According to the confessions of the captured pavement ant workers, the protagonist learned that the number of pavement ant barbarian troops stationed in this lost sub-nest was indeed small. There was only one legion of 2,500 soldiers, which could be called an empty defense.
However, there are three queen ants stationed here, and they are constantly producing new ant eggs.
In addition to filling in the attrition of the local legion due to various reasons, the newly born and adult pavement ant warriors will be sent south to supplement the losses on the battlefield.
At the same time, the lost sub-nest will also transport most of the food collected to the south, leaving only the food rations for other ants to make ends meet and the consumption required by the queen.
This basically confirmed the protagonist's previous guess.
The protagonist then breaks the neck of the captured pavement ant worker and discards the body haphazardly.
As the pavement ant workers explained just now, the death and disappearance of worker ants when they go out to work is a very common thing. A fierce insect, a small-scale disaster or even a strong wind may cause their death.
Therefore, the disappearance of this worker ant will not alert the pavement ant barbarian army, and the protagonist does not even need to bother to dispose of her body. Even if her body is found, other pavement ants will randomly discard it in the ant cemetery, and even take the body back to eat due to food shortage, but will never carefully examine her wounds and cause of death. In this world of ants, there are no forensics or police.
The protagonist then flew north. He looked for an opportunity to capture a prisoner at the second and northernmost trapped sub-nest, and interrogated him in the same way.
What this worker ant learned was basically similar to that of the previous captive. The difference was that the protagonist learned that there were actually ten pavement ant queens stationed in the lost nest.
After getting the desired result, the protagonist also executed the pavement ant worker.
Killing her did not bring any psychological burden to the protagonist. The protagonist does not think that these ants are his own kind, and crushing an ant has always been synonymous with "easy" in the eyes of humans.
Perhaps only Buddhists value the life power of ants, but the protagonist is not a believer in a religion, and does not need to follow these rules. When he comes to this world, perhaps the best way to survive is to be a complete pragmatist and utilitarian. method.
Based on the information obtained, the protagonist pieced together the overall strategy of this barbarian army of paving ants marching south.
After the Pavement Ant Barbarian Army captured three sub-nests, they used the southernmost sub-nest as the main defensive position and assembled most of the troops, approximately more than 80,000.
In the two secondary nests in the north, only the most basic defense forces are left - one legion each.
The two auxiliary nests in the north serve as rear bases, constantly transporting newly adult warriors and collected food to the south to supplement the consumption of the first auxiliary nest.
In this way, the Pavement Ant Barbarian Army will be able to support it for a longer period of time, and may even cause immeasurable losses to the Big-headed Ant Kingdom Army.
Based on the distribution of the queen ants, the protagonist also saw a set of preparation plans for the ant barbarian army that was paving the way.
That is, once the southernmost secondary nest is lost, the two northern secondary nests will no longer need to provide food support. At this time, with a more abundant food supply, the two secondary nests can immediately increase the number of eggs laid by the local queen ants and quickly expand their military strength.
A pavement ant queen can maintain a production of 600 eggs a day for a period of time when food is abundant, which is three times the peak production of a big-headed ant queen.
As long as the big-headed ant kingdom army delays for a while, the queen ants in the two secondary nests in the north can quickly expand the strength of the ant barbarian army to pave the way.
Especially the lost nest in the far north, where ten queen ants are stationed, can lay up to 6,000 ant eggs a day, and the newborn ants will reach adulthood in half a month.
This also means that as long as the second fallen auxiliary nest holds back the Big-headed Ant Kingdom's army for ten days and a half, the northernmost fallen auxiliary nest can rebuild a large-scale army.
Of course, this plan also has limitations.
One limitation is the insufficient number of commanders. Although the pavement ant queen can also produce male ant eggs, the time for the wedding flight ceremony this year has passed, and the young male ants cannot reach adulthood and naturally cannot act as commanders.
But this restriction is not without solutions. Before the southernmost captured sub-nest is captured by the Big-headed Ant Kingdom Army, the Pavement Ant Barbarian Army is fully capable of organizing a breakout and moving the surviving kings and kings who have lost their subordinates to the rear. Command new legions and squads.
The second limitation is food.
Whether it is the consumption of the existing army of the southernmost sub-nest, or the future laying of a large number of eggs by the queens of the two northern sub-nests to rebuild the army, astronomical amounts of food are needed.
For these foods, it is not enough to rely solely on worker ants searching in the sub-nest territory. The power of natural disasters such as the severe late spring cold at the beginning of this year gradually emerged, and at the same time weakened the war potential of both the Big-headed Ant Kingdom and the Pavement Ant Barbarians.
Due to the obstruction of the river, the Pavement Ant barbarian army could only rely on the three sub-nests it occupied to support the consumption of this war. Among them, the southernmost sub-nest had been reduced to a battlefield and could not collect resources. This means that the Pavement Ant Barbarian Army can only rely on the resources of two sub-nests to support the combat consumption of nearly 100,000 troops.
The Big-headed Ant Kingdom Army has dozens of sub-nests throughout the kingdom to provide resources. The protagonist also provided the technology of breeding farms and farmland to the main nest this year. In terms of resources, the Big-headed Ant Kingdom Army has an unparalleled advantage.
No matter how sophisticated the strategic planning of the Pavement Ant Barbarian Army is, it cannot withstand the endless consumption. The victory of the Big-headed Ant Kingdom's army was a matter of time.
But what the protagonist needs is for the Big-headed Ant Kingdom's army to win in a shorter time and with smaller losses. In this way, the Big-headed Ant Kingdom's army can cross the river and pose a threat to the homeland of the Pavement Ant Barbarians.
After conducting a reconnaissance on the homeland of the Pavement Ant Barbarians, the protagonist realized how huge the territory and ant colony of the Pavement Ant Barbarians were, and how terrifying their war potential would be once fully mobilized.
Ironically, perhaps in the eyes of the pavement ant barbarians, the big-headed ants in the south are the real "barbarians".
Only by narrowing the balance of strength between the Big-headed Ant Kingdom and the Pavement Ant Barbarians can the protagonist's power expand rapidly in the cracks. The Big-headed Ant Kingdom is still a very important ally.
Based on this, the protagonist must help the Big-headed Ant Kingdom quickly win the war of recapture.
The protagonist has already found a way and a breakthrough.
Obviously, the two lost sub-nests in the north, which currently have weak defenses, are the breakthrough point.
Thinking of this, the protagonist immediately accelerated to fly south. He needed to contact the Big-headed Ant Kingdom Army to let the other party carry out his plan.
