On May 9th, spring is welcomed, and the earth is clear. On the 69th Spring Equinox, the sky is getting longer. On 79th, geese come from the south and fly north. On 89th, the river opens with green water.
Nine-nine eighty-one days are over, and winter is over. Zhu Jue looked at the growing spring light outdoors and couldn't help but think of the song in "Nine-Nine Cold Repelling Picture". At this time, on the calendar, it was almost the end of nine-nine. The breath of spring is getting stronger and stronger.
But in this world, there will be no wild geese coming from the south. In this still-spooky early spring, except for the soldiers of the Divine Envoy King's Legion, there are only a few ants active outside.
Unlike those ants who had to take risks to forage because their food reserves were exhausted, the activities of the God Envoy King's Legion had a clear purpose.
Although during the short half of winter, relying on the emergency excavation of short-distance underground transportation tunnels, the scattered Overwinter King's Legion had been partially assembled into some large camps. However, for large-scale assembly and maneuvering, underground transportation networks alone are not enough, and operations can only be carried out on the ground.
The current underground transportation network cannot connect various places in one piece. In the absence of underground positioning, it is basically impossible to connect two camps over a long distance. Even some short-distance tunnels often go astray while digging.
The method used in the underground tunnels in the country is: every time a small distance is dug, an exit is dug upwards, and the pavement ants crawl out to re-confirm the direction before continuing to dig. But with such a project volume, it is obviously not possible to complete the connection of all wintering camps in just one or two months.
Therefore, after the beginning of spring, those warriors of the Divine Envoy King who had been unable to dig underground tunnels because they were located in remote or distant winter camps began to carry out the "divine decree" of the Divine Envoy King and slowly began to move from the ground to the ground. Move closer to the assembly point.
For example, the warriors of the Divine Envoy King who were led by the "Celestial Immortal" in the winter camp where Zhu Jue was originally located, only carried their food and supplies and set off on the road when the temperature reached about fifteen or sixteen degrees at noon during the day.
Setting off at the same time as them, there were dozens of warriors from the Envoy King in dozens of overwintering camps. Because the God's Envoy Army sent a large number of troops in this battle and moved in multiple directions. In addition, winter arrived in a hurry, so they did not concentrate on one or a few places to spend the winter like in previous years.
In [Black Fire City], most of the commanders of the civilized ant clan on the expedition spent the winter here. Although they had received the "divine decree" before, they were still doubtful. After seeing that the well-prepared Legion of the Divine Envoy King really set off as scheduled. Finally, these commanders realized that Zhu Jue really planned to do this.
King "Black Carbon" had already ordered part of the black fire ant army to prepare for departure. More than 10,000 black fire ants and vassals and slave ant warriors also set out with the Angel King's army.
The various armies of the Divine Envoy King marched towards Black Creek one after another. The distance they moved every day was not far, and they usually only moved from 10 am to 3 pm. Whenever they arrived at a camp, they would stay there instead of camping in another camp. New camp.
Such caution was useful. These troops of the God Envoy King escaped a violent late spring cold and stayed in place for three days before continuing on the road.
If it is a temporary camp, there will inevitably be losses in such severe weather changes, but the warriors of the God's Envoy King live in specially built winter camps. It is not a problem to survive the winter, and naturally they are not afraid of the cold spring. In addition, they carried enough food, so the camp would be a little crowded at best.
Other civilized ant tribes also want to go to war, but their military food is a problem. The expeditionary armies of these civilized ant tribes mostly rely on the local Ant Alliance and Leafcutter Ant Nations to supply food. In winter, food transportation is cut off, and these expeditionary armies can only rely on The black fire ant country survives with limited support, and the black fire ant country itself is not rich in food reserves. To send out troops at this time, they still need to wait for the United Ant Nation and Leafcutter Ant Nation to support another batch of grain.
Considering the danger of long-distance transportation in this weather, Zhu Jue did not take the risk of sending out a transportation team because he needed support. There is still sufficient food stored in each wintering camp. The food and grass were stored until mid-April, so that the God's Envoy King's army was able to take the lead.
Some of the allied forces of various ethnic groups and the Divine Envoy King's Army shared the winter camps. Those allied forces who were willing to obey the divine order and go with them, Zhu Jue also generously provided food and grass. Although they were unwilling to set off immediately, Zhu Jue also left a small amount of food for them, which was enough to last them until the spring was fully warm and the flowers bloomed.
For example, the Black Fire Ant Army commanded by King "Black Carbon" almost completely relied on the rations from the Divine Envoy King's army, and basically set out with no food.
————
On the vast land, there are still very few active creatures. There are only ant lines composed of the warriors of the Angel King and a few accompanying allies, passing through hills and ditches, through woods and shrubs, and through dense grass. and Desert Beach, toward and south of Black Creek.
The troops north of Black Creek first gathered at the bridgehead, waiting to cross the river.
For fear of the winter wind and snow breaking the rope bridge, the ropes on the rope bridge were taken up and planned to be rebuilt in the spring.
However, after spring, it was discovered that the fixed points of the rope bridge at both ends of the Black Creek were damaged and had to be rebuilt, which delayed the progress. The rope bridge had just been erected recently, and the troops on the north bank who had been waiting for several days were able to cross the river one after another. But it will take several days to pass.
As for the tunnel that passes under the Black Creek, it has been flooded after the Black Creek thawed, making it impassable.
The Angel King's Army on the south bank of Black Creek, except for leaving some troops to support them on the south bank and along the march route, the vanguard of the army has arrived at the border of the Ant Alliance.
Zhu Jue stood in front of [Western City], looking at the towering fortress walls, and remembered that this was his first time back after leaving the Ant Alliance for more than half a year!
But he couldn't stay too long, and he would soon leave with his troops to fight against the more ferocious enemy ants!
When Zhu Jue arrived at [Western City], the temperature was already very warm, and many insects began to rise from their winter hibernation. Zhu Jue rode on a temporary fly mount and rushed to [Pioneer City].
According to Zhu Jue's previous request, the central organs such as the joint conference of all ethnic groups and the ten ministries of the Ant Alliance have moved here. This is now the actual main nest of the Ant Alliance, and the status of the original main nest [Dongyang City] has been downgraded to that of the companion capital. .
Zhu Jue listened to the reports from various departments, and then instructed the war machine of the Ant Alliance to start running at high speed immediately:
The Ministry of Military Affairs must build a reserve force of 200 regiments within three months. The Ministry of Agriculture must hurry up and start production in the spring when food is scarce to stockpile sufficient military supplies as soon as possible. The Ministry of Industry must ensure the supply of raw materials for military supplies production. The Ministry of Engineering must hurry up construction. Strategic projects such as underground transportation network and above-ground canal network.
At the same time, Zhu Jue issued an army transfer order, ordering the Western Expeditionary Army and some of the main forces in the mainland, a total of 400 legions, about a million troops, to cross the river in batches from now on and go to various territories on the north bank of Qinghe River to garrison!
