Although the equipment of the Tang Dynasty soldiers and horses is quite advanced, far stronger than the weapons possessed by pirates, and the range of bows and crossbows is also higher, these are not enough to make up for the disadvantages of the terrain.

Because the road was rugged and difficult, when entering the mountain, all the powerful heavy equipment was left, and the soldiers could only choose to move lightly, and even the larger shields had to be left at the bottom of the mountain, and a lot of equipment was left on the way.

The vanguard soldiers and horses responsible for pathfinding have only small round shields, and such equipment cannot effectively resist the attacks of pirates.

Therefore, the forward soldiers and horses in charge of exploring the road could only stop, choose to wait, and tell the troops behind to ask for reinforcements from the artillery officers.

At the time of departure, they knew that the army was carrying two guns and was at the back of the line, and it was time for these guns to come into play.

"Why did the team stop, what happened?"

Seeing that the team suddenly stopped, Li An asked.

A lieutenant ran over and said, "Li Shilang, the pirate arrow tower has been found in front, the location is quite special, if our army forcibly attacks, there will be at least dozens of casualties, and the cooperation of artillery is needed." ”

Hearing this, Li An glanced back behind him and said, "The artillery is still behind, it will arrive soon, let's go and have a look." ”

After speaking, he walked forward and prepared to personally inspect the enemy's situation.

"Li Shilang, it is the arrow tower in front of you that has blocked the way for the soldiers to advance, and our army lacks heavy equipment, so it is difficult to attack."

The subordinate spoke.

Li Ang picked up the binoculars and launched a reconnaissance of the pirate arrow tower eight hundred steps ahead.

"There are not many pirates, only five or six people, it is six people, and the weapons are bows and arrows and stones, which are indeed easy to cause a lot of damage to our soldiers, and the road is not wide, so many soldiers and horses of our army cannot rush up, and it is indeed the best way to use artillery bombardment."

After personally seeing the situation on the other side, Ang Lee said approvingly.

"Li Shilang, the captured guy said, this hiding place is the one with the largest number of pirates, it is estimated that there are forty or fifty people, as long as they can take the arrow tower in front, all forty or fifty people will not be able to escape."

The subordinate spoke.

Li An thought for a moment and said, "There is a better way to let the captured pirates persuade them to surrender, if they can take the initiative to surrender, then it would be the best." ”

"Persuade them to surrender, will they really sneak attack?"

The subordinates couldn't believe it, and in the end, the rest were the strongest bandits, and their own strength was relatively strong, and after Datang publicly executed a large number of captured pirates, they were even more afraid to surrender, but it always didn't matter if they tried.

Soon, several captured pirates who were responsible for leading the way, escorted by a number of Tang Army soldiers, walked forward step by step, ready to persuade the pirates in the arrow tower.

Outside the range of bows and arrows, they began to shout, demanding that the pirates of the arrow tower lay down their arms and come out to surrender to the Tang Dynasty.

Li An carefully observed with a telescope and found that these guys were quite excited, but they seemed a little manic and desperate, but they had no intention of surrendering.

Soon, several arrows were fired, expressing the attitude of the pirates, and due to their range, they did not harm anyone.

"Li Shilang, it seems that these guys are looking for death, there is no need to give them another chance, let them fend for themselves."

The subordinates said angrily when they saw that arrows were actually shot from inside the arrow tower.

Li An glanced back, saw that the artillery and equipment were almost there, and said, "Let the soldiers get out of some places, the artillery is coming." ”

Soon, all the equipment and ammunition for both guns were ready, and the artillery team was saluting Ang Lee as a sign of respect.

"Set up artillery right here, and target the pirate arrow tower ahead."

Li An opened his mouth and ordered.

The artillery team glanced at the target and reassured: "Li Shilang, don't worry, a few shots can kill them." ”

It didn't take long to assemble the gun, and it didn't take long for the gun to be assembled, angled, and ready to fire.

Because the accuracy of the artillery at this time is not very high, and it is not possible to ensure a single hit, it is necessary to calibrate the fire first, and even then, it is necessary to shoot several times before it is possible to cause a hit.

