The Empire begins with the Fourth Scourge.

2409, Joy and Sorrow,

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"My homeland! My only regret is that I can only sacrifice my life for you once!" - Inscription on the Imperial Heroes Monument in the center of the Imperial Plaza on the planet Coruscant, the capital of the Fourth Reich.

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The disastrous defeat in the battle of Arkania was a heavy blow to the Kingdom of Dawn, which had always been going smoothly!
It can be said that in the 25 years since Tang Xiao brought the mothership to this universe, he has never suffered such a great defeat!
In this battle, more than 400 million officers and soldiers including Admiral Mal-Tuk were killed or wounded, 37 battleships were destroyed, 384 heavy cruisers were destroyed, more than 1900 light cruisers were destroyed, and more than 880 warships below destroyers were destroyed!

In addition, 1 battleship, 5 heavy cruisers and more than 200 small and medium-sized warships surrendered and were captured because they were completely out of ammunition and food. Although the core parts of these warships had been installed with bombs and blown up, it was the first time that such a large number of warships were captured since the establishment of the Kingdom of Dawn.

The Neimoidia battleship self-destructed. This Infinity-class super aircraft carrier was also the second super battleship to sink in battle since the founding of the Kingdom of Dawn, following the Plague Titan battleship.

This is a very bad start...

Such a disastrous defeat put the Dawn Kingdom's situation in the north in jeopardy. After a meeting overnight, the General Staff first sent a message to the Geth, asking them to send troops as soon as possible to harass the northern border of the Galactic Empire and involve the power of the Imperial Fleet.

At the same time, after discussion, it was decided to let the Trade Federation transfer the technological design of a battlecruiser called the "Throne of Kings" from the Gallente Federation technology that had been given to them to the Geth, in order to enhance the Geth's fleet strength.

Because after research, it was found that the combat method of the Throne of Kings-class battlecruiser is very similar to the combat habits of the Geth, and now the industrial strength of the Geth is much stronger than that of the Trade Alliance, which has lost all its foundation. There is no pressure at all to directly build battleship-level battleships.

Not only that, in order to speed up the research progress of the Geth, the Trade Federation must immediately send a team of experts to the core of the Geth - the Sojoron satellite, and share their research results with the Geth so that they can put their knowledge into practice as soon as possible and produce more powerful warships.

The reason why the Trade Union had to bear all the responsibility was because the defeat in the battle of Arkania was commanded by the Trade Union's commander, Mal-Tuk. Heroic and heroic, but the responsibility should not be shrunk. After this disastrous defeat, although the Dawn Kingdom authorities will not really punish the Trade Union, it is foreseeable that the preferential treatment that the Trade Union can receive will inevitably decline sharply, and in the future it will inevitably fall from the first-tier super enterprises of the Dawn Kingdom.

In addition, a fleet organized by Izvosla of the Kali people and Major General Bentiras-San-Skar is also gathering on the planet Mykito. It is expected to be completed in four days and will immediately head to the planet Bilbrin.

The biggest goal of the Kingdom of Dawn in the North is to prevent the planet of Bilbrin from falling into the hands of the Galactic Empire again. Once this fortress planet, which the Galactic Empire has spent hundreds of years building, is recaptured by the Galactic Empire again, it will be a long time before they can take it back again.

At the same time, the Dawn Planet immediately began to organize reinforcements and prepare to rush to the North.

……

On the other hand, for the Galactic Empire, the Battle of Arkania was an extremely glorious victory!!
All along, the Galactic Empire has always lost more than it has won against the Kingdom of Dawn's fleet on the front battlefield. Even if there is an occasional victory, it is achieved at the cost of huge losses.

However, this time on the planet Arkania, the Imperial Fleet completely defeated the main fleet of the Kingdom of Dawn despite being at a disadvantage in terms of manpower! How glorious and heroic this is!

