Brother, what should we do with these food and fodder? Should we transport them back to Guangzhou or leave them here temporarily?"
Li Feiyu asked.
Ang Lee thought for a moment and replied, "Of course, leave them here. Although this island is relatively small, it is a very important strategic place that the merchants of the Tang Dynasty must pass through when they go south. We should manage it well in the future. We must not let it become a pirate's nest again."
"Big Brother, what you mean is that you want to deploy troops on this island and control it forever."
Li Feiyu said in surprise.
Ang Lee nodded and said, "Of course. The location of this island is very important. The Tang Dynasty will not only control this island, but also expand it and build more docks. In this way, the merchant ships and fishermen can come here to take shelter from the wind when they encounter bad weather. By the way, I will also submit a memorial to the imperial court to set up a county on this island, which will belong to Yazhou! After all, this island is the closest to Yazhou. "
"What? You want to build a county on such a small island? This is too outrageous! How can there be such a small county in the Tang Dynasty? "
Li Feiyu was greatly surprised.
"What's so strange? This island is just one of the islands. All the surrounding islands can be developed to expand the area of this county. If the area of the sea is included, this county is not smaller than other counties at all. It can even be regarded as a larger county in the Tang Dynasty."
Ang Lee said with a smile.
"Big Brother, you really know how to play. You even include the area of the sea. You can't grow crops in the sea."
Li Feiyu obviously didn't agree with this way of calculating the area.
"You only know how to grow crops. Aren't there fish in the sea? Especially in the area of this archipelago, there are all kinds of fish. Moreover, the number is very large. The output of these fish is probably not less than that of crops. Of course, it should be counted as the area of this county."
Ang Lee said seriously.
"Big Brother's words also make sense. What should a county under Yazhou be named?"
Ang Lee smiled and said, "The name of the county should be decided by His Majesty. The name bestowed by the emperor is the best."
"Oh, I see! Then what should we do with these captive pirates? Our army can't take them with us when we go south. "
Li Feiyu asked.
Ang Lee said with a smile, "I'm not in a hurry to go south. On this island, I need to rest for at least seven or eight days. In addition to eliminating the remaining pirates, I also need to start the deployment of the county. I need to make this island a county of the Tang dynasty as soon as possible. Before the imperial court's decree is issued, the officials and garrison troops must be in place."
Obviously, Ang Lee wanted to take a steady path. After occupying an important island, he first needed to consolidate the results and make this island his solid rear. Then, he could continue to go south with more ease. Otherwise, once he left easily, the remaining pirates would gather here again. Wouldn't his efforts be in vain?
Ang Lee quickly wrote the idea of the county and sent his subordinates to immediately send it to the imperial court. At the same time, he sent his subordinates to the Yazhou Provincial Governor's Office and told him to immediately do as Ang Lee asked. He sent officials and some soldiers, as well as a few warships to the island to make preparations to build a county.
In addition, the island's facilities were relatively backward, and the port area was too small. For future development, it was necessary to greatly expand the size of the port, and this required sand digging and land building equipment. This kind of ship was not available in Yazhou, and had to be transferred from Guangzhou. Li An had already thought of this point, and immediately sent his subordinates to transfer it.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
