Outside the Red Iron City, the trees and the ground were all dark and full of leaf-cutting ants.
The torrent of leaf-cutting ants swept in from the north, and soon they were densely packed almost covering the ground and treetops. There were many star beetles flying around in the sky.
All kinds of insects flew, jumped or crawled, and fled this area one after another. Except for the ants themselves, no life in the entire forest dared to stay in the ants' sight. .
It was already afternoon, and the leafcutter ant army quickly completed the siege and began to build some temporary overnight camps.
The protagonist just arrived at [Red Iron City] yesterday. If it had been one more night, he would have been blocked by an army of leaf-cutting ants and unable to enter the city.
The surrounded [Hematite Castle] is built around a lone tree. There is a certain distance between the tree and other nearby trees. Some branches have also been sawed off. It is difficult for leaf-cutting ants to attack [Hematite City] from the tree. City] launches an attack, and [Hematite City] can concentrate on defending against the leaf-cutting ants' ground offensive.
At this time, the canal that the protagonist has high hopes for has not been completed, but the moat surrounding the outside of [Hematite Castle] has been completed. When it rained two days ago, some water accumulated in the ditch. Although there is no water at this time, there is a lot of silt. , it is difficult to pass.
Normally, the defenders relied on wooden stick bridges set up in trenches to enter and exit. At this time, the wooden stick bridges had been removed.
This circle of silt trenches is enough to make the attack of leaf-cutting ants, which are not good at ground combat, even more uncomfortable.
The protagonist is in [Hematite City], constantly motivating his subordinates. With the expansion of the army during the spring exam, part of the defenders in [Hematite City] are new legions, and some of the old legions have also been transferred away from their squads and commanders. officers, and new officers and soldiers were added.
Many commanders and soldiers have never experienced being surrounded by hundreds of thousands of enemy troops.
The protagonist and senior commander Jia Niu has experienced it. Back in the swamp, parasitic ants and parasitic war beasts were also so dark and dense. They were enemies from the ground to the air. It’s just that very few of the comrades at that time are still alive today.
Under the command of the Divine Envoy King, the defenders were ready for battle, and new iron cannons and improved ballistae were also in place.
The leaf-cutting ant army outside the city also gradually took up its position. They built a crude temporary camp suitable only for summer, and also launched an attack formation.
To the protagonist's surprise, some star beetles landed high on the tree where [Hematite City] is located, with silk threads pulled on their backs, as if they planned to build a rope bridge, and then launch attacks from the trees and the ground at the same time.
However, the distance that this rope bridge needs to be erected is longer than the one they crossed over the stream yesterday, and the construction is more difficult. It has not been successful for a while.
Even if it succeeds, the protective net of [Hematite City] must be all-round and without blind spots. Although enemies coming from the trees can avoid long-range firepower, they still need to face the protective net and the defenders.
Just when the protagonist thought that the leaf-cutting ant army would start a general attack after setting up the rope bridge, a few leaf-cutting ants left the army alone and slowly came to [Hematite Castle].
The protagonist signaled the long-range firepower not to fight back. These leaf-cutting ants were obviously messengers and were welcomed in by the defenders.
The leaf-cutting ant messengers are composed of 3 male ants and 12 escorting leaf-cutting ant warriors. There are no female ants. I don't know if it is because they are not willing to let the higher-status female ants put themselves in danger.
The three male ants first passed through the wooden stick bridge temporarily set up on the trench by the Angel King's Army, and then came in through the gap in the protective net. They were still looking left and right as they walked, seemingly observing the defensive arrangements in the city.
However, they couldn't understand the crossbows and iron cannons, nor could they understand many of the deployments of the Divine Envoy King's army, and the protagonist didn't pay attention to their little thoughts.
The protagonist asks Jianiu to meet with the envoy of leaf-cutting ants. The other party's status is not high, so there is no need for him to come forward in person, otherwise he will easily be looked down upon by the other party.
Jianiu forwarded the message from the leaf-cutter ant messenger.
The leafcutter ant army seems to realize that [Hematite City] is difficult to conquer. The trenches and protective nets here are defense facilities they have never seen before. Just the aerial reconnaissance of the Star Beetle has already made the commander on the opposite side a little confused. .
Therefore, the leaf-cutter ant army made a suggestion: if the defenders are willing to give up resistance and evacuate, the leaf-cutter ant army will not pursue them. They just want to regain the lost territory. And if the God's Envoy King's Legion complies, they also intend to re-establish trade with the God's Envoy King's Legion.
Your army has gathered around you, and you suddenly told me this! ?
Although it is impossible for the protagonist to give up [Hematite City], the idea of re-establishing trade makes him very excited. The trade of the God Envoy King Legion is now completely dependent on the Red Fire Ant Nation, just like it was completely dependent on the Leaf Cutter Ant Nation before. In the ever-changing world of ants, such a single foreign trade channel can be cut off at any time, and the God's Envoy King's legion has a small territory, so the materials obtained from foreign trade are of great benefit to itself.
Moreover, the diplomatic strategy set by the Divine Envoy King Legion earlier was to sit on the mountain and watch the ant fight, and profit from the war between the red fire ant country and the leafcutter ant country. This is not the original intention of the protagonist to defend the country of red fire ants from the leaf-cutting ant army.
The protagonist thought for a while and asked Jianniu to communicate with the other party's envoy, and put forward the suggestion of the God Envoy King's Legion:
The Divine Envoy King’s legions will not withdraw from [Hematite City], but they can provide some compensation to make up for the Leafcutter Ant Nation’s loss of [Hematite City]. The Angel King’s Legion is also willing to reopen trade with the Leafcutter Ant Nation. The God Envoy King can also promise not to participate in the war between the leaf-cutting ant army and the red fire ant army.
The last suggestion of not participating in the war between the leaf-cutting ant army and the red fire ant army was made temporarily after the protagonist discovered that the Angel King's army could not actually provide too many chips.
But the protagonist doesn't know that the reason why the leaf-cutter ant army sent an envoy uncharacteristically before the war started is because besides feeling that [Hematite City] is a stinging insect that is hard to bite, there are other reasons.
Previously, the Angel King's army had provided a lot of concentrated crow honey to the leaf-cutter ant country through trade. These highly addictive drinks deeply fascinated the queens and female ants of the leaf-cutter ant country.
After the trade was suspended, the top leaders of the leaf-cutting ant country were no longer satisfied with ordinary sweets, and the leaf-cutting ants rarely obtained sweets, and the main ones they obtained were natural fruits and the like.
This time, after seeing the Angel King's army, the leafcutter ant executives who were eager for crow honey made such a proposal that was very different from their habits. They did not kill the fire ants directly like they did with the fire ants.
The envoys of the leaf-cutter ants have returned. The male ants are in the middle level of the leaf-cutter ant country and have no right to make decisions. They want to report back to the envoy king the army's proposals and the defense arrangements they observed.
About half an hour later, on the ant mound in [Hematite City], the protagonist saw an army of leaf-cutting ants starting to move.
The leaf-cutting ant army charged towards [Hematite City] from all directions and launched an attack. Obviously, the proposal of the God Envoy King's Legion was difficult for the Leafcutter Ant Nation to accept, and they wanted to fight first.
