After leaving the Japanese Campoback Ant tribe and wandering around for two more days, Zhu Jue finally flew straight to the border of the new southern territory under the guidance of a noble from a nest under the jurisdiction of the southern governor.
This is a nest beside a stream, which looks ordinary. The stream that flows from south to north to the east of the nest is one of the main water flows in the mountains. It has abundant water flow especially in summer and autumn, and the water channel is straight. It does not have many sharp bends like many mountain streams, so it has become the most convenient place in the valley. a traffic artery.
When flight capacity is often tight, water transportation is the most economical and relatively fast mode of transportation. When Zhu Jue and his party flew over, they could often see a fleet of ten walnut boats strung together in groups of twenty, coming and going on the stream.
Walnuts are also a specialty of mountainous areas. Some mountains are covered with walnut trees. Every autumn, thousands of walnuts are made into simple walnut boats, forming a large water fleet.
[In view of the general environment,
These walnut boats are much rougher than those on the Qinghe River. The most typical one is that they are not equipped with sail masts. The wind direction in the mountains is changeable and the water surface is narrow, making wind power impractical. Simplifying the sail rigging also greatly reduces the workload during construction and the number of sailors required when sailing.
These walnut boats have not undergone anti-corrosion treatment. They usually turn black and rot after one or two years of use and are discarded. However, new boats will also be replaced. Because walnuts are so readily available, there's no need to spend precious grease or shellac on preserving the shells.
The fleet heading north relies entirely on the propulsion of the current. A string of walnut boats are lined up in a vertical line. There are crossbars on both sides of the boat to maintain balance and prevent collisions. The sailors drift with the current on the boat and only use long poles to push the boat when it runs aground. . The fleet heading north is loaded with local specialties obtained through war and exploitation that were turned over in the newly developed territory. With the advancement of water flow, it can reach from the border to the vicinity of [Triangle Peak City] in a day and night, where it is unloaded and transferred to short-distance land transport to reach another stream. , you can go directly to the mainland of the Ant Alliance.
The fleet heading south had to travel against the current, relying entirely on the ants along the river to pull fiber. The governor of the southern border, "Lamboser III", established a large number of nests directly under his jurisdiction along the stream, plus some nests of completely surrendered indigenous ants. Basically, Sufficient trackers can be provided for fleet segments. Some bee nests also provide additional bees to assist in pulling the boat. Since the night is not suitable for fiber drawing, the water voyage from [Triangle Peak City] to the border line takes 6 days, mainly providing food and weapons to the border area.
The control area of the Southern Territory extends upstream along the stream. When it approaches the border, there is only a narrow strip left. Basically, it only controls the banks of the stream. Further away, there are a large number of areas in the valleys and gradually rising mountains. The distribution of indigenous ant tribes, some tribes have been controlled or even controlled through crow honey and trade, while others are still in a state of war and await subsequent suppression.
At the very top of the border that stretched out like tentacles was a small nest that was hastily built just a month ago. It was also the nest that Zhu Jue arrived at.
The person who built and commanded this nest was a young divine male ant named "Tree Under the Tree". Zhu Jue had heard about his deeds from the information package report of "Lamboser III" half a month ago, and also wanted to see it. Seeing this smart little guy, Zhu Jue chose this place as the final stop for this inspection.
"Under the tree" is a very young generation of male ants that came of age last year. There are nearly 500 male ants in his generation. Zhu Jue has begun to lose track of the code names of each of their ants.
What's more, his performance in "Under the Tree" was not outstanding at the beginning. After receiving education in the main nest [Pioneering City], he only received "right middle" in the graduation evaluation (this six-level evaluation system is marked with the six limbs of ants, The left front is the highest, followed by the right front, then middle left, middle right, rear left, and finally the lowest rear right). They are very ordinary, so they were sent to "Ramboser III" as a subordinate after the wedding ceremony.
"Ramboser III" placed the 12 male ants assigned to him in the pioneering team. These pioneering teams are responsible for expanding the control scope of the southern territory far and in depth, establishing directly controlled nests in strategic locations, and controlling nearby areas. It is the most dangerous and tiring command position, but it is also something that most of the new generation of nobles in the south must experience.
Test exercise.
Each pioneer team consists of about 1,000 big-headed ants or other worker ants that have joined the ant clan. In addition, there are 4-5 teams of armed militia, 1-2 queen ants, and 7-8 various male ants. noble. The extent to which the pioneering task can be completed is a great test of the ability of the male ants to lead the team. Of course, the location to which they are assigned also has a lot to do with it.
"Under the tree" was assigned the most difficult and dangerous position - the arrow position heading upstream along the mountain stream. He could not even manage the land a certain distance away from the bank of the mountain stream. That was the scope of other pioneering teams, which meant His flanks were completely unprotected.
As for the team of the pioneer team "Under the Tree", half of them are the legacy of their predecessors. His predecessor, the leaf-cutter male ant, died under an attack by indigenous ants. More than half of the pioneering team was destroyed, and the survivors had just been reorganized and handed over to him.
The first problem before "Tree", which was also the obstacle that led to the death of his predecessor, was that in the direction of his pioneering team, not only was the terrain very harsh, but there was also a relatively strong and aggressive tribe of indigenous ants blocking the way. ——It's some kind of black, sour-smelling ant.
This tribe of sour ants has a colony of tens of thousands and controls an important pass on the bank of the mountain stream. Since the east bank of the stream here is a cliff, the west bank is controlled by the tribe of sour ants. Further north, you have to go through a section where it is impossible to build a nest. Rotten Pond can only reach the current actual control range of the Southern Territory, so if you want to continue to develop in this direction, you can only choose to surrender or defeat this tribe.
The predecessor of "Under the Tree" set out from the actual control border and led the main force of the pioneering team to trek through the roadless swamp for four days. Although there were no indigenous ants intruding along the way, they would encounter a large number of poisonous and ferocious insects. We couldn't find any food supplies, so many ants died on the road.
When they got out of the swamp, without careful reconnaissance in advance, the former male leafcutter ant "under the tree" took it for granted and found a big tree on the edge of the swamp, hoping to build a tree nest to avoid the still wet ground. It was a warning. Did not do well.
Soon, the sour ant warriors discovered these intruders and quickly gathered their troops to attack at dusk. Although the pioneering team was caught off guard and fought bravely, unfortunately the leader died at the beginning. The other ants fled overnight and ventured back through the swamp. When we arrived at the starting point, we lost most of the professional ants and 3 male ants.
If the leader hadn't brought the two queen ants with him before, and was planning to pick up the queen after the nest was built, I'm afraid the only two queens would have been lost.
