After leaving [Hardware City], Zhu Jue went to another place on the south bank of Qinghe River.
This is a wilderness located southeast of [Hardware City] and southwest of [Pioneer City]. There is a pond and a large barren wilderness. Currently, there is only a small ant nest and a small number of resident ant colonies.
But recently, a large number of soldiers and war beasts have arrived here one after another. They will conduct intensive training after the beginning of spring, experiment with new weapons to equip the army, and establish new large-scale establishments.
This wilderness is a very suitable place, it can be called the "Zhu Rihe" of the Ant Alliance.
The grass is scattered in the wilderness, white clouds are blooming in the sky, and there are blue ripples in the pond. There are 60 legions, 80 field artillery groups, and 80 flying knight squads in the Angel King's legion one after another in [Hematite City] and [Pioneer] City] After completing the equipment upgrade, they traveled a long distance and gathered here.
For a time, the flying knights here blocked the sky every day, scaring the dragonflies and wasps from looking at each other; the rumbling sound of the cannons here scared away the water striders in the pond; the swarms of ants here scared the locusts in the grass.
After a few days, insects were hard to find within a half-day radius. Even Zhu Jue's imperial guards who wanted to hunt some prey to improve their food could not find them...
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At the same time, in the southern border of the black fire ant country.
The 50,000-strong army commanded by "Heitan" was heading south unhurriedly, slowly rushing to the battlefield of Barren Rock Beach.
This army marched southwest from [Black Fire City], and two days later arrived at a natural boulder on both sides of the stream. This was a stream flowing from west to east, and there was a large, almost right-angled stream in the upper reaches of the Black Fire Ant Kingdom. The bend is part of the natural boundary between the hinterland and the western and southern borders, and finally merges into the Qinghe River.
Crossing the natural stone bridge, we entered the hinterland of the south. There has not been any war here yet, so it looks peaceful, but it is also as fragile as a torch swaying in the wind.
Faced with this situation, the troops commanded by "Heitan" did not have the slightest sense of urgency to protect their homeland and country. They were not as fast as the Northern Route Army under the command of the Divine Envoy King "Flying Eagle".
"Heitan" was very dissatisfied. As a new commander, he was originally very ambitious, but after being stationed at the border for a long time, he gradually felt that if he could continue to live in peace like this, eating and drinking, he would have endless enjoyment. Isn’t the crow wine traded by the federation quite good?
As a result, he fell asleep while drinking crow wine, and was suddenly ordered to be mobilized. He returned to the main nest, and not only did he not have endless crow wine to enjoy, but he was also ridiculed at the king's meeting because of the serious "non-combat attrition" of the army he commanded. , who can bear this! ! !
Fortunately, the middle and lower-level commanders under his command were all of one mind and participated in the absurd transaction of exchanging slaves and vassal ants for crow wine without leaking this secret. Otherwise, what awaits them will not be cynicism. As a fighting ant clan, the military punishment of the black fire ant clan is also very severe.
There are "flying eagles" vying to go to the North Route Army, but no king is willing to come to the South Route Army. Both armies are assists. They have few troops, difficult tasks, few opportunities to make achievements, but high risks, and no one is stupid.
In the end, because the "criminal" had a bad record, and his identity, status and qualifications also met the requirements of a partial division commander, "Heitan" could not shirk it and had no choice but to agree to become the commander-in-chief of the Southern Route Army.
The troops under his command are the old troops originally stationed at the border, but many of the most powerful troops from his own tribe have been transferred away.
Currently, there are only 8 legions of the black fire ants under the command of "Hei Tan", with about 10,000 soldiers. There are as many as 32 vassal legions, many of which are not strong in combat effectiveness and are suitable for the work of carrying baggage. When it comes to the battlefield, "Black Tan" can count on only half of its combat-effective troops.
The South Route Army has not been allocated much baggage yet, and most of the materials from the main nest [Black Fire City] have to supply the main force of the West Route. They were only allocated 3 days of rations and 1 day of crow wine and honeydew before they were urged to set off.
Food is okay, there are assistant nests to help along the way, and the assistant nests at the southern border can also provide some supplies. But there was no crow wine, and even honeydew was not enough, and the troops under "Black Carbon" who were accustomed to being pampered gave up.
Even if "Black Carbon" wants to march in a hurry, the middle and lower-level commanders are eagerly waiting for the crow wine and honeydew. If they don't drink the fine wine for a day, they will have no motivation to march for a day.
After constantly sending envoys to quarrel with the King's Council in the main nest, the King's Council finally took note of this account, but at least allocated a small amount of crow wine and honeydew to labor the army, and promised to wait for the support of the Ant Alliance and the sale of crow wine to return it. There will be a sufficient supply of crow wine.
In this way, the South Route Army dragged their feet for four days, dodging the spring rain all the way, and arrived at the barren rock beach slowly and leisurely.
This is a large wasteland with an undulating surface. Due to the thin soil layer, the vegetation appears to be very sparse and scattered. There are large rocks not very deep underground in this land. Many rugged rocks protrude from the ground and are weathered into different shapes. Large and small stones are walking among stone pillars and stalagmites, and the scenery is desolate.
This land is the natural barrier to the southwestern border of the black fire ant country. The black fire ant clan has no intention of crossing this barren land to conquer the indigenous ants on the other side. They can only stay on the edge of this barren rocky beach and along the narrow stream. Several small and medium-sized auxiliary nests were built on the land, which served as border guard points and also served as transportation links between the southern and western territories.
When the parasitic army moved south, it was blocked by the stream in the country of black fire ants. For a while, the army could not find a place to cross the river, so it had to follow the stream all the way to get here. Here they must break through a series of nests on the edge of the barren beach before they can threaten the hinterland of the southern border of the black fire ant country.
But now the stream has not received enough rain water, and the water flow is relatively dry. It is not enough to nourish the desolate stone desert, but it is enough to prevent the parasitic army from trekking across the river.
The parasitic army, which didn't like the arid environment, was forced to hide and seek in the rocky desert with the small but extremely slippery defenders. They had no strength advantage, but they couldn't break through the defense line for half a month.
However, the black fire ant defenders have reached their limit. They only have more than 30,000 troops left, their supplies are almost exhausted, and half of their nests have been lost.
As the rain has gradually increased in the past few days, the activity of the parasitic army has become stronger and stronger. This is not good news!
When the defenders in the desert desert were looking forward to the arrival of the Southern Route Army, they found that the support army only had 50,000 soldiers and the elites of their own tribe were only over 10,000. When they also lacked supplies, one can imagine the frustration of the defender commander.
And "Black Carbon" had no plan to defeat the enemy. When he learned that the wandering tactics of the desert defenders were very effective, he interrupted and tried again.
Anyway, the mission of the Southern Route Army is to contain them. Confining the fallen ants in the rocky desert is victory!
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