Ang Lee still couldn't tell whether the fishing boat that was following them was coincidentally returning or had the intention of robbing them. Anyway, he couldn't tell anything from the surface.
However, regardless of whether the other party was a pirate or not, they would not be a threat to Ang Lee. The more than one hundred elite Tang Army soldiers hidden in the cabin were not to be trifled with. Their strength was enough to kill several times the number of pirates. Dealing with some pirates in front of them was not a problem at all.
Waiting was the best way. Only by waiting could they know what the other party was up to. Other guesses were useless.
"Tell the soldiers to stay calm. Don't let the other party find out. Whether they are pirates or not, we will know later."
Ang Lee whispered and picked up the binoculars to continue observing the fishing boat that was following them.
The fishing boat was relatively far away. At first, it seemed that there were more than thirty people. Moreover, they had to rely on binoculars to count clearly. It was absolutely impossible to rely on their eyes. However, after getting closer, they found that the number of people had decreased a lot. Only ten fishermen could be seen on the deck. The rest naturally ran into the cabin.
"Big Brother, the number of fishermen on the boat seems to have decreased a lot all of a sudden! They must be hiding in the cabin. It seems that there is a problem! I dare to bet that 90% of the people following behind us are pirates. "
Li Feiyu seemed a little excited as he spoke.
Ang Lee nodded and said, "I feel the same way! These fishermen suddenly hid in the cabin. They must be afraid of alerting us. Look, they are speeding up. I estimate that it will only take half an hour to catch up with us. "
"Soldiers, get ready for battle. As long as these pirates show their true colors, we must annihilate them all."
Li Feiyu ordered excitedly.
The soldiers hurriedly began to prepare for the upcoming battle.
Ang Lee carefully observed the approaching fishing boat and ordered, "Change course immediately and see where the fishing boat is going."
Soon, the small merchant ship changed course, almost turning 90 degrees and sailing in a completely different direction.
Ang Lee used his binoculars to observe carefully and found that the fishing boat behind them had slightly changed its course and was directly chasing after his small merchant ship.
At this time, Ang Lee was almost 100% sure that the fishing boat behind them was a pirate ship in disguise. He immediately ordered the soldiers to prepare for battle.
However, as long as the other party did not attack first, Ang Lee would not take the initiative to let the soldiers attack, in case it was really a misunderstanding, even though the possibility was very small.
The speed of the small merchant ship wasn't fast to begin with, and Ang Lee had the soldiers driving the ship slow down appropriately. The fishing boat behind them was also chasing at full speed. As such, the fishing boat behind them was getting closer and closer. Soon, they could see the fishermen on the fishing boat without the help of binoculars.
Ang Lee counted carefully with his eyes. There were now twelve people on the ship. All of them looked like poor fishermen. There were still no signs of pirates, but their behavior was very much like pirates.
He still couldn't see people's expressions with his eyes. Only with the help of high-powered binoculars could he clearly see the looks and expressions of these plainly dressed fishermen, as well as their behavior of communicating with each other.
Ang Lee observed carefully and saw that these fishermen were winking at each other. Every subtle expression of theirs was under the control of Ang Lee. They certainly hadn't seen high-powered binoculars before, so naturally, they didn't know about the high-tech equipment Ang Lee had.
"These bastards, there's really something wrong. Today, none of them can escape."
Ang Lee sneered, closed his eyes, and quietly waited for the fishing boat to approach.
"Hey, where are you going?"
A fisherman shouted at the top of his lungs.
The soldiers on the deck hurriedly replied according to Ang Lee's previous instructions, "We're going to Ha Ling Country."
"What's on the ship?"
The fisherman asked again loudly.
"Nothing, just some fruits and daily goods of the Tang dynasty."
The soldier answered again.
A fisherman grinned and said loudly, "We've just caught fish on this ship. They're all fresh. You can buy them!"
"No, no, our cabin is full of goods. It can't hold anymore."
The soldier answered according to the script.
"The cabin is full. It seems that there's a lot of goods! Haha! "
The fisherman suddenly laughed and winked at the people behind him.
