The Empire begins with the Fourth Scourge.

2635. The Northern Frontier
In the northern part of the galaxy, during the battle on the planet Bilblin, the commander of the Third Fleet directly under the Ninth Army Governor, General Holster Streich, was beheaded by the Dawn Kingdom and died on the spot.

This explosive news spread instantly throughout the military of the entire Galactic Empire, shocking the entire nation!
It's important to know that Bilbrin is a fortified planet, built by Dunn-Wessex at the urging of the Imperial military after the last Northern War, serving as the gateway to the core of the North.

Moreover, to avoid being captured due to insufficient troops as in the last battle, the Third Fleet is stationed on Bilblin at all times this time. And to ensure the strength of this garrison, it is commanded by the battle-hardened veteran, Holst Streich.

Streich's original connections and family influence were not enough to qualify him to become a Navy Admiral, but the Imperial military was going all out to protect this position.

The Imperial High Command and the Northern Command in Dunne-Wessex engaged in a long and arduous struggle over this fortress before finally reaching this conclusion.

But what about now? General Holst Streich is dead?

From the perspective of the Galactic Empire's Supreme Strategic Command, their first message was that Bilbrin had been invaded by the Dawn Kingdom. Their second message was that Admiral Holst Streich, the Supreme Commander of Bilbrin, had been killed in action!

This news forced the Imperial military to reassess the balance of power between the two sides, and had a rather negative impact—

Defeatism.

Indeed, many in the military began to believe from the bottom of their hearts that the Galactic Empire could no longer win this war!
Such an idea has never been considered in the history of the Galactic Republic, not even when fighting against the Infinite Empire, not even when fighting against the Eternal Empire, not even when fighting against the Sith Empire, not even when fighting against the Mandalorian Crusade, and not even when fighting against the Confederation of Independent Systems!

Even after the Galactic Republic was reorganized into the Galactic Empire, this idea never changed. Because this process was a reorganization, not a war.

But now, many people are starting to genuinely believe that the Milky Way may indeed be about to change its owners.

The Imperial High Command immediately issued a strict order to Dunn-Wessex to react and defend Bilbrin at all costs. The military, of course, was well aware of Dunn-Wessex's ulterior motives: they feared he would withdraw his mobile fleet to defend his planet Palin-Minor, thus exposing the Imperial core to the Kingdom of Dawn!
Dunn-Wessex replied coldly that since the Dawn Kingdom had two Titan warships on Bilblin, defeat on that battlefield was inevitable, and he had to preserve enough fleet strength to build a second line of defense.

Who knows where his second line of defense is located! It's definitely not in the core area. Because after passing Bilbrin's planet and then Palancy's planet, the next area is the defense zone of the Galactic Empire's First Star System Army!
The First Star System Army has now entered a state of emergency combat readiness, beginning to mobilize its fleet to head north and block the Dawn Kingdom's offensive.

Of course, Dunn Wessex wasn't truly doing nothing; he understood that he couldn't afford to turn against the Galactic Empire now. He ordered Admiral Gerard Perrin to increase troop strength and continue the assault on Od Mantel!
Currently, battle has begun on this planet, with both sides deploying over 1000 capital ships. However, Gilard-Perein's offensive strategy remains relatively conservative. Although it has been confirmed that the Dawn Kingdom's two Titan warships in the North are on Bilbrin, their forces on Od Mantel are also formidable. A hasty attack could result in heavy losses.

Currently, the Dawn Kingdom, after destroying Admiral Holst-Stretch's flagship in the direction of Bilbrin, is not in a hurry to attack the planet's defenses. Instead, after clearing out the recent armed asteroids, it has suspended its offensive. The Titan warship, the Divine Messenger, is continuously summoning more warships via hyperspace beacons.

Admiral Gilard Perein waited, for he understood that the warships summoned by the Titan Messenger were all drawn from the planet Od Mantel. In other words, with each summoning, the garrison forces on Od Mantel were steadily dwindling.

Perhaps the fleet commander from the Dawn Kingdom believed that the defenses of the planet Ode-Mantel were impregnable.

Meanwhile, Tang Xiao, the supreme leader of the Kingdom of Dawn, was still engaged in combat with the super star destroyer Lyra behind the northern defense line. Arden-Lin and the Supreme Inquisitor, wary of Tang Xiao's strength, dared not leave the super star destroyer to duel him. They were simply using their Force abilities to protect the crew from being transformed and controlled by the Force of Death, nothing more.

The situation in the North is roughly like this. Because the main fleet of the Dawn Kingdom in the North has been diverted to some unknown star regions to deal with the Kylik attack, the North's forces are also stretched thin, and they can only rob Peter to pay Paul.

It seems their current strategy is to launch a full-scale attack on Bilblin, but they also need to secure their retreat, putting them in a dilemma. The Galactic Empire, of course, is happy to see this.

However, the Galactic Empire is still under great pressure, so the Supreme Strategic Command of the Empire can only request Darth Vader, who is currently reorganizing the defenses in the Delon system, to lead the Death Squadron to launch a proactive attack on Fangduostar.

The Galactic Empire is aware that the garrison on Planet Fangduo is currently understrength. The Xuanwu Titan battleship and at most 300 capital ships are simply no match for the Death Fleet, which comprises as many as 2000 mobile warships!
However, Darth Vader ignored the request, neither agreeing nor refusing.

The situation of the Galactic Empire is visibly deteriorating.

At this very moment, the uprising that occurred in the southern border of the Empire, within the territory of the Thirteenth Army, was particularly jarring.

The uprising that erupted on the planet Ugio was completely out of control; the rebels had captured the planetary administrative hall and killed all the imperial officials. The imperial defense forces were utterly routed.

The rebel army was about to threaten the planet Rishi, arguably the most important planet within the entire Thirteenth Army's territory. This was because Rishi served as a gateway to several vital planets in the outer dwarf star system of the Milky Way, including Kamino and Rosana!

The Thirteenth Army was forced to send out its already limited fleet to suppress the uprising on Planet Ugio. (End of Chapter)