My Computer Leads to an Instance Dungeon-Chapter 47: Battle Strategy

Fang Zhen looked at the mine entrance, but he didn’t act immediately.

Instead, he calmly set down his backpack, took out the map he had gotten from Ande, and began to study it carefully.

The Dogman Tribe in the mine was numerous and organized. If viewed as a single entity, their absolute strength far surpassed his own; it would be impossible to take them on head-on.

To win, it was best to divide these monsters and pick them off one by one.

He had to make use of the terrain, which meant he needed to study it first.

Taking the Redstone Town Mine was, without a doubt, a true war.

The art of war is of vital importance to the state. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. It must be studied with the utmost care.

And one of the most critical aspects of it is understanding the terrain.

In fact, *The Art of War* even has a dedicated Chapter called "Terrain," which is all about understanding the various types of ground for combat.

Fang Zhen was well aware of the risks of a real-life dungeon crawl. You only get one life, so there was no room for carelessness. He had to understand the terrain completely.

In truth, the most logical method would be to attack with fire or smoke them out.

But Ande had said there was an underground river deep inside the mine, and that the mine had multiple vents. A fire attack wasn’t suitable; any smoke that drifted in would quickly be dispersed and circulated out through the inner vents.

Since a fire attack was out, he had no choice but to enter the mine himself.

Fang Zhen unfolded the map and observed it closely, formulating a feasible and logical battle plan in his mind.

The map showed the mine’s internal layout.

Judging from the map, the mine’s internal structure resembled a large, irregularly shaped piece of ginger, divided into several parts.

Upon entering the mine, there was a short tunnel. Passing through it led to a relatively wide-open space.

Here, the path split in two.

One tunnel went to the left. After a winding stretch, it opened into a cavern that still contained iron ore. It was an enclosed, relatively large space, and it was the end of that route.

Returning to the fork, another tunnel led to the right. After a short distance, there was a large mining area on this side. The ore here was relatively abundant, and it was the largest cavern inside the mine.

Beyond this largest cavern, there was only one path. Continuing forward led to the second-largest space, which also produced iron ore. The map indicated that the quality of the ore here was better than in the previous two caverns. Furthermore, from this point on, one could occasionally find Cinnabar Ore.

Further in was the third mining cavern along this route. Here, there was a drop-off with a wooden ladder and ropes leading down to a subterranean level. This was a newly discovered vein, a sort of second-level basement mine, not very large and not yet fully developed.

After looking over the map, Fang Zhen silently gave names to the key areas.

’The first cavern after the entrance tunnel... let’s call it the Mine Hall. There’s not much ore here, it’s all been mined out, just an empty space.’

’The enclosed cavern the left tunnel leads to... I’ll call it Mine Cave A.’

’The three connected caverns to the right of the Mine Hall... I’ll call them Mine Cave B, Mine Cave C, and Miner Ding, in order.’

Miner Ding was the innermost, two-level cavern, and according to the intelligence gathered in Redstone Town, it was where the Kobold leader was located.

Fang Zhen had now named all the key locations on the map.

After personalizing the map with his own labels and organizing his thoughts, Fang Zhen stared at it and began to devise his battle plan.

An idea quickly formed in his mind. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Looking at the map, after entering the mine, he would first pass through the tunnel to the Mine Hall. The chance of encountering Kobolds there was probably not high.

Kobolds were indeed evil creatures, but they possessed a degree of intelligence and were one of the few creatures that engaged in "labor."

According to Ande, these Kobolds were natural miners. After occupying the mine, they didn’t just use it as a nest; they actively excavated ore, stockpiled it, and even traded their minerals with certain merchants.

The ore in the Mine Hall was depleted, so there probably wouldn’t be any Kobolds inside, a Scout or two at most.

His gaze fell upon the two tunnels in the Mine Hall.

If Fang Zhen entered the Mine Hall without running into any Kobold Scouts, he would have two choices.

Advancing through the left tunnel would lead to Mine Cave A.

Following the right tunnel would lead to Mine Cave B, and continuing on from there, to Mine Cave C and Miner Ding.

Which route to take was a matter of choice and judgment.

’Go left, to Mine Cave A,’ Fang Zhen decided.

’Terrain is a soldier’s greatest asset.’

’To assess the enemy and secure victory, to calculate dangers, difficulties, and distances—this is the way of a superior general.’

In the study of terrain in warfare, there is a type called "trapping ground."

This refers to special terrain that an army can enter but has great difficulty exiting. This is known as "trapping ground."

Mine Cave A was very likely to have Kobolds mining inside.

Mine Cave B led to the Kobolds’ main encampment. Therefore, if there were any Kobolds in Mine Cave A, they would have to retreat back toward Mine Cave B. By that same logic, since the main force had already dispatched miners to Mine Cave A, they were unlikely to send reinforcements unless something went wrong.

If Fang Zhen chose not to take the left tunnel, and instead entered Mine Cave B from the right, it would be fine if he didn’t run into any enemies. But if he did, and the battle went poorly, he would likely run into the Kobolds returning from Mine Cave A while trying to retreat.

In that case, Fang Zhen would be caught in a pincer attack.

But by taking the left tunnel into Mine Cave A, his escape route would be the outer tunnel connecting back to the Mine Hall. This meant that if he retreated, he would return to the Mine Hall first and was unlikely to be surrounded by Kobolds coming from Mine Cave B.

From a logical standpoint, he had to choose the left path and clear Mine Cave A first.

Fang Zhen’s plan was clear.

He was alone, and there were dozens of Kobolds. Clearing them all out in one go was both unrealistic and unreasonable.

This time would be an appetizer. The goal was to enter Mine Cave A and see if there was a Kobold squad mining inside.

If there were too many Kobolds, he would try to lure them out for one-on-one kills or sneak in and assassinate one or two. Through actual combat, he could get a rough idea of the Kobolds’ strength and combat capabilities, and do his best to understand their traits and behavioral patterns.

The objective was reconnaissance. Simply scouting out Mine Cave A thoroughly would be a success.

If a chance for victory presented itself—if there weren’t too many Kobolds in Mine Cave A, ten or fewer—he could risk a fight. It would be a chance to test the power of the Dragon Gallbladder Repeating Two-in-One Bow and weaken the Kobolds’ overall strength.

With his battle strategy clear, Fang Zhen made his decision.

He folded the map, set down his backpack and opened it. He took out the Dragon Gallbladder Repeating Two-in-One Bow, holding it in his left hand, clipped a high-intensity flashlight to his belt, and held his long spear in his right.

Fang Zhen left his backpack there in the woods and, with steady steps, walked into the mine.