The large-scale construction plan of the port was deliberately leaked by Ang Lee, so it soon attracted nearby merchants and craftsmen to come and take a share of the profits. As time went by, merchants and craftsmen from farther away also heard the news and came to enjoy the feast together.
Some merchants came with capital to start a business, while others came to support the construction of the port by transporting a large number of construction materials urgently needed by the port.
As long as they came to help, no matter what profession they were in, Ang Lee was very welcome. He would do his best to help them and protect their lives.
The remaining pirates had not been completely cleaned up, but through the current series of actions, the remaining pirates who had escaped into the mountains were about to collapse, and the day of their complete annihilation was not far away.
The occupation of the villages and the continuous search of the mountains exhausted the remaining pirates. They could not effectively obtain food and various daily necessities. Their days were quite poor, and they were about to collapse.
The measures they could take were nothing more than hunting in the mountains and picking some fruits to satisfy their hunger. Their nutrition could not keep up, and their physical strength was getting worse and worse. When they encountered the troops of the Tang dynasty, they had little ability to fight back, so they could only run away like stray dogs.
The pressure of eating and drinking was the greatest. At the same time, they had been facing the threat of the Tang dynasty's troops, so they could not sleep well. The lack of daily necessities led them to choose to wipe their buttocks with leaves after they took a dump, and even use branches to scratch their buttocks. It was unbearable suffering.
But even so, they did not dare to go down the mountain to surrender, because they had heard that all the captured pirates had been beheaded, and that they had been publicly executed in the bustling port of West Tianzhu. This made them so scared that they did not dare to go down the mountain to surrender.
They tried to send a few people down the mountain to get some food, but the villages and main transportation hubs were controlled by the troops of the Tang dynasty, so they had no ability to get supplies at all. The lucky pirates could go back the way they came, while the unlucky ones were caught by the troops of the Tang dynasty.
In the past ten days, the troops of the Tang dynasty under Ang Lee's command had captured dozens of pirates alive and killed dozens more at the same time, reducing the number of remaining pirates.
After a round of education, Ang Lee decided not to kill these captured pirates. Instead, he would let them do manual labor and join the ranks of the construction of the port.
At the same time, if they were willing to help lead the way so that the Tang dynasty's army could find their base in the mountains, they would be rewarded. For example, they would be given a meal of meat and wine, and they would be given better jobs.
People were selfish, and pirates were even more so. If they weren't selfish, why would they work as pirates?
But now, as long as they chose to betray their companions, they would be able to obtain even better treatment. How could they bear to refuse?
After several days of persuasion, many pirates agreed to lead the way for the Tang dynasty's army to help the Tang dynasty's army wipe out the remaining pirates.
At the same time, after the reward announcement was posted, many villagers also came to provide clues. As long as they could provide valuable clues, regardless of whether the Tang dynasty's army caught the pirates or not, the villagers who provided clues would be rewarded. Although the reward was not very high, it was still a good income for the poor villagers.
After analyzing the information from various sources, Ang Lee marked the locations of five or six pirate bases on the map, as well as the connections between them.
Because the situation in the mountains was more complicated, even the captured pirates could not clearly describe the situation in the mountains. Therefore, there was still a certain degree of uncertainty and some risk in going into the mountains.
However, the Tang dynasty's army was large in number. As long as many troops set out together and passed through the possible hiding places of the pirates one by one, they would always be able to catch the pirates hiding in the mountains.
In order to finish the job in one fell swoop, Ang Lee mobilized 5,000 troops and prepared to divide them into ten groups to launch a fierce attack on the pirates in the mountains.
In order to gather enough troops, the number of soldiers in all the villages was reduced by half, and the troops at each intersection were temporarily not moved. In this way, there was no pressure to gather 5,000 mobile troops.
In order to express his confidence in winning, Ang Lee planned to personally lead a group of troops to attack the remaining pirates in the mountains this time.
