I heard from Aphrodite that the mountain peak is probably a dead world tree.
Surdak even wanted to cross these arch bridges and go to the other side of the lake to have a look.
The original plan was to set up crossbows and catapults on the stone bridge, and then blast it all the way across.
After a night's rest, Surdak's army gathered under the stone bridge. Thousands of ghost-marked red ants also gathered on the stone bridge. These red ants crowded on the stone bridge and kept hissing at the army under the bridge.
, countless red ants opened their tentacles to demonstrate against the army.
Surdak waved his hand and pushed the thirty bed crossbows that had been assembled overnight to the front. Eighteen armed Thunder Rhinos were also lined up at this moment, and all the bed crossbows were aimed at the ghost-striped red ants on the bridge.
When these ghost-striped red ants saw the army setting up crossbows, they all backed away.
Although they were crowded on the bridge, their retreat speed was very fast, and they were thousands of meters away in the blink of an eye.
Such a long distance has exceeded the maximum range of the bed crossbow. Even if the giant crossbow arrows can fly there, there is no way to break through the hard armor of the ghost-marked red ants...
Suldak ordered the cavalry to advance.
…
The ghost-striped soldier ants stood outside the range of the bed crossbow. When they saw the cavalry stepping onto the stone bridge, they immediately rushed towards the stone bridge entrance and strangled themselves with Andrew and hundreds of dismounted cavalry.
The bridge here is not wide, and almost all the cavalrymen dismounted, wearing heavy armor and fighting on foot with the ghost-patterned soldiers.
Although Andrew and Gulitem were in front, these ghost-striped red ants could crawl freely under the stone bridge and attack the cavalry from the left and right sides of the stone bridge, causing the cavalry on the flanks to panic.
The cavalry who lost their horses completely gave up their speed advantage. They were actually forced to retreat steadily under the acidic venom frequently sprayed by the soldier ants.
Cavalry caught in an infantry battle will not perform much better than heavily armored infantry.
Fortunately, their armors were strong and their bodies were strengthened by magic patterns. Their strength was no less than that of ghost-patterned soldier ants. Each of the cavalrymen had a handy magic weapon in their hands, and they did not look embarrassed even if they retreated.
The cavalry continued to retreat, luring the ghost-striped soldier ants into the range of the bed crossbow.
The crossbows surrounding the bridge head fired at the same time, and a large number of ghost-patterned soldier ants were hit by arrows. Many red ants fell directly from the bridge into the lake.
What followed was a tug-of-war that began on the stone arch bridge.
This is all because the ghost-striped red ants are restricted by the terrain and cannot use their numerical advantage to suppress the cavalry. The cavalry abandoned their horses to fight on foot, giving up their biggest advantage. They pulled back and forth, basically allowing the crossbowmen to take advantage.
The archers also gathered near the lake and shot showers of arrows at the ghostly patterned soldier ants.
Even Surdak did not expect that just in the battle at the bridgehead, a steady stream of ghost-patterned soldier ants rushed out, causing the army to fight hard here for more than half a month, with the cavalry and indigenous warriors taking turns to fight.
Materials and supplies were continuously delivered from behind. Surdak's marching tent was set up on the top of the bridge slope. He even built several rafts by the lake specifically to fish out the ghost patterns that fell into the lake.
Soldier ants.
However, as the weather gradually gets colder, the ice on the lake becomes thicker and thicker, and the ice must be broken before these rafts can be rowed to the lake.
But it would be impossible without these rafts. The three-centimeter-thick ice layer could not support people at all.
Since the stone bridge was blocked by the ghost-marked soldier ants, Surdak could only slowly consume the vitality of the ghost-marked red ants.
During this period, the joint forces of the adventure group and the mercenary group harvested a batch of magic herbs near the lake, and some adventure groups specialized in digging for poisonous millipedes in the poisonous swamp.
Both the adventure group and the mercenary group made money.
As this batch of magic herbs entered the trading market in Duodan Town, the entire Bailin plane became aware of the Northern Expedition.
As soon as the beast tide subsided, Suldak, the new lord of the Bailin plane, summoned ten thousand troops to march to the Dark Worm Valley. This simply shocked the jaws of many Wilkes.
The beast horde hadn't fought enough, and they actually attacked someone's lair...
What's even more irritating is that after breaking through the poisonous swamp, the natural barrier of the Dark Worm Valley, a large amount of magic herbs were harvested, and almost all the adventure groups and mercenary groups that followed benefited.
At this time, the rest of the adventure group and mercenary group in Wilkes City couldn't sit still. Of course, they also wanted to pick up precious magic herbs by walking around the lake, and they also wanted to dig up them in the swamp.
A poisonous insect that can obtain a zombie state.
Even many small lords in Wilkes City have gone to the military headquarters in recent days to inquire about this information. They want to know if Lord Suldak has any plans to recruit troops in the near future. They have some well-trained soldiers.
's army.
The response given by the military department was that this northern expedition was entirely the personal behavior of Viscount Suldak. All military supplies and troops were borne by him personally. The military department did not give any explanation for this, nor did it assume any responsibility.
If you know whether Viscount Suldak has any plans to recruit troops, you need to go to the northern front line of Invercargill Forest and ask Viscount Suldak personally.
Both adventure groups and mercenary groups are relatively flexible. They can leave at will. Many adventure groups left Wilkes City that day.
There are also some businessmen from Wilkes City who are preparing to collect some supplies and go to Dodan Town to reap benefits.
However, the smart businessman did not go to Dodan Town at this time, but ran to Malacom and proposed to do business with him. Everyone who was well-informed knew that Malacom was Viscount Surdak's only material.
supplier.
…
The battle at the southern end of the stone bridge lasted for more than half a month. Although a lot of supplies were consumed, a large number of ghost-marked red ants were also hunted.
The daily expenses are not small, but the gains are enough.
At least for Suldak, the balance of payments can still be maintained.
But he has also realized that with this stalemate at the bridge, once this winter passes, he may not be able to withdraw his troops even if he doesn't want to.
At first, I wanted to use crossbows and catapults to blast it all the way. Later, the cavalry and tribal warriors took turns to fight. Obviously, this stone bridge could not be captured.
So in the third week, Samira, who was already extremely irritated by the boring tug-of-war at the top of the city every day, pushed three crossbow carts onto the stone bridge, and the crossbow arrows she brought to the stone bridge this time were all
Explosive crossbow bolts strapped with explosives.
Behind the bed crossbow is a group of infantry preparing for battle, and behind the infantry are two catapults.
Just when the ghost-patterned soldier ants on the opposite side launched a charge, Samira shot three exploding giant crossbow arrows at the opposite side without any sense of martial ethics.
The giant crossbow arrows exploded on the arched bridge, and at the same time, the desire for victory of the ghostly patterned soldier ants was shattered.
As the catapults behind them threw explosives that exploded on the stone bridge one after another, the ghost-striped soldier ants fell from the bridge into the icy lake one after another.
The stalemate in the battle was broken by these exploding arrows.