Taxes are only within machine gun range!

Chapter 135 Building an Airport
Flora was initially taken aback, but gradually regained her composure: "You, you want to take down VBSS? Are you sure your men have the qualities to do that?"

Taking two helicopters out to sea, finding a transport ship, and using high-altitude attacks to take down idiots seems simple, but it is one of the most difficult tasks in special operations.

"First of all, how are you going to find a small transport ship on a vast, boundless ocean, and how do you know when it will appear?"

Milton shut down his panel: "I'll send scouts to the port cities and try to bribe the staff there. As for how to ensure the reliability and safety of these informants, I have my own methods."

To ensure safety, or rather to mislead Lopez, Milton initially only instructed his "agents" to inquire about the approximate arrival time of the transport ships and which highways such items should take. This way, even if port staff refused to cooperate and leaked the information to Lopez, he would only believe that Milton wanted to attack the land transport route for the howitzers.

Only when someone is actually identified as an "informant" by the panel will Milton allow agents to ask for the truly important information—the flight path.

Flora knew Milton always managed to find strange information from odd places, so she wasn't too surprised. She continued, "Okay, so what's your plan?"

"It's very simple. The UH-1 and Gazelle fly over the sea. The Gazelle, as a highly maneuverable aerial firepower point, is in front. First, use the 68mm rocket pods to blow up the antennas, and then use the cannons to suppress the machine gun positions on the transport ship, suppressing the entire top deck and bridge."

"I will import an M134 mini gun as the hatch gun for the UH-1... The UH-1 will follow the Gazelle, helping to suppress the deck and bridge while quickly rappelling down combat personnel to seize the entire transport ship."

Flora pressed her forehead, pointed to herself, and asked with a hint of amusement, "Is it only my team that can do such an extremely difficult task as rappelling at sea?"

“Yes, sister,” Milton nodded shamelessly, “It’s all up to you. Of course, I’ll be there too.”

"Okay!!" Flora sighed. "By the way, do you have a contingency plan? For example, what if the subjugation fails and there's no way to rappel down; or what if the rappelling is successful, but for some reason we can't get the ship back?"

“If there’s really no other way, we’ll just blow up this howitzer.” Milton said without a care in the world. “If we can’t take the ship, we’ll use the UH-1 to hoist the key parts of this howitzer back and see if we can smuggle some other parts so we can assemble it and use it.”

The UH-1 has a transport capacity of over 2 tons, enough to pack and transport items such as the breechblock, observation and aiming equipment, gun barrel, muzzle brake, and recoil mechanism; other items can be left on the ship.

“It’s definitely overloaded,” Flora said. “The gun barrel plus the recoil mechanism weighs 2 tons. If you include other miscellaneous items, I remember the UH-1 can carry 2.2 tons of cargo. If you include the weight of the hoisting cables, it’s bound to be slightly overloaded.”

“The Gazelle can carry a little bit too.” Milton shrugged. “At worst, I’ll just remove all the seats and stuff from the UH-1, and sink that mini machine gun and our body armor into the sea when we’re transporting cargo… I don’t believe we can’t free up the weight of a breechblock and sights.”

“…You really are something,” Flora retorted. “You’re really willing to spend money like that. These bulletproof vests we’re wearing are very expensive.”

“Sometimes price doesn’t measure the importance of an item.” Milton took a sip of water. “Take a Gazelle helicopter, for example. Even if France rips you off, you can buy it for $100 million. But the fact that you can buy it is worth hundreds of millions of dollars, just like the 'javelin' in your hand.”

"Alright, when will the helicopter arrive?" Flora didn't say anything more. "I don't know if we can train two qualified crew members within a month..."

Flora, "Poison," and "Anvil" are all combat personnel, so they won't be able to operate the helicopter.

Both the Gazelle and UH-1 need qualified crew members to complete this VBSS mission.

“Are you kidding me? You think someone can train for this in a month? Helicopters aren’t gyroplanes,” Milton retorted. “But I think the rebels should have some. I remember Cuba is giving them aid, so they should have helicopter pilots.”

