I, who was eager to retire, became an Imperial General.

Chapter 176 You're definitely going to make it!

After reaching a deal with Dolan and briefly discussing the details, John had Siegfried escort Dolan back to the city lord's mansion. Then, he went directly to the military base to find Leia and told her about his plans.

"Surveillance?"

Upon learning that her new mission was to monitor Dolan Beatrice, Leia's eyes lit up.

Although most of the missions she had taken on in the past involved killing targets, there was never any surveillance like this.

However, Leia felt that she should be able to handle it.

Well, if they find out, we can just kill that guy who's giving Major John a headache and then frame the Allies.

As for the other witnesses, why not just deal with them as well?

Anything can happen on the battlefield!
Leia, who had already mentally categorized Dolan and his guard regiment as enemies, immediately found the optimal solution with her extraordinary wisdom.

So he immediately puffed out his chest with confidence, saluted John, and assured him:
"I understand. I will definitely complete this mission perfectly, Major John!"

is it?

But why do I feel like you idiot didn't understand what I meant at all?

You wouldn't be thinking of just killing Dolan, would you?
"..."

Looking at Leia's excited face, and recalling the impromptu actions she had taken with her amazing wisdom, John felt a headache coming on.

He's starting to worry that Leia, that idiot, might have another crazy idea while on a mission, and end up getting killed by Dolan by accident.

If things really develop to that point, he'll probably be in for a world of trouble.

After all, Dolan's father, the Marquis Irias Beatrice, was the strongest member of the Beatrice family, who once held the title of 'Hand of Domination'.

Several years ago, during a battle with "Shattered Fang," the strongest warrior of the Blood Wolf Tribe in the Saga Kingdom, he sacrificed a leg to kill his opponent, resulting in damage to his magic circuits. As a result, he fell from the Grand rank to the Super rank, and his strength has been declining year by year.

However, if the opponent disregards the injury, they can still recover to the coronal level in a short period of time.

After all, even a starved camel is bigger than a horse. Once the news of Dolan's death gets out, he, who is currently just a low-ranking mage, will be crushed into dust in the blink of an eye by a Grand Master who is furious and seeking revenge because his offspring have been cut off.

Indeed, it's best to find a smart person to work with Leia.

Otherwise, if this brilliant strategist makes a stupid mistake and ends up killing Dolan, I'll be in for a lot of trouble.

With that thought in mind, John made up his mind immediately and turned his gaze to the guards behind him without hesitation.

As for Wendy, who was standing next to him with a face full of longing, practically screaming "I want to participate too!" "Please, Captain!" "Let me join too!", he rejected her without even thinking.

Just kidding, with Leia, that phoenix chick, on the team, this mission is already unstable enough.

If we send Wendy, that brilliant strategist, over there, wouldn't it be adding insult to injury if we put two brilliant minds together?

Therefore, this time he must choose a truly intelligent person from among his trusted confidants.

Only in this way can he ensure that his subsequent arrangements are executed perfectly, so that no unnecessary accidents occur!

With this in mind, John quickly scanned the guards behind him.

He quickly found his goal within it:
"Sergeant Hawke, you will be participating in this surveillance mission with the ground support team. Sergeant Mia will also be accompanying you as a liaison officer."

That's right, John plans to send Hawke to assist in this mission.

When he had previously sent the other party and Mia to contact the Third Navy, he was somewhat worried that something might go wrong.

But this young man, who seemed to have been led astray by Wendy, has already met his expectations with his flawless performance.

In addition, given the opponent's status as a veteran scout, and with his magical eye technique that is no less powerful than Wendy's, he should be able to provide ample intelligence to the ground support forces.

This would better help him complete his subsequent plan to lure and force Dolan to withdraw.

And, most importantly, unlike the rest of the guards who, under Wendy's influence, seemed to have become paranoid and constantly misunderstood their own orders.

Although Hawke also calls himself a Maslowist fighter, aside from frequently discussing Maslowism with others...

However, he never caused any trouble when it came to the tasks he was given.

On the contrary, he was always able to solve the problem perfectly according to his ideas.