Before the battle, Ang Lee held a large-scale pledge meeting in the open area of the port. Not all of the 5,000 troops were present. Only a few hundred officers and soldiers were present. In addition, there were also port officials and merchants who attended the pledge meeting. The total number of people was estimated to be more than 2,000, so the scale was quite large.
The reason why he didn't have all the soldiers come to participate in the pledging ceremony was because they were going to attack from ten different directions. The departure point of each troop was different, and these troops were already gathered at their respective departure points. If he had them all come to participate in the pledging ceremony, it would delay the important matter.
The pledge meeting had a great effect of boosting morale, and Ang Lee, as the chief commander of the Tang Army, naturally had to say a few more words to boost the morale and let the soldiers fight bravely to eliminate all the remaining pirates in one fell swoop.
The merchants in the audience were the most excited. They eagerly looked at Ang Lee and the others on the stage. They were most eager to see the pirates completely eliminated, because pirates liked to rob rich merchants the most. Ordinary people did not have much money to be robbed at all.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the 5,000 troops of the Tang Dynasty have been assembled and will soon launch the final attack on the remaining pirates. This battle will be the last stop of the Tang Dynasty's troops against the pirates. It will definitely be a decisive battle. In this battle, the troops under my command will be divided into ten groups to attack. I will personally lead one group of troops and will not return until the pirates are eliminated."
Ang Lee promised righteously.
"The Tang Army is mighty. The Tang Army is mighty."
"The Tang Dynasty is sure to win. The Tang Dynasty is sure to win."
The onlooking merchants began to shout slogans randomly to express their inner excitement.
Li An didn't have much to say. After a simple speech, he ordered the army to move out; officially initiating the final battle against the remnants of the pirates.
Each group of troops had 500 soldiers, and Ang Lee personally led a group of troops with 100 guards. The total number of troops was 600, which was stronger than the other groups.
In addition, in order to prevent encountering unfavorable terrain for attack, each group of troops had an artillery team with 20 people and four horses to serve two cannons.
When the terrain was good, the cannons could be dragged by horses. When the terrain was bad, the cannons could be disassembled and tied to the horses' backs. If even the horses could not pass, the cannons would be carried by men.
When they first set out, Ang Lee could still take the armored car. Although the road was a little bumpy, there was still a way to go, which was very good.
After arriving at the foot of the mountain, Ang Lee found that the normal flat road had disappeared. He could not even see the road at all. If it were not for the captive pirates leading the way, no one would know that this was a road.
The road was uphill for a while and downhill for a while, and it was snake-shaped, without the slightest pattern to follow.
This caused the Tang soldiers following behind to curse and berate the captured pirates, wondering if they were purposely making things difficult for them. Why would there be such a difficult road to walk?
However, the captive pirates were really wronged. The road was so difficult to walk on. If the road was easy to walk on, their nest would have been discovered by the Tang Dynasty troops long ago.
Because the road was too difficult to walk on, the Tang Dynasty troops always avoided the difficult road when they went into the mountains to search. Therefore, they could not find the hiding place of the pirates for half a month.
Traveling on the rugged road was simply torture. The ordinary troops were better off, but the artillery troops were miserable. They had already disassembled the artillery and put it on the backs of the horses.
However, such a bad road put a lot of pressure on the horses. Moreover, the horses were equipped with artillery on their backs, which made it even more difficult to move on the rugged road.
However, in order to save manpower, as long as they could barely pass, they would not give up the horses. When going uphill and encountering difficult areas, there were often more than a dozen people pushing the horses together.
After Ang Lee got off the car, he also had a horse. After riding for a short time, he had to dismount and walk because the horse could not pass at all. His head kept hitting branches, which was too uncomfortable.
The deeper they went into the mountains, the more rugged the road became. In the end, even the horses could not pass. The vertical slope of 60 degrees was impossible for any horse to climb over. Only people could climb over it. When people climbed over it, they had to rely on the help of ropes to walk safely. Without the help of ropes, they might accidentally fall from above and be smashed to pieces.
"Assistant Minister Li, the road ahead is getting more and more difficult. It's better if you don't go! This subordinate will lead the army to wipe out the pirates. "
Seeing that there was a steep mountain ahead that needed to be climbed, a captain spoke up.