"If all else fails, we can call Juan and ask."

Milton reached out, picked up the phone, and dialed the rebels' number.

Three or four seconds later, a very alert voice came from the other end of the receiver.

"This is a volcanic ash barbecue restaurant. Would you like to make a reservation?"

“I’m the ‘Hell Tax Collector.’ If you have any questions, ask Juan. Put him on the phone.” Milton didn’t mince words and said directly, “It’s urgent.”

Upon hearing this, chaos immediately erupted on the other side, and Milton could even clearly hear hurried footsteps.

At this moment, Ismaila, Brandon, and the others also came in, awaiting Milton's orders.

Soon, a voice filled with excitement, tinged with a hint of admiration, came from the other end of the phone.

"Mr. 'Hell Tax Collector,' Lieutenant Colonel Juan is on his way! He extends his sincerest greetings to you!"

Milton found this attitude a little strange, but he nodded nonetheless: "Okay, fine."

Ten seconds later, the sound of the receiver being handed over came from the other end.

If the messenger's reaction was merely one of admiration, Juan's attitude was nothing short of exhilarating: "'Hell Tax Collector'! We saw your live television broadcast, a great victory, it's truly exhilarating! You not only wiped out an enemy force, but you also completely exposed the enemy's ugly face!"

"That's the kid who just answered the phone. Not long ago, he was pointing at the TV screen and kept asking me if that was our ally?"

"You have no idea how much the soldiers' morale has improved; the resistance hasn't seen this kind of atmosphere in a long time!"

"This absolute victory is absolutely crucial!"

No wonder that person acted strangely; they were watching a live TV broadcast the whole time.

Milton muttered to himself, then said seriously, "But I've received some bad news. The government forces have paid a price for a reduction in smuggling controls, and now they're importing some very powerful equipment, including tanks and planes, and howitzers. It might not be a big threat to your guerrillas, but I have a fixed base, and I need to find a way to prevent Lopez from getting his hands on that howitzer."

Juan immediately dismissed the others and asked in a low voice, "Do you need any help from us? Hmm... Within half a month, I will do my best to assemble a 200-man assault team to try to break through and get into your territory. But I can't estimate how many losses they will suffer in the end."

"Or do you want us to launch a large-scale counterattack, forcing the government forces to divert their attention from you? Organizing such an offensive requires reporting to the Supreme Command, and the conditions will be difficult, but we will do our best to assist you, my friend, just as you have assisted us before."

Milton remarked on his good teammates, then said, "No, I don't need your military support for the time being... My main problem is a shortage of manpower. I need two crews who can skillfully fly helicopters. Do you have any?"

Juan paused for a moment, then said, "...Yes, we did manage to get our hands on a Mi-2 helicopter before, but it had to be scrapped because we couldn't maintain it. However, the crew members might be a bit older; the youngest is in his forties and the oldest is in his fifties. Is that alright?"

“Absolutely no problem!” Milton exclaimed with delight. “This isn’t old at all, it’s just right!”

Juan immediately replied, "Great! No problem, I'll arrange for a combat team to escort the two crew members to your side right away. Perfect timing, those bulletproof vests you gave us can come in handy! Don't worry, I guarantee the crew members won't fall before the escorting soldiers are taken down!"

"We don't have any helicopters here anymore. They can be of the greatest use when they come to your area."

“No need for all that trouble.” Milton chuckled. “We’re building an airport here, so we’ll just use air freight… You guys build a simple runway of about 500 meters, and send me the coordinates when it’s finished. By the way, if you need any supplies, you can make a list for me.” “My airport should be finished in about 10 days, so please get yours done as soon as possible.”

"..."

Juan was so shocked by Milton's words that he was speechless for a short time.

what? !

Airport? Air freight?
Just how wealthy is Milton? How could they afford to build an airport and acquire transport planes? How could they have the resources for airlift operations?
"This...this, is this real?!"

"Yes, call me when the runway is ready... Just so you know, you still have to pay for the equipment; air freight costs are very high."

