Li An sent three thousand dragon warriors to support the vanguard legion pursuing the pirates, to ensure that the elite Tang army fighting in front was twice the strength of the pirates, and in the case of absolute superiority in equipment and troops, it must be easy to fight pirates.

The remaining 3,000 dragon warriors began to clean up the battlefield in an all-round way, remove the corpses of the pirates killed in battle, guard the captured pirates, search house by house to avoid slipping through the net, count the loot, and see how many looted materials have been hoarded in the pirate's lair.

After a search of a large number of houses and pirate ships, the Tang army once again captured more than a hundred pirates who had slipped through the net, and these guys thought that they could avoid the Tang army's search by hiding in the corner, which was simply whimsical.

"Big brother, these pirates are so rich! It's no less than what the white wolf robbed, the food alone is enough for 50,000 deniers, and the gold, silver and jewelry are countless, and now they are all ours, haha! ”

Li Feiyu reported excitedly.

Li An also smiled happily, and asked casually, "Has the princess of Wenguo found it?" ”

"Big brother, look, the little lady who is walking should be the princess of Wenguo."

Li Feiyu raised his eyes and saw the envoy of Wenguo coming over with a little lady, and he could think with his ass that this person must be the princess of Wenguo.

Li An smiled: "Yes, I finally found it, looking at her walking posture, I know that she is a beauty." ”

"If the eldest brother likes it, why don't you take it!"

Li Feiyu said with a smile.

Li An thought for a moment, shook his head and said, "It looks too small, I guess it's still a child?" How can the eldest brother bear to do it, haha! ”

As he spoke, the envoys of the Wen Kingdom had already walked over with their beautiful princess and bent down to salute Ang Lee.

"Thank you Li Shilang for saving your life, Angel is grateful."

Princess Wenguo's voice is very sweet, and at first glance she is a happy little princess who has lived in a happy and comfortable environment since she was a child.

Li An bowed his head slightly, and said softly: "Princess Angel, how old is you?" ”

"It's already twenty-eight."

Angel replied directly.

"Fang is twenty-eight years old, it is the best age in life, Princess Angel is really beautiful, even more beautiful than the princess of the Tang Dynasty."

Li An said sincerely.

"Really?"

Princess Angel was very happy, paused, and said excitedly: "I will go to Chang'an City soon, and I will definitely visit the princess of Datang when the time comes, and see if what you say is true." ”

Seeing that Angel's little eyes were full of shrewdness, Li An knew that this little guy was not so easy to fool, so he smiled and said: "Chang'an City is far away, and the princess is frightened again, so it's better to rest for a few days before setting off!" ”

The island is so big, and the pirates have been in business for so many years, if you want to completely eliminate this group of pirates, it will definitely take a lot of time and energy, and it may not be able to do it in three or five days, so it is not bad to let this little beauty stay with her, besides, such a young child is so frightened, and it also takes some time to calm down.

Angel blinked his eyes and nodded, "Okay! I was also trying to stay and see how the bad guys who captured me got caught. ”

As she spoke, Princess Angel looked very angry, as if she hated the pirate who had captured her.

Li An suddenly thought of a very serious question, and hurriedly asked, "Princess Angel, this group of pirates didn't bully you, right?" ”

Angel shook his head and said: "Their leader is called Wolf One, and he said that he would sacrifice me to the big brother of the black wolf to warm the bed, so he ordered all the pirates not to touch me, and give me good food, which is not bad for me, but they are bad people after all, and they killed more than a hundred soldiers of my country, and I still can't forgive them." ”

After saying that, Angel clenched her pink little fists, eager to beat up all the pirates to relieve the hatred in her heart.

Li An put his mind at ease, looked at Angel's appearance, and felt funny, and hurriedly comforted: "Don't worry, princess, five thousand pirates have been annihilated by our army, two thousand, and there are three thousand pirates left, there is nothing to fear, or it won't be long before the wolf that the princess hates will be captured by my Tang army, and then let him go with the princess, okay." ”

Princess Angel was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly said, "Why did you let him go with me?" ”

Li An knew that the little girl's reaction would not be so fast, and said: "Such a wicked pirate leader, naturally he will be escorted to Chang'an City and handed over to His Majesty to dispose of, isn't the princess also going to Chang'an City, just on the same road!" ”

Princess Angel's eyes lit up, and she hurriedly said: "Then I will definitely humiliate this pirate halfway, and I won't let him have a good life." ”

"Haha! It's all up to the princess. ”

Li Ang laughed a few times and picked up a telescope to observe the battle situation in the distance.

