The Third Main Fleet Surrenders!

However, anyone appointed chief of staff of the Oda Shogunate's Third Main Fleet was no ordinary man.

In the end, he was no mediocrity.

His thoughts raced. He closed his eyes, steeled himself, and said firmly, "Your Excellency, things have come to this.

To save the lives of our many soldiers,

we should accept the offer from that Tiger of Black Stone!

As for the purpose of our mission and the Shogunate's strategy of establishing new colonies,

with His Excellency the Tiger of Black Stone here, their success is already out of the question.

With a powerful enemy like the Shannan Kingdom launching a direct invasion,

carelessly making another powerful enemy out of the Black Stone Territory

would be unwise.

Choosing to give up at the right moment isn't necessarily a bad thing. It can be a sign of wisdom!

And even if we join the Black Stone Territory, it may still be possible to continue serving the Shogunate.

We could act as intermediaries and build a bridge of communication between the Shogunate and the Black Stone Territory.

When the time comes, perhaps our families back in the Shogunate will even have greater opportunities to prosper!

Against a powerful force like the Black Stone Territory,

the strategy of establishing colonies, drawn up on the basis of the intelligence department's failure, is clearly unsuitable.

By doing this, we would also be correcting that mistake.

All things considered, Your Excellency, we should surrender!"

At these words,

the chief of staff felt as though all the strength had drained from his body.

Some of what he had just said was indeed what he thought,

but there had also been an element of playing the situation to his advantage.

He had not made any reckless assumptions about Saito Ryutai's intentions.

Instead, he had considered