Juan was so excited his voice was trembling: "Of course! Of course! We're here on a volcano, we have lots of gems, it's just that we can't buy equipment... That's great, that's great! I'll report this to the high command immediately! Thank you, this isn't about money at all!"

Problems that can be solved with money are not really problems!
Milton chuckled: "Our planes can only carry 2 tons of cargo per sortie, which means they can only carry squadron support firepower... There's no other way, so I had to get this kind of transport plane, and your makeshift runway can only accommodate this kind of transport plane."

"That's enough, absolutely enough!" Juan seemed eager to hang up the phone and immediately tell command the good news. "You're truly our savior!"

"Okay, I can tell you're busy. Go ahead and do your work, and remember to call me."

After saying that, Milton hung up the phone.

"The crew issue is settled now, isn't it? It's that simple."

Brandon was a little curious: "Boss? Ten days? We can build an airport? I've heard that these kinds of projects usually take several years?"

“That’s an international civil aviation airport.” Milton rolled his eyes. “They have so many super long runways, so much professional equipment, they have to build terminals, and they have all sorts of things that meet international standards… Ours is just a field airport.”

"800 meters, one runway, simple navigation lights and weather vanes, just enough to take off and land some old-fashioned ground attack aircraft."

“Flora, this project is in your hands, with a budget of $100 million.” Milton looked at Flora. “This is the official start of our Air Force formation, we can’t afford to be careless.”

"Don't worry, boss, leave it to me!" Flora patted her chest. "But, by the way, what kind of transport plane are you planning to import? I feel like the runways over there probably aren't very good; we don't want them to be unable to land..."

Milton chuckled: "Don't worry, the aircraft I want can take off and land on grass runways, compacted dirt runways, gravel runways, and even wooden or bamboo runways."

"That plane? Okay, I got it."

Brandon asked curiously, "Which plane? Can you fly on a runway paved with bamboo planks?!"

Milton yawned: "An-2, or rather Y-5... the aerial tractor, everyone who's used it says it's great. Don't think of airplanes as something too high-tech; there are more cheap and durable ones than you think."

Brandon didn't listen at all. He clenched his fist excitedly and said, "We have an air force now! We have transport planes! This is... God, it's like a dream! Even the countries of the First World aren't this good!"

Everyone else was also very excited.

"Just give up already..."

"Oh, by the way, starting tomorrow, I'm going to assign you some training tasks."

"Boss, just give the orders! What's the mission?"

Milton looked around and said, “Our air power is getting stronger and stronger, but you all lack relevant training. So… I plan to establish a new air assault unit and conduct specialized training. Tell the people below this news and see who is willing to sign up.”

"Damn! I want to! I want to!!!"

"Who doesn't know that the Air Force is the best of the best? I want to be an Air Force member!"

Even Matteo raised his hand: "Boss, I'm serious, I really want to give it a try!"

Who were the people who could ride in helicopters before?

Only Milton's core group and medics who needed battlefield first aid were entitled to be allocated advanced equipment like helicopters.

Now that we finally have a chance to compete fairly, who wouldn't want to fly in the sky and deliver a devastating blow to their enemies? That would be so cool!

"Alright." Milton waved his hand. "This thing requires assessment. You guys should put up a list first. You can choose whoever wants to be on it. Tomorrow at noon, bring your people to the checkpoint for the first round of screening. That's all for now."

"Helicopters may seem powerful and cool to you now, but after riding in them for a while, they just make you feel nauseous. Seriously, they're not as good as a luxury car."

"Brandon, go and arrange for some men to infiltrate Champelliport and see if you can bribe any informants."

"Alright... Today's battle went very well, everyone go and rest."

Milton himself was also very tired, and with the war over and the predicament of enemies on all sides being alleviated to some extent, he finally felt a little relieved.

Rest and sleep!

Then, at noon the next day, Milton was awakened by the noise outside.

Looking up, Milton saw a large crowd gathered outside.

Milton was taken aback: "What's going on? Is someone trying to rebel against me?!"

Brandon quickly said, "Boss, these guys are all here to sign up! They all want to join your army!"

(End of this chapter)