"Cress" did indeed wake up, and it was as sudden as when he went crazy before.
"Jug" learned about it as soon as he got a report from the guard guarding "Cress"'s palace on the battlefield, and he immediately informed the local nobles of the good news. As for the ignored foreign nobles, "Jug" either deliberately concealed it, or simply felt that this was purely an internal matter within [Willowbank City], and it didn't matter whether the foreign male ants knew about it or not.
Since the local nobles that "Jug" was wary of were still drunk, and the nobles who were now awake were trustworthy, he did not deliberately hide the news, otherwise "Rhinestone" probably would not have learned the news so quickly.
Although "Cress" woke up, his body was still very weak and his consciousness was a little unclear. At least the reason for his sudden madness that "Junk" was most concerned about couldn't be explained. But as long as he wakes up, based on status and convention, "Cress" will naturally be the current leader of the local nobles, and "Jug" will immediately retreat behind him without selfishness, acting as a supporter.
Such changes also made the local nobles seem to be more "indifferent to the world." Starting from the next day, the local nobles still obeyed and cooperated with "Rhinestone"'s command, and even the heavy casualties of the defenders behind did not raise any questions. After finding out that "Cress" was not in good condition, "Rhinestone" ignored this episode and continued to devote himself wholeheartedly to the fierce defense battle of [Willowbank City].
Over the next 12 days, the fighting became increasingly brutal.
Even though the Destroyers had to repair the floating "land" every day during the day, then wade into the water and attack the city, braving the rain of bullets under the willow branches and advancing at the cost of one corpse every step, the offensive was still sharp.
In 11 of the 12 days, the dike defense line fell. On 4 days, the destroyer reached the roots of the willow tree. On another occasion, it directly approached the last line of defense outside the nest in the middle of the trunk.
】
The Destroyers suffered heavy losses and were currently reduced by one-third. The Maulin Ant defenders achieved the greatest results and the best exchange ratio since the war with the Destroyers, but the defenders were also severely weakened.
30 of the 46 local legions have been basically destroyed or completely lost their combat effectiveness. 50,000 of the nearly 70,000 soldiers have been killed, and almost all of the remaining ones are injured. If the local nobles really started to fight, it would be hard for "Rhinestone" to explain why he always placed the local legions in the areas with the greatest casualties, even though there was nothing wrong with his deployment.
Among the 90,000 foreign reinforcements from the 60 legions that "Rhinestone" relied on most, they also lost one-third of their combat strength. The good news is that due to the lower proportion of commanders killed in action, the previous shortage of commanders at all levels has been alleviated.
But "Rhinestone" was not relieved at all. The rapid decline in the strength of the defenders also made the defense line he had worked so hard to teeter on the edge. This was a major matter related to his wealth and life.
For example, on July 15th, the Destroyer hit the tree trunk defense line for the first time. The frightened "Rhinestone" immediately dispatched the air force that had been idle for a long time, consuming two-thirds of the remaining oil stock and cutting off the Destroyer. With backup, we can survive this crisis safely.
In order to replenish the precious oil inventory, he also specially appointed some noble officers who had lost their entire army to step up the production of oil in the nest. No matter what raw materials, as long as oil could be squeezed, were thrown into the workshop nest, and slave ants used their mandibles to extract oil. Extract little by little. These raw materials include but are not limited to plant seeds, dried meat, and even the corpses of both enemies and friends.
"Rhinestone" thought that it still had the last bit of inventory left, and with the gradual replenishment, it could cope with another round of crisis. Unexpectedly, the remaining oil was exhausted the next day.
On this day, the Destroyer offensive was still fierce. Unsurprisingly, the embankment defense line was lost again early in the morning, and the weak local slave legions deployed above were massacred. While the Destroyer continued to attack despite the hail of bullets on the willow branches, "Rhinestone" was already deploying troops to strengthen the defense of the tree roots and trunks.
Due to the fierce fighting for days, the long-range firepower of the Willow Branch position has become increasingly sparse. After all, the long-range slave elites also need time for their glands to secrete acid and venom again. After days of high-frequency shooting, coupled with mental stress and insufficient food, There are literally not a drop left of many slave warriors.
Therefore, "Rhinestone" now had to send out the most elite reinforcements, relying on the defense line of tree roots and trunks to resist the depth of the Destroyer's troops, while constantly seeking support from the main nest. According to "Rhinestone's" estimate, if they can persist for another 6 days at most, the defenders will have no choice but to abandon the outside of the nest and enter the inside of the nest to defend. By then, they will not even be able to call for help. They must convey their information to the main nest now to have a chance of survival. .
But on the afternoon of July 16, when the Destroyer was about to break through the tree root defense line and attack the tree trunk, there was a sudden commotion behind it. Then the Destroyer on the front line was also confused for a while and did not take advantage of the victory to pursue it.
The aerial reconnaissance report showed that a friendly force broke out from [Qingzhu City]. The number was not large, but the "Radar Destroyer" was caught off guard and one of them was killed. Now this friendly force is staggering towards [Liu Coast City] fled.
Those who escaped were the "Shui Nao" troops in [Green Bamboo City]. After the Destroyers massively attacked [Liu'an City], the number of Destroyers attacking [Qingzhu City] was greatly reduced, and the defenders were able to hold on to the last two bamboo sections. Later, they simply blocked the only entrance and exit. The Destroyers also thought they could trap the defenders, so they stopped attacking, leaving only a small number of troops on guard.
"Shui Nao" Commander-in-Chief's army has been holding on until now. The food is exhausted and the epidemic is rampant. They can only quietly expand the vents leading to the outside and fight out today. They appeared directly outside the bamboo poles, avoiding the Destroyer security forces in the bamboo joints beneath them. In addition, they made contact with another group of defenders who were separated by tapping the bamboo poles. The defenders counterattacked and contained several soldiers. There weren't many destroyers, so Shuinao was able to get away.
There were only about 400 ants around him, which was just less than the detection threshold of the "Radar Destroyer". He accidentally got close to a "Radar Destroyer" that lacked defense power around him. The remaining soldiers mustered up the courage to kill it and obtained Obtained the first boss kill result since this battle.
Only then did the "Radar Destroyers" realize that the brief interruption in command and confusion was transmitted everywhere. The "Shunao" unit relied on the small size and flexibility of the target, and under the guidance of the giant mosquito knight in the air, it moved back and forth towards [Yanagigan Castle] ]retreat.
However, without the support of the defenders, it was impossible for this small force to penetrate the heavily fortified front line and return. "Rhinestone" can't ignore death, otherwise he will lose the support of the officers who come to reinforce him...
