The Empire begins with the Fourth Scourge.

2754. Dantoin Meat Grinder (Part 1)

“Strengthen the army?!” Dunn-Wessex suddenly understood upon hearing this.

Under the influence of the spices, Miltin-Takl was extremely excited and poured out his understanding of the battle situation.

Miltin-Tarkl was one of the top military commanders among the twelve Grand Marshals of the Empire, almost second only to Oswald Tessick. One could even argue that Marshal Tessick was more adept at large-scale warfare, while Miltin-Tarkl possessed superior tactical skills.

After absorbing a large amount of Aura, Miltin Tucker's Force talents began to manifest, and through telepathy, he quickly learned what Dunn Wessex was worried about.

Telepathy speaks louder than words; Miltin-Takker instantly grasped the current situation on the northern battlefield and made a judgment immediately.

He held a delicate and beautiful young girl in one arm, while he spoke at length about his understanding of the situation, detailing everything as if showing off, and he was quite pleased with himself for it.

Although the girls didn't understand these important military and national affairs, they still expressed their admiration in a very professional manner, which made Marshal Takker even more excited.

After learning of Marshal Miltin Tucker's advice, Dunn Wessex finally understood what he had to do. He couldn't care less about anything else at that moment; he beckoned, and more than a dozen beautifully dressed young women gathered around, completely surrounding the thoroughly intoxicated Marshal Miltin Tucker.

Before leaving, he didn't forget to give the manager next to him a wink.

Of course, all the girls who served Marshal Miltin-Takl would be eliminated afterward, leaving no trace. Even if these girls were the most outstanding, beautiful, and natural women selected from thousands of others, and had undergone years of training, they were as insignificant as a speck of dust compared to the military and national affairs of the entire empire.

After arranging everything and ensuring that Field Marshal Miltin Tucker would have a blissful, decadent night, Dunn Wessex quickly left and returned directly to his office, where his staff worked through the night to draft an operational plan.

The next day, he rushed to the Imperial High Command and submitted the plan. According to the plan, the Northern Legion would launch a large-scale ground campaign on the planet Dantuin, aiming to completely eliminate the Dawn Kingdom's ground forces.

Once the plan is implemented, the ground war on Dantuin will escalate significantly, drawing more resources from the Dawn Kingdom.

If the ground battle proceeds smoothly, Dunn-Wessex will be able to rebuild its military base on Dantoin after retaking the planet, threatening the Dawn Kingdom's northern stronghold, Macitot, from the flank and rear.

If the ground battle goes poorly, the Northern Legion will send a torpedo ball into the planet's surface to carry out a thorough orbital bombardment, completely destroying the planet's surface!
This operation may result in the loss of a valuable torpedo ball, but it will be worthwhile for the overall battle. It will alleviate the direct pressure on Palin-Minol, buying time for reinforcements to arrive.

The operational plan was quickly approved, and the Supreme Strategic Command assured Dunn-Wessex that sufficient army troops would be deployed within a week to support the operations in the North.

Turn the planet Dantuin into a human slaughterhouse!

...

Judging from its current size, Dantuin is an insignificant planet with absolutely no value.

This is because the planet has a population of only 350 million. In addition to the three major cities, many residents are scattered in hundreds of small villages, leading a peaceful and tranquil agricultural life.

However, if we move the timeline forward by 20,000 years, then the planet Dantuin was an incredibly powerful region!

This is one of the original temples of the Jedi Order! If we go even further back in time, in an era when historical records are not very clear, Dantuin was already the temple of the most primitive Force organization.

Countless exceptional and powerful Jedi Masters were born here, trained here, and meditated here. Among them was the highly controversial Jedi Master and Sith Lord—Darth Raven.

This place was once part of the territory of the Rakata people of the Infinite Empire, and due to its comfortable natural environment, it was also one of the important high-end colonies of the Infinite Empire. With its climate and abundant Force field, Dantoin is regarded as one of the most sacred planets in the universe.

