Early the next morning, the army came out of the nest one after another to assemble.
There were a total of five legions dispatched this time, and the legions of the God Envoy King were all elite. Including the First Legion, which has taken the lead in equipping gravel weapons and has five beetles. Except for the first legion, the other legions are the second to fifth legions, all of which are equipped with scythe-hunting ant scouts and gravel weapons.
These regiments went into battle for the first time after the military reforms in late autumn and winter last year. After several months of running-in training, their proficiency has reached the standard, but they have not yet experienced actual combat testing.
The protagonist personally leads the army this time, and also intends to inspect and accept the troops under his command.
As the male ant who is most familiar with the local situation, Nobita is also ordered to participate in the war. He follows the protagonist and has no direct military force. He is just a guide and staff officer.
There were 8,000 warriors in the five legions, and it took nearly an hour just to get out of the nest and assemble. This is because the main passage and entrance have been expanded to allow beetles to enter and exit. The current "Dongyang City" has the largest entrance and exit among all nests in the entire Big-headed Ant Kingdom.
When the entrance and exit were expanded, many male ants also opposed it. The entrances and exits of big-headed ant nests are often not large, which is due to military considerations. As a naturally warlike species, any ant nest has the possibility of entering a state of war at any time. The smaller the entrance and exit, although there are many inconveniences on weekdays, the better the defense effect can be in wartime - limiting the enemy. The side invests its troops and support speed in underground street fighting, giving full play to its home field advantage and local strength advantage.
The protagonist doesn't care. The God's Envoy King's army is very strong in field combat. As long as the numerical gap is not too disparate, there are almost no opponents on both sides of the river. And "Dongyang City" is also far away from the main enemy - the Pao Dao Barbarian Kingdom, and there will be no military threat in a short period of time.
From the perspective of the protagonist, if you just stick to any stronghold, even a world-famous fortified city, it will have its weaknesses. Only the combination of defense and mobility can achieve the best defense effect. In history, there are countless examples of failure to seize isolated cities, and there are also countless examples of successful mobile defense combined with internal and external forces. It is clear at a glance which tactics are better.
After the legions of the God Envoy King were assembled, they began to march southward one by one.
Rambofo's second army took the lead this time as the vanguard. He sent out two teams of one hundred hunting ant scouts. Although there were no other ant armies nearby that could pose a threat, Rambofo has always been like this. Meticulous, which is why the protagonist trusts him and entrusts him with important forward matters.
The army marched in columns behind the forward corps, first Rambovan's third corps, then Roll's first corps as the main center force and the protagonist's personal guards, and then Rambotu's fourth corps and the rear. Lambory's Fifth Legion.
The scout teams of each legion spread out to cover both wings of the marching column. Once there is an alarm, these scouts are responsible for warning and delaying the enemy's pace, buying time for the large troops to change formations.
The protagonist does not advance on foot this time, nor does he sit in a sedan chair. He rides on a Tempest to participate in the war.
As a jumping spider with an active nature, Tempest hides in the warm ant nest throughout the winter and does not need to find a place to hibernate to survive the cold winter. But the disadvantage of this is that it has nowhere to go and can only "stay" in its own stable, which is really uncomfortable.
Being able to travel far this time, Tempest simply got a chance to relax. If the protagonist hadn't been holding on to the reins, it would have climbed all the nearby trees.
As for Nobita, Hua Mulan and the Guards Squad soldiers, they can only walk. They often cannot catch up with the protagonist riding Tempest and can only follow the First Legion.
Fortunately, the protagonist does not need too much protection. As long as he is not trapped in a tight siege, with the protagonist's ability to "go down to earth", nothing in this insect world can threaten him.
The army soon arrived at its first destination - the "Southern Fortress". This was a fortress built to defend against attacks by parasitic ants. The entire body was made of ant concrete. Although it was small in size, it had a solid structure.
After the war, this place, like the "Transit Station", was not abandoned. There was also a team of retired soldier ants stationed here, commanded by a retired male ant.
This locust extermination war is very different from previous wars between ants. The protagonist has no experience and cannot predict the duration of the war.
His plan is to expand the "Transit Station" into a base that can accommodate all the troops, thereby clearing the nearby locust swarms for the stronghold, and the "Southern Fortress" will become the transfer point for "Dongyang City" to supply supplies to the front line.
A group of worker ant transport teams accompanying the army left a small portion of the supplies in the "Southern Fortress". And the army continued to advance.
In the afternoon, the army arrived at the "transit station", which was slower than the original hunting team.
This is because the hunting party can move forward lightly and is not easily hindered by the terrain.
The army needs a wider road to advance, and many terrains, rocks, and vegetation will become obstacles, and sometimes it has to be detoured.
At this time, the Beetle Legion also exposed one of its weaknesses - lack of mobility.
Ants can speed up and march for a certain period of time, but beetles are always leisurely. Although they are very obedient and will move in the direction specified by the driver, and can overcome many obstacles, their speed is always the same, unhurried and unhurried, and any urging measures will have no effect.
This is the disadvantage of castrated beetles. Although they are docile, they have no passion. But for mounts, the disadvantages outweigh the advantages.
After arriving at the "transit station", the protagonist took the legion commander and Nobita to meet with the older male ants and once again learned about the specific situation of the locust plague.
In the army, except for the first legion and the fifth legion responsible for the security mission, other legions and the worker ants accompanying the army began to invest in the construction.
At the beginning, the "transit station" was just a distribution center for supplies. The nest was not large in size and did not meet the requirements for stationing a large army.
With the possibility of fighting a long war, the protagonist decided to expand the "transit station" this time.
The Angel King's army moved very quickly, and with the cooperation of thousands of ants, by the time the sun set, the main structure of the nest was completed, enough to accommodate all the troops and supplies for the night.
Of course, the nest has not yet been completed, and supporting drainage facilities and other ancillary facilities have not yet been built. However, the rainy season is still early, and the worker ants still have enough time to complete the construction.
While the main work of the legion was under construction, the protagonist had already ended the meeting, and he decided to personally take a team of guards and a team of ant-hunting scouts to the pasture to see the specific situation of the locust infestation.
The older male ant was not suitable to serve as a guide due to his age and physical condition, so the male ant still accompanied him.