To commemorate this great victory, Emperor Palpatine personally ordered that all the planets in the core circle of the Empire be given a day off and held a celebration. At the same time, Vice Admiral Mis-Lo-Nurudo-Thrawn, who commanded this battle, was directly promoted to Admiral of the Imperial Navy and Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Northern Frontier!
A promotion order signed by Palpatine himself, as well as the highest imperial medal, plus a large amount of money, rare metals, and beautiful women as rewards, had been carried by a special delegation to the North on a spacecraft to be presented to Admiral Thrawn.

At the same time, the highest administrative officer in the North, Governor of the Ninth Army, Dunn Wessex, was also commended by His Majesty the Emperor and received a special medal.

In addition, the former Admiral of the Empire, Gilad Pellaeon, who was arrested by the Imperial Inquisition, was also released. As punishment for the defeat, he was only demoted one level to Vice Admiral. Gilad Pellaeon was immediately transferred to the Fourth Army of the Empire, reporting to Governor Wilhuff Tarkin.

Obviously, Palpatine gave Dunn Wessex a slap in the face and then gave him a date. He was not unaware of the title of "Two Walls of the North" and that the northern defense line was built by Gilad Pellaeon, but he still transferred Gilad Pellaeon to Dunn Wessex's mortal enemy, Wilhuff Tarkin, which was actually a means of checks and balances.

As the emperor of the empire, after a great victory, he generously rewarded the officers and soldiers on the front line, but he promoted the generals in the rear in public but demoted them in secret, and was on guard against them in various ways. This is the so-called imperial art.

Dunn Wessex was naturally extremely angry about this decision, but he dared not show it at all. He even had to send a hypocritical congratulatory message to Wilhuff-Tagin, congratulating him on having a "great general".

Afterwards, Dunn-Wessex invited Thrawn to his headquarters in the North, the planet Palin-Minor, and very considerately asked Thrawn what he needed and what he thought about future wars in the North.

However, Thrawn expressed pessimism about the war situation in the North. He believed that the Galactic Empire was still seriously short of manpower.

Although the Galactic Empire still has about 8000 battleships, such a force is needed to suppress the rebel forces in various places, to deal with the powerful offensive of the Kingdom of Dawn on all fronts, and to maintain a strong enough guard force on the main planets in the core circle. If the burden is shared in this way, more than 8000 battleships are simply not enough!

Therefore, the biggest problem facing the Galactic Empire now is that although it seems to have an absolute advantage in military strength, the Kingdom of Dawn can concentrate its forces to launch attacks at one or two points, thus creating a local military advantage.

Thrawn suggested to recapture the planet of Bilbrin as soon as possible, then consolidate the defense, and after the Northern fleet has recovered its strength, take the initiative to attack and strive to directly threaten the core of the North, the planet of Mygeeto, the Kingdom of Dawn.

In order to achieve this goal, Thrawn requested that Dunn Wessex dispatch the Executor-class Super Star Destroyer to his command.

However, faced with this request, Dunn-Wessex remained silent.

After a full ten minutes, Dunn Wessex slowly said: "I will draw 40 Imperial II-class Star Destroyers, 70 Imperial-class Star Destroyers, and 40 Vindicator-class heavy cruisers from my direct fleet here on the planet Palin Minor and give them to you. But the 'Lila' super star destroyer must stay on the planet Palin Minor." That's right, Dunn Wessex, a wife-doting madman, actually named his Executor-class super star destroyer after his wife!
Thrawn's expression remained unchanged. He just smiled slightly, nodded and said, "Having the support of such a powerful fleet also solves my urgent needs. Thank you."

Yes... For Palpatine, he rewarded Thrawn and was on guard against Dunn-Wessex. And for Dunn-Wessex, he had to be on guard against Thrawn again.

Because if Thrawn continues to do so, it is likely to threaten his position as the King of the North. And Palpatine directly bypassed him and appointed Thrawn as the highest military commander in the North. This decision can be said to be sinister.

Coupled with Palpatine's move of Gilad Pellaeon, he made no secret of his intention to balance between Dunn Wessex and Wilhuff Tarkin!

This time, Thrawn actually asked for an Executor-class Super Star Destroyer right in front of him! Dunn-Wessex could never satisfy such a request no matter how he considered it!
This is what is called, imperial politics...

