Ace of the Dragon Division Chapter 174 - Perfect Pathing

Chapter 174: Perfect Pathing (Part one)
The group of veterans all felt a bit embarrassed upon hearing that. Wei Yuan snorted, “What are you talking about? I’m a very considerate guy that’s attentive to details.“
Liao Shuhang: “If you are such a considerate guy, then why did you still get dumped and she say that you are not a considerate guy? That b*tch lying then?”
The others all burst into a low laughter upon hearing this, while Wei Yuan and Liao Shuhang almost got into a fight right there and then.
Inside the command center, the analysts said, “If the veterans keep on dragging this on, it will actually be more beneficial for the defending side. If it was the usual defense tactic, the darker it gets, the more difficult it would be to defend against an attack. But with Hu Bing’s strategy, it will be more advantageous the darker it gets, because the dark will provide better cover for him to ambush them.”
Head Instructor: “This is also something smart about Hu Bing.This brat is pretty good, it’s just his temper that needs more improvement. I hope he doesn’t fall too hard in the competition.”
On the other side, Xu Cheng looked at the sunset and said faintly, “The sky’s getting dark.”
Wei Yuan: “Xu Cheng, should we just stall it out with them? Should we wait until the middle of the night to launch a surprise attack?”
Xu Cheng shook his head. “I don’t want to stay here for the night. I still want to go back and take a hot shower.”
Everyone else was speechless. Come on, bro, you came here to train, and we are all trying hard to help you prove yourself to Hu Bing, yet you are so relaxed that it seems like winning or losing doesn’t matter… Can you be more serious and at least act nervous?
Xu Cheng knew these guys misunderstood him. He grinned. “What I meant was, let’s finish them fast.”
Liao Shuhang: “How should we finish them? Just tell us what we should do. We are only about 200 meters away from the defense zone,and we should be crossing into their sights any minute now.”
Xu Cheng: “Old Zhang, take out the map.”
Old Zhang took out the map from his backpack and laid it on the floor. Xu Cheng studied the map and he raised his head to use his penetrating vision and ultrasonic waves to lock onto the people laying in ambush ahead. Then, he took out a pen and drew a circle on the map. “If they are hiding there, the giant tree and dense shrubs could provide very good cover for them to either attack or retreat. It’s a cone-shaped defense line, and if we attack from the center, the enemies waiting in ambush on both sides can quickly come for reinforcement, resulting in a head-on confrontation on all sides which would place us at a great disadvantage. I think they also predicted we won’t be attacking from the center, so they deployed many traps on the two sides, and now, it’s the center that’s actually wide open for now.”
Liao Shuhang was a bit lost. “Then, Old Xu, where should we attack? After hearing what you said, I feel like there’s no way to take them on…”
Xu Cheng looked up and glanced at the points the enemies set up ambushes at. There were 5 people on each side, with Hu Bing guarding the far center with four other soldiers. Just like Xu Cheng said, there were many traps and mines on both sides, all of them well-disguised. It was almost night time, and it would definitely be a big disadvantage for the attacking side.
Wait!
Xu Cheng looked everywhere, and suddenly Hu Bing was gone!
Where did he go?
Xu Cheng looked for awhile trying to find him, finally locating his tracks in the shrubs. Oh wow, this brat actually hid himself in the center on the outer region where they would pass by for sure.
Upon seeing this, Xu Cheng smiled, and his eyes revealed a sly look.
“Got it.”
He pointed at the map and said to the veterans, “There are people on both sides. Now, I will draw an offense road map for you. Remember, the circles I drew are where traps could be at, so definitely try to avoid them on your way there.”
Chapter 174: Perfect Pathing (Part two)
Wei Yuan: “Didn’t you say the middle is wide open? Since the two sides are heavily guarded and trapped, why are we still attacking from both sides?”
Xu Cheng: “Why are there so many traps on both sides? Because the disadvantage of splitting troops to two sides is that the moment one side is in trouble, it would be very difficult for the other side to provide reinforcements on time. Only the troops in the middle can provide support to either side really quickly, but they would be abandoning the other side if they head to one side. So, they decided to deploy most of their resources and traps on the sides just in case we pick a strategy that could put them in a passive position, and the traps and mines can help them buy some time. And if we decide to go down the middle, both sides can easily collapse on us, and when that happens, our chances of winning would be significantly lower because we have no terrain nor positioning advantage.”
The others heard this and nodded. “But they are defending, plus the covers and traps, even if we split up the army like they did and go from both sides, it would be very hard for us to make progress advancing, right?”
Xu Cheng: “My plan is, Wei Yuan, you go to the left side by yourself.”
Wei Yuan: “WHAT?! You want me to feed? Bro, I don’t want to be the glorious sacrifice by myself, can you at least send a few more with me? Taking on 5 people by myself on one side? I really can’t do it man…”
Xu Cheng: “You don’t even trust me now?”
The others looked at each other, and Liao Shuhang elbowed Wei Yuan. “Let Old Xu finish.”
Xu Cheng waited for everyone to stop talking again before continuing, “It’s because I know you guys can’t take on either side in a 5v5, that’s why I planned for Wei Yuan to go to the left side.”
He pointed at the cross mark he drew and said, “Wei Yuan, you don’t have to be too aggressive. You just need to appear in this area. Remember, take cover right away after making an appearance because this left side has a sniper, and the others will focus on the right side. Follow my plan, the right side only has a defense formation of 5 people, if the 13 of you can’t take them down, then go home and play with mud instead.”
Old Zhang: “But what if we are focusing on sieging but the enemies circle behind us and collapse on us?”
Xu Cheng: “That’s why I told Wei Yuan to sit on the left side. It would already be time-consuming and dangerous for their left side to reinforce the right side. However, they will come over sooner or later after realizing there are 13 of you besieging the right side, including Hu Bing’s squad in the middle. That’s why Wei Yuan will try and buy enough time, and I will also stall the middle, while the thirteen of you annihilate the right side. Remember what I told you guys, following the path I drew will help you avoid a lot of the traps. Then, you three snipers, focus, you guys can’t expose yourselves at all. Let the people in front be responsible for providing you with target coordinates, and you just need to take care of them from the dark.”
The three snipers nodded. “Got it.”
Xu Cheng: “Everyone know what to do now?”
The fourteen of them nodded.
Xu Cheng: “Then let’s move. We need to complete this mission before the night falls. After the sun sets, you guys won’t be able to effectively follow the path I drew for you to dodge the traps and mines.”
Wei Yuan: “Wait, wait, after all this, what about you?”
Xu Cheng took out a sniper rifle from his bag and smiled. “I will take the enemy captain’s head.”
Liao Shuhang led 12 guys and went to the right side. He followed the map Xu Cheng drew and avoided many mines and traps.
The tactical analysts watching the surveillance were very shocked. “Head Instructor, look at the path they are taking, they are perfectly avoiding all the traps. These guys are really lucky.”
The head instructor squinted his eyes. “I don’t think it’s luck.”
When they leaned against several big trees to hide and counted down to the start of their operation, Old Zhang looked at the map. He couldn’t help but pick up a rock to throw at a spot that Xu Cheng drew a circle on. Originally, he just wanted to see just how accurate were Xu Cheng’s predictions, but the area that big rock landed immediately sank, revealing a bit pit.
The jaws of Old Zhang and the others all dropped. “Holy crap, there really is a trap!”