The story of the black silk female knight

"you……!"

Admiral Maisel, wearing sunglasses, blushed slightly from anger at Tia and said irritably:

"Do you have a lot of experience leading large armies in battle? I at least have rich experience in leading troops. What advantages do you, a young man, have?"

Tia smiled.

She seemed to be waiting for the person behind the sunglasses to ask that question.

"I may not have much experience leading large armies in battle, but I have achieved some results."

Tia said slowly:

"You all know about that bustling new trade route along the western coast of the Wasteland, right? Who led the expeditionary force to completely defeat the wild beasts there and establish the new trade route?"

This is why Father felt comfortable passing the position to me… He spent over a hundred years only managing to defend against wild beasts, while I managed to expand our territory in the Barren Ridges. This is something that every head of our Bretania family has wanted to do but failed to achieve.”

"A new trade route?"

The man behind the sunglasses clearly clicked his tongue.

This actual achievement is indeed hard to compare with.

However, he reacted quickly, immediately changing his expression to a strange one:

"But if I remember correctly... the new trade route opened up by your Fran was entirely the achievement of the expeditionary force, right? And the commander of the expeditionary force was your Fran princess, while the one who personally fought against the powerful beasts on the front lines was Miss Sunflower. What does that have to do with you?"

"I……"

This time, Tia was speechless.

She wanted to say, "Of course it's related to me! I devised all those tactics! The princess is just a human remote control that indirectly commands the undead army! And Valencia is just a very powerful hero unit! The one who truly commands the battle is me! Me!"

But she can't say it, at least not by her.

That would completely expose the fact that Princess Xian was merely a figurehead legion commander... which is not good for maintaining stability within Fran.

Even if it's just on the surface, Princess Xu must actually be very capable.

"Cough cough."

Fortunately, the French Crown Prince is fully aware of these matters and knows the right thing to do.

He then coughed slightly and joined the conversation with a slightly embarrassed expression:

"I've heard Wang Mei mention this before... The main reason she became the legion commander was because she possessed a powerful magic sword that could command the undead legion. But the one who actually carried out the battle plan was always Miss Bretania."

Therefore, I think it's perfectly reasonable for Miss Britannia to claim the victory in commanding the expeditionary force as hers.

Chapter 18 No one is more suitable to command the Allied Forces than me!

Crown Prince Fran's timely support transformed Tia from an excellent but inexperienced young commander into a distinguished commander with a brilliant track record.

Admiral America's sunglasses clearly caught her off guard, but having held this position for nearly two centuries, he had long since developed a thick skin, and immediately retorted disdainfully:

"So what? Give me the Sunflower Duchess and the Undead Legion, and I can easily carve out a territory in the Wasteland and open up new trade routes! This kind of overwhelming victory does not prove the commander's excellence at all!"

"Having the upper hand? Ridiculous!"

Tia immediately retorted, unconvinced:

"Do you know what the situation was like back then? The enemy had several Radiant-rank experts, while I only had Valensa at my disposal! The undead legion is indeed well-suited for fighting in the Barrens, but initially, the undead legion's numbers were less than one-tenth of the enemy's! You call that having a complete advantage?"

"Hmph, still using paper data to measure strength and weakness shows that your commander skills are still at a theoretical level and lack experience!"

The admiral in sunglasses seemed to have deliberately set a trap for Tia, and now he quickly pulled it in:

"There are too many things to consider on the actual battlefield... For example, your Fran has not launched an offensive against the Barrens for hundreds of years. The wild beasts never expected to be attacked in the Barrens and were completely unprepared. Would you consider that an advantage for you?"

Duchess Sunflower is a genius. She could kill a Star-level opponent even when she was at the Pearl level. With thorough preparation, she killed several arrogant and foolish leaders of the Wild Beast tribes one by one. Wasn't that as easy as chopping melons and crushing fish? Wouldn't you call that your advantage?

Your undead legion also employs new technology, allowing them to almost completely overwhelm and slaughter enemy beast armies without Radiant Rank, and even grow stronger through warfare... So what if their initial numbers are only one-tenth of the enemy's? A decisive victory with the first strike can turn the tide or even give them the upper hand!

With the advantage of having complete control over the aircraft, legendary figures serving as the spearhead of the battlefield, and almost one-sided countermeasures against lower-level units... isn't that a complete advantage?

"It would be normal if you could win... If you can't even beat this, you're unworthy of your Bretonnia name!"

"you……!"

Tia blushed with annoyance.

She is indeed still a bit young. Her performance on the battlefield is no less impressive, but in the political arena, she is clearly not as adept at arguing and scheming as a seasoned veteran who is over 200 years old.

