The speech that only a commander can make

At the top of the Rose wall, Eren ate something, sat on the side to rest and slept in the corner of a wooden box while Mikasa took care of him. 

Anka, Rita and Gustav who were Commander Pixis' escorts were talking things over with Armin, all just to improve the battle plan and get a clear idea about the operation. 

A set of combat plans that meant victory or defeat for mankind could not be finished with a few words, it involved not only combat methods, but also the deployment and transfer of resources. 

Armin out to propose a strategy to avoid a direct confrontation with the titans and thus reduce the death toll. According to his words, most people have to stand at a specific point to attract the attention of the titans, on the other hand special squads will be tasked to eliminate titans in the area where the stone was located and thus avoid anomalies on the way to the gate of the Trost district. 

Finally, a small number of elite soldiers from the garrison corps will act together with Eren in a mission to seal the gate. After the signal is sent, they will all attempt to kill other approaching titans and clear the path to the broken gate. While Eren in his titan form, he will make sure to seal the door. 

It can be said that this time the most dangerous missions are carried by the elite corps of garrison troops.　　

On the other hand, Commander Pixis and Takashi met with three elite squad leaders. 

The three were Ian, Rico and Mitabi, with whom Takashi had had interaction long before.

Commander Pixis asked, "I'm glad you all came, you have a single mission, to protect Cadet Eren Yeager by eliminating any threat that arises during the operation, this will be the most difficult and dangerous mission of all." 

"It is not an exaggeration to mention that the outcome of humanity rests on this operation." Pixis said as he looked at all the captains. 

"Commander, may I ask a question?" Rico asked in a flat voice. 

"Go ahead." Pixis said. 

"Are you sure that our human weapon will work?" Rico had doubted from the beginning about the outcome of this operation and in fact she was not the only one, everyone thought the same about the outcome of this operation. 

"Rico, be quiet." Ian thought Rico's question was very bold. 

"Ian, I know you have a lot of doubts too." Rico pointed out as she looked at Ian. 

"Commander, this operation is completely up to Eren Jaeger and we don't know anything about this guy's abilities." Mitabi Jarnach pointed out, "If he can't fulfill his part of the mission which is the essential thing in the outcome of this operation, many soldiers will die in vain." 

Commander Pixis sighed quietly and scratched his mustache, then said, "So that's it, they like losing against the titans that much?" 

"Huh?" everyone looked surprised, Takashi showed a slight smile upon hearing these words. 

"I don't like losing against the titans, what I hate the most in this world is losing and despite that I've been losing since the day I was born." Pixis said, "I want to beat the titans, the only thing I long for is to finally beat those giant pieces of meat." 

"Sir, just like us." Rico said with mixed feelings. 

With the same expression, Pixis was not surprised and said, "Then we have to bet everything on him, it's true that we still know nothing about that kid's abilities, but he's our only chance to defeat the titans and take back the Trost district." 

Rico did not speak, she felt a little anxious for her life and that of her companions, but the commander had already made up his mind. 

"Commander, the time has come to start the decoy operation, we have to mobilize the soldiers as soon as possible!" A soldier arrived and reported on the situation. 

"Very well." Pixis nodded and said, "Ian Dietrich, Rico Brzenka, Matabi Jarnach, you are the elite among the garrison elite, I entrust you with the fate of humanity." 

"Yes, sir!" The three captains gave their hearts in a salute. 

Pixis pointed to Takashi and continued, "This is Cadet Takashi Ackerman. The vanguard class, consisting of three elite squadrons, will be commanded by him. Is there a problem?" 

Takashi was silent. To be honest, he wanted to lead a squadron under Captain Ian, but when Pixis said that the vanguard squadrons would be commanded by him, he was very surprised, because no matter how powerful he was, he was only a newly graduated cadet and with that background it was hard to convince others.

Do you think you can get away with breaking the rules and threatening a superior officer? If it weren't for the help of Commander Pixis, Captain Kitz Weilman would very possibly have taken Takashi to court.　　 

Although Ian and Rico were shocked, they still said nothing. They knew Takashi's capabilities better than anyone. In addition to being strong, they had witnessed Takashi act regardless of the consequences to resolve a very difficult situation. They knew he could be ruthless, determined and observant in the most difficult moments.　　 

Matabi Jarnach asked directly, "Is he very powerful? Or is he excellent in command?" 

It is not impossible that someone else could command in this operation, but he must at least be a reliable and determined person! The lives of not only his comrades are at stake, but also the lives of the soldiers under his command. 　　

Pixis smiled and said, "How about killing more than ten titans and surprisingly eliminating an abnormal titan on the battlefield? Besides bringing over a hundred soldiers safely back to base safe and sound, who can say for sure that he can command over a hundred soldiers in a situation like that?" 

