The Northern Expeditionary Army, which had withdrawn to "Target C", had just finished repairing its defenses, and the Paving Ant Barbarian Army followed.

In fact, the day after the withdrawal of the large army of the Northern Expeditionary Force of the Big-headed Ant Kingdom, the capable paving ant scouts had already judged through the clues on the ground and the smell of residual pheromones that a large number of big-headed ant troops had left this place and headed for the direction of "Target C".

However, at that time, the main target of the Paving Ant Barbarian Army was the "Target Ding", who was still alone in the defense, vowing to capture this difficult bone, so no corresponding measures were taken.

After the fall of "Target D", the army of paving ants used this as a base and followed it, and launched a non-stop siege on "Target C".

Since Target C does not have moats such as streams, the Big-Headed Ant Kingdom Army was determined to hold on underground from the beginning.

This time, the Paving Ant Barbarian Army was temporarily restrained by the Big-Headed Ant Army in the street battle in the underground nest.

In response to the tactics of the paving ant barbarian army attacking and digging everywhere, the big-headed ant kingdom army organized mobile troops, once a gap was found, it would send troops to block the mouth in time, so as to avoid the passive situation that small groups of troops were constantly outflanked and destroyed in the "target Ding", and even the commander's camp was raided.

Moreover, this time, the big-headed ant kingdom army focused on expanding its nest deep underground, and there were not many nests on each horizontal plane, which also curbed the tactics of the paving ant army that liked to dig new passages from the horizontal direction to sneak attack.

Although the progress of the paving ant barbarian army was not smooth, but the overwhelming numerical superiority was their biggest reliance, under the attack of countless paving ant warriors who followed one after another, in less than a week, the big-headed ant kingdom army was forced to retreat.

This time, because the climate was already cold, the big-headed ant kingdom did not dare to choose to retreat at night. They left five elite legions behind the field array, covering the remnants of less than twenty legions to retreat at dawn.

This time, the main force of the Northern Expeditionary Army abandoned the three auxiliary nests along the way and withdrew directly to "Target A".

"Target A" is the first sub-nest that the Northern Expeditionary Army independently conquered on the north bank of the Great River, and if this place is also lost, then all the achievements of the Northern Expeditionary Army on the north bank of the Great River will be lost! They could only retreat to the "Northern Expeditionary Army Camp" handed over by the Divine Envoy King's legion.

Considering that the "Northern Expeditionary Army Camp" is flat and easy to attack and difficult to defend, once "Target A" falls, perhaps the Northern Expeditionary Army can only flee back to the south bank through the rope bridge of the "bridgehead", or be driven down the icy river.

Therefore, "Target A" is almost the last fortress of the Northern Expeditionary Army.

And the reason why he chose "Target A" as a stronghold and gave up several weak secondary nests along the way is also because "Target A" is very suitable for defense.

Target A is similar to Target D in that it is passed by a stream, and a stream flows through the north, west, and south sides of the secondary nest, and flows into a large river not far from the south. Target A is located on a peninsula surrounded by this stream.

Although this stream is not as wide as the stream of Target D, it is more rapid, and there is no sign of the current decreasing or freezing, making it difficult for the enemy to build a pontoon bridge.

If you want to attack Target D directly, you must take a detour from the east or pass a fallen wooden bridge in a stream. And whichever offensive route is chosen, it will either delay the time or affect the ability to pass, which is very beneficial for the defending side.

Target A is a tree nest with an entrance at the base of an aspen tree, which is a bitten hole in the trunk.

The shallow layer of this nest is a cavity dug inside the trees, and only the middle layer below is a dirt nest. Even if the Paving Ant Barbarian Army invaded the shallow nest, it would not be able to dig through the hard xylem in a short time.

It is precisely because of the obvious defensive advantage of "Target A" that the Northern Expeditionary Army will use this as the last stronghold and hope.

After abandoning all other strongholds, the Northern Expeditionary Army gathered here in various places has approached 40 legions, which is the last possession of the Northern Expeditionary Army, and even the "Northern Expeditionary Army Camp" in the rear only retains the garrison of one legion.

At the beginning, when the four senior commanders including the public security king led the two corps in the north and south to attack the city and plunder the land, the general King A sat here and used the strength at hand to continuously expand the "target A" and build a large number of cantonment caves and granaries.

And the Northern Expeditionary Army, which had almost no way out, was also in high morale after the commanders held a meeting to strengthen their determination to defend to the death.

Shortly after the army arrived at Target A, and before the Paving Ant Barbarian Army could catch up, a reinforcement army sent by the Divine Envoy King arrived.

The protagonist has been paying attention to the battle situation here, although the weather is getting colder, and the time that the flying knight can move every day is getting shorter and shorter, but the latest battle report every day will always be delivered to the protagonist as soon as possible.

The protagonist also watched the Northern Expeditionary Army fall into passivity day by day, retreating step by step. And the protagonist also understands that "Target A" is the last reliance of the Northern Expeditionary Army.

Since the Divine Envoy King's legion is being reorganized, it will not be able to form a combat force by next spring, and the protagonist will not be able to send a direct army to reinforce them.

The previous strategy of attracting the black-headed sour ant tribe to sneak attack the paving ant army could not be used again, because the cold-sensitive black-headed sour ant tribe had already begun to build holes for the winter, and several tribes had suffered heavy losses, and it was difficult to pose a big threat to the enemy again.

In this context, the protagonist hopes that the Northern Expeditionary Army can hold out longer, and it is best to keep this fortress on the north bank of the Great River and hold back the footsteps of the main force of the Paving Ant Barbarian Army. Therefore, he cobbled together a support army from the two northern territories of "Linshui City" and "Bridgehead" to support the Northern Expeditionary Army.

The protagonist only allows the "Waterfront City" and "Bridgehead" to keep a small reserve of inhabitants and supplies, except for the worker ants who have mastered breeding and planting techniques, the necessary defenders, and the supplies needed to survive the winter. The rest of the worker ants, soldier ants, and food supplies arrived at "Target A" in groups.

There is no male commander in this support army, so they will be scattered and assigned to the legions of the understaffed major generals. Although most of the support troops are newcomers with no battlefield experience, there are also a few veterans who have retired from the Divine Envoy King Legion.

Most of these veterans participated in the defensive battle of "Waterfront City" last winter, and although they lost their arthrops or tentacles in the battle, their rich experience and the unique organization and discipline of the Divine Angel King Legion also made them no weaker than ordinary soldier ants.

The King of Public Security unceremoniously incorporated the veterans of the more than 100 Divine Envoy King Legion into the legion directly under him and used them as the general reserve.

And the large amount of food that followed also boosted the morale of the troops, who basically fed on corpses and suffered from epidemics.