The Empire begins with the Fourth Scourge.

2759. The Stalemate in the Battle
In the outer space of the planet Dantuin, there stands the Dawn's Radiance-class industrial mothership. This industrial mothership was sent here by the Kingdom of Dawn at great expense, and it is now the absolute core of the Kingdom of Dawn on the planet Dantuin.

Many combat equipment, including command centers, are built on industrial motherships and sent to the ground battlefield.

General Dai Hongkui of the Dawn Kingdom Army stood in front of the bridge, gazing at the star map with a solemn expression.

He was promoted to Army General last year. As Ling Liang increasingly performed the duties of Severna Sector Governor and Army Commander-in-Chief Xian Hui gradually began to relinquish his responsibilities, Dai Hongkui's promotion was a natural progression.

However, the army's status is actually far inferior to that of the navy, so Dai Hongkui, one of the few generals in the army, is currently only responsible for commanding the ground battlefield on the remote planet Dantuin.

Currently, in the war between the Dawn Kingdom and the Galactic Empire, the key to victory for both sides lies in outer space, in fleet battles, and on the stage of the navy. Ground combat, on the other hand, only breaks out when the military is unwilling to cause greater destruction.

However, in many cases, once the fleet in outer space fails in the decisive battle, the current government on this planet will most likely surrender, so the army's presence is just a formality.

If they really refuse to surrender, the fleet can blockade the planet, cut off its supplies, and then send carrier-based aircraft to carry out targeted bombing. The planet won't be able to hold out for long.

At other times, he was in the occupied territories maintaining order and suppressing rebellions, almost doing the work of a policeman.

It's quite rare for a planet like Dantuin to have its decisive battleground on the ground due to various objective factors. The hyperspace routes there are extremely complex, making it unsuitable for large-scale fleet navigation. Furthermore, the discovery of ruins from the ancient Sith Empire, the Infinite Empire, and the Jedi Order, along with kyber crystal mines, all deterred both sides from launching a large-scale bombardment.

Therefore, a ground offensive became the only option.

However, the fierce battles on the ground were one thing, but the fighting in space was equally intense. Although no large warships were deployed, both sides also deployed some smaller warships to patrol the edge of orbit, harassing each other's landing fleets and transport convoys.

The Galactic Empire initially had two Victory-class Star Destroyers stationed here, but they were quickly destroyed by Viking fighters. Later, the Galactic Empire changed its strategy, shifting to deploying smaller, more agile escort ships and fighters.

However, despite this, the Dawn Kingdom is at a disadvantage here because they lack a strategic foothold.

The Galactic Empire occupies all three major cities on the planet Dantuin—the capital Garang, the former capital Kunda, and a large settlement called Mosa.

They also controlled the agricultural areas surrounding these cities, giving them a sufficient workforce to quickly begin building their own industrial zones. Meanwhile, almost all the spaceports and airports on the planet were under their control.

There is also a large space station in the outer space of the planet, which can be used as a spaceport and transit station, and can also deploy a large number of interstellar fighters.

The Kingdom of Dawn can only produce goods using the single Dawn's Radiance-class industrial mothership, along with a small but elite ground force. They have also built a space station in the northern part of the planet Dantuin, and it is still under continuous expansion.

Meanwhile, the Kingdom of Dawn also gained the support of the local inhabitants on the ground. However, these supporters were mostly farmers and miners from remote villages who had risen up in rebellion due to their discontent with the Empire's oppression of the local population. Although their support was not very effective, they could still provide the Kingdom of Dawn with some intelligence or hiding places.

For example, the military base built by the Kingdom of Dawn in a wasteland in the Northern Hemisphere was hidden in a complex network of underground caves thanks to the guidance of local miners. There is even a vein of rare metals more than 200 meters underground.

Meanwhile, any movement of the imperial troops stationed in those three large cities would be immediately known to the Dawn Kingdom's intelligence system.

Having weathered the most difficult initial period, the advantages of the Dawn Kingdom began to gradually become apparent.

