701.Galactic Republic 18th Army
The capital of Eriadu, Outer Rim of the galaxy, Sothis sector is also the capital of the Galactic Republic 18th Army, the governor--Wilhuff-Tarkin.
This planet is the largest trade center within the Outer Rim Territories range and is connected to multiple hyperspace routes. In addition to the main Hydian Way and Rimma Trade Route (Rimma Trade Route), there are also Lipsec Run (Lipsec Run) and Yankirk Route (Yankirk Route), Nothoiin Corridor (Nothoiin Corridor) passes here, and the transportation is very convenient.
Under the prosperous trade, Eriadu has developed extremely fast, with a population of 22 billion, second only to Christophsis with a population of 35 billion among Outer Rim Territories.
However, unlike Christophsis, which is simply a crystal origin, Eriadu, which is a trading center, is obviously much more complicated.
Two years after Tang Xiao and Fourth Civilization traveled through time and came to this world, in the year 33BBY, Eriadu once became the center of the conflict.
In that year, because the conflicts between Outer Rim Territories began to intensify, in order to resolve the conflicts and implement his own Outer Rim Territories taxation bill, then Chancellor of the Galactic Senate Phineas-Valorum decided to hold Commerce Summit at Eriadu, inviting 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-Pregas and Darth-Sidious, this Commerce Summit eventually became a farce. Das-Sidious secretly contacted Wilhuff-Tarkin, who was Sothis sector Grand Moff and Security Minister at the time, and planned a robot riot.
During that robot riot, a large number of high-level personnel of corporate giants were killed and injured, and Trade Federation's senior officials were almost wiped out in one fell swoop. This also made Newt Gunray the winner in the end, serving as the new governor of Trade Federation and becoming Darth-Sidious's lackey.
And because the top brass of Kuat Drive Yards also suffered heavy casualties in this riot, Kuat vented his anger on Trade Federation, because those robots were provided by Trade Federation. This eventually led to Kuat Drive Yards and Trade Federation parting ways, withdrawing from Trade Federation, and a few months later, also terminated the agreement with the Technological Alliance, withdrawing from the Technological Alliance.
As for the tax bill proposed by poor Phineas-Valorum, it became a joke and no one paid attention to it. And in order to bear the responsibility for this Commerce Summit riot, Vice Chancellor Batan stepped down, and Phineas-Valorum lost its last and most important ally.
After this incident, 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, Eriadu is constantly changing.
As Sheev-Palpatine took office as Chancellor of the Galactic Senate one year after the riots, Wilhuff-Tarkin's official career also took a high speed. Channel, was promoted to Governor of Sesenna Sector a few years later, and the concurrent Security Minister position was also promoted to Sothis sector Defense Force Grand Commander, with both military and political power in one hand.
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 Commerce Summit riots as an excuse to purge a large number of dissidents among Sothis sector's local defense forces 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, Sothis sector was integrated into the Republic 18th Army, and Wilhuff-Tarkin naturally became the governor of the 18th Army.
Because of his advance preparation, 18th Army did not face much challenge in the early days of the war, and even repelled Confederacy of Independent Systems fleet's surprise attack during the Agomar Planet battle.
Compared with the 14th Army, who was surrounded by the Technological Alliance at the headquarters Ryloth a few days after the war started, 19th Army was destroyed by Fourth Civilization in 3 months., 18th Army under Governor Tarkin was even one of the few legions of Galactic Republic on countless battlefields that could still fight back!
Wilhuff-Tarkin implements a high-pressure military control policy in the jurisdiction of the 18th Army, forcibly recruits troops from various planets, and refits factories on industrial planets to serve the military expansion. There were 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 Suluust (Sullust) adjacent to the 18th Army's headquarters Eriadu suddenly announced that it was leaving Galactic Republic and joining Confederacy of Independent Systems. At the same time, Sothropp Corporation, a large arms manufacturer that owns more than half of the shares in Suluust, also has an ambiguous attitude and has always refused to express its position.
Suluust's sudden betrayal caused Eriadu to instantly lose its barrier and an important industrial base, and made Eriadu directly face the semi-encirclement state of Confederacy of Independent Systems's forces.
Republic Supreme Strategic Command and Jedi Order sent Jedi Knight, headed by Rees Alrix, to lead a mobile fleet to assist in the attack on Suluust, but they encountered stubborn resistance and progress was slow.
In this situation surrounded by enemies on three sides, Wilhuff-Tarkin still relies on its terrifying and harsh policies to resist tenaciously to this day.
But attacks came one after another. Republic 19th Army launched two consecutive offensives against Bespin Planet, which ultimately destroyed its superior mobile fleet. More than a hundred Hunter Class Battlecruiser were destroyed, and Republic 18th Army began to face the most direct threat from Fourth Civilization.
At this time, Sheev-Palpatine directly ordered him to destroy Dawn Star Planet. This order completely ignored the strategic plan and made Governor Tarkin extremely angry.
Because 18th Army's most realistic goal should be to first protect Eriadu when surrounded by powerful enemies, and then start to open up the situation from Suluust in the industrial world. After having a solid strategic rear, we can talk about counterattacks, instead of running thousands of miles to attack Dawn Star Planet who just killed 19th Army and has high morale!
You must know that 19th Army had 110 Hunter 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 Dawn Star Planet, he could give me 500 Hunter Class Battlecruiser. Palpatine turned off the communication without saying a word.
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[Easter Egg Chapter Attached Picture 1: Eriadu Administrative Headquarters, because it is a scene from a comic, so it is very crude. But it can also be seen that this is basically a heavily armed fortress.]