The Empire begins with the Fourth Scourge.

2396. Battle of the Planet Bilbrin (Part )
For the next three days, Vice Admiral Thrawn once again locked himself in his room, immersing himself in the music, art, and culture of the Neimoidians.

He carefully read the history of the trade alliance from its birth to its growth and then decline, and studied the historical laws behind it.

As for Admiral Mal-Tuk, he also conducted a very in-depth analysis of him based on the intelligence at hand, not only through his deeds, but also through the command style he showed in the battles he participated in, and he had a deep understanding of them.

At this moment, Admiral Mal-Tuk has begun leading the Commercial Fleet to attack the asteroid belt outside the planet Bilbrin.

The planet Bilbrin is a fortress planet in another sense. It is located in a very large and dense asteroid belt. This asteroid belt not only makes the environment around the planet extremely complex, but also makes the navigation conditions of the hyperspace channel very bad.

Basically, there are only a few waterways that are convenient for navigation. Other waterways either have large fluctuations resulting in very few warships being able to pass through, or the routes are unstable and cannot be navigated continuously.

In the asteroid belt around the planet Bilbrin, at least 4000 asteroids are equipped with powerful heavy orbital defense cannons. These asteroids are large enough to be used for orbital defense cannons, independent energy supply plants, micro planetary shields, and a large number of anti-aircraft artillery and point defense systems.

It can be said that each of these asteroids is an extremely solid fortress with powerful firepower!

With 4000 fortresses protecting it, the planet of Bilbrin was naturally as safe as a rock. During the years when the Geth were wreaking havoc everywhere, no force could threaten this place.

After defeating the fleet led by Kendall Ozir, Admiral Mal-Tuk, relying on his own strong military force, began to attack the armed asteroids around the planet Bilbrin.

In a few days, more than 70 asteroids were destroyed, and the Commercial Alliance Fleet was opening a passage. If it continued at this speed, Admiral Mal-Tuk's fleet would be able to launch an attack on the main body of the planet Bilbrin in two or three months at most.

Previously, Vice Admiral Kendall Ozir could not stand the constant harassment from Admiral Mal-Tuk, so he led his fleet to attack and was defeated.

So now, without the order of Vice Admiral Thrawn, the Imperial fleet still gathered around the planet did not dare to act rashly. They could only watch one armed asteroid after another being destroyed and the defense system of the planet Bilbrin collapsing.

But Vice Admiral Thrawn did not say anything. He just continued to lock himself in the room, listening to music, tasting wine and reading books.

This filled officers of all ranks on his flagship, the Chimera, with anxiety.

So when Vice Admiral Thrawn finally opened the door and walked out, he was immediately surrounded by officers. Not only that, because of the Jedi Knights in the Northern War Zone, Mal Sikander, the senior judge of the Inquisition who came directly to the Imperial Fleet as a military supervisor, also stood at the door with a gloomy face.

Interestingly, this guy has the same name as Mal-Tuk, the commander of the Commercial Fleet.

"General! What should we do now? Should we divide our forces to defend or concentrate our forces to charge again?" Seeing Thrawn coming out, Voss-Park asked anxiously. But before Voss-Park could finish his words, he was pushed aside by Mal-Sikander who was standing behind him. The senior judge stared at Thrawn and said coldly: "Lieutenant General Thrawn, the reason why the Empire is willing to give you, a Chiss, fine wine, delicious food, and let you listen to music is that it hopes that you can fulfill your duties and defeat the Separatists. But you delayed the opportunity to fight and procrastinated for time, but you hid inside to drink and listen to music. Don't you deserve an explanation?"

Thrawn glanced at Mal-Sikander and said calmly: "Abandon the planet Bilbrin, and we will retreat."

Mal-Sikander's face suddenly became extremely ugly, and his tone began to become dangerous. "You mean, you want to retreat? General Thrawn. Abandon the solid fortress planet, open the fragile core circle of the empire, and then flee in the face of the enemy?"

"Since we cannot defeat the Separatist fleet, then retreating should not be a very strange decision." Vice Admiral Thrawn still looked calm.

Mal-Sikander had already taken the lightsaber from his waist and held it in his hand. His expression became ferocious. He licked his lips and said, "So you are afraid of the enemy and want to flee in the face of the enemy, and then you want to hand over the defense line that the Empire has carefully built? If that's the case, then I'm afraid we need to talk somewhere else."

Thrawn remained unmoved. He said, "This is my judgment as Vice Admiral of the Imperial Navy and Commander of the Bilbrin Planet Defense Fleet. If you disagree with my judgment, please remove me from my position and replace me with someone whose battle plan satisfies you."

"What you need to do is not to satisfy me. Instead, you need to give an explanation to the Emperor." Mal-Sikander said, "Then you are under arrest, Vice Admiral Thrawn."

"Please wait a moment, Your Honor!" Voss Parker stood up, stood in front of Thrawn and said, "The appointment of Vice Admiral Thrawn should be decided by Governor Dunn Wessex!"

"Since Thrawn deserted the battlefield, this matter should be taken over by the Inquisition!" Mal-Sikander said sternly.

"But the problem is, whether it is desertion or not, this definition should not be determined by you." Thrawn finally started to counterattack.

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Mal Sikander's face was uncertain. He thought about it, and finally snorted coldly, took out the communicator and connected to Dunn Wessex's frequency band.

However, facing Mal Sikander's exaggerated report, Dunn Wessex quickly made a decision. "Vice Admiral Thrawn's decision to retreat was a professional judgment based on his position as the commander of the Bilbrin Planet Defense Fleet. Magistrate Sikander... This matter should not be decided by the Inquisition."

When he said this, his eyes were fixed on Thrawn. He didn't slam the table until Thrawn nodded slightly. Then he said sternly, "If you, the Inquisition, think that you should command this battle, then let Black Hole apply to His Majesty the Emperor! Then, you will bear the consequences of the battle yourself!"

In the previous battle on the planet Fondo, Black Hole chose to help his mortal enemy Wilhuff Tarkin, which politically determined that Dunn Wessex would never have any good face towards the Inquisition. Not to mention that the Inquisition had forcibly taken Admiral Gilad Pellaeon away, causing him to lose a general.

Moreover, Vice Admiral Thrawn was a general who had actually defeated the fleet of the Kingdom of Dawn. What choice should he make at this time? Dunn Wessex was able to climb to such a high position, so he would not make a mistake in this judgment. (End of this chapter)