701. The 18th Army of the Galactic Republic
The planet Eriadu, the outer ring of the Milky Way, is the capital of the Seswenna sector and the capital of the 18th Army of the Galactic Republic. Governor-General Wilhuff Tarkin.
This planet is the largest trade center in the Outer Rim Star Region and is connected to multiple hyperspace routes. In addition to the main Hydia Route and Rimma Trade Route, there is also the Lipsec Route. (Lipsec Run), Yankirk Route (Yankirk Route), and Nothoiin Corridor (Nothoiin Corridor) pass through here, and the transportation is very convenient.
Under the prosperous trade, the planet Eriadu has developed extremely fast, with a population of 22 billion, second only to the planet Christophersis with a population of 35 billion in the Outer Rim Star Region.
However, unlike the planet Christophersis, which is simply a crystal origin, the planet Eriadu, which is a trade center, is obviously much more complicated.
Two years after Tang Xiao and the Fourth Civilization came to this world through time travel, in the year 33 BBY, the planet Eliadu once became the center of conflict.
In that year, because the conflicts in the outer star regions of the Milky Way began to intensify, and in order to resolve the conflicts and implement his own tax bill for the outer ring stars, the then Speaker of the Galactic Parliament Finis Valorum decided to establish a taxation system in Eriadu. The planet held a business summit and invited the huge corporate giants from all over the galaxy to attend the meeting to discuss the issue of taxation bills.
However, under the conspiracy and planning of Darth Plagueis and Darth Sidious, this business summit eventually turned into a farce. Darth Sidious secretly contacted Wilhuff Tarkin, who was then the Deputy Governor and Minister of Security of the Cethwenna Sector, and planned a robot riot.
During that robot riot, a large number of high-level personnel of corporate giants were injured and killed, and the high-ranking officials of the Trade Federation were almost wiped out in one go. This also made Newt Gunray the winner in the end, serving as the new governor of the Trade Federation and becoming Darth Si Deus' lackey.
And because the senior management of Kuart Power Shipyard also suffered heavy casualties in this riot, Kuart vented his anger on the Trade Alliance, because those robots were provided by the Trade Alliance. This eventually led to Kuat Dynamic Shipyard and the Trade Alliance parting ways, withdrawing from the Trade Alliance, and a few months later, it also terminated the agreement with the Technology Alliance and withdrew from the Technology Alliance.
As for the tax bill proposed by poor Finis Valorum, it became a joke and was ignored at all. And in order to bear the responsibility for the riots at the business summit, Deputy Speaker Botan resigned, and Finis Valoran lost his last and most important ally.
After this incident, the planet Eriadu seemed to disappear from public view, continuing its functions as a trading center but no longer playing a role in the political field.
But in fact, the planet Eriadu is constantly changing.
With Sheev Palpatine taking office as Speaker of the Galactic Senate one year after the riots, Wilhuff Tarkin's official career also took a high-speed path. A few years later, he was promoted to the Governor of the Cesswenna Sector and concurrently served as The position of Minister of Security was also promoted to Commander-in-Chief of the Cesswenna Sector Defense Force, with one hand holding all military and political power.
Because of Palpatine's hint that war would break out sooner or later, Wilhuff Tarkin began to prepare for war very early. He used the riots at the Business Summit as an excuse to purge a large number of dissidents from the local defense forces in the Cesswenna sector and increase military expenditures. Even though he could not expand the army due to parliamentary policies, he had cultivated a large number of efficient officers.
After the war broke out, the Cesswenna Sector was integrated into the Republic's 18th Army, and Wilhuff Tarkin naturally became the Governor of the 18th Army.
Because of his advance preparations, the 18th Army did not face much challenge in the early days of the war, and even repelled a surprise attack by the Confederate Fleet of Independent Systems during the Battle of Agoma.
Compared with the 14th Army, which was surrounded by the Technology Alliance on the planet Ryloth within a few days of the war, and the 19th Army, which was destroyed by the Fourth Civilization in 3 months, the 18th Army under Governor Tarkin even once It is one of the few legions of the Galactic Republic that is still capable of counterattack on countless battlefields!
Wilhuff Tarkin implemented a high-pressure military control policy within the 18th Military District, forcibly recruiting troops from various planets, and refitting factories on industrial planets to serve the military expansion. This caused a lot of complaints in the country, but Palpatine directly used his relationship in the parliament to suppress all complaints against the 18th Army.
But when everything seemed to be going smoothly, reality gave Governor Tarkin a blow.
The industrial world Sullust (Sullust), adjacent to the planet Eriadu, the headquarters of the 18th Army, suddenly announced that it was leaving the Galactic Republic and joining the Confederation of Independent Systems. At the same time, Southrob Company, a large arms manufacturer that owns more than half of the shares on the planet Sulust, also has an ambiguous attitude and has always refused to express its position.
The sudden betrayal of the planet Sulust caused the planet Eriadu to instantly lose its barrier and an important industrial base, and made the planet Eriadu directly face the semi-surrounded state by the forces of the Confederation of Independent Systems.
The Supreme Strategic Command of the Republic and the Jedi Order dispatched a mobile fleet headed by Jedi Knight Rees Alrix to assist in the attack on the planet Sulust. However, they encountered stubborn resistance and made slow progress.
In this situation surrounded by enemies on three sides, Wilhuff Tarkin still relies on his terrifying and harsh policies to resist tenaciously to this day.
But blows came one after another. The 19th Army of the Republic launched two consecutive offensives on the planet Bespin, which ultimately destroyed its superior mobile fleet. More than a hundred Jaeger-class battlecruisers were destroyed. The 18th Army of the Republic began to face the fourth The most direct threat to civilization.
At this time, Sheev Palpatine directly ordered him to destroy the Dawn Planet. This order completely ignored the strategic plan and made Governor Tarkin extremely angry.
Because the most realistic goal of the 18th Army should be to first protect the planet Eriadu when surrounded by powerful enemies, and then start to open up the situation from the industrial world Sulust. After having a solid strategic rear, we can talk about the counterattack. , instead of running thousands of miles to attack a Dawn Planet that had just killed the 19th Army and had high morale!
You must know that the 19th Army had 110 Jaeger-class battlecruisers at its peak. Such a force was more than double that of the 18th Army!
Therefore, Governor Tarkin directly told Palpatine that if he wanted to attack the Dawn Planet, he would give me 500 Jaeger-class battlecruisers. Palpatine turned off the communication without saying a word.
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[Picture 1 attached to the Easter egg chapter: The administrative headquarters of the planet Eriadu. Because it is a picture from the comics, it is very simple. But it can also be seen that this is basically a heavily armed fortress. 】