Therefore, in John's view, the other party was clearly the most suitable candidate!
John believed that as long as he sent this simple-minded, honest man, the plan would unfold perfectly as he had envisioned!

Absolutely no accidents are possible!

Thinking of this, John immediately disregarded all suspicion and smiled directly at the stunned Hawke:

"How is it, Sergeant Hawke? Are you confident you can complete this mission?"

"?"

However, upon hearing the instruction, Hawke did not immediately agree, but instead fell into deep thought.

In his view, after the battalion commander dispatched Lieutenant Leia and ground support troops, the surveillance mission was already a done deal, and there was no need to send any additional troops.

After all, Lieutenant General Dolan looked like a weakling that Lieutenant Leia could easily take care of.

With the battalion commander's flawless strategy, the enemy simply couldn't make any waves.

However, the battalion commander specifically requested that he, a veteran reconnaissance soldier, and Mia, who possessed long-distance telepathy, go together.

Could it be that this surveillance mission is not as simple as I imagined, but rather a setup by the battalion commander?

For example, it appears to be monitoring Dolan and attempting to seize its mineral resources.

In reality, the battalion commander hoped that after Dolan finished developing the mines, our side would proactively expose information about the ore to the Allied forces, thereby attracting the enemy to deliberately send an elite force to try to plunder it.

By taking advantage of the enemy's attack, forcing Dolan to evacuate from the mine to save his life, we can not only seize the mineral resources but also clear ourselves of suspicion of betrayal by claiming that we are covering Dolan's retreat.

In order to gain the gratitude of the Beat family through this life-saving grace, and then attempt to divide the conservative party?

Then, they utilized Lieutenant Leia's terrifying strength, Siegfried's precise archery skills, and the powerful assassination abilities of the former Black Hawk assassination squad members from the ground support forces.

Try to use the terrain to completely counterattack this elite force?

The reason I had Mia and I participate together, besides intelligence gathering and communication, was also to take advantage of the enemy's ignorance of the presence of magic-wielding soldiers within this army unit. We could then use our combined explosive magic to cover up this ambush operation.

This would ensure the complete annihilation of the enemy's elite force.
To alleviate more pressure on our own frontline battlefield?
The battalion commander might even have planned to have our troops put on Allied uniforms after annihilating the enemy, spreading the illusion that the Allies had succeeded, thus completely eliminating Dolan's suspicions about us.

They can also use this mobility—which allows all but Siegfried to fly at high speeds via the magic pack—to quickly reach the Cocobia Rainforest.

Then, by using the Black Hawk assassination squad to learn the language of the Kingdom of Victoria and their exquisite disguise techniques, our elite assassination squad can disguise itself as an allied force and successfully infiltrate the enemy's rear to carry out infiltration and assassination operations against the enemy's vulnerable strongholds or the Darkmoon Clan's high-ranking members who are not well guarded.

Could this force the enemy to send troops back to defend their territory? Or even, directly seize the entire Hocobia rainforest?
After destroying the enemy's coastal defense artillery, they then helped friendly forces at sea to win the naval battle!
Will this ultimately lead to a true counter-encirclement and suppression?!

"That must be it, that must be it!"

"Otherwise, the captain wouldn't have needed to specifically name Mia and me to participate in this mission!"

"Ah, truly, how exquisite, how brilliant, what genius!"

"As expected of the battalion commander, as expected of a genius commander who earned the Iron Cross First Class on his first battlefield experience. This kind of brilliant planning, taking dozens of steps ahead and calculating almost everything, this strategy that kills four birds with one stone, is simply, simply breathtaking!"

Hawke, who fully understood John's 'plan', suddenly realized something, and his admiration for John was beyond words.

At this moment, John, who was smiling and silent, had become almost like a god of strategy in his eyes, leaving him with no other thoughts besides loyalty and respect.

Although Hawke was also somewhat worried about whether he, as a mid-level mage, could truly meet the camp commander's expectations of him perfectly.

But the thought that this mission was personally assigned to him by the battalion commander, and that he would be fighting alongside top-tier experts, made Hawke take a deep breath and then salute John with a serious expression.

"Reporting to the battalion commander, Hawke Sparrow guarantees the mission's success!"

