The Empire begins with the Fourth Scourge.

2800, Full of Contradictions

"Advance to Bonta?" Lin Nan stood up abruptly. "But... Bonta is close to Chalos IV, the garrison of the Galactic Empire, and too far from our logistics base. Wasn't it precisely because of logistical difficulties that we withdrew from Bonta before?"

He also replied with his opinion.

However, General Grievous only said one more thing: "Construct an advance base on the planet Bonta and begin stockpiling supplies." After that, he fell silent completely, and no matter how many messages Lin Nan sent, they all went unanswered.

Lin Nan put down the communicator, took a deep breath, and said, "Indeed, General Grievous has not mobilized our own fleet, which is currently under my command. But why did he order us to advance into the planet Bonta?"

“Didn’t he say he wanted us to build an forward operating base there?” von Liss said.

Lin Nan stared at the coordinates of the planet Bonta on the star map, his brows furrowed. "If we gather our fleet on Bonta, the logistical pressure will be immense if there are too many of us. There simply won't be enough transport capacity to meet the needs of building a forward base. If we don't have enough of our fleet, the Galactic Empire's main fleet might just charge out and give our fleet a crushing blow."

Von Liss smiled faintly and said, "But wouldn't that bring out the Galactic Empire's fleet? Isn't that exactly what General Grievous wanted?"

Lin Nanyi's expression darkened. "You mean, he wants me to be used as bait?"

“This is just speculation,” von Liss said. “After all, General Grievous was once the highest military commander of the Independent Galaxy Confederation, and he also accomplished the feat of directly breaking through the Milky Way. So far, only he and General Severance Tann have been able to do this. Therefore, we naturally cannot fathom his thoughts.”

Lin Nan lowered his head and remained silent.

After a moment, he raised his head and said, "I understand. I will lead half of the main force of the Eastern Territory to the planet Bonta, and the remaining fleet will advance to the vicinity of the planet Jabim, on the one hand to continue to suppress the resistance forces on Jabim, and on the other hand to reduce logistical pressure."

von Liss smiled slightly and said, "Then I will be here, waiting for your triumphant return."

As she spoke, she reached out and gently cupped Lin Nanyi's cheeks, then kissed him passionately.

The following day, Lin Nan issued the order for the fleet to attack. Half of the Eastern Fleet, 150 capital ships, 40 heavy cruisers, and more than 600 medium and small warships began to assemble. After 24 hours of preparation, they marched towards the planet Bonta.

The planet Bonta is only about 20 parsecs away from Chalos IV, where the main force of the Galactic Empire's Twelfth Army is stationed, and they are directly connected by a hyperspace channel, making its strategic location extremely sensitive.

That's why Lin Nan didn't choose to station troops on Planet Bonta at the time. If a battle were to take place there, it would mean that the Galactic Empire's fleet would be fighting on home ground, while the Dawn Kingdom's fleet would be unable to even guarantee logistics.

Afterwards, a rear admiral led another force of 100 capital ships, 40 heavy cruisers, and 400 medium and small warships directly to the planet Jabim.

One of the main reasons the Dawn Kingdom started causing trouble for Planet Jabim was that this planet was located between the rear and Planet Bonta, and it also had strong industrial capabilities and resource reserves, which could facilitate the supply of the front lines.

Unfortunately, Otto Stratus didn't give him any face, so he deserved to suffer the ravages of war—the Semirthian army had defeated the main force of the Jabim army, and now Otto Stratus was running around the planet, waging guerrilla warfare against the Semirthian commander Cummings.

The Semirs have demonstrated that there is a natural counter to one species in a race. As a gastropod race, they move swiftly and freely across the swamps, and their equipment, including individual shields and backpack-mounted automatic turrets, has inflicted heavy losses on the Jabim planet's proud Cloud and Rain Mappers.

After all, the Cloud and Rain Commando is essentially a light infantry force. They are fine against enemies who are crawling and rolling in the swamp, but if you really send them to assault the Semirs, who are all equipped with small armored vehicles, it would be like delivering takeout.

……

At the same time, intelligence about the large-scale mobilization of the Dawn Kingdom fleet was immediately sent to Gideon Tarkin's desk on Chalos IV.

