The protagonist is wrapped in a thick cotton-padded coat made of plant fiber, swaying slightly in the wind. If he hadn't been strong enough to grasp the gaps between the bark of the tree, the ordinary ants would have been blown away.
The reason why he braved the biting cold wind to come to this branch every day was to watch the movements of the river and the other side of the river. This branch facing north is the closest point in "Linshui City" to the north bank of the river.
Although the river is not completely frozen at the moment, a large amount of ice has begun to appear in the river in the past few days due to the sub-zero temperature at night. These icicles also mean that the freezing period of the river has officially begun.
The process from the beginning to the end of freezing of water bodies such as rivers is called the freezing period. The freezing period does not start when the entire river or lake is completely frozen, but is judged as the critical moment when the ice formation forms.
River flow is the initial stage when rivers begin to freeze. Due to the flow of river water, the process of freezing of running water is completely different from that of standing water. Because running water is in a flowing state, the river mixing effect and turbulence are strong. Not only the surface layer cools quickly, but the bottom layer also cools down at the same time. The water surface and the inside of the water can freeze almost at the same time. Therefore, river freezing occurs on the surface and in the water at the same time. Before freezing, the upper and lower parts of the river can reach roughly the same temperature. As long as there are crystallization nuclei, freezing can begin anywhere. Observational results have found evidence of the existence of bottom ice, which also makes this theory possible.
Generally, there are two situations when rivers freeze: one starts from the shore, first forms bank ice, develops toward the center of the river, and gradually merges into an ice bridge. The width of the ice bridge expands, causing the entire river surface to freeze. Another type is that after drifting ice forms an ice dam in a narrow or shallow part of a river, the ice blocks quickly freeze between each other and between the ice blocks and the river bank, and expand upward against the flow, freezing the entire river surface.
Although the big river has a grand name, it is at best a small ditch in the human world. Therefore, its river surface area and water capacity are not enough to support the temperature difference between different water bodies within its water body.
Therefore, the freezing process of a large river starts from the river bank. The currents gradually accumulate on the relatively cold bank, and solidify to form fixed ice blocks. Then the ice surface continues to expand, and finally joins from both banks to the center of the river, completing the freezing.
Now, there is a large area of ice on both sides of the river. It seems that within a few days, there will be a passage on the entire river that is enough to pave the way for the ant barbarian army.
The enemy across the river has not been idle these days. Except when the weather is bad, the protagonist will go to the branches to watch the enemy's movements every day.
And these pavement ant barbarian armies always climb to the ground and move around when the protagonist observes them - that is, during the sunny day, and hibernate on cloudy or windy days.
Their activities are not for the purpose of foraging like they do in other seasons. After all, it is difficult to find food on the ground in winter, and the food stored in the Pavement Ant Nest is enough for most of the Pavement Ant barbarian warriors to survive until spring.
The protagonist noticed that the outings of the Pavement Ant barbarian warriors were more like sunbathing and adapting to the cold wild environment.
When they first came out of the nest, these pavement ant barbarian warriors generally acted stiffly, similar to the behavior of big-headed ants that suffered from freezing in winter. It seems that the insulation measures at their forward base were not very complete. These pavement ants last night He was also very cold.
But after lying quietly in the sun for a while, these ants began to become lively and energetic, almost as dexterous and agile as in summer. The protagonist thinks it's the heat of the sun that recharges them.
As temperature-changing creatures, pavement ants, like big-headed ants, do not have their own body temperature regulation mechanism. They can only rely on their own behavior to regulate the dissipation of body heat or absorb heat from the external environment to increase their own body temperature.
When the temperature of the external environment decreases, the metabolic rate of the ants also decreases, and the body temperature gradually decreases. So they burrow underground or in caves to escape the cold winter.
Pavement ants obviously have another choice. They are dark in color and can make good use of the radiant heat in the sun. When they sunbathe, their body temperature begins to rise, their metabolic rate also rises, and they begin to change. Be flexible and agile.
This is very similar to cold-blooded animals such as snakes and crocodiles. They also need to bask in the sun in the morning to increase their body temperature before they can move. Therefore, they are almost always active during the day and rest at night.
The protagonist guesses that this is the secret why the pavement ant barbarian army can move freely in the wild during the day in winter. The big-headed ants are lighter in color, so even if they follow the gourd, the effect will not be that good.
Some people may ask, if the temperature is so low in winter, can the bodies of ants be warmed up quickly just by the heat of the sun?
In fact, everyone ignores the huge energy contained in the sun in winter.
In 1930, the "Gauss" expedition ship was blocked by vast amounts of ice and snow in Antarctica. The crew could not break open the thick ice by ramming, chopping, sawing, and smashing. Even using explosives to blast it was of no avail. Until they spread coal dust and black ash on the ice, the ice melted the next day and created a channel wide enough for ships to pass.
In most parts of the earth, there is more sunshine in winter than in Antarctica, so in winter, people who install solar water heaters can also take hot baths.
The energy contained in the winter sun is completely enough to support a well-fed and well-fed little ant to carry out activities throughout the day.
The pavement ant barbarian army on the other side of the river is constantly adapting to the daytime temperature. At the same time, many scouts climb onto the ice from time to time, constantly exploring the width of the ice.
Due to poor eyesight, especially static vision, these scouts could not rely on sight to determine the extent of river ice. So these scouts will crawl all the way to the edge of the ice, stopping only when they hit the cold water. The scouts then leave semaphores on the edge of the ice and begin to move along them. Over time, the semaphores outline the topography of the ice edge.
Finally, the scouts brought the information back to their king. The king of the Pavement Ant Barbarians can constantly assess the exact time to launch the attack.
The protagonist estimates that this time will not exceed a week, and the second battle between the God Envoy King's army and the Pavement Ant Barbarian Army is imminent.
Last time, relying on the protagonist's tactics, the Angel King's army and allied forces almost completely annihilated the Pavement Ant barbarian army on the south bank of the river. Today, the God Envoy King's army is stronger and stronger, but the number of the Pavement Ant Barbarian Army is also far greater than last time. The Legion of the God Envoy King has a strong and well-equipped fortress for defense, but the harsh winter is a natural ally of the Pavement Ant Barbarians.
This time, who will win?
