Unlike in field battles, there are very few survivors of pavement ant defenders in nest defense battles, so pavement ant commanders rarely have the opportunity to understand the attacking warriors of this mysterious enemy and make targeted arrangements.
In field battles, although the mysterious ant's chaotic fighting method can disrupt the enemy, it cannot establish a complete encirclement by itself, giving the loser many opportunities to escape.
However, in the nest defense battle, although the pavement ant nest has many entrances and exits, unlike the big-headed ants, which like to leave a few entrances and exits in one nest, these entrances and exits are generally concentrated in relatively close places. Once attacked, The mysterious ants blockade the enemy, and when the defenders are unable to win, the final outcome will be the exhaustion of the entire army.
It is precisely for this reason that, except for the only successful nest defense battle - the main nest defense battle, none of the defenders of the other nests survived. The only source of information for the pavement ants to understand the mysterious ants' tactics of attacking the nest is from those who have witnessed the main nest defense battle.
Suzaku experienced it firsthand, and his defense layout was also based on these "successful experiences."
In the first sub-nest that was attacked, there were six legions guarding it. Only one of them had a complete legion-squad command system and was the main force. The other five legions were all temporarily formed cannon fodder legions with only one local The male ant above serves as the general commander and does not have the ability to conduct precise command.
According to the defense plan formulated by Suzaku, the defenders had given up on ground battles and all huddled underground.
The mysterious ants followed what the intelligence showed. After blocking the entrances and exits that could be detected on the ground, they divided their forces and launched attacks from all entrances and exits at the same time.
A cannon fodder corps on the front line of defense built a defense line at several entrances and exits that was instantly breached by the mysterious ant warriors. In this narrow environment, the mysterious ants' combat effectiveness was able to be brought into full play, controlling the rhythm of the oppression of the defenders. They retreated step by step, with corpses strewn all over the field.
However, the first-line defenders were not the key force in the defense. After delaying the mysterious ants for a short period of time, as the mysterious ants penetrated deeper into the nest, they encountered bifurcations one after another.
Anyone who has seen the underground structure of an ant nest will be amazed by this maze-like architectural miracle. The expanded nest is also famous in the ant world for its large scale, numerous passages, and complex roads.
Although the mysterious ant sect is extremely powerful and has an almost crushing advantage in frontal attack, their number is too small after all.
At the four entrances and exits, the mysterious ant's thousand warriors were divided into four parts. As they encountered more and more forked roads underground, the mysterious ant's troops who were accustomed to dividing their troops in each passage were divided into four parts. The force became more and more scattered, and was soon dismantled into pieces.
This is the effect Suzaku wants.
Suzaku had personally participated in the main nest defense battle, and had seen how a much larger number of mysterious ants were finally forced to retreat in front of a main nest with dozens of entrances and exits and thousands of forking roads. .
The mysterious ants are becoming more and more scattered. Many small units have less than ten soldiers. Some units have taken the wrong path and circled back to the upper part of the nest. They have to find their way deep underground again, which provides a fighting opportunity.
The pavement ants began to take advantage of the familiar terrain and began to attack flexibly. They would continue to move through the winding paths, and then suddenly attack from behind the mysterious ants, cooperating with the friendly forces directly in front.
Although the mysterious ants are powerful in combat, the pavement ants they encounter head-on lack the ability to even hurt the mysterious ant warriors.
But in the narrow pavement ant nest, four or five pavement ants can squeeze into the parallel passage, but the huge mysterious ant warrior can only pass through, and it is extremely difficult to turn around.
The pavement ant warriors who attacked from behind took advantage of this. While their comrades in front made great sacrifices to contain the enemy, they took the opportunity to climb on the back or burrow into the abdomen of the mysterious ant warrior who had difficulty turning around, and tried every means to attack him. Neck, compound eyes and tentacles - these are the only parts that can cause damage to the enemy that countless pavement ant warriors have learned through bloody lessons.
The Pavement Ant warriors who were responsible for containing and intercepting the front were usually cannon fodder troops who lacked a command, while the team that circled to the rear was the main force commanded by male ants. The two sides cooperated tacitly, and they actually quickly killed twenty Multiple pavement ant warriors.
This is already an incredible result. You must know that sometimes tens of thousands of pavement ant armies and thousands of mysterious ants may not be able to achieve double-digit kills.
Sometimes, the small troops that circle back will unfortunately encounter the front of the mysterious ant army. At this time, the male ant commander will take the initiative to retreat, and the other worker ant warriors will stay to resist desperately and cover the commander's evacuation.
Anyway, if the male ants withdraw, they can immediately pull up a team from the cannon fodder to continue the mission. However, if the precious male ant commander is killed, he will not be able to be replenished. This is the most rational response strategy.
The battle started in the afternoon, and towards dusk, when the sun was still hanging in the sky, the mysterious ant army that still failed to conquer the nest finally chose to retreat.
In this battle, the mysterious ants left more than sixty corpses, while the pavement ants lost more than a thousand soldiers, but fortunately no commander was lost.
Although this exchange ratio is close to 15:1, which is not good-looking, it is much better than the 100:1 battle loss Suzaku expected in the field. Suzaku's previous estimate that defense requires a twenty-fold troop advantage has been verified to be roughly correct.
But this battle is still a significant victory. After last year's main nest defense battle, this is the first time that pavement ants have successfully defended a nest for a day against the attack of mysterious ants.
After the mysterious ants retreated, the most senior male ant among the garrison commanders immediately sent a messenger to deliver the information package of today's battle to Suzaku.
The messenger took advantage of the sun to set and arrived at [Purple Leaf Licheng] which was not far away before dark.
Suzaku was also very happy when he received the news, and showed his excitement by shaking his antennae like ants.
[Purple Leaf Li Cheng] The male ants who heard the news were also in high morale. The significance of this small victory was no less than last year's main nest defense battle. It broke the myth that the mysterious ants were invincible.
Just like in the Anti-Japanese War, the victory at Pingxingguan was still of great significance even though the main force of the Eighth Route Army ambushed a second-line Japanese army supply unit, and the exchange ratio was close to one to one.
Early the next morning, Suzaku sent a messenger announcing the good news to the main nest.
But the happiness lasted for less than half a day. Soon, Suzaku received letters from other sub-nests near the first sub-nest: According to the scout report, the first sub-nest had been lost!