Soon, seven or eight fishermen rushed up. After the ship approached, they threw out iron hooks with ropes and hooked the small merchant ship. Then, they pulled hard to make the two ships infinitely close.
"What are you doing? I said I'm not buying."
The soldier said timidly according to the script.
The fisherman showed a fierce face and ignored the other party. He ordered loudly, "Brothers, rush in and tie them all up. Haha!"
In an instant, more than thirty pirates suddenly appeared and rushed into the merchant ship with weapons in hand, ready to deal with the goods on the ship.
The five soldiers on the deck immediately retreated to the cabin according to the plan. After entering the cabin, they closed the cabin door.
The pirates all boarded the small merchant ship and began to act separately. Some of them checked the wooden boxes on the deck, some were responsible for guarding, and some rushed to the cabin door, banging on the door and shouting.
"Hand over all the valuable goods and money, and we'll spare your lives. Hurry up."
The pirates shouted loudly, looking very arrogant.
At this time, Li An and more than a hundred elite soldiers under his command were hiding in the cabin. Seeing how arrogant the pirates outside were, they all held back their energy and prepared to wipe them all out.
There was more than one cabin door, and there was a back door at the back. Ang Lee smiled and ordered the soldiers to split into two groups and rush out from two doors at the same time to wipe out all the pirates.
"Kill …"
More than a hundred soldiers rushed out of the two cabin doors at the same time and killed more than thirty pirates, forming a huge advantage.
"There's an ambush, there's an ambush, it's the soldiers."
The thirty pirates were dumbfounded. With their little ability, they could bully lone merchants, but if they had to fight against the powerful elites of the Tang Army, they were too weak. They were not on the same level at all.
"Surrender, we surrender."
As soon as three to five of the thirty pirates were killed, the rest immediately knelt down and surrendered. They looked terrified, which was a sharp contrast to their previous arrogant and domineering attitude.
"Arrest all of them and bring them back to Malacca for interrogation."
Ang Lee ordered sternly.
Dozens of soldiers tied the pirates together and made them squat on the deck until they were brought back to Malacca and put into the concentration camp.
Some of the soldiers entered the fishing boat driven by the pirates and searched inside and out. They did not find any new pirates and took over the fishing boat.
"Big Brother, this fishing law enforcement is really good. They caught more than thirty pirates so easily."
Li Feiyu looked at the captured pirates and said.
Ang Lee smiled, pointed at a small leader, and said, "Come here, I have something to ask you."
The soldiers untied him and brought him in front of Ang Lee.
"Kneel down."
"Spare me, spare me!"
Ang Lee asked, "Which section are you from?"
"We are fishermen from Rao Yue. We usually fish for a living. Occasionally, when we see a merchant ship, we will freeload some goods. We have never killed anyone, please spare us!"
The pirate leader said.
"It's not up to you to say whether you have killed anyone or not. When we return to Malacca, I will only ask someone to identify you."
Ang Lee looked at the pirate leader and asked, "Your fishing boat is not big! You need more than thirty people to fish? How many fish do you catch? Who do you usually sell them to? Tell me. "
"Grandpa Official, we were unlucky today. We only caught a basket of fish, and they are all on the deck."
The pirate leader said.
Ang Lee gave a look and asked someone to bring the fish over.
"Only a dozen fish, who are you trying to fool? You can easily catch more than that! You don't even know how to fish. Fishermen are just your cover. You are professional pirates. "
Ang Lee said angrily.
"Tell me! How many bad things have you done? If you tell me the truth, I might reduce your punishment. "
Li Feiyu asked.
"First time, this is my first time robbing. I heard that robbing is a fast way to earn money. I was confused, so …"
The pirate leader quibbled.
Li Feiyu said softly, "Big Brother, these pirates are all cunning. You won't get any results from interrogating them like this. Why don't you take them back and interrogate them separately? I don't believe that they will not listen to you."
Ang Lee nodded, "You are right. Let's speed up and return to the port. Let's go."
The fishing enforcement team brought the spoils of war and the captured pirates back to the port of Malacca at the fastest speed.
