With the official departure of the Ant Emperor's army, the army of millions started to work separately.
This large corps is not as convenient to fight as a small unit. The organization and scheduling alone are enough for inexperienced commanders to collapse.
But the Pavilion Ant Emperor seemed to be very organized. Their troops were mobilized in an orderly manner, each performing their duties in an orderly manner.
The first batch of troops to go south were the resurgent fire ants. As direct beneficiaries of the restoration of the old land, they were also natives of that war zone. They were familiar with the terrain, so they naturally shouldered the important task of being a vanguard.
What follows closely behind the vanguard of the fire ant army is not the main combat force, but a secondary formation consisting mainly of a large number of auxiliary troops.
On the one hand, the secondary formation troops must ensure the logistics transportation of the forward troops. Another important task is to establish several logistics transfer points on the desolate gravel land where no supplies are available, and to establish the logistics support line for the main army.
Without such a lifeline that can continuously transport the empire's local supplies to the war zone, it would be almost impossible to pave the way for the Ant Emperor's million-strong army.
This lifeline is composed of transportation nodes and transportation teams. Each transportation node, that is, the transfer center, is guarded by troops, and each transportation team must also be equipped with guards. This is something that the mature military system of the Paving Ant Emperor has long required.
According to the plan of this southern expedition, the arrangement of the Ant Emperor is as follows:
First, use the forward force of the red fire ant army to go south, cross the gravel land, and find out the enemy's layout through outpost battles. If you cannot directly break through the enemy's defense, establish an advance base and wait for the support of large forces.
The troops in the second formation have established logistics transportation lines and supply transfer points, improved the logistics support network, and transported grain in advance.
Then the main force set off, quickly passed through the sand, broke through the enemy's border defenses, and quickly penetrated deep into the homeland of the red fire ant country.
Finally, force the enemy's main force to fight decisively at a suitable location within the enemy's territory. After winning, immediately pursue the enemy with the main force, capture all the enemy's important nests, and use vassal and auxiliary troops to occupy other nests, establishing victory in one fell swoop.
As their opponents, the leaf-cutting ant army has also begun to prepare for war, but judging from their book strength alone, they are no match for the Paving Ant Emperor.
After occupying the northern part of the fire ant's homeland last year, most of the leaf-cutter ant warriors have returned to their nests, leaving only a small number of troops to station and develop locally.
We can't blame the leaf-cutter ant country for not paying attention to border defense. In fact, their national power has been exhausted in last year's war, and it is difficult to continue to supply hundreds of thousands of ants in distant places with local power for a long time.
The land newly occupied by the leafcutter ant country has very few forests and cannot support a large-scale fungus cultivation industry. This industry also needs to be built from scratch. In the beginning, all food supplies will rely on local land supplies.
The hundreds of thousands of ants mobilized by the leaf-cutting ant kingdom later became increasingly distant from the mainland as the fighting site became farther and farther away, and 80% of the troops were transferred to be responsible for logistics supply. Even a large number of the sacred beasts in the mainland were sold to the Ant Alliance. In exchange for food, the country's national strength has been squeezed to the extreme.
Although the development of the northern region has achieved initial results this year, several new sub-nests have already established a relatively stable fungus cultivation industry, which can provide some food and grass on site, but they can only support about 100,000 ant colonies in the long term.
At this time, although the frontline troops of the Leafcutter Ant Nation have begun to prepare for war, and the Leafcutter Ant Nation is also transporting supplies and stockpiles from the mainland long distances to the frontline, they have only assembled 100,000 troops on the front line, together with the local non-warrior ants. At present, there are already 150,000 leaf-cutting ants near the border line, which exceeds the local supply capacity by more than half.
If there were more troops stationed, the logistical supplies would be overwhelming. The leafcutter ant army's deployment of 100,000 troops on the border is already the maximum mobilization capacity of the leafcutter ant country.
For the leaf-cutter ant country, long-distance logistics supply is not a long-term solution. A long-distance transportation team will take five days to travel from the leaf-cutter ant country to the front line if the journey goes smoothly. The ants themselves are required to carry the supplies. Nearly half of the food had to be eaten on the way, and only half could be transported to the front line. Logistics support capabilities strictly limit the deployment of the leaf-cutting ant army.
In contrast, the Pavement Ant Empire is much more mature. By setting up transshipment points and arranging special transportation teams, it can quickly transport grain and fodder to large armies in relays, with much less loss.
In comparison, Ant Alliance's logistics and transportation capabilities have reached a higher level.
On the one hand, the Ant Alliance follows the route of elite troops. Unlike other ant tribes, which are mostly all-people soldiers. On the premise of ensuring the same combat effectiveness, fewer troops need to be mobilized, and the logistics pressure is naturally smaller.
In addition, the Ant Alliance has a more mature logistics system, which is even stronger than the Paving Ant Empire.
Under the Ant Alliance Affairs Department, there is a logistics department, and the Ministry of Transport also has to provide support for military operations in wartime, so the organizational structure already attaches great importance to logistics.
If fighting within the territory of the Ant Alliance, relying on the canal network that has begun to take shape, the Angel King's army can obtain supplies conveniently, quickly and with low loss.
Even if they are far away from the canal, the Angel King's Army can still receive support from transportation teams. These transportation teams include ant-powered transport teams, beetle-powered transport teams, and even flying caravans that can temporarily provide rapid supplies. They have strong logistical supply capabilities. .
When the Ant Emperor Paved the Road went south, the Angel King Legion had assembled 16 reorganized legions in the north, as well as 1 tank legion and 3 flying knight squads, totaling about 45,000 warriors, 70 large and medium-sized beetles and 150 flies.
Both sides of this war are ready for war, and the war is about to resume.
As for the winner of this war, apart from the trend of frontal combat between the two sides, the lifeline of logistical support is the most important.
Which side can better protect the lifeline will have the advantage.
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April 19th was the third day of the Ant Emperor's journey south.
The forward red fire ant army has crossed the gravel field, entered their former homeland, set up camp, and began to attack a tree nest of the leaf-cutter ant army.
The leaf-cutting ant country's 100,000 border guards have also gathered to confront the 80,000 paving ant army.
At this time, it can be seen that the leaf-cutter ant army's border defense strength is seriously insufficient. Their current military strength is barely able to compete with the red fire ant army, and there is no chance of blocking the upcoming attack of the main force of the pavement ant emperor.
But the main force of the Pavement Ant Emperor has not set off yet. Their logistical supply lines along the way are under construction and they have encountered some troubles.
Although the indigenous ants on the gravel ground have obtained a lot of food from the Pavement Ant Empire through trade, this does not mean that they will not be tempted when they see more food right in front of them!
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