The Empire begins with the Fourth Scourge.

Chapter 2530 Gideon Tarkin's Military Strategy

2531: Gideon Tarkin's Military Strategy

Former Admiral of the Imperial Navy, Adar Talon, was suspected of dereliction of duty, incompetence, disobedience to orders, and failure to follow the combat principles of the Imperial Navy during the Battle of Bonta, which resulted in heavy losses to Bonta. The Imperial Supreme Strategic Command decided to revoke all military posts of Adar Talon and transfer the case to the Supreme Military Court for trial.

The Imperial Court originally wanted to intervene in this incident and use this case as an example of corruption and dereliction of duty by military personnel. However, the military leaders, led by Wilhuff Tarkin, directly resisted the pressure from the Court, because if the Court was allowed to handle this matter, the military would inevitably lose face and it would give the dark theocracy an opportunity to invade the military.

Of course, Wilhuff Tarkin and his men were only thinking from the military's perspective. They had not thought of exonerating Adar Talon. He had to bear the blame for the disaster in the Battle of Bonta.

Subsequently, Imperial Admiral Gideon Tarkin was sent out as the commander-in-chief and Imperial Admiral Garrosh Tarkin as the chief of staff. Such a very strange combination was sent out.

They secretly assembled 100 Imperial-class Star Destroyers, 50 Imperial II-class Star Destroyers, 5 Tracer-class aircraft carriers, 5 Interdictor-class Star Destroyers, 70 Vindicator-class heavy cruisers, 200 Nightwatch-class frigates, 100 Aquitens-class light cruisers, and 100 Carrack-class light cruisers. In addition, there are 400 small warships of various types.

Such a huge fleet was dispatched to support the Imperial 12th Army.

However, the Eye of Palpatine was not seen in this fleet. This dreadnought controlled by the intelligent AI 'Will' did not follow the main fleet, but went to the assembly point through a secret route on its own.

Seven days later, the fleet arrived at the planet Lantilis, the capital of the 12th Army, and the 12th Army Governor Seben went to the spaceport in person to greet them.

Governor Thraben looked at the two Tarkin family leaders standing in front of him and felt a little emotional. The 43-year-old Gideon Tarkin and the 19-year-old Garrosh Tarkin were two years younger than him in age combined, but now he, as a senior legion governor, had to bow down in front of these two young men.

As a veteran who had personally experienced the Stark Hyperspace War and had climbed all the way to become one of the twenty legion governors, Governor Thrben had both the iron-blooded toughness of a soldier and the sophistication of a politician. He knew very well why these two men had led such a large fleet. Similarly, he naturally knew very well that his career as a star region governor had basically come to an end.

No matter how much trouble General Grievous made on the planet Bonta, he was not able to threaten the real core of the 15th Army. The Typhoon-class battlecruisers were just annoying, and the only real destructive threat was the battleship Destroyer. Moreover, after the previous battle, the main fleet of the th Army was not seriously injured and was still able to protect the core defense area.

However, the Imperial military asked the Tarkin family to bring 160 battleships, 70 heavy cruisers, and 800 small and medium-sized warships, all of which were the latest models. This was totally unnecessary. This shows that what Gideon Tarkin wanted was not General Grievous's head, but the Imperial th Army!

"Your Excellency Governor, due to the erroneous command of the former commander Adar Talon, the border of the 12th Army's jurisdiction was breached by the Separatists. Admiral Garrosh and I have specially led our troops to rescue, and we ask for your support." Gideon Tarkin saluted Thrben meticulously.

It is true that he is a pure soldier, but in the face of such a family's major interests, he naturally knows what to do. Between the lines, it is all about coming here to call for punishment.

Seben sighed and said, "I understand. All fleets of the 12th Army will be under your command. I will stay in the rear and provide you with all support."

"Thank you for your cooperation, Your Excellency Governor." Gideon Tarkin saluted again.

Governor Thraben was looking at the young man in the white Imperial Navy admiral uniform standing next to Gideon Tarkin. He was only 19 years old. Although he was tall and muscular with a buzz cut, his brows were still childish.

