Kornelias I
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Kornelias I (Japanese: コルネリアス1世) was the 24th kaiser of the Galactic Empire. He was a paternal cousin and adopted heir to the previous kaiser, Maximilian Josef II. He was more preoccupied with foreign affairs as he wanted to wipe out the shame of Friedrich III's military defeat and to unify all of humanity. The other motive was this was the only way he could escape from the shadow of the reputation of his predecessor, who was even then widely hailed as a great ruler. Therefore Kornelias resolved to engage in a decisive struggle with the Free Planets Alliance.
At the same time he wanted to be seen as a knowledgeable and open minded ruler, so he sent emissaries to the Alliance three times in succession, each time bidding the people of the Alliance to submit peacefully and declare themselves his subjects. On each occasion, his emissaries were met with cold laughter from the Alliance politicians who were still intoxicated from the victory of the Battle of Dagon.
Kornelias attempted to personally lead a military expedition against the Alliance in May 668 UC (359 IC / 3468 CE), at the age of 28, in order to avenge the defeat of the Battle of Dagon. He had concluded that the earlier Imperial defeat at Dagon had primarily been due to insufficient strategic preparations so he left nothing to chance with his extensive preparations prior to launching his expedition. His force was noted for the large number of Fleet Admirals it contained, 58 in total, as Kornelias had a quirk of being free with handing out promotions to the hitherto rare rank of Fleet Admiral. This quirk was criticized for showing a lack of self restraint, and the people he promoted were mocked as the "Kaiser's two platoons of Fleet Admirals." Reinhard von Lohengramm derided Kornelias I's habit and named him "The Fleet Admiral Mass Producer".
As planned, the overconfident Alliance counterattack was defeated by the Imperial forces' extensive preparations. Despite losing 20 Imperial Fleet Admirals in battle to the Alliance, there was no appreciable effect on the Imperial forces. Kornelias nearly succeeded in conquering the Alliance and uniting all of humanity under his rule but was finally forced to turn back because of a palace coup. The Alliance pursuit of the withdrawing Imperial forces resulted in the deaths of another 15 Fleet Admirals. Although the coup was successfully put down, the strained financial and military situation afterwards meant Kornelias was never able to lead another expedition against the Alliance. (Legend of Galactic Heroes Gaiden Volume 1: The Star Crusher: 'Enemy, Ally, Enemy, Enemy, Enemy...',Encyclopaedia Die Legende der Sternhelden)
| v•d•e | |
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| Rudolf • Sigismund I • Richard I • Otfried I • Kasper • Julius • Sigismund II • Otfried II • August I • Erich I • Richard II • Otto Heinz I • Richard III • August II • Erich II • Friedrich I • Leonhard I • Friedrich II • Leonhard II • Friedrich III • Maximilian Josef I • Gustav • Maximilian Josef II • Kornelias I • Manfred I • Helmut • Manfred II • Wilhelm I • Wilhelm II • Kornelias II • Otfried III • Erwin Josef I • Otfried IV • Otto Heinz II • Otfried V • Friedrich IV • Erwin Josef II • Katharin Kätchen | |