The fishing law enforcement fleet personally commanded by Li An was one of the ten fishing law enforcement fleets. The other nine law enforcement fleets formed by the officers and soldiers of the Vanguard Battalion also had a bountiful harvest. At least half of the law enforcement fleets had achieved very good results. The other half of the law enforcement fleets that did not succeed in catching pirates were not discouraged. They continued to enforce the law the next day.
After returning to the port of Malacca, Ang Lee immediately ordered for the captured pirates to be interrogated separately. This was to prevent them from colluding with each other.
The results of the separate interrogation were undoubtedly very good. Very soon, they achieved very satisfactory progress. Many hidden pirates were successfully dug out.
After summarizing, Ang Lee discovered that the number of pirates in the Malacca Sea was much more than he had imagined. Many poor tribes relied entirely on robbing for a living.
These poor tribes barely had enough food to feed themselves. If they wanted to live a better life, they could only rob merchant ships. After all, there was no other profession that could earn more than robbing.
This created another problem for Li An, because there were many old, weak, women, and children in these poor tribes. Young men plundered wealth outside and became pirates, but if all these pirates were captured, then it would be very difficult for the remaining old, weak, women, and children to survive.
But if these guys were released, it was hard to guarantee that they would not continue to be pirates. Moreover, they robbed merchant ships and did bad things. How could they be let go so easily?
This was indeed a difficult matter. If it was not handled well, it would lead to a great tragedy.
It was said that barren hills and turbulent rivers had many unruly people. This saying had a certain degree of truth. In a poor place, it was difficult for the common people to survive. It was natural for them to hate the rich. In their eyes, the merchants passing by were very rich. Therefore, they would naturally want to rob to improve their quality of life.
But once they succeeded in robbing once and obtained a large amount of wealth, they would feel that using this method to become rich was too fast and too easy. As such, there would definitely be a next time, and the time after that, it would be difficult for them to extricate themselves. And the people of the same tribe who did not participate in robbing would naturally choose to join the pirate camp. From then on, the people of the tribe would all become professional pirates.
Good things did not go out, but bad things spread far and wide. The people of the neighboring tribes would soon discover this little secret of becoming rich. Then, another pirate tribe would be formed and gradually develop and grow.
With the gradual strengthening of the Tang dynasty and the frequent overseas trade, the survival of the pirates naturally became fertile. The number of pirates would naturally increase. Some scattered pirates would be incorporated by the Black Wolf Group. The slightly stronger pirates would develop their own independent forces like Black Wolf One, but to a certain extent, they would submit to the Black Wolf Group. There were also some more remote pirate tribes that had just risen not long ago. Naturally, they did not have the opportunity to join the Black Wolf Group, or because of the distribution of benefits, they were unwilling to join a large pirate group at will.
Sometimes, pirates would fight for benefits. However, in the case of the gradual increase of merchant ships, they would mainly focus on robbing merchant ships and would not have too much energy to fight for territory.
"Big Brother, we have already investigated very clearly. In Rao Yue alone, there are five pirate tribes. Basically, all the men in the tribes have become pirates. The old, the weak, the women, and the children need to be taken care of by them. If we capture all of them, these five tribes will be finished."
Li Feiyu also had a compassionate heart, so he said helplessly.
Ang Lee sighed and said softly, "They are all pirates. We still have to capture them. As for the old, the weak, the women, and the children, let the kings of the various countries deal with them! The Tang dynasty is not a charity organization. "
"Big Brother, should we send our own troops to capture them, or let the kings of the various countries deal with them?"
Li Feiyu asked.
Ang Lee thought for a moment and said softly, "There are too many pirates and they are too scattered. Let's leave them to the royal families of the various countries to deal with! Also, let these captured pirates be handed over to the various countries and let their kings take good care of them, so as to reduce our burden. "
"Big Brother, these tribes are too poor. If they could get rid of poverty, perhaps this would not have happened."
Li Feiyu sighed softly.
Ang Lee chuckled and said, "You are right. The reason why the men in these tribes became pirates is because of poverty. Therefore, the businessmen of the Tang dynasty should enter these countries and set up workshops. In this way, these poor tribal men can work, and they will be paid for their work. In this way, they don't have to become pirates."
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