They first dispatched a large number of Grey Horse-class escort carriers, carrying a large number of fighter jets, including even 10 Sabre fighters!

During that most difficult period, the pilots of the Dawn Kingdom even lived and ate on the extremely rudimentary Gray Horse-class escort carriers, enduring high-intensity sortie missions every day. Sometimes they had to sortie more than 20 times a day, which was a huge torment both physically and mentally.

But they persevered.

Although the Galactic Empire had ten times more fighters than them, they still managed to protect their own Dawnbringer-class industrial motherships and space stations while harassing the Galactic Empire's supply lines, destroying several of the Empire's fuel ships and cargo ships, gradually straining its frontline combat capabilities.

These Dawn Kingdom pilots, who had joined the Rebirth Project, were like tigers among sheep when they faced off against the Galactic Empire's fighters!
It is precisely this meticulous planning that has enabled the Dawn Kingdom to send more and more ground troops to the battlefield on the planet Dantuin.

The Dawn Kingdom's navy is not unwilling to send more warships, but despite the rapid advance in the northern border, its forces are extremely strained.

In order to conquer Bilbrin, they even abandoned Od Mantel. Then Dunn Wessex practically emptied Od Mantel, and the Kingdom of Dawn had to invest even more resources to rebuild it—because it was a crucial stronghold for the final attack on Palin Minor, the core planet of the North, and rebuilding it was essential.

In the Battle of Bilbrin and the two subsequent Battles of Palancy, the Dawn Kingdom's northern fleet also suffered heavy losses. While the number of sunk ships was not large, the number of damaged ships requiring repair was enormous, straining the northern region's industrial capacity.

Dantuin is a very remote planet, and it would take a week to send a fleet there and back.

The Kingdom of Dawn is currently walking a tightrope in the North. Just as Oswald Tessik of the Galactic Empire predicted, as long as the First Star System Army and the Northern Legion launch an all-out attack, the Kingdom of Dawn's Northern Fleet will only have one option: a complete retreat.

However, in order to avoid getting into such a situation, Ender Wiggin's advice was to keep launching offensives and always be on the offensive, using psychological warfare to deter the Galactic Empire, especially Dunn Wessex.

By exploiting the desire of these high-ranking military officials in the Galactic Empire to preserve their strength, they prevented them from daring to fight the Kingdom of Dawn, even with superior forces.

But if the main fleet of the Dawn Kingdom appears on Dantuin, then Dunn-Wessex might have other ideas, such as doing something on Bilbrin before the main fleet returns.

The steel wire must never break; Dunn Wessex must always maintain the mindset that "if he can't play, he'll die."

However, under such circumstances, Chief of the General Staff Qi Jian actually said that the battle situation on Dantuin Planet would be decided in a month.
Dai Hongkui frowned, wondering if the navy would try to send some warships. But Qi Jian's confidence clearly stemmed not only from naval reinforcements; he also hoped the army could do more. That meant the Kingdom of Dawn would also send reinforcements.

General Dai Hongkui took a deep breath and stared at the holographic battle map in front of him. It showed that the positions established by the Dawn Kingdom were very scattered, but they formed a network structure that supported each other, thus encircling the Galactic Empire, which was focusing on defending three key cities.

However, the downside is that the forces are too dispersed. If the Galactic Empire recklessly charges out, it is very likely that they will break through this encirclement.

He turned to his adjutant and asked, "How long will it take for the industrial carrier to prepare for the next offensive?"

The adjutant immediately replied, "We are currently constructing another command center with shield modules, as well as other modular buildings. We expect to be able to launch another attack in two days and quickly consolidate our defenses by airdropping modular buildings."

“The Galactic Empire’s military strength is increasing. If we run into a brick wall when we attack, the situation will be very bad,” Dai Hongkui said. “However… our offensive cannot stop. Have the intelligence department find the Galactic Empire’s weak points in its defenses, keep attacking, and keep moving their troops around. This way, they won’t be able to concentrate their forces.”

"Yes!" the adjutant replied immediately.