Gideon Tarkin is now the Supreme Commander of the Galactic Empire's Twelfth Army. Although he is not yet the Sector Governor, he effectively wields absolute power within the sector in the face of the military threat from the Dawn Kingdom.

In the previous series of battles, Gideon Tarkin was almost driven to despair.

He discovered that even this clearly second-line fleet in the Eastern Territory still possessed many new types of equipment that he could not match.

For example, there are missiles that can penetrate shields, and splitting rays that have a short range but can directly disintegrate warship armor—these things can also ignore shields.

These items left Gideon Tarkin completely bewildered; he had no idea how to deal with them.

He finally managed to destroy the Dawn Kingdom's super battleship, the Destroyer, but then discovered that his own super battleship, the Eye of Palpatine, was time-controlled!
Looking back now, Gideon Tarkin even began to suspect that the Eye of Palpatine's time-controlling ability was probably due to some new weapon from the Kingdom of Dawn.

Once such thoughts arose, they almost extinguished all his determination to take the initiative.

Although half of the Twelfth Army's territory has now fallen, the entire eastern half of the star sector has fallen under the control of the Dawn Kingdom.

This also includes the entire Eastern Territory, no, it could even be said that the largest industrial center on the eastern side of the entire Milky Way—the planet Dark—where the outcome is gradually decided: the Monkalamari are eliminated, the Khurun ​​are victorious, and the planet completely aligns with the Kingdom of Dawn.

However, faced with this situation, Gideon Tarkin had absolutely no desire to counterattack. He firmly believed that as long as he launched an attack, the main fleet would inevitably be defeated. And if the main fleet was defeated, the Eastern Territory would collapse instantly.

Conversely, if he can hold his ground, there may still be a glimmer of hope.

Wilhuff Tarkin didn't say anything about his decision to hold firm and not play, but simply acquiesced.

In reality, Wilhoff Tarkin viewed the situation from a political perspective. Maintaining such military pressure from the Dawn Kingdom would only solidify the Tarkin family's control over the Imperial Twelfth Army. Furthermore, with the DS-1 combat space station as his ultimate weapon, Wilhoff Tarkin could easily turn the tide using the Death Star.

His confidence stemmed from the successful third docking test between the Death Star and the Tarkin space station's weapon systems a month earlier.

This means that the Death Star project has entered its final outfitting phase.

Wilhoff Tarkin's plan was to hold the front lines and let the Death Star come out to decide the outcome!

Gideon Tarkin thus held firm and refused to engage, and Wilhoff Tarkin tacitly agreed. He even transferred a portion of his fleet from his Fourth Army to the Twelfth Army to reinforce Gideon Tarkin's forces and ensure the front was secure.

However, he meant well but ended up doing something wrong.

Because Gideon Tarkin doesn't want reinforcements at all—if reinforcements arrive, his forces will be stronger, wouldn't that make him want to launch an immediate attack? The question is, can he launch an attack now?
However, he couldn't openly express these thoughts; he couldn't say that he absolutely didn't want to launch a counterattack. If that were to come out, he'd face a military court-martial.

Moreover, he couldn't tell his brother privately either, because he didn't know his brother's true thoughts. People's hearts are hidden behind their skin; mere kinship is utterly meaningless in the face of immense power at the sector level.

The Tarkin family has a motto: Promises are only valid when they are in your control.

In other words, if things are not under your control, no matter how nice the words are, how strong the relationship is, or how thick the blood ties are, it's all useless and as worthless as a fart.

Gideon Tarkin was also worried that his brother was wary of him, fearing that his brother had ulterior motives regarding the future governorship of the Twelfth Army. He had already suffered too many defeats and couldn't afford to lose face in front of his brother again!

From Wilhelm Tarkin's perspective, he couldn't possibly suggest a defensive posture. His position was higher, his political stance more advantageous, and he absolutely couldn't allow His Majesty the Emperor to perceive him as unambitious.

Because control of the Death Star was still far from being secured until he received a personal appointment from His Majesty the Emperor.

Wilhuff Tarkin's idea was that Gideon Tarkin should take the blame for being cowardly and hesitant to advance. He could wait until the Death Star was available, gain command of it, and then use it to launch a counterattack—a win-win situation both politically and militarily.
To bolster Gideon's confidence, he sent reinforcements, essentially saying, "You better hold the line. If you can't, your brother's Fourth Army will be there to cover for you!"
Of course, if Gideon Tarkin finds he can't take the blame for his retreating behavior, then Wilhuff Tarkin will naturally cut ties at lightning speed.