Even the Sith Empire, which rose to power in the northeast, believed that the planet Dantuin was unassailable—because at least several powerful beings lived in seclusion there.

However, many Jedi Masters who came from Dantuin fell to the dark side, the most famous of whom were undoubtedly Darth Raven and Darth Malak.

Therefore, the Jedi Order at the time believed that the Force field on Dantoin had some mysterious property that could induce tendencies toward the dark side, so they gradually moved away from there.

Later, when the Galactic Republic and the Old Sith Empire went to war, the planet Dantuin had gradually fallen into ruin and was attacked by space pirates, and the planet gradually disappeared from the public eye.

Later, the Galactic Republic established several research stations on the planet Dantuin to excavate the ruins of the ancient Jedi Order and the Infinite Empire in hopes of finding lost knowledge.

Especially before the establishment of the Galactic Republic, including before the outbreak of the First Jedi Civil War, the organizational structure of the ancient Jedi Orders and their training methods have been completely lost. The ruins on Dantuin are the most important key to unlocking these mysteries, the only key to that lost history.

Then there's the Infinite Empire, which can be considered the last civilization to have some contact with the gods.

The Rakatas defeated the Kilik swarm supported by the Great One. What happened that caused the Kilik swarm, which had almost ruled the entire galaxy, to lose the war and degenerate into primitive insects is unknown. However, the Rakata civilization still has immense research value.

Rewind to the present, how did the battle on the planet Dantuin break out?

It's actually quite dramatic.

Since the destruction of the Jedi Order, the new Jedi Order, rebuilt from the ruins of the Republic, had previously sought to cooperate with the Kingdom of Dawn to rebuild the Jedi Temple on the planet Ereshkigal.

As part of their priority cooperation, Luminara Anduri, the representative of the New Jedi Order, told Tang Xiao that there were ruins of the Infinite Empire and the Rakata people of the Infinite Empire on the planet Dantuin. Most importantly, the ruins on Dantuin might hold the secrets of the Infinite Gate!
It's important to know that it was precisely because they possessed the secret of the Infinity Gate that the Rakata people had the opportunity to defeat the almost invincible Kylik swarm and once dominated the galaxy.

Therefore, while the Kingdom of Dawn was conducting military operations in the North, it also dispatched a team to the planet Dantuin to excavate its ruins.

However, the Dawn Kingdom's actions ran head-on into the Galactic Empire's army!

The reason is simple: the Galactic Empire discovered a large number of crystal veins on the planet Dantuin, which may even have given birth to Kyber crystals due to the strong Force power!

Currently, with several major crystal mining areas, including Christophersis, under the control of the Dawn Kingdom, the Galactic Empire's supply of Kyber crystals is facing an extreme shortage, forcing it to search for alternative resources. The Force crystal vein discovered by Dantoin is precisely the resource most urgently needed for the Death Star project.

Therefore, the Galactic Empire's army is conducting extensive excavations on the planet Dantuin. Upon encountering the Dawn Kingdom's archaeological team, the two sides immediately went to war—army versus expedition—the outcome of which was self-evident.

The Dawn Kingdom's scientific expedition team was completely destroyed, and more than ten experts were captured.

The Kingdom of Dawn reacted immediately, sending a fleet to the planet Dantuin and deploying thousands of ground troops to rescue the experts.

As things gradually escalated, Gerald Perain, the Northern military commander who had noticed the Dawn Kingdom's actions, ordered reinforcements to Tatooine. Furthermore, because Bilbrin was under its first threat from the Dawn Kingdom at the time, Gerald Perain decided to divert the Dawn Kingdom's attention to Tatooine in order to concentrate its forces on defending that planet.

Gilard-Perein sent reinforcements and instructed the army on Dantuin to begin burrowing if the fighting went poorly. The battle on this planet must continue, regardless, to draw the forces of the Dawn Kingdom.

As both sides continued to reinforce their troops, the scale of the ground battle on Dantuin grew larger and larger.