Matabi looked at Takashi in surprise and nodded, "Alright, no need to say more!" 

"Sir, I will make sure to complete this mission with as few casualties as possible, I will seal that door even if I have to drag the stone myself." Takashi gave his heart and showed how determined he was for this operation. 

"Go get ready to start the operation." Pixis said with a slight smile. 

Ian and the others ran to gather the members of their respective squads.

Takashi also got off the city wall, went to the temporary station on the street and joined the seventh class when he knew he would be going to the vanguard class to perform special operations. 

Commander Pixis watched Takashi come down with a serious expression on his face, he could see that twinkle that very few can have in their eyes. "An exceptional cadet, not only can he lead many of the soldiers with morale on the floor, but he also has that confidence in his heart." 

"Your uncle will be very surprised that someone with the same blood as him is an excellent soldier... Well, I should get serious." Pixis said with a discreet seriousness on his face.

... 

At the time station, Ymir looked at Takashi and sneered, "You're always so unpredictable, do you have a savior complex? Why are you always in such a hurry to die?" 

With a worried expression, Christa looked at Takashi with eyes full of concern and asked, "Can you refuse to go? This is too dangerous, there is no certainty that you can come out unscathed."

Takashi shook his head, this decision has been confirmed in his heart from the beginning and at the end of the day, he could be free from retaliation with the Kitz affair. 

"Ymir, the cards are showing in this game, we have to be smart and position ourselves in the winning spot." Takashi knew Ymir understood her words. 

She and Eren were the same, shifter titans with unknown power. Now that a shifter titan had come to light, the situation had changed for the better. At least he told her what happened, it was only a matter of time before it would be announced before everyone.

"Hey, Takashi... Can I talk to you?" Nelson leaned against the wall in a daze.　　 

Frowning, Takashi walked over to Nelson and looked at him with concern, "What's the matter, aren't you feeling well?" 

Nelson scoffed at his depressing image and said, "Takashi, how much training did we have to do before we could become soldiers? The mountain, practice with the three-dimensional maneuvering equipment, hand-to-hand fighting training? But still, I'm still afraid. The first chance I had to face a titan, I couldn't even hold my swords tightly." 

While his eyes were red, Nelson's voice became hoarse and he remarked, "What about the revenge I must collect for the death of my father who participated in the war to recapture Mary's wall years ago? He didn't even have a proper sword in his hands, and he didn't even have three-dimensional maneuvering equipment. How did my poor father stand up to the titans? Is that how he felt? No... How desperate must he have been in that situation!" 

Takashi looked at his friend silently, Nelson burst into tears and covered his face with his hands, "I hate the titans, they took everything I had and I hate myself for being a damn coward! When I helped in the support strategy to protect Christa and Daz this morning I doubted I could do it right, I thought the swords would fall out of my hands." 

"I'm a coward, Christa is a much braver woman than me. Even if Ymir killed the titan, afterwards, thoughts of abandoning the idea of joining the scouting corps crossed my mind, it was unclear to me if I could avenge my father's death." 

"Nelson, we are all afraid, so am I..." Christa tried to calm Nelson down. 

"Kill them, you must kill them all!" 

Nelson looked at Takashi as he lost control of his emotions, his expression was hesitant, it was then that Takashi's heart skipped a beat. He was familiar with that look of desperation, he remembers he used to look like that.　　 

"You have to kill all the titans and wait for me, you have to wait for me and when I am ready, I will be one of the strongest soldiers in your squad." Nelson said in a determined voice. 

Takashi put his hand on Nelson's shoulder, looked straight at his friend and said, "I once told you that I will take care of protecting the strongest, you are someone very strong Nelson. You have to take care of yourself until you are very strong, promise me you will keep yourself safe." 

Nelson was startled and lowered his head, after calming down he said, "Captain, please believe me, while you carry out the most dangerous mission, you don't have to think about the safety of squadron seven, all of us will be safe." 

Repressing some trepidation in his heart, Takashi asked everyone to be careful, and made sure to say goodbye to everyone. 

The same goes for half of the newly graduated soldiers of the training corps, many of them will carry out the decoy operations on the wall. 

After a while, more than 1,600 people had gathered under the Rose wall, including less than two hundred newly graduated cadets, more than 400 soldiers from the garrison troops of the Trost district and more than 1,000 soldiers brought by Commander Pixis.

Considering the number of troops inside the walls, this would be a large-scale battle that would test all of humanity.

The directions had been delayed a bit, but Captain Kitz made sure to gather many of the soldiers who would participate in the battle. 

"This is too crazy, how the hell are we supposed to seal the broken gate?" 

