The main force of the Pavement Ant Barbarians failed to seize "Linshui City" in a short time as planned in previous years, and then used this secondary nest with relatively complete facilities and ample space as a new garrison point, material warehouse and new As a result, the current temporary departure base often faces food shortages due to congenital defects.
The main solution for the Pavement Ant Barbarians is to transport supplies from their main nest, which is abundant in supplies, from time to time.
The main nest of the pavement ant barbarians is less than half a day away from this temporary starting base. When the weather is good, relying on the transportation team composed of pavement ant workers, this kind of transportation guarantee can be barely maintained.
The fully charged worker ant transport team must quickly complete the journey and return on the same day, otherwise it will be forced to camp in the wild on winter nights, which is absolutely a dead end.
And when the weather is bad, such as cloudy days without sunshine, it means that this kind of transportation will be forced to interrupt - without continuous charging of sunlight, pavement ant worker ants cannot move in the wild, which also means that the food storage at the starting base will be in a hurry.
When the first snowfall of this winter falls, it will be a major disaster for the already fragile logistics and transportation lines of the pavement ant barbarian army. Not only will the transportation lines be intermittent, it will also cause a large number of pavement ants. death.
The cause of death was not the cold. The simple starting base could barely maintain the troops' thermal insulation needs. It is not due to hunger. The food transport team organized by the main nest with all its strength has basically maintained the consumption of the departure base, and the ants will not be life-threatening if they are slightly hungry for a day or two.
The biggest casualties came from the damage to the grain transport team.
Due to the snowfall, the pavement ants' main nest and starting base can only send people to move towards each other at the same time. While clearing the snow, they pave the road with dark substances to use the heat of the sun to expand the width of the path and clear away stubborn ants. Ice and snow.
During this period, a large number of non-combat attrition occurred - many pavement ants suffered frostbite during construction. This frostbite was mainly caused by long-term exposure to ice and snow, which led to a rapid drop in body temperature. The energy obtained from the sun during the day was no longer enough to offset the loss of that time. part temperature. If they are not rescued by their companions in time, these frostbitten pavement ants will easily die. Although pavement ants have partially adapted to the winter climate, severe cold is still the most terrifying killer in their eyes.
Even after the road was completed, the grain and fodder transportation teams traveling on this road often lost a large number of manpower.
Ants are so small. Sometimes when a gust of wind blows in the wilderness, a large number of snow particles on the surface of the loose snow layer are blown onto the roads that have been cleared. It is easy for pavement ants to walk on such roads. It was stained with snow particles.
These snow particles immediately become the deadliest killer. When they melt, they will quickly absorb the heat from the pavement ants' bodies, causing them to freeze and suffer from frostbite. What adds fuel to the fire is that the exoskeletons of pavement ants do not have nerve tissue. They do not feel that they are stained with white death at all until their bodies become more and more stiff, and by then it is too late!
Fortunately, the pavement ants transport in groups, and everyone works hard to clear the snow from their companions, so the casualty ratio is controlled. Those who suffer from frostbite and freeze to death are often the unlucky ones at the end of the line who have no one to look after them.
Moreover, due to the low temperature, the speed of the food transport team of the Pavement Ant Barbarian Army was also greatly reduced. They had to divide their original one-day round trip into two days and spend one night at the departure base. This not only brings trouble to the already crowded departure base, but the lengthened journey obviously also increases the chance of damage to the transport team.
In just two transportations after heavy snowfall, the pavement ant barbarian army lost about hundreds of worker ants. Most of them died, or were abandoned due to factors such as being unable to be treated or being disabled after treatment.
The harsh winter weather caused the Pavement Ant Barbarian Army's logistical support to be intermittent. Many of the Pavement Ant Barbarian soldiers who attacked in the third wave could only eat half full, which reduced their combat effectiveness.
In order to maintain the food supply, when sending an army of appropriate size to continue attacking "Linshui City", the Pavement Ant Barbarian Army also had to dedicate a large number of manpower to foraging - foraging in winter.
This is not an easy task. If you are not careful, it is easy to cause a lot of damage due to freezing, and the nearby food fields that can be searched in winter are very limited.
The pavement ant barbarian warriors who went out for hunting basically moved along the road where the snow had been basically cleared. They searched everywhere as they walked, using their originally sharp tentacles that were now slightly less sensitive due to the cold. touch.
There are mainly two types of food they can find:
One type is insects that freeze to death in autumn and winter. The lifespan of most insects comes to an end when winter comes. Their corpses are well preserved by the low temperature in winter. The ants collect these already hard " frozen meat” and then transport it back to the lair to thaw, decompose and eat.
Finding these corpses is not just a matter of luck. The pavement ants have their own way of finding such food. Experienced pavement ants will leave the relatively safe road and risk opening new routes to some leeward and sunny rocks or rocks. People are then organized to excavate the trees, where there are often some insects spending the last days of their lives until death comes. Now this place has become the most popular "mine" for the ant barbarians, providing a lot of meat as a supplement to their food reserves.
There are also insect eggs buried underground, which insects try their best to preserve. The eggs are usually buried in the soil and wait in the relatively warm underground for hatching in spring.
Since insects generally bury their eggs underground by digging caves, laying eggs, and sealing caves, or use ovipositing tubes to directly inject eggs into the ground, pavement ants follow the steps of digging holes on the ground and laying eggs. A small hole is made in the egg tube to identify the location of the eggs.
Searching for eggs can only be done on the ground without snow, which results in very few eggs that can be harvested. Moreover, the eggs are rich in nutrients, so only the king and king of pavement ants can enjoy these foods.
Generally speaking, the food that the Pavement Ant Barbarian Army searches for in this way can only partially make up for the food gap caused by insufficient transportation capacity. Due to the harsh weather, the transportation team sent by the main nest cannot guarantee the frequency and quantity of transportation.
Under all kinds of difficulties, the commander of the Pavement Ant Barbarian Army also realized that it was not a good thing to be dragged on the north bank of the river again.
Now, the time has come for them to make up their minds.
