2392, The End of the Battle (Part 2)
"Then prepare to detonate them. Have the fleet ready to withdraw," Darth Vader said. "Inform the ground forces that they have only three days to evacuate. During that time, leave all combat operations to the droid forces."
"Yes! The withdrawal order will be carried out immediately!" The staff officer snapped to attention and saluted as he answered loudly. The relief in his voice was unmistakable.
The campaign to land on Yago-Dur Planet during this time had been truly difficult. Every step had been arduous.
Even under Darth Vader's strict order that any retreat meant death, the Imperial Army had suffered grievous losses and still managed to seize only three underground cities. More than 170,000 Imperial Stormtrooper soldiers had been killed, while over 400,000 droids had been destroyed.
The forces still fighting underground now consisted of fewer than 150,000 Stormtroopers and roughly 300,000 droids.
Starting yesterday, Darth Vader had demanded that they continue their offensive. But these units had all suffered severe casualties, their formations were understrength, and they had almost no heavy armored units. The result of forcing such an attack was obvious.
The staff officer had even feared that if this continued, the Imperial Army might not even be able to hold its current gains on the underground battlefield. The Separatist army could very well push them back.
Now that Darth Vader had finally issued the withdrawal order, three days would likely not be enough to pull back every ground unit. But at least for officers like them, this tormenting campaign was finally over.
The withdrawal order was swiftly issued, though in batches, ensuring that the evacuation proceeded in an orderly fashion. Large numbers of transport aircraft began ferrying combat personnel back to the fleet. They abandoned medium equipment, including AT-AT