At this time, the Tang army's soldiers and horses had advanced to the inland of the island for more than ten miles, but because the terrain in the depths of the island was relatively rugged and there were more trees, the pirates would also set up obstacles, which greatly restricted the movement of the ironclad artillery vehicles, and if the soldiers did not have the cover of heavy force, the attack would inevitably be hindered, and the progress would gradually slow down.

"Li Shilang, most of the pirates are fleeing to the mountainous area with the highest terrain, which is very unfavorable to the attack of our army, the ironclad artillery truck can't drive in at all, the pirates also set up a strong checkpoint on the road into the mountain, the cannon can't be opened, and the forward battalion has suffered many casualties."

A general who was wounded by an arrow on the battlefield, after retiring, complained in front of Li An.

Li An smiled faintly and said: "It seems that the official underestimated these pirates, they even have a back road ready, and if they can't beat it, they will run into the mountains, and they have set up checkpoints, which is amazing!" ”

"Big brother, the pirates' checkpoints are all built on the mountain, which is extremely easy to defend and difficult to attack, and it is inevitable that the attack will be frustrated."

Li Feiyu said.

Li An nodded and ordered: "Order the troops of the Heavenly Army, immediately take off to reconnoitre, check the deployment of the pirates from the air, and let's go to the front to have a look." ”

"Li Shilang, I'm going to go ahead too."

Princess Wenguo ignored the opposition of her subordinates and resolutely asked to watch the battle.

Li An wanted to refuse, but he went by himself, what danger could there be? At most, the pirate's weapons are swords and crossbows, and the threat is really not that big, and Ang Lee will not run into the range of the pirates.

"Alright! However, the princess must not run around, and must follow me closely. ”

Li An agreed with a smile, and took Princess Wenguo to the front line to watch the battle.

In the continuous offensive and defensive battles, the Tang army achieved certain results, conquered many passes set up by pirates, annihilated and captured a number of pirates, and greatly boosted morale.

Looking at the dozens of ironclad artillery trucks parked at the foot of the mountain, Li An frowned, without the support of heavy weapons, the front troops will inevitably face great difficulties in attacking the fortified battle, and it is easy to cause casualties.

"Big brother, the artillery brigade under the command of my Longwu Army has been reinforced, and they will assist the forward battalion in attacking."

Li Feiyu reported that in the rugged terrain, the ironclad artillery truck could not do anything, but the artillery could still be transported, after all, the size of the artillery was much smaller than the ironclad artillery car, and it only needed the joint efforts of men and horses to be able to transport it up the mountain.

"Pirates only have cold weapons with a limited range, so there's nothing to worry about, let's go up the mountain and take a look."

Li An led the group along the fairly stable mountain road, step by step along the mountain road, ready to move closer to the forefront.

"Work hard, work hard, it's going to come up."

On the way, Li An saw five soldiers and a group of horses, dragging the artillery with all their might, and the dragged artillery wheels were stuck in a large pit, and they were trying to find a way to drag the artillery out in time to reinforce the attacking troops in front.

Li An glanced at him and asked the guards beside him to help, and after a dozen guards joined, the artillery that was deep in the pit was finally pulled out and continued to pull up the mountain.

More than a dozen guards also consciously took up weapons and filled the big pit, so as not to affect the actions of the follow-up soldiers and horses.

The mountain road is rugged and difficult, and from time to time you will step on the potholed ground, and the mountain road will go up and down for a while, which is a great test of people's physical strength.

Although Ang Li has not endured hardships for a long time, the foundation of his body is still there, and he doesn't feel how hard it is, but Princess Angel is a little tired, and the more she walks, the more she pants, and she beats her legs from time to time.

Walking to a small peak, Li An stopped, three miles ahead is the battlefield of the battle, and standing in this place, you can clearly see the whole picture of the battlefield.

More than a hundred pirates were entrenched on high places, and with the unique terrain advantage, they occasionally shot arrows and threw stones downward, while the soldiers of the forward battalion below felt the pressure, and there were so many arrows stuck in their shields that they could not attack at all.

In this case, the forward battalion must have called for artillery support, and the artillery of the artillery brigade was also in place in time, and there were as many as three guns, and the method of continuous fire was adopted to bombard upwards.