“In addition, the robot factory needs to be built as soon as possible. I need them to be able to produce 5000 B-1 combat robots and at least 500 B-2 super combat robots every day,” Dai Hongkui continued. “Arrange this as soon as possible.”

“The Galactic Empire has now discovered that we are producing robots locally, so their reconnaissance forces and air force are patrolling repeatedly, which is affecting our raw material transportation,” the adjutant said. “Currently, the production capacity of combat robots is only half of what we require.”

Then, he asked in a low voice, "But Umbrella Corporation sent another message asking if we need to use biological weapons on Dantuin... They have prepared a new type of virus, supposedly codenamed C-virus. They say it can solve our manpower problem."

"Tell them to get lost!" Dai Hongkui suddenly roared. "If they have the guts, let them go to the General Staff Headquarters and see how many heads Qi Jian has chopped off! Did they get a taste of success on Fangduo Planet? Hmph! I'll deal with them sooner or later!"

“Yes… I will reject all of Umbrella’s requests and focus our efforts on building the robot factory,” the adjutant said. “And… Geth…”

“Even Geths won’t do!” Dai Hongkui said. “We’ve finally managed to build a good relationship with the locals, and the help they can provide is far beyond what Geths or Umbrella can offer! Don’t even think about it!”

"Understood." The adjutant withdrew.

Dai Hongkui rubbed his temples. He had already gained weight, but now that he had come to Dantuin Planet, he had lost more than ten pounds.

Just then, a staff officer came over and said, "General, two transport planes have suddenly appeared next to our ship and have sent a request to board."

"A transport plane? It appeared out of nowhere? What's the radar department doing?" Dai Hongkui roared. "And whose transport plane is this? So disrespectful!?"

“General…it seems to be…a Protoss transport ship,” the staff officer said. “However, the transport ship is fully automated, so we were unable to contact the people inside.”

"Reinforcements? Let them dock with the loading and unloading platform." Dai Hongkui nodded, then went to the control panel on the other side, waited for the docking to complete, and checked the contents of the transport plane.

These are just two ordinary Protoss transport ships, and strictly speaking, they can't carry much cargo.

However, when Dai Hongkui saw the goods inside, his expression turned serious. "What...is this?"

……

In the past few days, the area around Dantuin has become increasingly busy, with both the Galactic Empire and the Kingdom of Dawn increasing their reinforcements there.

Both sides used their own methods, regardless of cost, to stabilize the hyperspace route as much as possible, and built transit bases in the rear to facilitate the turnover and transportation of supplies.

Meanwhile, a struggle of sabotage and counter-sabotage, harassment and counter-harassment, is also beginning to unfold around the busy rear shipping lanes.

What troubled the Kingdom of Dawn at this time was that, since Gilard Perein had basically recovered from his injuries and resumed his command of the Galactic Empire's northern defenses, the Imperial army's actions had become noticeably more organized.

Under Gerald Perein's orders, the Galactic Empire fleet also launched harassment operations around the planet Od Mantel. The planet's transport routes were already severely strained, and the frequent attacks made resupply even more critical.

In response, Ander-Viking advised the Dawn Kingdom to maintain a strong stance in this direction and absolutely not to show weakness. Therefore, the Dawn Kingdom's fleet was divided into dozens of smaller squadrons, constantly engaging the Galactic Empire in combat.

Therefore, in the Dantuin direction, the Dawn Kingdom military canceled its plan to send additional fleets, only increasing the number of fighter jets and frigates, still focusing on ground combat.

Three days later, as General Dai Hongkui was developing plans and organizing reinforcements at the space station above the North Pole of Dantuin, a deep and terrifying voice came from behind him.

"When can I go and twist the heads off those imperialists, General Dai Hongkui?"

Dai Hongkui turned around, but could only see the other person's thighs.

The man was very tall, about three meters high, with light purple skin all over his body. He was wearing nothing but a pair of shorts, revealing his iron-like muscles.

"General Bentiras-San-Skar, it's a pleasure to meet you here," Dai Hongkui said calmly. (End of Chapter)