Chapter 24: Encirclement and Annihilation (2)
Even though his heart was filled with the shock of another defeat, and a strong sense of despair. The Floating Leaf King still hasn't given up, he's still fulfilling his duties, giving one correct instruction after another.
His conviction is clear, failure, he has experienced, more than once. Only the king who is not defeated by defeat and then learns from experience can make a comeback.
Under his command, the corps alternately covered the retreat in good order. After discovering that the Big-headed Ant Army was not in a hurry to pursue, the Floating Leaf King even had the spare strength to organize troops to accept the other legions that had been defeated behind.
The failure was too miserable, only half of the Floating Leaf King's men and horses escaped, thanks to the Floating Leaf King's proper command and their relatively low position.
The previous three legions suffered even heavier losses, and two legions and even the corps commander were lost in a state of chaos.
The Floating Leaf King finally gathered the four legions together and barely restored order.
Now, he and the other surviving king each commanded the remnants of two legions, and the retreat was orderly and alternately covered.
The Floating Leaf King saw that the enemy had a chance, but he did not launch a pursuit. Perhaps the enemy is small in strength and afraid of falling into a chaotic battle.
However, the Floating Leaf King did not dare to hope that the enemy would make a mistake, this enemy was too strong, and the pressure on him was far greater than the desperate defensive battle in the "Waterfront City".
Will there be a conspiracy on the part of the enemy?
The speculation of the Floating Leaf King is infinitely closer to the truth.
He tried to send a small force to rush out and report back to the main nest. It is believed that once the main nest pays attention to this enemy and mobilizes more troops to come, the number of enemies will still be unable to resist the army of the main nest.
As for what kind of punishment he would encounter from the King's Council because of this defeat, he was already regarded as a heretic, and he had already stayed out of it.
However, the small forces he sent were intercepted, and even the elite scout teams were unable to break through the blockade. Only the troops that broke through to the north, in the direction from which they came, were not intercepted.
The Floating Leaf King didn't know what that meant, but the enemy seemed to be driving himself and his men with a purpose and a plan.
The Floating Leaf King was a little bored, this feeling was like his own antennae and eyes were very insensitive, but the other party had excellent touch and vision. I can't see at all that I can't guess the other party's intentions.
Withdraw the secondary nest. This is the only idea that the Floating Leaf King has at the moment, no matter what tricks you play, as long as you can retreat to the secondary nest, relying on the underground labyrinth-like nest, it is impossible for the enemy's small force to eat all of their legions in a short period of time.
In all directions, there were legions of divine envoys pulling a long line, advancing without hurry, strangling all the remnants of the paving ants they encountered.
The main force of the Paving Army avoided contact with the pursuing troops of the Divine Envoy King's army, covered each other, and retreated to the north as fast as possible.
In the direction of their retreat, there were no ambushes or interceptions, unusually calm.
However, they still didn't notice it this time, and a few small black dots on the top of their heads changed their flight trajectory again.
Soon, the Floating Leaf King found that the small hill where the secondary nest was located was already far away, and there was still no trace of the enemy.
It was normal for there to be a hint of death nearby, and there were many seriously wounded in the group who were slowly dying, and their bodies had begun to secrete the pungent smell of oil, which symbolized death.
When the aura of death is strong enough on their bodies, their comrades will abandon him and let him quietly meet the arrival of death. Now in retreat, the paver ants have no way to bring the bodies of their dead companions back to the cemetery for burial, as is customary.
Therefore, the Floating Leaf King ignored the trace of death in the air, and did not notice that there were no foraging activities near the secondary nest.
He was just constantly urging his subordinates to return to the auxiliary nest as soon as possible to arm their defenses.
The first force burrowed into the ground through the narrow entrance, and the Floating Leaf King felt his tense nerves relax in half.
But he couldn't completely relax yet, the enemy was still falling behind him in a hurry, and he still had a lot to do.
Under the command of the Floating Leaf King, some of the better-condition Paving Ant Warriors, under the leadership of the squad commander, established a circular defense line along the small hill where the entrance and exit of the secondary nest were located.
More and more troops were withdrawn subsequently, and they went underground through the defensive line one after another.
The entrances and exits are very narrow, and the ability to pass through is limited, so a large number of troops can only gather together and wait to enter the underground.
The Divine Messenger King's legion had already caught up, and their elongated line crossed the Paving Ant Auxiliary Nest from both sides, and then completed the convergence in the north, where the Paving Ant Secondary Nest had been surrounded.
After the siege was completed, the Divine Envoy King's legion changed its previous slow pursuit speed and began to attack from all directions like a raging storm.
This attack was so sharp that the Floating Leaf King received warning signals from all directions almost simultaneously for a while. The defense seemed to be breached in an instant.
If it is said that the defeat in the gully area was due to an unexpected surprise attack, coupled with the unfavorable terrain, the whole army of paving ants was still very unconvinced.
After this battle, even the dullest commanders and soldiers can realize the gap between the two armies.
The Floating Leaf King had to send some of the troops that had not yet had time to retreat underground to fill the gaps in the defensive line in all directions. If the defensive line is not strengthened, the other troops will not have time to retreat underground, and what awaits them is only another massacre.
The sound of killing on the ground shook the sky, causing the Floating Leaf King to ignore the vibrations coming from under his feet.
After all, so many troops have withdrawn into the underground, and an underground defense line has to be established, and the underground nest ** must be chaotic now, and it is normal for vibrations to come.
But soon, the Floating Leaf King sensed that something was wrong, and the vibrations from the ground were becoming more and more obvious, getting closer and closer to the ground, which was very abnormal.
Before he could give further instructions, he noticed that there was a commotion at the entrance and exit of the secondary nest.
Soon, over there, inside the defense line of the Paving Ant Army, an army of big-headed ants was actually killed from the ground of the auxiliary nest.
The Paving Ant army in front of them was already some of the troops that had suffered the heaviest losses in the previous battles, and some even lost their commanders.
These armies were not at all ready for battle, they only thought about retreating underground to rest. In the face of a sudden blow, these forces collapsed again, collapsing faster and losing faster than they had previously encountered in ambush.
The Divine Envoy King's Legion opened a gap from here, and more and more Divine Envoy King's Legion soldiers broke through from here and began to sweep on both sides, dividing and surrounding the paving ant army that had broken the formation.
The end of the army of paving ants has come, and they have no skills to recover. Even the Floating Leaf King was dumbfounded, and he didn't issue a new order for a long time......