"They're just sending us to our death, I can't believe it." 　　 

"Damn, do the high ranking elders just want to receive credit for this battle?" 

A group of soldiers from the garrison troops and newly graduated cadets began to protest, some even hinting at desertion. 

After thinking about it, more than two hundred people died this morning just to cover the evacuation of civilians. Although half of them were conscripts, it was a very excessive loss. After all, they were only supposed to be holding the titans back. This time was different, they all had to fight head on against the titans. The death rate was too high, and the soldiers whose morale was at rock bottom intended to run away.　　 

"They want to flee, where to?" thought Takashi to himself. If the Rose wall is destroyed, there would be no safe place to run to. 

Jhon, who often talks with numbers, collapsed on the ground, "No, I want to get out of here, we'll all be titan food if we don't get out of here right now!" 

Daz, who was also afraid, burst into tears. 

At this point, there were many soldiers restless and afraid to die. 　　 

Captain Kitz seeing this became furious, "Running away is punishable by capital punishment, I will kill you right now if you decide to run away." 　 

Daz although he was in Takashi's squadron, he knew he was weak and on many occasions a hindrance, although he participated in the defense operations hours ago, his mind had been filled with depressing thoughts.

At this point, Daz no longer cared to vent his fears and began to shout disturbing the morale of the army, many more followed to follow him in his demands. Not only Kitz was worried, all the captains were losing control of the situation.　　 

Eren had so far been resting, so the encouraging speech to the soldiers was delayed longer than expected. 

Just as everything was about to break out, Pixis and Eren stood on the wall to look at everyone.　 

"Attention!!!" 

Commander Pixis' voice was thunderous and loud, spreading throughout the audience. 

Everyone in the audience suddenly went silent, looking at him and Eren next to him. 

"Soldiers, I am briefing you on the operation for the recapture of the Trost district." Pixis pointed out, "The initial objective of this mission is to seal the gaping hole in the gate." 

A dead silence smoked for a moment before everyone could wonder how they were supposed to do that. 

"Seal it? How are we going to do that?" 

"Allow me to introduce who will be sealing the hole, Cadet Private Eren Jaeger." 

After saying that, Commander Pixis pointed out, "He is the result of a secret military project to transform humans into titans, he can create a functioning titan body and keep it under absolute control at all times." 

"This is the intended plan, he will take the giant boulder near the gate, carry it by weight to the wall and plug the hole. As he moves the rock, his only concern will be protecting Eren from the other titans."

"Can a human become a titan?" 

"Really?" 

"He's trying to trick us into getting killed!" 

Everyone couldn't believe Commander Pixis' words. There are only a few soldiers who have actually seen Eren turn into a titan. Takashi even shared this news with Ymir. The cadets who knew Eren, looked at him with surprise. 

Jean, Connie and Marco had seen Eren come out of the titan's body, but the others were a bit confused. 

Pixis looked at the disappointed people below and said, "Pay attention to me! Every soldier who deserts now, will be spared. Once they fall victim to the fear of the titans, you can never fight again." 

Immediately, many newly graduated cadets and soldiers from the garrison troops began to leave.

Commander Pixis then shouted, "Anyone who has succumbed to terror, leave now. Anyone who wishes that same terror to haunt the hearts of their parents, children and loved ones to also leave this instant." 

Some soldiers who were about to evacuate stopped, many gritted their teeth and began to turn back. 

Many of the soldiers of the garrison troops are the shield protecting their families. This time, they witnessed the horror of the titans. Civilians have no chance to resist the titans. Many of them are much more afraid that their loved ones will be devoured by the titans. The civilians have not a chance to flee, so only their death would await them. 

Commander Pixis continued, "Let's talk about four years ago, the attempt to recapture the Maria wall, I hope you all can remember it perfectly. That operation was nothing more than the government's way of coping with its inability to feed all the unemployed, it was nothing more than a sacrifice!" 

"The only reason nobody talks about it much, is because sending all those people out of the shelter that was the wall, allowed us to survive inside the wall." 

"All of humanity bears that sin! If a conflict didn't break out then, it was because the inhabitants of the miro Maria were a minority." 

"But what will happen now? If this time the Rose wall falls, it will not be enough to sacrifice one-fifth of mankind. The territory of the Sina wall will not be able to hold that many people, nor could half of the remaining population be saved this time. At that time we will not die at the hands of the titans, we will die because we will kill each other." 

"We can't afford to die inside another wall, given the choice, die here!" with a thunderous voice, all the soldiers were silent. 

With morale high, Pixis ordered decisively, "Let the battle of the recapture of the Trost district begin!" 

Roar!!!" 

They all roared and the war between humans and titans began!