Garrosh Tarkin, the youngest admiral in the history of the Galactic Empire... no, it should be said that he is the youngest admiral in the history of the Galactic Republic.

Serben sighed again, took the two admirals to his office, and began to prepare for the handover.

……

On February 9, 2 BBY, the Imperial Fleet divided into five groups and arrived at the Bonta system from five hyperspace routes. The spaceport had already been rebuilt here. Since many parts were modular, three spaceports had been completed, which could barely accommodate 20 capital ships.

Combined with the original 400th Army Fleet, Gideon Tarkin now has 70 battleships, 1800 heavy cruisers, and small and medium-sized warships such as light cruisers! Counting the Eye of Palpatine that has never appeared, the power in Gideon Tarkin's hands is already equivalent to the scale of an Imperial main fleet!

There are only two other places in the entire Galactic Empire that have fleets of this size - Dunn Wessex's Northern Fleet, and Darth Vader's main mobile fleet with the Death Squadron as its core.

His current military strength is truly ten times that of General Grievous!

Admiral Gideon Tarkin is standing on the bridge of his flagship, the Annihilator, an Imperial II-class Star Destroyer. The Imperial II-class Star Destroyer uses a large number of modular designs, and modules can be replaced to achieve different combat missions. The Annihilator is equipped with a command system, with super-powerful hyperspace probes and communication equipment, which can command the fleet operations of the entire galaxy in real time.

At this time, Garrosh Tarkin came to his command center after being informed.

Gideon Tarkin looked at his nephew, who was a full head taller than him and a full circle bigger, and nodded with satisfaction. "It seems that you have not slacked off in the military academy. Very good."

Many nobles are ashamed to do physical exercise, and prefer to use technology to adjust their body shape and strengthen their muscles. This is not tiring and has good results. Garrosh Tarkin obviously trained himself to have such a muscular body and tall stature, which shows his good self-discipline.

"This is the foundation of being a soldier, General." Garrosh Tarkin did not call him uncle, but directly addressed him by his military rank. This made Gideon Tarkin even more satisfied, and he smiled and asked, "How about this battle, what do you think?"

"Our military strength is ten times that of the Separatists, but they possess technological weapons that are very unfamiliar to us. We must not take it lightly. General A'dal Talon's mistake should not be made a second time. So I think we should firmly guard the border and make sure that Grievous has no chance to take advantage, and then advance slowly. If he continues to go around in circles with us, we will march directly to the core of Hutt space - Nar Shadda!" said Garrosh Tarkin.

Gideon Tarkin smiled and said, "You are both right and wrong. In fact, A'dal Talon's strategy is not wrong."

"Why?" Garrosh asked, frowning.

"He has seen clearly Grievous' biggest hidden danger - logistics, and has also formulated the best strategy to deal with Grievous - compressing space and disrupting the rear." Gideon Tarkin said, "But his problem is that he does not have the political resources to implement his strategy. Defend the border? Those Star Destroyer captains have been reporting him, saying that he did not take the initiative to attack, leaving them to use their flesh and blood to resist the Separatist shield-piercing missiles. Take the initiative to attack? He has no intelligence at all, and he doesn't even know where to attack. Disrupt the rear? Does he have the resources and time? No. So... he is doomed to fail. Even if he defends the border, he will be dismissed by the Imperial military for fear of fighting... It's just that he chose a more radical approach."

"I don't like this," Garrosh said.

"I don't like it either. But since we have such political power in our hands, we must make the best use of it. Your father is right. The future foundation of our Tarkin family requires the Twelfth Army." Gideon said, "Look at Dunn Wessex. The Wessex family can fully guarantee that they will flourish and prosper in the North for thousands of years! Why? Because the entire North is theirs."

However, Garrosh shook his head and asked, "Do you think the Galactic Empire can last for thousands of years? In my opinion, it will not last more than ten years."

