The time is September, and the order belongs to the third autumn.
At this time, [Pioneer City] already had the appearance of a big city. Over the past few months, one hundred thousand Ant Alliance citizens have crossed the river one after another, enriching the local ant colonies and contributing endless efforts to the construction of this giant city, promoting the rapid growth and erection of tall tree-like ant mounds like bamboo shoots after rain.
But on the south bank, the remnants of the Northern Expeditionary Army, who were also from the old Big-headed Ant Kingdom, did not have the prosperity of the Ant Alliance at this moment, but were filled with killing, destruction, and blood.
After the spring of this year, the remnants of the Northern Expeditionary Army, which regained the Holy Fire, repelled the invasion of the Camponotus ant tribe, took advantage of the chaos to expand part of their territory, and already showed signs of revival.
However, this small country established by the remnants of the Northern Expeditionary Army is still very weak. On the south bank of the Qinghe River where the melee continues, it is still an inconspicuous force. It may be extinguished at any time like a candle in the wind, just like the ones that have disappeared in this world. Countless ant forces that left no trace.
The war will never end, pacifists simply cannot survive in this world, and weakness is the original sin.
The Northern Expeditionary Army, which had just taken a breather, was now plunged into a new war, a war that originated from just a small group of psyllids!
At that time, the scouts of the Northern Expedition discovered a small group of psyllids on the trees near the border, and summoned worker ants to prepare to catch these small prey and replenish their food stocks.
It's autumn now, and the ants are eager to collect food for the winter, and they can't let go of the small woodlice that they used to look down on.
But unexpectedly, a nearby tribe of red forest ants suddenly broke in and prepared to kill these woodlice! As arboreal ants, they regard tree pests such as psyllids as very important prey.
The red forest ants came after the numerous psyllid swarms nearby, while the Northern Expeditionary Army felt that this area was already within the control of their country and refused to give in. But wherever there are very clear national boundaries in the ant world, ants with powerful jaws can occupy everything within their tentacles.
Both sides refused to back down, sparking a conflict in which dozens of ants fought over these psyllids, which can almost bite each one.
In the trees, the Northern Expeditionary Army suffered a loss. The soldier ants and worker ants of the big-headed ants were no match for the red forest ants.
These red forest ants are more powerful than the red forest ants captured by the Ant Alliance, and their body shapes are also slightly different. They may be related ant species that have differentiated.
The red forest ants, which used to belong to the country of red fire ants and now belong to the country of ants, are tree warriors who are good at fighting with their jaws and stings.
As for the red forest ants in this tribe, their stingers have degenerated and are replaced by acid-shooting abilities similar to those of the red forest ants. And it's not just simple acid shooting, their shooting tactics are very sophisticated.
When the soldiers of the Northern Expeditionary Army wanted to rush towards the red forest ant warriors not far from the branches, the opponent had already occupied the nearby heights in advance and sprayed formic acid from all directions on the leaves and branches at the big-headed ant warriors.
At first, it was just an ordinary spray. The red forest ant warrior shot every four or five seconds. With his butt raised high, he threw the condensed acid beads towards the big-headed ant, which could probably shoot a distance of more than one decimeter.
When the big-headed ants rushed closer in the acid rain, several red forest ants that had not participated in the shooting suddenly shot out large balls of liquid. What was ejected this time was not ordinary formic acid, but a thick, sticky liquid.
The big-headed ant that was shot immediately became sticky all over, unable to move as if it was stuck in a quagmire. The more it struggled, the more trapped it became. Its six limbs were stuck together, and its body was stuck to the tree.
Seeing that the big-headed ant warriors they had killed were trapped, the ordinary red forest ant warriors on the side immediately changed their shooting frequency. If the shooting just now was a sporadic light rain, this time it was like a heavy rain.
The red forest ant warriors no longer throw out individual formic acid droplets, but stick up their buttocks and spray the formic acid at the target, sending up puffs of white smoke. Even the red forest ants themselves that are shooting are also covered by the formic acid droplets. Acid comes with coverage.
The carapace of the red forest ant itself is highly resistant to formic acid, and weak areas such as the compound eyes and antennae are also covered with wax layers that are not afraid of formic acid corrosion.
However, the big-headed ants that were caught in the fire were immediately baptized by the crazy acid, as if they had fallen into a sulfuric acid pool. They soon changed beyond recognition, struggled a few times, and died one after another.
The number of remaining big-headed ants was too small, so they saw that the situation was not good and hurriedly climbed down the tree to escape. The red forest ants quickly jumped down from the tree and followed closely.
In the eyes of these red forest ant warriors, the opponent was too weak, so they just chased after the opponent's lair and grabbed some loot.
A few red forest ants ran back to the tribe to report the news, summoning more companions to pinch the "soft persimmon".
When the red forest ants gathered thousands of warriors, following the guidance of pheromones along the way, they marched northward to conquer the territory, but they encountered the defeated vanguard.
It turned out that the Northern Expeditionary Army dispatched three legions of regular troops to counterattack. The leading red forest ants did not expect to encounter a tough fight. There were only a few dozen of them, and some of them had run out of formic acid, so they were no match for them.
At this time, the two sides had already formed a feud, and neither of them had any intention of letting it go. No one paid attention to the few woodlice that had originally caused the trouble, and both sides soon became red-blooded.
The soldiers of the Northern Expedition Army are good at fighting in formations, are more organized on the ground, and will also focus on the breakthrough tactics of soldier ants.
The red forest ants were in a loose formation, but their reliance on long-range firepower and the use of vegetation on the battlefield to maneuver flexibly also caused the Northern Expeditionary Army to suffer repeated losses.
The tactics of the Northern Expeditionary Army were derived from the era of the old Big-headed Ant Kingdom. It is very effective against opponents like the Barbarian National Army who are also fighting on the ground in clusters. However, it is a bit tricky to face the red forest ants, which are arboreal ants that are good at swimming.
If the three legions had not launched an outflanking campaign and annihilated several groups of red forest ants that had gathered together and had no time to escape with the help of bushes and grass, I am afraid that the Northern Expeditionary Army would have suffered a loss in this battle!
The two sides fought until dusk and each retreated their troops, each leaving thousands of corpses behind.
Although the scale of this war is far less than the war that just ended when the Red Fire Ant Nation was annihilated, its cruelty is not weaker at all.
The Northern Expedition Army and the red forest ant tribe, who had formed a deadly feud, continued to fight endlessly in the following months.
This is just one of countless wars on the south bank of the Qinghe River before winter. Every autumn, conflicts of various sizes always break out among the ant forces eager to hoard more food for the winter.
The winner has captured the food and can survive the winter safely; the loser no longer has to worry about food problems and will either be conquered or will definitely not survive the winter; as for the evenly matched two sides, they have consumed the excess ant colonies, and the remaining ants are enough to rely on them. Stock up on food to get through the winter.
This is the cruel side of the ant world showing itself to survive the winter, and it happens every year!
Just like when the grain depots are empty in the spring, wars will break out for competition and plunder.
Spring and autumn are both seasons of frequent wars, and they are also microcosms of this war-torn world.