After the unpleasant parting, Thrawn went to the planet Palansi, gathered the relatively intact warships in his hands and the reinforcements given to him by Dunn-Wessex, and formed a fleet consisting of 150 battleships and 400 small and medium-sized warships. He set out on February 2 to counterattack the planet Bilbrin!

……

"I said! I will lead this support force! Thrawn, I will defeat him myself!!" Severance Tann slapped the table hard and roared loudly.

Sitting at the desk in front of her was the Chief of Staff of the Kingdom of Dawn, Qi Jian.

Qi Jian's expression was extremely conflicted, and it was obvious that he was in great distress. "His Majesty Tang Xiao once personally instructed that you must not fight Thrawn... So this time, my plan is to have General Ling go to the North. Darth Vader is still a deadly threat to us. After part of our forces have been withdrawn, you are the only one who can stop him."

"No! This is just Tang Xiao's encouragement and request to me! He repeatedly told me that I am no match for 'that person' in the future! For this reason, I study combat theories every day! I must fight every battle myself! I am making myself stronger every day! Just to surpass the shadow that Tang Xiao has drawn for me!" Severance Tann said loudly: "Now I know! This person is Thrawn! He is in the North!! Why don't you let me go!"

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"His Majesty Tang Xiao has other arrangements for the problem of Solong. We have other people who can defeat him, but he is not ready yet. Before that, what we need is to stabilize the situation in the North, rather than focusing on defeating anyone." Qi Jian said.

"There is no doubt that Thrawn will attack the planet Bilbrin now! I don't think there is anyone in the Kingdom of Dawn who can stop his offensive!! Ling Liang? Humph, she is indeed okay, but she must also keep an eye on the planet Fangduo!! And she knows nothing about the North!" Severance Tann said, "This time, only I can go!"

"Please don't make things difficult for me, General Tann." Qi Jian said, rubbing his forehead.

"I request to see His Majesty Tang Xiao! He should be the one to tell me the word 'no'." Severance Tann stared into Qi Jian's eyes and said word by word.

[If you want to die so badly, then die now! !] A disembodied voice suddenly came.

Qi Jian was startled by the voice and looked back, only to find that a dark shadow had appeared on the other side of the office. The shadow could be vaguely seen as Tang Xiao, but there seemed to be a black flame burning around him.

It is obvious that although no one knows what Tang Xiao is doing, his current condition is basically not human.

Seeing Tang Xiao suddenly appear, Severance Tann quickly knelt down on one knee. Qi Jian reacted a step slower, but he also quickly jumped up from the chair and knelt on one knee.

Tann whispered, "Your Majesty... No, Master! Please give me this chance to kill Thrawn! I have made all preparations and I have every confidence that I can defeat him!"

Suddenly, an invisible force grabbed Tann's neck and lifted her up!
Tang Xiao's ferocious and distorted voice came, [I have said it many times! You are not his opponent! Don't challenge my patience. ]

"Master... Master... If I can't even defeat Thrawn... then... what is my... value?" Severance Tann asked with great difficulty.

With a thud, the invisible force suddenly disappeared, and Severance Tann fell to the ground. But she quickly got up and knelt on the ground again.

[You should know one thing, Tann. The outcome of a war is not just determined by direct confrontation on the battlefield.] Tang Xiao's voice suddenly calmed down.

"If I can't get this opportunity, I would rather die! This is also the only way for me to prove the meaning of my existence..." Severance Tann remained extremely determined.

Tang Xiao was silent.

After a long while, he spoke again: [Go. Bring our most powerful warship and give me Thrawn's head.] After that, the shadow gradually disappeared.

"Yes! Yes! Master! I will complete my mission!" Severance Tann almost cried for joy. She knelt down on the ground with tears streaming down her face.

"Oh... I'll arrange it. You go back and rest first." Qi Jian said with a sigh.

After Severance Tann left, Qi Jian shook his head and sighed again, looking at the empty office, as if talking to himself: "She is actually right. Our only choice now is to send her to the North. But I am just worried that if she fails, she might really commit suicide..."

[I know.] Tang Xiao's voice came from the void. (End of this chapter)