After the shells were fired, most of them failed to hit the vital points, some hit the trees along the way, blowing the trunks to pieces, some flew over the pirates' heads and failed to cause real damage to the pirates, and some hit the rocks directly in front of the pirates, sending the rocks flying in all directions.

In short, the continuous firing of the three guns failed to repel the more than 100 pirates entrenched in the high places, nor did they inflict much damage on the pirates, and most of them were empty.

However, the officers and men of the forward battalion of the Tang Army were shot and wounded, and the rest held their shields and cautiously moved forward.

A large stone tumbled down, and the shield-wielding men of the forward battalion were forced to retreat, again suffering many casualties.

Li An looked at it for a long time and found a very serious problem, that is, the position where the pirates were entrenched was very special, and the artillery attack effect was very poor, because these cannons invented by Li An were all bulky direct-fire artillery, especially close-range shooting, proper direct fire.

If you want to achieve a curved shot, you can only take a long shot, and the accuracy of the long shot is much worse, and it is even more difficult to deal with the pirate centaurs in a special position.

At this moment, if there is a mortar, it can use the pirates entrenched in high places as a live target, but it is a pity that the current technology is still relatively backward, and there is no such artillery based on curved fire.

"Big brother, the pirates are hiding in a depression in the heights, and our artillery can't hit them at all! The forward battalion also suffered dozens of casualties, and it has not been able to attack it for so long, so it is better to let the elite of the Longwu Army fight! ”

Li Feiyu watched it for a long time, very helpless, and at the same time very angry, the elite soldiers and horses of the Tang Dynasty were actually blocked by more than a hundred pirates for so long, and Princess Wenguo was still watching from the side? This is somewhat of a loss of face.

At this moment, several planes of the Celestial Army flew overhead and continued to fly deeper into the island to explore the terrain of the entire island and the characteristics of the pirate defense, so as to prepare for the next step of clearing out all the pirates.

"Is this the only way up the mountain?"

Ang Lee picked up the binoculars and looked around.

"Whether there are other ways up the mountain, we don't know, but before, the main pirate force fled from here, at least one or two thousand."

One of the troops replied.

Li An saw that the forward battalion attacking the strong stronghold had suffered a lot of losses, and ordered: "Stop the attack, retreat a few hundred steps back and set up camp, trap these damned pirates, there is no food, this officer does not believe that they will not surrender." ”

Although there must be fruits and game in the mountains, the quantity must be limited, and it is absolutely impossible to feed thousands of people, so Li An is not in a hurry, after being extremely hungry, these pirates will obediently come out and surrender, after all, the core port and camp have been firmly controlled by the Tang army, and these pirates hiding in the mountains are no longer afraid.

Under Li An's order, all the pursuing soldiers and horses of the five routes stopped the pursuit and camped nearby, waiting for further military orders from Li An.

And after Li An returned to Pingdi, he was not in a hurry to give orders, he had to do two things, the first was to wait for the reconnaissance intelligence of the Heavenly Army, to understand the distribution characteristics of pirates on this huge island, as well as the terrain and topography of the entire island, and the second was to interrogate those captured pirates and get the information they needed from their mouths.

The investigation of the Heavenly Army takes time, and it also takes time to interrogate pirates, but the number of captured pirates is very large, and there are always some guys who are afraid of death and want to make meritorious contributions as soon as possible to atone for their crimes, so the information obtained from the interrogation of pirates came quickly, and after passing a certain verification, it was reported to Li An's hands.

"Li Shilang, the pirates have many caves in the deep mountains where they store grain, and the grain and grass they have hoarded are enough for them to consume for three or five months, which is beyond our previous expectations, and it will not be easy to trap them."

A ministry general reported.

Li An was stunned for a moment, and couldn't help but feel a little irritable in his heart, these pirates had already prepared, and prepared a large amount of grain and grass in the depths of the island, in order to guard against the Tang Navy, in addition to the Tang Navy, what other strength could they be sent into the mountains.

"Big brother, the pirates have plenty of food and grass, our army still has to continue the attack, and the casualties in this battle are estimated to be small."

Li Feiyu said helplessly.

"There is no need to rush to attack, wait for the reconnaissance of the Celestial Army first, they look down from the sky, and some of the terrain they see may not even be clear to the pirates themselves."

Li An said lightly.