On the west side of the territory of the red imported fire ant country, about three days away from the forest where the leafcutter ant country is located, and exactly three days away from the main nest of the red fire ant country [Hive City], there is a large nest.
There is a talc mine near this nest, and fire ants occasionally collect some talc powder to use as a special medicine for certain diseases, so let's call this nest [Talc City]!
[Slippery Rock City] is an important stronghold for the fire ant country to defend against the invasion of the leaf-cutter ant country. The landmarks here are some messy stones, and the terrain is relatively rugged, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack.
At the same time, [Slippery Rock City] is the meeting point of several adjacent ant roads, especially located on the most convenient road from the leaf-cutter ant country to the main nest [Hive City].
As long as the fire ant army defends this place, the main nest [Hive City] of the fire ant country can ensure safety. Although there are other ant tunnels that can bypass it, the huge leaf-cutter ant army will never dare to make a way around this [ Slippery Rock City], that would mean exposing one's fragile supply lines to the threat of the red fire ant army, which is an act seeking death.
Once [Slippery Rock City] is lost, the main nest [Hive City] will be undefendable and will be directly exposed to the enemy's front.
Therefore, this has become a battleground for both sides.
The defensive position chosen by the fire ant army is just outside [Slippery Rock City], and the terrain here is conducive to defense.
The army of leaf-cutting ants also rushed here after forcing back the more than 40,000 fire ants in the border area. The experience of the last time in history that the leaf-cutter ant army attacked [Hive City], let the leaf-cutter ant army know that this is a hub that must be captured.
However, during the war in history, the red fire ant army did not set up defenses here. The leaf-cutter ant army easily occupied this place and expanded it into a transit station.
Today's [Slippery Rock City] has much stronger defenses than the last time the leaf-cutting ant army easily occupied this place. Obviously, as time has passed, the fire ant army has also learned the lessons of that war.
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The sky is blue and the ground is clear.
It was good weather for the showdown, warm and dry.
On the ground, talc and some conglomerates are scattered here and there, creating a rugged terrain in which vegetation grows tenaciously.
[Slippery Rock City] is located on a slightly higher ground, backed by a huge rock. More than ten meters away from the front, there is a stone wall about half a meter high and about fifty meters long, slowly hanging down and submerging into the flat ground.
The red fire ant army's position is set up on this stone wall. Some surrounding vegetation that is not conducive to defense has been cleared in advance, providing the defenders with a good view.
When the scouts of the fire ant army reported that the leaf-cutter ant army had arrived outside [Slippery Rock City], the fire ant army quickly mobilized and formed a formation outside the city.
Although the terrain near [Slippery Rock City] is easy to defend and difficult to attack, the interior is built in cracks in the rocks and is small in scale, making it inconvenient for all the defenders to fight and maneuver inside. In addition, the fire ant army did not have much rations and could not hold the city for a long time, so they simply chose to fight in the field outside the city, preparing to repel the enemy in one go.
Outside the city, the army of red imported fire ants was arranged in a horizontal formation. The central army relied on the stone wall for defense. It consisted of more than 7,000 elite soldiers of the red fire ant tribe and about 20,000 slaves. The formation was relatively thin.
The left and right wings of the red fire ant army had no stone walls to rely on, and the length of each line was only more than 20 meters. The formation was more powerful, with more than 15,000 elite soldiers of the red fire ant tribe on each wing, and more than 30,000 slave ambush troops to assist.
It can be seen that the formation of the red fire ant army is strong on the two wings and weak in the middle. The middle relies on the terrain to withstand the army of leaf cutter ants. The two wings can wait for opportunities to defeat the enemy in front of them, then switch from defense to attack and outflank them.
This is a combination of offensive and defensive formation, which is very consistent with the fire ant army's strategy of outflanking and outflanking.
In contrast, leafcutter ant armies leaving the woods are less organized.
In the woods, the leafcutter ant army can play a perfect tree-land coordination strategy. But on this rocky ground battlefield, after the army of leaf-cutting ants arrived in a marching array, they changed formations at a safe distance and deployed a very conventional formation.
The leaf-cutter ant army had a numerical advantage, but they had no intention of outflanking them. Instead, they piled their troops on the front.
Because there are too many leafcutter ant troops, a single formation cannot accommodate all the troops. Therefore, the leafcutter ant army divided the 360,000 army into three fronts and backs. Each line has more than 100,000 troops. There is no main attack or assist. They are all Main attack.
The 30 most important sacred beasts of the leaf-cutter ant army, the star beetles, were placed in the main formation on the third floor. It seemed that they did not intend to send them to the battlefield easily.
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Around 10 a.m., the leaf-cutting ant army completed its formation change and began to attack.
As messengers arrived at each unit one after another to issue orders, more than 100,000 troops on the front line of the leaf-cutter ant army launched attacks one after another, pressing forward with a jagged front line roughly protruding from the center and flanked by two wings.
Although the charge of the leaf-cutting ant army did not have a roar like a roaring mountain or a tsunami, the countless arthropods stepping on the ground, fallen leaves, and moss still made a frightening and dense "rustling" sound. This silent charge was no better than that of a human being. The shock value of whistling horses is weaker.
Countless ants ran, and some short vegetation fell down under the impact.
Due to the influence of obstacles such as stones and vegetation on the road, the front of the leaf-cutter ant army became increasingly fragmented during the charge.
But this does not affect the fighting spirit of the leaf-cutting ant warriors. The large leaf-cutting ants and the small leaf-cutting ant warriors are mixed together, both of them are full of killing intent.
Soon, the most advanced leaf-cutting ant troops had arrived under the stone wall. Their intelligence did not know that there was such terrain on the enemy's defense line, and they only discovered it when they got closer. But leafcutter ant warriors climb stone walls as easily as they climb trees. Except for some slight obstacles in some places covered with slippery moss, these stone walls cannot stop them from climbing upward.
The reliance that the stone wall brings to the fire ant army is not expected to prevent the enemy from climbing.
When the first group of leaf-cutting ant warriors climbed up to the top of the stone wall in an aggressive manner, the waiting red fire ant warriors and slave ambush troops could easily kill or push down the climbing leaf-cutting ants most of the time.
The leaf-cutter ant that climbed up could not fully climb up to the top platform. It was half-suspended in the air with nowhere to use its strength. It could not exert 20-30% of its strength. Its six limbs had to overcome gravity at the same time and had to cope with the push of the enemy. At the same time, the large jaws have to bite, so it is naturally difficult to compete with the red fire ant army waiting for work.
When the Divine Envoy King's Army was in its homeland, it also used similar terrain for defense. The side occupying the high ground usually had a considerable advantage.
The existence of the frontal stone wall offset the momentum of the charging leaf-cutting ant army, forcing them to waste time and endurance on terrain that was unfavorable for attack.
At this time, on the flat ground on both wings, the leaf-cutter ant army finally came into contact with the red fire ant army, and the two armies clashed fiercely!
