As I suspected, the Imperial Army’s manual was proving its worth.
I received a transmission from Claire.
“Rescue operations complete! There were many casualties, but we’ve recovered as many of the bodies as possible.”
“Claire, head back first and report to Wifey and the Latarnia Ambassador. I’m going to go blow the enemy away.”
“Understood.”
Claire had accompanied me to several meetings with Latarnia before.
She’d met with ministers, bureaucrats, scholars, and the top brass of the economic world, including bank presidents.
Her network was at a level where she could call herself a Foreign Affairs Bureaucrat without any shame.
Since she was young, people sometimes tried to look down on her, but the Trading Company Uncles always provided backup.
Thanks to that, I could leave matters like this entirely in her hands.
...Claire really did have a natural aptitude for politics and national administration.
“Hey... is it okay if I resign as Foreign Affairs Minister soon? Since we have Claire and all.”
“No.”
The Fairy replied instantly.
Ah, right. Of course.
How sad...
I closed in on the enemy vessel.
A Huanglong-class Battleship.
It was a mainstay of the Taikyoku Nation’s fleet, and they apparently possessed a significant number of them.
Shiyun didn’t know the exact specifications, which was only natural.
However, when I’d asked Shiyun’s Older Brother, he’d given me a detailed breakdown.
It was a hybrid of a Missile Carrier Type and an Attack Type, designed with a clear focus on targeting Latarnia.
In short, it was an All-rounder Type capable of handling any situation.
Humanoid Fighters began swarming out of the ship.
They must have judged them to be more effective than standard fighters.
Though in reality, effectiveness depended entirely on tactics.
If I were them and realized my missiles weren't hitting, I’d have scattered mines and made a run for it.
Even from the Ghouls’ perspective, there was no tactical advantage to holding this specific area.
If anything, it would only cause the local residents—now fully aware of how terrifying the Ghouls were—to resist with everything they had. It would turn into a living hell.
Now that the Taikyoku Nation’s reputation had hit rock bottom, I doubted they’d be able to expand their territory much further.
After all, anyone would resist to the death if they knew they were just going to be slaughtered anyway.
That was precisely why Proone had stalled out as a mid-tier power.
They probably hadn’t thought that far ahead, though.
The basics of occupation involved education to assimilate the population, hiring locals, and performing Infrastructure Development.
In Latarnia’s case, since their Correspondence Course was well-established even in rural areas, I didn’t think an invasion was even feasible to begin with.
As I considered these things, I entered my effective firing range.
A group of Humanoid Fighters moved to intercept me.
“All right, time to continue the lesson~”
“You’re still doing this!?”
“Of course I am. Tatiana, you’re eventually going to lead a Knights order of your own! Watch closely!”
The Taikyoku Nation’s Humanoid Fighters opened fire.
“Okay, here’s how you dodge rifle fire.”
“Your stats are glitched from the start!”
“On the ground, you could just duck behind cover, but you can’t do that in space. That’s why we use the shield... hup!!!”
I struck the beam with my shield.
“If you parry like this, the beam will disperse against the shield’s surface coating. That way, the shield doesn't take damage and lasts longer.”
“What kind of reflexes are those!?”
“Now, here’s what you should never do...”
I took a beam head-on while hiding behind the shield.
The surface of the shield was gouged deep.
“If you take it straight on like this, the shield gets damaged. Always make sure to angle it when you block.”
“That’s freaking dangerous!!!”
“It’s fine, it’s fine.”
I folded the shield and stowed it away.
“It doesn’t matter how much power they have if they don’t hit you~”
And... there!
Take that!
I dodged the incoming fire with ease.
“Next, let’s talk about the weaknesses of these Humanoid Fighters. We’ve been fighting Zork for a long time. Because of that...”
I closed in on one of the Taikyoku units.
It lunged at me with a halberd.
But it was slow—not the machine’s speed, but the pilot’s reaction time.
I grabbed the hand gripping the halberd.
“Other nations’ machines have weaker joints than ours.”
I crushed it.
A grinding, metallic screech echoed through the sensors.
The enemy unit drew a knife with its other hand.
“Okay, they’ve pulled a knife. Good call. In a situation like this, you dodge diagonally past the blade and pull them into your space.”
As I spoke, I locked the arm holding the knife and used the opponent’s own momentum to hurl them away.
“On the ground, a simple throw is fine, but this is space. Let’s throw them while keeping the joint locked. The frame will snap on its own.”
With a sharp crack, the arm twisted into an unnatural angle.
In response, a volley of fire came from the other units.
They were perfectly willing to kill their own ally just to hit me.
I swung the disabled unit around and threw it at the other enemies.
True to form, the machine I’d been playing with was caught in the fire and exploded.
“I’d like to say that was a ‘good judgment call’ on their part, but this is actually the worst thing they could do. It destroys human relationships, so I don't recommend it. We are a community bound by fate. You should save your comrades whenever possible.”
Ruthless decisions are necessary at times, but they shouldn't be the default.
Save your allies. Properly exchange prisoners. These things matter.
If I were a front-line soldier and had a commander I couldn't trust, I’d shoot them in the back. If a commander ever said out loud that people were just pawns, I’d start planning to kill them before the enemy even got the chance.
There’d be no reason to let them live.
I did my best to protect the lives of my comrades, and when I couldn't protect their lives, I at least protected their honor.
That was why I hated the Ghouls’ way of doing things!
“All right, I’m a little annoyed now, so I’m going to go end this. Teacher hates kids who don't treasure their friends.”
I closed the distance in a flash, slashing and tearing through them.
Eddie and the Knights caught up, and the battle devolved into Melee Combat.
Watching the carnage, Shiyun gasped in awe.
“H-He’s too strong...”
“I wonder how many minutes even the Imperial Guard would last against him...” Shiyun’s Older Brother agreed.
But really, it wasn't like that at all.
We were an Ace Squad, after all.
In terms of a strategy game, the ideal move for the enemy would be to keep us pinned down here while another unit attacked our rear, leaving us isolated and finished.
That’s the limitation of a powerful unit.
The world of strategy games is a harsh one.
Unfortunately for them, however, I was a Brigadier General.
I was in a position to devise strategy myself.
I understood our weaknesses perfectly.
First of all, with the Anti-Ghoul Saint Tatiana Barrier Shield, there was no way for us to be isolated.
The only real threat would be if they tried to destroy the entire planet.
But there was no way they could pull off an operation of that scale without us noticing.
We had units from Latarnia, the Ogre God Nation, and our own forces stationed on every planet for defense.
Hahaha! I saw right through everything the enemy might try!
I’d already identified all the things that would be trouble for us if they happened.
I had no intention of losing.
The Melee Combat continued as a one-sided slaughter in our favor.
Now then, how would General Lao respond?
“Leo-kun! The enemy is retreating!”
And there it was.
General Lao was going to be a handful.
He was the type who knew how to make the hard calls.