"Heh, what's wrong? Speechless now?"

The Admiral in Sunglasses, of course, wouldn't let this advantage slip by, and pressed his advantage:

"Your campaign to open up new trade routes is nothing to be proud of... Compared to the young officers, you are indeed a prodigy, but you are far from being able to command the continental coalition based on this alone."

Besides this achievement, what else do you have to qualify as a commander of the Allied Forces? If not, then obediently become my adjutant... The future will eventually belong to you young people, what's the rush?"

"...I just think I'm really suitable."

Tia didn't fall into the admiral's trap. She quickly adjusted her mindset, flicked a strand of her long silver hair behind her ear with two fingers, and her crimson eyes shone with confidence.

"I am a descendant of the Britannia family, and I have studied the family's inherited military strategies since childhood, so I have considerable experience in commanding conventional battles. At the same time, I also trained in the Sage's Tower and eventually became a witch, so I have a good understanding of both major magic systems. No one knows better than me how to make sages and witches fight against groups of soldiers!"

In addition, I know the First Great Witch from the previous era, and have been exposed to the technologies and combat philosophies of many other civilizations, possessing numerous cutting-edge tactics that can be used! These are all important guarantees for winning wars and minimizing soldier casualties!

"Mr. Maiser, you said before that our expeditionary force had a huge advantage against the wild beasts, right? That's certainly true—I know and control more war resources than you can imagine! And only I am best suited to use those powerful weapons capable of turning the tide of local battles!"

"all in all……"

Snapped.

As Tia finished speaking, she slammed her hands on the table, leaned forward, pressed her chest tightly against the surface until it flattened slightly, and scanned the crowd with a burning gaze:

"No one is more suitable to be the commander of the coalition forces than me!"

"And you, Mr. Maisel!"

Tia looked directly at the general in sunglasses:

"Besides being over 200 years old and having so-called experience, what other advantages does he have to become a commander of the coalition forces? Hmm."

You don't actually think the Central Continent Empire's army is as simple to fight as those mindless undead, do you?

"You... Hmph."

These sunglasses are a real challenge for the general.

Because America has been relatively peaceful over the years, even when the Netherworld Clan caused disasters in some areas, the local paladins and adventurers handled them... Come to think of it, the only time the Merchant Alliance's regular army was mobilized was the time in Poliland City.

Who stood out the most in the Poliland incident? It was Valensa, who impersonated the Angel of Sin, infiltrated the city alone, confronted Savart Langdon, and ultimately rescued over 100,000 hostages! Even if the Admiral in Sunglasses were stupid, he wouldn't bring this up on his own initiative.

So he was immediately stumped by Tia's question, and after stammering for a long time, he could only say a few words that sounded like "a good warrior has no great achievements."

"Tia is indeed very outstanding."

Seeing that Admiral Sunglasses was starting to falter, and that Tia seemed poised to win, Himiko rejoined the fray.

"But in the end, they are still too young and inevitably arrogant. If they are outmaneuvered by those cunning guys from the Central Continent Empire, the entire coalition could be doomed."

So... how about Tia partnering with me? Most of the time I can let you do whatever you want, Tia, I'll only help you with the important decisions.

Clearly, Himiko is still eyeing the position of commander of the Allied Forces, and like the Admiral in Sunglasses, she values ​​Tia's talent and wants Tia to be her adjutant, or even the executive deputy commander.

Tia hesitated for a moment, but still didn't want to give up her chance to become a commander.

So she gave Himika a sweet smile:

"His Majesty certainly knows the Central Plains Empire best and is exceptionally talented. He should be the perfect candidate to be the commander of the allied forces, but..."

After saying "but," Tia pretended to be a little scared and looked away:

"But wouldn't it be a bit unlucky for Your Majesty to serve as the commander of the allied forces? After all, Your Majesty has never won against the Central Plains Empire even once since more than 700 years ago, hasn't he?"

"you……!"

Himika was now rendered speechless.

Tia was right... Himiko was indeed a defeated foe of the Central Continent Empire. She had been chased and beaten by the Central Continent Empire for more than 700 years, and recently she had been beaten twice in a row, turning from a voluptuous and alluring mature queen into a little girl who looked only 5 or 6 years old.

Having defeated Admiral Sunglasses and Himiko in a row, Tia seemed to have victory in her grasp.

After all, among everyone present, only those three were suitable to be commanders of the coalition forces, both in terms of status and ability.

Tia's father was originally a more suitable candidate, but the strategist was determined to retire and regarded this great battle as Tia's real opportunity to make a name for herself. He refused to return to the front no matter what, and even the King of Fran's personal persuasion was useless.