Ang Lee had not climbed a mountain for a long time, so climbing it was more difficult. However, since they had agreed to set off, they could not give up halfway. Otherwise, they would be laughed at by the soldiers.
"When this official took the oath, I had already stated that I would personally lead the troops to exterminate the remaining pirates. Therefore, no matter how difficult the road ahead is, this official will not shrink back. If the soldiers can climb over a mountain, this official can also climb over it."
Ang Lee declared loudly.
"Assistant Minister Li, the road is really difficult. The horses can no longer move forward. Should the artillery follow?"
One of the cannoneers asked as he wiped the sweat off his forehead.
Ang Lee glanced at the artillery and asked, "Can you bring the artillery over the mountain?"
"We can, but it's very risky. If we're not careful, we might run and roll to the bottom of the mountain."
The artillery captain replied seriously.
Ang Lee thought for a moment and said, "It's hard to say what kind of enemy we'll encounter next. It's very likely that we'll need artillery support. Therefore, even if there are difficulties, you have to find a way to overcome them. Right, ten of you are in charge of one cannon. The pressure is too great. This official will transfer twenty guards to help you. This will also reduce the pressure on you."
"Many thanks, Assistant Minister Li. This subordinate will do his best."
The artillery captain felt very ashamed.
Ang Lee glanced at the mountain and thought carefully. Then, he said, "Don't use people to carry it. It's too dangerous. Use ropes to hang up the various parts of the cannon and the cannonballs. It'll be much safer this way."
"Yes, this subordinate understands."
The artillery captain hurriedly went to look for ropes.
Because they didn't expect the road to be so difficult, the artillery captain didn't prepare too many ropes. They only prepared a small number of ropes to fix the cannonballs on the backs of horses or men. If they wanted to drag the cannonballs from the bottom of the mountain to the top of the mountain, they would need longer ropes. They had to look for them.
Fortunately, the infantry soldiers in charge of opening the road prepared more ropes. The artillery captain quickly borrowed these ropes and asked a few people to climb to the top of the mountain. They tied one end of the ropes to a thick tree trunk and threw the other end down. The people below caught the ropes and tied the cannonballs.
Then, the people above pulled the ropes hard while the people below supported the cannonballs to prevent the cannonballs from getting caught on something.
In this way, with the efforts of 40 people, the two cannonballs were successfully carried to the top of the mountain. However, the road at the top of the mountain was not easy to walk on. They were almost walking on the ridge. It was easy to imagine how difficult it was. If they were not careful, they might fall to the bottom of the mountain and be smashed to pieces.
After walking for less than a mile on the rugged mountain ridge, there was a bottomless ditch in front of them. Above the ditch was a small wooden bridge that could only accommodate one person. As long as this small wooden bridge was burned down, no one would be able to pass through.
However, the pirates also needed to use this small wooden bridge to get out of the mountain, so naturally, they would not burn it. This allowed the Tang dynasty's troops to pass through smoothly.
In order to prevent too many people from crushing the small bridge, Ang Lee asked the soldiers to spread out and cross the bridge. The bridge could only accommodate five people at most. This should be enough.
"No wonder we couldn't find the pirates' hiding place. Look at this road. It's not a place for people to stay."
One of the captains complained.
"Along the way, we didn't find any beasts or fruit trees. These pirates are trapped in the mountain. Are they eating tree bark?"
Another person was puzzled.
"Who says there's no game? I just saw a rabbit."
"Oh, there's a rabbit. Are you sure?"
"Of course I'm not mistaken. It's a gray hare. I saw it clearly."
"I also saw a few birds flying in the sky."
Several captains chatted.
"There's a situation. There's an arrow tower ahead."
A soldier ran back to report.
When they heard that there was an arrow tower, everyone was very excited. This meant that they were very close to the place where the pirates were hiding. Soon, they would be able to complete the task of killing them.
However, after seeing the terrain, the soldiers all sucked in a breath of cold air.
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