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

Chapter 29 Answer me!
Is the main force of the Fifth Legion located in the town of Bahamut?

I see. If that's the case, then it explains why the command center attached such importance to this operation.

To analyze the enemy's objective so simply, Warrant Officer John is indeed a genius!
Looking at John's calm expression, Leia's admiration grew even stronger. Without a second thought, she nodded and asked John:

"I understand, Warrant Officer. What do you plan to do?"

"It's simple, split up the forces."

Seeing that Leia had fallen for his trap so easily, John was secretly overjoyed, but on the surface he maintained a confident demeanor.

He then explained, to their surprise:

"I plan to divide the troops into two groups, with me personally leading 14 squads and 70 army soldiers to the surrounding villages to assess the situation and attempt to bribe the villagers."

"This will cut off the Allied forces' spies on the periphery, obtain their communication devices, and thus intercept the exact locations of the remaining Allied forces currently stationed in Walden Territory, thereby eliminating all of the Allied forces' backup plans."

"As for the remaining soldiers, I intend to entrust them to you, Leia."

"I need you to lead this force of 500 men to the town of Bahamut and try to draw their attention to buy me enough time to complete this intelligence infiltration plan."

Seeing Leia's silent expression, and fearing that this scapegoat would be scared away by the situation he had fabricated, John quickly began to paint a rosy picture for her before she could even speak:
“Lieutenant Leia, I know this will be a very difficult and challenging task for you.”

"But similarly, if you, Leia, can successfully tie down the enemy forces, then after obtaining information about their deployment in Walden Territory, we can use the power of the magic soldiers to eliminate all allied forces and even enemy spies within Walden Territory, thus making Walden Territory completely belong to the Empire!"

"And what this victory truly means, I think you yourself should know better than I do."

"So, what do you think of my plan, Leia?"

"..."

Leia didn't answer, but her emerald eyes flickered. After a moment of silence, meeting John's expectant gaze, she slowly spoke:

“I’m sorry, Warrant Officer John, I may not be able to fulfill your request.”

"As Colonel Jet said, I'm afraid I'm not good at anything except fighting."

"Although your plan is perfect, I'm afraid I can't take on the responsibility of commanding the soldiers. If I were to carry it out, I would probably mess it up."

"So, I'm sorry..."

After saying that, Leia lowered her head in shame, as if deflated.

Although Warrant Officer John's high expectations and attention towards her filled Leia with unprecedented emotion and joy.

But she has a very clear understanding of herself.

Therefore, Leia knew very well that she was simply not cut out to be a commander.

If she were to accept this mission, she might unknowingly lead her troops into an Allied trap after arriving in Bahamut.

It is simply impossible to achieve the goal of containment.

If things really develop to that point, causing Warrant Officer John's plan to fail, she would probably have no choice but to atone with her death.

She wasn't afraid of death itself, but she was afraid that her death would be meaningless.

Damn, he really blew it away this time. He just casually made up some enemy information, and somehow the scapegoat turned into a coward.

Leia, you unlucky thing. Please, you're an elite recruit! How could you back down at such a crucial moment? Normally, when you hear about something good, shouldn't you immediately raise your hand to accept the mission and show your loyalty?

You need to stand up for yourself, otherwise how am I supposed to shift the blame?
If you don't take on this mission, you can't expect me to face that dragon girl from Serbia, can you?

I might as well just cremate him on the spot.

"No, I have to convince this girl, no matter what, or I'll be dead this time!"

Seeing that Leia was 'frightened' by the size of the enemy army he had fabricated and dared not accept the mission, John was extremely anxious and quickly put his mind to work.

Soon, considering Leia's performance just now, he came up with another perfect reason.

Under Leia's questioning gaze, he immediately placed his hands on her shoulders and then asked her in a sincere voice:

"Leah, do you believe me?"

“I…I certainly believe you, Warrant Officer John, but I think I might…”

"I don't want you to feel it, I want me to feel it!"

Before Leia could continue her self-deprecating rant, John interrupted her, and then, to her astonishment, looked her straight in the eye and said, word by word:

"Do you perhaps think I, John Maslow, am a fool who can't judge people? Or are you outwardly obeying my orders but inwardly harboring resentment and thus intending to disobey me?" "No, I just..."

"If you don't have it, why are you refusing? Do you want to become a coward who deserts his post?"

“Leah Binot, look me in the eyes and answer me!”

"Do you want to be a useless piece of trash, or an imperial hero praised by countless people?"

"Do you still have any loyalty to the Empire in your heart?!"

"!"

Under John's barrage of questions, even Leia couldn't help but feel a surge of anger. She slowly clenched her fists, suppressing her rage, and responded with bloodshot eyes:

"Of course I want to become a hero of the empire, but I simply can't do it. I'm completely incapable of completing your mission. Why can't you understand?"

Why do you feel you can't do it? Give me a reason.

"Reason? Didn't I already say that I'm good at nothing except fighting, so I really..."

Did I say I wanted you to do anything else?

"what?"

Upon hearing this, Leia's anger froze instantly, and her mind went blank for a moment as she looked at John in front of her with some confusion.

Clearly, she was confused by John's words.

“I said, did I ever tell you to do anything other than fighting? Answer me, Warrant Officer Leia.”

Leia looked hesitant:
"Indeed not, but what you mean is..."

"It seems you didn't understand what I meant, but that's my fault. I may have been too vague, which caused some unnecessary misunderstandings. I apologize to you for that."

John smiled apologetically, then spoke again:

"Let me put it another way. What I need is a decoy force, or more precisely, a force that can attract the attention of the main Allied forces and has enough combat power to withstand the Allied soldiers' attacks without being at a disadvantage."

"I need this force to go to the town of Bahamut and engage the town's ostensible garrison, but not to wipe them out completely. Instead, I need to keep them in a state where they can win but choose not to."

"This will attract the attention of the main force of the Fifth Army Corps, making them think of trying to unite with other troops to capture this decoy force alive."

"This helped me find out the location of the rest of the enemy forces."

"This is what you need to do in the bait plan, Leia. Do you understand now?"

So, what Warrant Officer John meant was that he just needed to lead his men to keep fighting, without completely killing the enemy?
If that's the case, it does seem to suit me quite well, doesn't it?
After all, what I'm best at is fighting, isn't it?

After understanding exactly what you need to do.

Leia suddenly realized what was happening, and all the anger and grievances in her heart vanished instantly. Her gaze towards John was filled with shame.

Sure enough, she was still too stupid.

Even though Warrant Officer John had already told her the general plan, she still couldn't fully understand it.

He almost lost his temper with the lieutenant later.

Faced with this version of himself, Warrant Officer John was not disappointed in himself; instead, he patiently explained things to himself in detail.

Sure enough, Warrant Officer John was just as Colonel Jeter had said—a truly outstanding person.

I'm so glad I was chosen as the deputy commander for this joint operation!

But Leia also knew that there was no point in apologizing to Warrant Officer John for her foolishness at this point.

What she needs to do most now is to follow Warrant Officer John's instructions and complete them successfully, thus proving her worth.

Only in this way can she live up to Warrant Officer John's expectations of her.

Thinking of this, Leia immediately stopped hesitating, straightened her back and gave a military salute under John's ecstatic gaze, then answered firmly:

“Leah Binot understands, I will carry out your orders, Commander!”

……

(End of this chapter)