Zhu Jue thought that after this cold wave, there would be a relatively warm period before winter began.
However, one cold wave after another hit the earth one after another within two weeks. Starting from late October, everything was desolate, as if there was no life at all, and the world turned out to be like winter.
This is an early winter that is rare in recent years but does occur. The early arrival of winter interrupted Zhu Jue's defense plan. The Northern Expeditionary Army is still scattered in various fortresses, and most of them have not entered the designated winter locations. The Western Expeditionary Army has merged with the Northern Expeditionary Army and is also scattered throughout the country.
The Eastern Expedition Army has just completed its mission and has basically conquered all the parasitic fortresses discovered, but it has not yet entered a suitable winter location. At the same time, the Eastern Expeditionary Army has never found any trace of the parasitic brain behind the scenes, and Zhu Jue's guess that it is a "parasitic roll" behind the scenes cannot be confirmed.
Taking advantage of the short warm period between two cold waves, Zhu Jue asked the flying knights to fly to the armies so that they could survive the winter in suitable conditions. Some troops stationed in temporary camps that lacked food and were not protected from the cold quickly moved to Nearby friendly forces move closer.
In various nests and camps that can survive the winter, the civilized ant coalition soldiers have expanded their nests one after another, constantly expanding the space deep underground to improve the crowded internal environment.
Lack of food is the biggest difficulty faced by the civilized ant coalition forces on the front line for wintering. Most of the wintering military rations raised previously have been stored in the [Black Fire City] and Black Creek defense lines. They have been transported to the wintering locations one after another, but the amount of transportation is still there. not much.
Zhu Jue's previously selected wintering sites were in [Black Fire City] and several larger nests in the east and north. At this time, most of the civilized ant coalition forces were unable to enter these wintering sites, and many of the newly added wintering camps had not yet received food. delivery.
These armies that were performing combat or construction tasks only carried enough food for about half a month. In order to move forward lightly, each division carried only less than a week's worth of food.
With such a small amount of food, even if they slaughter insects and beasts for food, it will be difficult for the troops to survive the winter, not to mention how much damage this will cause to the combat effectiveness of the civilized ant coalition. And as a last resort, they might even feed on the corpses of their companions.
Zhu Jue could only ask the country to step up the formation of a pavement ant winter transportation team, rush to the territory of the black fire ant country, and shoulder the task of winter supply. At the same time, the troops were ordered to save food and take advantage of the weather to forage near the nest.
Fortunately, after several cold waves, there were continuous sunny days with temperatures above freezing. When there was sunshine at noon, the ants could go out for a short period of time.
The ground was littered with the corpses of frozen arthropods. The arrival of this cold wave was beyond the expectations of all living things. A large number of creatures that were supposed to die died early, and some of the creatures that could survive the winter did not survive this weather. Upheaval.
Most of the scattered civilized ant allies can find some frozen insect corpses near the camp as supplies. These key food sources allow each group to survive until the supplies sent by the pavement ant transport team.
Within the civilized ant alliance, although some remote nests have to tighten their stomachs for the winter, with the support of the civilized ant countries such as the Ant Alliance, they have shelter and enough food to survive, so this winter is still passable.
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It is not just the coalition of civilized ant tribes that are also harmed and restrained by natural disasters.
Outside the northern border of the Black Fire Ant Country, the parasitic army was forced to station in a temporary camp. The place was overcrowded. Parasitic ants of all races, surviving parasitic beasts of all sizes, and eggs of various parasitic organisms were all piled up. Together.
Most parasites find it difficult to turn around in such an environment. They rarely move because they carry too little food. Under the control of their brains, they have minimized their life activities to reduce energy consumption.
This temporary camp is a bit close to the ground, and the room temperature in the uppermost layer is only about ten degrees. This is a very uncomfortable temperature for ectotherms. Staying here for a long time may kill you.
The oldest, weakest and injured parasites were driven to the upper floors to wait for death. Staying with them were corpses. When they also died, these corpses would become the rations of other parasites. At the same time, these parasites and corpses are like a thick quilt covering the lower nest to preserve its temperature.
There are also some perishable foods stored on the top floor. These few remaining foods are specially supplied to the parasitic brain, the parasitic queen, and the pale gold worker ants. Ordinary parasites can only feed on spoiled food and various corpses.
The parasitic brains are clustered at the bottom of the camp, guarded by a large group of parasitic ants. Sometimes the temperature here is even too high, and the ants need to be evacuated for ventilation and cooling.
A dozen parasitic brains with huge heads are forming a circle, with tentacles next to each other and touching the ground. On the ground, small pieces of white pebbles were paved into a circular pattern. Radial lines extended outwards and upwards. One of them drilled out of the depths of the camp and came to a passage leading to the ground. .
In this passage, all surfaces are covered with white cobblestones, like a white stone cave. If Zhu Jue were here, he must be familiar with such passages - the "sacred passage" here and in his hometown [Qingqiu City] "Almost exactly the same!
Such facilities were originally planned to be built after going deep into the south. However, the sudden arrival of winter forced the parasitic brains' plan to be implemented in this crude place. A large number of parasitic organisms braved the cold air to build this "sacred passage" in the shallow underground.
Now, this "sacred passage" is fulfilling its original mission!
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In the far northeast, the season that the Pavement Ant Empire least wanted to face has arrived early.
In the past half year, the Pavement Ant Imperial Army has demonstrated strong combat effectiveness. Relying on the strong national support behind it, the Pavement Ant Imperial Army has always held the Destroyer on the periphery of the country's borders, wiping out millions of enemies. The army itself also suffered more than three times the losses.
If the three seasons of spring, summer, and autumn are equal to both parties, then winter is exclusive to the Destroyer.
The pavement ant empire, which was previously known in the area for its winter offensive strategy, was no match for these true winter creatures.
What’s even more troublesome is that due to the advance of winter, the Pavement Ant Empire Army, like the civilized ant alliance, did not enter the overwintering camps and defensive fortresses scheduled for winter in advance. A large number of troops were scattered, giving the Destroyer the possibility of defeating each other...
This winter is destined to be difficult for many ants. It may even be their last winter!