"Li Shilang, the artillery has been adjusted in place, do you want to open fire?"

The artillery team asked confidently.

Li An ordered: "Don't worry, let the captured pirates persuade them to surrender again, and tell these guys that if they don't surrender immediately, our artillery will blow them all to pieces." ”

"The pirates are so faceless, the artillery is ready, do you still need to give them a chance?"

The artillery team had wasted all their strength to bring the artillery up, and if the pirate had surrendered, he would have worked in vain.

Li An saw the concern of the artillery team, and said: "The pirates have refused to surrender just now, and the artillery is in place at this moment, if the pirates can surrender, it is also the credit of the artillery, and this official will give you credit, and you have not worked in vain." ”

The persuasion in front of him began again, but it did not seem to have any effect, and after a long time of persuasion, the pirate still held on to the arrow tower, and even threw a large stone to show his attitude.

"It seems that these guys are determined to fight to the end, what are you waiting for, open fire."

Ang Lee's patience is also limited and will not give the pirates too many chances.

"Fire, fire."

The soldiers were all quite excited, they were all infantry, and they liked to watch the scene of the artillery firing the cannon the most, they thought it was very exciting, and it would greatly reduce their casualties, so why not.

The artillery team is taking the soldiers and horses under its command and starting the final preparations before the cannon is fired.

"Boom, boom, boom......"

Two guns opened fire one after the other, firing angry shells at the pirate turrets in front.

The first round of firing did not have the slightest effect, both shells missed and exploded in the treetops in front of the turret, stirring up a lot of smoke.

Li An saw clearly with the binoculars, and although he missed, the pirates in the arrow tower were all frightened, and their expressions were quite nervous, so they almost ran away.

"Missed, keep reloading."

The artillery team missed the target and continued to command.

"Boom, boom, boom......"

After several successive shots, the turret was hit by artillery and immediately fell apart.

"Roar, Roar, Roar, ......Roar, Roar, Roar, Roar, T

Seeing that the pirate arrow tower that stood in the way was hit, all the soldiers shouted for joy.

Li An nodded with satisfaction and praised: "The artillery has made the first contribution, and the soldiers immediately attacked and took the hill ahead." ”

"Kill ......"

The two hundred officers and men of the Tang Army in the vanguard rushed forward with shouts and killed the hill in front.

The distance of 800 paces can be reached quickly for the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty, and it didn't take long for the military flag of the Tang Dynasty to be planted on the ruins of the pirate arrow tower, and the soldiers shouted and cheered.

"Not bad! All six pirates were killed, and none remained, but the cannon was so loud that the pirates behind must be on guard. ”

Ang Lee walked up to the ruins and saw the bodies of six pirates.

"Li Shilang, passing through the woods in front is the pirate's lair, they must have gotten the news a long time ago, and it is estimated that they slipped away from the back path."

The subordinate said.

"It's best to escape, as long as they escape, they will definitely crash into the arms of another group of our army, they can't escape, today is their death day."

Li An said excitedly.

Before leaving, all the situations were taken into account by Li An, no matter where the remnants of the pirates fled, they would definitely not be able to escape the siege of the Tang Dynasty, and the final solution was to be completely annihilated, and no one could change all this.

"Order the army to speed up the assault and occupy the pirate camp in one fell swoop."

Ang Lee gave the order loudly.

The vanguard lightly armed soldiers and horses marched quickly, and soon disappeared into the dense forest of the forward, and the follow-up soldiers and horses also accelerated their march, and there was a pirate's secret camp not far ahead, and the soldiers were all very excited, and they all wanted to see what the pirate's largest secret camp looked like.

"Empty camp, it's actually an empty camp."

The Tang Dynasty soldiers who were the first to rush into the pirate camp looked a little disappointed, no, they should be very disappointed, they originally planned to cut off a few more heads to add some credit to themselves, but the pirates all ran away, there was no one in the secret camp, and in addition, there was no property in the secret camp that they could look at.

When they first captured the port, the soldiers seized a lot of wealth, and everyone was very excited, because it meant that they could get a large reward, and the price they paid was not high, and this time, they wasted a lot of effort and took the difficult road to enter the pirate camp, and the hard work was much higher than when they attacked the port, and the gains were completely nothing, and they did not get any benefit.