I fully understand what you mean. Although this task would be incredibly stressful for others, you must have your reasons for choosing me.

In order to meet your expectations, how could I, as a Maslow's advocate, back down at this time?!

So, Battalion Commander John, please rest assured, I will definitely complete your great plan!
Hawke's eyes were filled with determination. At this moment, he had made up his mind that no matter the cost, he would complete this crucial mission, which appeared to be surveillance but was actually an infiltration operation.

He will never let the battalion commander down!

Well, very energetic!

This major needs honest people like Hawke who don't make wild assumptions!
I knew you'd pull it off!

Seeing Hawke's 'honest' appearance, John was immediately gratified.

He felt that among his many old subordinates, Hawke was probably the one who made him feel the least troubled.

After all, although this kid is also a Maslow fanatic, he is no different from ordinary people in terms of his actions and behavior.

The other party will obediently do whatever the superior orders them to do.

Compared to the foolish Wendy who was always causing trouble, this loyal soldier was the true mastermind to him.

Very good, it's decided. Once Hawke successfully completes this surveillance mission, I'll definitely apply for a second-class merit for him and let him jump three ranks to become a second lieutenant.

Compared to that idiot Wendy, you're much more suitable to be my second-in-command!
John gave Hawke an appreciative look, but didn't say much on the surface. Instead, he briefly instructed Leia to consult Hawke's opinion before making any decisions should anything change during the execution of the plan.

With this extra layer of protection, John was completely relieved.

After watching Leia lead the ground support troops and others to the city lord's mansion, John, along with a resentful Wendy, visited the Third Navy, which was still docked at the pier and preparing to depart for the Aiken Sea to re-engage with the Crescent Moon Fleet.

The changes on the Farok front have exceeded his expectations, and he is now unsure whether the Allies have sent additional warships to the sea.

But just to be on the safe side, John felt he should remind Bob.

After all, if the Third Navy were to be besieged by a suddenly appearing Allied fleet due to information asymmetry, and be trapped at sea, what would happen?

Then, having lost his naval allies, he will find it difficult to cope with the bombing and amphibious landing operations of the enemy's 241 naval warships.

Therefore, before he defeated the Fifth Legion and officially seized control of the Cocobia rainforest.

The Third Navy must ensure that it has a combat capability of at least 30 warships.

Otherwise, even if he captured Crescent Strait, it would only be a matter of time before the coastal defenses were destroyed under the heavy firepower of the enemy.

To John's slight surprise, as if he knew in advance that he would visit before the mission, Marshal Bob had been waiting at the dock with his guard regiment, and Ian was also among the guard regiment.

"Marshal Bob, what's going on...?"

"You arrived a little later than I expected, but it's no big deal."

Seeing John rushing over, Bob raised an eyebrow, then interrupted in a deep voice before John could ask anything:
"I am aware of the Fifth Legion's attack and understand that this confrontation will be a challenge for you, but you don't need to feel too much pressure."

"In this engagement, you only need to accomplish one thing: hold off the enemy and buy me fifteen days!"

"Fifteen days from now, I will lead the fleet to completely crush the Crescent Fleet and complete the landing operation in the eastern part of the Cocobia Rainforest, cooperating with you to encircle the enemy forces."

"And then the Fifth Army..."

However, before Bob could finish speaking, John interrupted him firmly:

"Marshal Bob, I appreciate your kindness, but please allow me to decline your support plan."

"!"

Bob frowned slightly upon hearing John's sudden remark, seemingly surprised.

Bob assumed John was deliberately rejecting his plan out of arrogance, and wanted to gently advise him to prioritize the bigger picture.

But what John said next struck him like a thunderbolt, causing his eyes to widen in disbelief:

"Because, just half an hour ago, I received intelligence from our agents who were planted in the Kingdom of Victoria."

"The Allied forces have already dispatched a large number of warships to Faoken Bay. The exact location is not yet clear, but it is estimated that they will arrive soon."

"Furthermore, the number of enemy warships far exceeds our expectations; at the very least, there are no fewer than 241!"

"what?!"

……

(End of this chapter)