Against the Big-Headed Ants, Part Two
Since the beginning, reinforcements of Big-Headed Ant have been continuously entering the battlefield, attempting to break through the encirclement and rescue their besieged allies.
Therefore, the Swarm had just outflanked the vanguard of the Big-Headed Ant is now under immense pressure, facing attacks from both sides.
However, as the encirclement of the Swarm gradually tightened, a large number of idle troops were released. Under Rowan's command, these troops quickly moved to support friendly forces that were attacked from both sides at the rear of the encirclement.
As the Swarm continued to expand to intercept the reinforcements of the Big-Headed Ant, the situation, which had just become somewhat precarious, quickly stabilized.
Without the cover and shield of the giant combat units, the Formic Acid Solution spray from the Swarm Worker Ant was maximized. The vanguard of the Big-Headed Ant, surrounded in the middle, quickly collapsed. To speed things up, Rowan also deployed the Transport Bug protecting the flanks into the battlefield.
The hidden forces within the Big-Headed Ant Nest were astonishing. As time passed, reinforcements grew in number, quickly reaching a million. The Swarm forces attempting to intercept the reinforcements suffered heavy losses, forcing Rowan to send out a portion of Worker Ant to provide a ranged saturation attack, temporarily repelling the Big-Headed Ant reinforcements.
The Swarm resistance force got a brief respite, gnawing on the remains beside them and eating them to replenish their strength.
The battle within the encirclement was nearing its end, with only tens of thousands of Big-Headed Ant still putting up a stubborn resistance.
Unfortunately, all this resistance was in vain.
Half an hour later, a Big-Headed Ant was held by its limbs Worker Ant several Swarm and unable to move. It was then executed by the Giant-Mandible Soldier Ant. Its death represented the annihilation of the entire vanguard of the Big-Headed Ant army.
By this time, the Swarm's defense forces had already re-engaged with the Big-Headed Ant reinforcements, and the battle was fierce. The Big-Headed Ant reinforcements had increased to 1.5 million, and more and more troops were continuously arriving from the rear.
It's unimaginable how Big-Headed Ant can maintain such a large army from a single Ant Nest.
It's important to understand that although the Swarm now numbers around 15 to 16 million, they are spread across approximately 2,700 to 2,800 bases. Because the Swarm has expanded so rapidly, the number of swarms in each base is far from full capacity.
Even though a single Red Ant Nest can contain millions of ants, most of them will still be out there forming Predator Squad, sweeping around everywhere.
In the short time that Rowan was observing the enemy situation, the Big-Headed Ant's reinforcements increased by more than 100,000, reaching a total of over 1.6 million. Adding to the 500,000 vanguard troops that had already been wiped out, this number had exceeded 2 million. And looking at the winding "black band" that stretched endlessly behind their reinforcements, this number was far from reaching their limit.
Rowan originally planned to devour the vanguard before engaging the Big-Headed Ant reinforcements, but now he was hesitant.
Although the Zerg swarm had a numerical advantage and long-range fire support, they managed to annihilate the 500,000-strong vanguard. However, due to the time constraints, there was virtually no formation maneuvering; it was all about head-on combat. Under these circumstances, the Zerg swarm suffered heavy casualties, losing over 60,000 troops.
Moreover, the majority of these were Soldier Ant. Keep in mind that the Swarm only brought a total of over 500,000 Soldier Ant with them this time, and this loss represents more than a tenth of them.
Meanwhile, the Swarm forces on the interception line were suffering increasing casualties. Rowan had left 300,000 Worker Ant to clean up the battlefield, and the rest of his forces had been committed to the attack. However, as reinforcements from the Big-Headed Ant continued to arrive, the forces on both sides were nearly evenly matched.
Although the Swarm still holds the advantage with its Formic Acid Solution and stingers, once these methods are exhausted, they will be left with no choice but to fight hand-to-hand.
By then, while the Swarm units will have a slight advantage in individual combat strength, they will have no reinforcements. If they can achieve final victory, that will be fine, but if they lose, things will become quite troublesome.
Because at that time, the millions of corpses lost on both sides would become the spoils of the victors.
However, seeing the reinforcements from the Big-Headed Ant, the chances of the Swarm winning in one wave were slim, and they had to change their strategy quickly.
Having made up his mind, Rowan immediately issued new orders.
The Transport Bug gradually withdrew from the battlefield, and with the concerted efforts of Worker Ant and Mucus Bug, they quickly packed and transported the spoils.
Subsequently, the Worker Ant that still had supplies on the front lines sprayed out all the Formic Acid Solution they had accumulated at once. The collective long-range attack of millions of Worker Ant was still extremely powerful. The massive amount of acid rain formed a river separating the two sides' lines.
Large numbers of Big-Headed Ant, having lost their antennae, retreated in terror, disrupting their own formation. Many more Big-Headed Ant, caught in the attack, lost their ability to move and slowly turned into liquid.
Taking advantage of the chaos in the Big-Headed Ant formation, when the ants dared not advance, the Swarm quickly eliminated the remaining enemies and then retreated swiftly.
During the retreat, in order to save time and burden, the piles of insect corpses on the battlefield were abandoned.
After retreating a distance, the giant combat units left first, while the medium and small combat units climbed onto the Transport Bug in an orderly manner. Once loaded, the Transport Bug, with their longer legs, quickly caught up with the departing Super Giant force.
Meanwhile, over a thousand Spy Bug and several Transport Bug remained in place to disrupt the information scattered by the main Swarm during their retreat, preventing the Big-Headed Ant from catching up.
After making a large detour, the Swarm safely returned to its border territory.
Looking at the busy insectoids, Rowan roughly counted their losses and found that the casualties in this battle had reached a staggering 150,000. This battle could be considered the most devastating since the Swarm's inception.
Apart from the more than 60,000 troops lost during the previous encirclement and suppression of the 500,000-strong vanguard of Big-Headed Ant, the rest were all lost in contact with the Big-Headed Ant reinforcements. What's most infuriating is that all the insect corpses on that battle line were also lost.
Among them were even eleven Super Giant Swarm and more than fifty Giant Soldier Ant.
Fortunately, during the previous battle against the vanguard of the Big-Headed Ant, they contributed over seventy Super Giant and over one hundred giant ants. However, since carrying them during the retreat was extremely inconvenient, Rowan buried them not far from the battlefield, making sure the surrounding area was well-disguised. Hopefully, the Big-Headed Ant won't find them.
Although the Swarm suffered heavy losses, the Big-Headed Ant fared even worse, losing at least 700,000 of their manpower in this battle.
What Rowan needs to do now is to keep them from catching their breath and continuously wear them down before the Big-Headed Ant can convert their harvest into troops.
However, Rowan isn't afraid even if it comes to brute force. Could there really be three thousand Ant Queen hiding inside Big-Headed Ant Nest?
The reason he was in such a hurry was that, in his mind, all those spoils were his. In particular, he wanted to take back the Super Giant corpses of the Insect Nest before the Big-Headed Ant could digest them.