Politics, of course, requires considering every possibility.

Therefore, during this period, Gideon Tarkin was under immense pressure—he commanded a large army, with a force almost four times the size of the opposing separatist Eastern Fleet, yet he still refused to engage.

What do you mean? Are you colluding with separatists?
Pressure from the Imperial Supreme Strategic Command, pressure from the media, pressure from public opinion, pressure from the Governor-General of the Twelfth Army...

Even some other members of the Tarkin family were dissatisfied with Gideon Tarkin's actions. They had long considered the Twelfth Army their own territory.

Now they have lost half of their territory for no reason, including the super industrial centers they have long coveted—Dark Planet and Port Pamant. Under such circumstances, instead of thinking about how to launch a counterattack while the separatists are still establishing themselves, are they going to leave their fleet in place to hatch?
What terrified Gideon Tarkin the most was the Imperial Emperor Palpatine!
The super battleship Palpatine's Eye, which His Majesty the Emperor had previously built at great expense and even under his personal supervision, was destroyed in Gideon's hands.

Now, despite His Majesty the Emperor not saying anything directly in the face of this retreating behavior, Gideon Tarkin always felt that there was a terrible and cold eye watching him from the heart of the Empire!
Therefore, Gideon Tarkin also began to take action to the best of his ability, and he began to increase intelligence output.

Intelligence export? That's right, he sold intelligence about the Kingdom of Dawn to the rebels.

In the Eastern Territory, neither the Kingdom of Dawn nor the Galactic Empire can be said to be on the same page; both are overwhelmed by uprisings erupting on all sides.

Conversely, the waters of the Eastern Territory are incredibly murky, a melting pot of all sorts of people. In fact, it truly is a mixed bag—because in this chaotic melting pot of the Eastern Territory, there are at least several thousand races with influence. Power struggles are intricate, interests are intertwined, making it impossible to discern truth from falsehood.

This place became a paradise for spies, with spies from all walks of life flocking to various forces to send back all sorts of intelligence.

For example, when the planet Jabim rose up against the Kingdom of Dawn, Gideon Tarkin secretly sent money to Otto Stratus. Otto Stratus then used this money to purchase a large amount of weapons and equipment through the Rebel Alliance.

The rebel alliance is now secretly supported by the Corellian Engineering Company, and the Corellian trade route is one of the major shipping routes connecting the East, so it's a piece of cake for them to do these things.

It can be said that Lin Nan's first landing on Jabim Planet with six separate forces, followed by a crushing defeat at the hands of Jabim's six-pronged attack, was due to Gideon Tarkin's intelligence leak, coupled with funding from the Galactic Empire and weapons and equipment from the Rebel Alliance.

While Gideon Tarkin was conducting his espionage operations, he was also meticulously reporting his findings back to the rear. His message was clear—I've done my best; don't rush me into a frontal assault.

But does this mean Gideon Tarkin is better off? No.

Because the Kingdom of Dawn is also selling intelligence to the rebel alliance.

Borsk-Felia, the leader of the rebel alliance in charge of intelligence, said that he had never fought such a rich war in his life. Two super-powerful figures who could shake the galaxy were vying to send him intelligence, funds, and even secretly sending him equipment. Could there be such a good thing in the world?

The Galactic Empire's eastern territories are also engulfed in war, with uprisings breaking out everywhere. Transportation in the outer regions is almost paralyzed, and local industrial production has been severely damaged by the constant strikes.

In the present Eastern Territory, rebels within the Kingdom of Dawn have risen up with weapons from the Galactic Empire, while rebels within the Galactic Empire are using weapons from the Kingdom of Dawn to brutally attack the stormtroopers.

The Galactic Empire fared slightly better than the Dawn Kingdom in that, being backed by the inner ring and core circle, their supply lines could still function, and sporadic reinforcements and supplies could be transported to the front lines via those core shipping lanes. After all, no matter how powerful the rebels were, they couldn't possibly cut off the core shipping lanes. (End of Chapter)