However, everyone else in the meeting was very worried about Tia, who seemed to have the upper hand, including the nobles and the crown prince of the Kingdom of Fran.

Because both Admiral Sunglasses and Himiko were right about one thing... Tia is just too young. No matter how outstanding she is, she is still too young.

Letting such a young man become the supreme commander of the Allied Forces and control the fate of the mainland would make any normal person uneasy, even if he were a teammate.

But are Himiko and Admiral Sunglasses really reassuring? Not really.

While it is said that a skilled warrior does not achieve great feats, this saying is clearly inappropriate when applied to General Sunglasses.

Compared to the Fran army and the anti-demon ninja forces, which are constantly fighting wild beasts and fog demons, the Merchant Alliance's army is indeed the weakest.

Since the ghouls that invaded America's territory have been mostly defeated by paladins and adventurers, and the annual spring icefield hunts are also done by hunters... the official army of the Merchant Alliance has not experienced a large-scale battle for a long time.

Compared to fighting wars, the Alliance's army is better at doing business... The general in sunglasses is probably eager to become the commander of the Alliance forces in order to make money.

He was so eager to have Tia as his adjutant that he might have had the idea of ​​having Tia in charge of fighting while he profited from the war.

Those on the side know their own situation. In fact, even America's people didn't think much of the Admiral in Sunglasses becoming the commander... except for those who shared his interests.

And what about Himiko?

Her abilities and experience are absolutely no problem, and she has a very good understanding of the Central Continent Empire. She was also the first person to recognize the threat posed by the Central Continent Empire, so she should be the most suitable person.

But Tia's words just now awakened everyone... It's just awkward to think about having someone who has repeatedly suffered defeats against the Central Continent Empire command the allied forces to resist the Central Continent Empire's invasion.

In short, none of these three people can reassure or satisfy the majority of people.

Himiko and Admiral Sunglasses did not lose heart after being temporarily at a disadvantage; they quickly regrouped and began to compete with Tia again.

They stopped beating around the bush and kept insisting that Tia was too young, saying it would be best to have an experienced person partner with Tia to help her, someone with the highest authority to pull her back if she went astray.

Tia knew that everyone's concerns were valid, but she disliked having an emperor emeritus above her when she was commanding battles.

Having been exposed to various aspects of technological civilization and studied the military strategies given to her by Valensa, Tia was actually a bit arrogant... She believed that the current war concepts on the continent of Frenoia were too backward, and anyone who might hinder her from giving orders was just causing trouble for her.

The three of them argued over the position of commander of the allied forces, each sticking to their own version of events, but they kept repeating the same things over and over again.

At first, Valensa listened very attentively, even worried that Tia might be taken advantage of, but now she was starting to feel sleepy!

"Alright! Alright!"

Valensa wasn't the only one feeling sleepy; the great witches of the Witch Forest were too.

Seeing that the choice of commander was still undecided, Elanfiel finally couldn't hold back any longer.

She tapped the table with her hand, interrupting the three people's argument, and then yawned when everyone's eyes were on her:

"What's the use of just talking about who's best suited to be a commander? It all comes down to real combat skills!"

"But how do we interpret that?"

The president of the business association seized the opportunity and hurriedly asked:

"Does Your Majesty the Witch of Destruction have a way to determine the relative abilities of these three, and to make the two losers accept the outcome?"

"Pretty much, just let them demonstrate it in person."

Ailan Feier said with a relaxed expression:

“We can create an illusion and have the three of them lead the allied forces to fight against the Central Continent Empire in the illusion. Whoever performs best can be the commander, right?”

However, the construction of the illusion will take some time, since the troop strength settings for both sides in the illusion need to be based on reality... We can start by forming the allied forces, and there's no need to decide on the supreme commander so soon, right?"

"That's true!"

The others suddenly realized what was going on and agreed that it was a good idea. Even the three men who wanted to be the commander of the coalition forces had no objections... They all seemed very confident.

"But..."

At this moment, Elanfiel changed the subject and looked at Himiko:

"The Allied Forces' settings in the illusion can be based on reality, but what about the Central Plains Empire? Ghost Queen, you know the Central Plains Empire best. How many times larger and stronger do you think the main fleet that will arrive in a few years will be compared to the vanguard fleet? Three times? Five times?"

"...at least ten times."

After a brief silence, Himika uttered a number that made everyone uneasy.

Those who were able to attend the meeting had all read the investigation report on the incident that had just occurred and knew the approximate strength of the Central Continent Empire's vanguard fleet.