"I don't deny the possibility, Garrosh." Gideon walked over and held Garrosh's shoulders with both hands, and said earnestly: "If that's the case, then we need the territory of the Twelfth Army even more. For your father, mother, for your future wife, son, and even grandson... This battle is not for the Galactic Empire, but for our Tarkin family."

Garrosh Tarkin nodded.

"Next, you stay with me. I will teach you every idea of ​​my command and deployment. This is a rare opportunity for actual combat, so seize it!" said Gideon Tarkin.

Garrosh Tarkin nodded again. But behind Gideon, he clenched and unclenched his fists, gnashing his teeth silently, and it was obvious that he was experiencing a storm in his heart.

Gideon Tarkin thought it was his first time experiencing a war of this scale and he was just a little nervous, so he didn't take it too seriously.

……

In the following period of time, Gideon Tarkin did not become complacent because of his absolute superiority in military strength. On the contrary, he acted very cautiously.

He first increased his efforts to rebuild the infrastructure of the planet Bonta, and established four forward bases in the orbit of another uninhabited planet outside Bonta, each garrisoned by 40 battleships, greatly expanding the defense line of the entire planet.

Then, additional hyperspace outposts were set up outside the border to ensure that the movements of the Destroyer could be fully predicted and the headquarters of General Grievous' fleet could be found as much as possible.

In addition, Gideon Tarkin also organized a main fleet, including a huge force of 100 battleships and 500 light cruisers. This main fleet was asked to keep maneuvering and patrolling outside the planet of Bonta, and to dispatch countless reconnaissance aircraft and drones to conduct continuous reconnaissance of Hutt space.

In addition to this series of deployments, there is also a biggest killer - the Eye of Palpatine!

This super dreadnought has been silently cruising in the deep space of the universe. No one knows where it is except Gideon Tarkin. Moreover, the unique shape and structure of the Eye of Palpatine make it difficult for the hyperspace detection equipment of the Kingdom of Dawn to notice it. Even if the fluctuations of its hyperspace jump are discovered, there is a high probability that it will be regarded as the action of other main fleets in Gideon's hands and ignored.

Once General Grievous' fleet appears, it will be entangled by those capital ships if it is not careful, thus giving Gideon Tarkin's main fleet a chance to reinforce. Not only that, the sneak attack of the Eye of Palpatine is the real fatal factor!

That's not all. Gideon Tarkin also contacted the Pike people active on the planet Felucia. With the powerful force in his hands, he easily made the profit-seeking and fence-sitter Pike people surrender, and monitored the Hutt space through the Pike people.

The biggest business of the Pike people is smuggling spices. They can be said to be among the top three spice smuggling gangs in the galaxy. They are second only to the underground smuggling empire of the Hutts and the spice smuggling network established by Ni Yongxiao in the Kingdom of Dawn... The former has accumulated tens of thousands of years, while the latter controls several major spice producing areas.

However, being able to be compared with these two behemoths is enough to show how powerful the Pike people are in spice smuggling. They can almost be said to be omnipotent, and you can always see the Pike people in smuggling activities in every dark corner of the galaxy.

The Pikes began to send out their own spies to inquire about the location of General Grievous' base in Hutt space. However, the Hutt regime, which was leaking information everywhere, had no way to deal with them.

Next up, it's the planet Dak! The Mon Calamari!

Gideon Tarkin sent a secret envoy to contact the Mon Calamari, and under his instructions, this time the Imperial envoy did not go with the arrogance and prejudice of human supremacism, but went with full sincerity and secretly visited the representatives of the Mon Calamari.

Now Gideon Tarkin's main fleet has enough power to control the Perlemian Trade Route, which is the main channel for external transportation of the planet Dak and one of the largest hyperspace routes in the galaxy.

He made extremely generous promises directly to the Mon Calamari, including the complete elimination of the Quarren, allowing the Mon Calamari to fully control the planet Dak, the establishment of the Mon Calamari Autonomous Region, the Imperial honorary race title, trade privilege licenses, and so on.

And the Mon Calamari were moved!