"What are you still doing in a daze, go and report to Li Shilang."

The leading young general said loudly.

Soon, the news reached Ang Lee's ears.

"What, the pirates really ran away, and there was nothing in the camp?"

Li An said very suspiciously, and immediately quickened his pace.

When I walked into the secret camp, I saw that there was really nothing, not even a few daily necessities, and even the secret camp itself did not have any decent buildings.

There were only a dozen rather low houses in the whole camp, each of which was small and inconspicuous, and the outside of the house was camouflaged, so that even if you stood relatively close, it was difficult to see, or even if you did, you couldn't figure out what it was.

Ang Lee walked into one of the largest of the houses and found that there was no decent furniture in the house, only two simple beds, a table for eating, four small chairs, and a few knick-knacks, but there was really nothing else.

The rest of the houses are also poorly equipped, with one of the smallest houses being a kitchen, but there is no food at all in it, only a small amount of firewood.

Li An couldn't smell the slightest taste of food in the whole camp, I really don't know what these guys usually eat, could it be that they eat tree bark and leaves.

"Li Shilang, my subordinates have checked it many times, and there is nothing useful in the pirate camp, just a few broken houses, it is better to burn them on fire!"

One of the subordinates suggested.

Li An waved his hand, shook his head and said: "No, the trees here are too dense, it would be bad if you accidentally caused a forest fire, the wood here is very beneficial to the construction of the port in Datang, you can't burn it all at once, then the loss will be too great." ”

For the forest resources near the port, Li An has always paid great attention to protection, because these trees are all good timber, which has a great effect on the construction of the harbor in Datang, and naturally cannot but protect, if it is not for the protection of these trees, Li An does not need to spend so much effort to exterminate the pirates, just set a mountain fire, as long as all the trees are burned, then, the pirates will immediately have nowhere to hide, and it is not too easy to fight.

"What Li Shilang said is that if there is a fire, it will be troublesome, and it is the subordinates who have not considered it."

The subordinates hurriedly admitted their mistakes.

"These pirates are so strong! There is nothing in the camp, and you still don't go down the mountain to surrender? ”

Li An couldn't help but admire these pirates a little, and felt that they were quite strong, in fact, these are all villains who have done a lot of bad things, and they are afraid that they will not escape death after surrendering, so it is better to stay in the mountains, in case, they can hold out until the main force of the Tang Dynasty withdraws, and they will be safe.

Of course, the pirates' wishful thinking failed, and the Tang soldiers and horses had to stay around the port for much longer than they thought, and their end had come.

"Report, Li Shilang, found traces of the pirate's escape."

A lieutenant ran over to report.

When Li An heard this, he strode forward and waved his hand: "Let's go, go over with this official and have a look." ”

The location where the pirate's whereabouts were found was not far from the pirate camp, and Ang Lee went over to see it himself, and there were many fresh footprints there, which were enough to prove that the pirate fled from there, and the direction of the shoes revealed the direction of the pirate's escape.

"Leave a hundred men to rest, and the rest of the army will catch up with the officer, and these pirates will not be given a chance."

Leaving the opening, he ordered.

The terrain in the mountains is more complicated, so in many cases, it is necessary to rely on the division of troops to ensure that all the pirates are controlled to transfer the passages, so that the pirates become turtles in the urn, and there is nowhere to hide.

Ang Lee personally led the army to pursue the pirates in the direction where they fled, and the other army was also approaching the mountain, as long as the two armies were approaching step by step, the remnants of the pirates would have nowhere to hide, and they would eventually be ruthlessly eliminated.

There were not many places with silt, and soon the army could not find the direction to follow, or even the way at all, and the situation fell into difficulty.

When people are in a dense forest, it is difficult to distinguish the direction, and it is completely unclear what is in the southeast, northwest, and northwest.

"Li Shilang, we should go in that direction, I can't figure out the direction at all!"

One of his subordinates looked a little panicked.

Li An wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead, he was also at a loss, fortunately, he brought multiple compasses with him when he set off, as long as he took out the compass, he would be able to separate the direction.