At the same time, the two sides had a tacit understanding—because the location of Dantuin was too remote, if a large-scale fleet were deployed, on the one hand, it would be difficult to navigate the complex hyperspace routes, and on the other hand, if the main fleet went to such a remote place, the enemy could immediately take advantage of the situation and strike the core area.

An attack on either Macito or Parin-Minor would be absolutely intolerable for either side!
Therefore, neither the Dawn Kingdom nor the Galactic Empire dispatched large-scale fleets to the battlefield on Dantuin. Instead, they continuously increased the strength of their ground forces, preparing to decide the outcome on the ground.

After all, the most valuable things on Dantuin right now are the veins that produce Kyber crystals and the ruins of the ancient Jedi Order and the Infinite Empire.

If these two things are reduced to ruins in an orbital bombardment, then what's the point of all that work? We still need to recoup the enormous war costs incurred on this planet.

Therefore, the option of fleet orbital bombardment was rejected, and all that remained was to fight a bloody battle.

Both sides subsequently established their respective landing bases on the planet Dantuin, with the Galactic Empire taking the lead and beginning continuous expansion around the planet's three major cities. Facilities including factories, automated farms, and hospitals were rapidly being built and put into operation.

The Kingdom of Dawn, acting as invaders, established its landing base on the outskirts of the city and launched an offensive against the Galactic Empire's ground forces, while simultaneously advancing towards the planetary capital, Garang.

Furthermore, since Dantuin has no industry of its own, both sides are simultaneously building various military factories around their bases to meet combat needs, while also mining minerals on a large scale. At the same time, both sides are launching offensives almost continuously, preparing to drive the other out once and for all.

As a result, the scale of the ground war began to expand continuously. Now, both sides have maintained a force of hundreds of thousands or more, and have also deployed large-scale armored forces.

The Dawn Kingdom launched this campaign to draw the attention of the Northern Legion and create an opportunity for their true objective of attacking Bilblin.

Now, Dunn-Wessex has decided to once again exploit the protracted war on this planet, expanding the scale of the campaign to draw the Dawn Kingdom's attention away from attacking Palin-Minor.

After all, both sides have suffered huge casualties and losses in the battle so far.

This is no longer an ordinary battle; it concerns the reputation of both armies!

……

Upon returning to Palin-Minor, Dunn Wessex immediately convened an emergency military meeting and summoned Admiral Gerard Pererain, who had just completed treatment and was still weak despite being able to move, to ask for his opinion on the operation.

The meeting lasted for three days, during which Gerard Pereanne, despite still being recovering, diligently refined Dunn Wessex's plans.

Then, when the first three cheerleader-class assault landing ships arrived on Palin-Minor with 20 transport ships, Dunn-Wessex's plan began!

He first withdrew his troops from the planet Ode-Mantel, abandoning the former capital of the Eighth Army.

The planet Ode-Mantel was a decoy set up by the Dawn Kingdom during their attack on Bilblin. They used a feint, taking advantage of the Galactic Empire's military misjudgment, to send the unfinished stargate there directly to Bilblin using the warp drive of the Titan Messenger, and then launched a surprise attack, succeeding in one fell swoop.

At this point, the planet Od-Mantel was completely undefended. The Dawn Kingdom's fleet stationed there offered only minimal resistance before retreating entirely, allowing Dunn-Wessex to reclaim the planet.

The recapture of Od Mantel further enhanced Dunn Wessex's prestige within the military, and the acquisition of a stargate further solidified his status as the "War God of the North."

With such a halo attached to them, Dunn-Wessex naturally became the face of the empire, and failure was absolutely unacceptable!
But now, with the First Star System's army suffering setbacks, Dunn-Wessex understands that they can no longer launch a counterattack. Therefore, continuing to defend Od Mantel is no longer worthwhile.

Therefore, he decisively abandoned the planet and continued to reclaim his defensive lines. (End of Chapter)