Taxes are only within machine gun range!

Chapter 136 The Civil War Erupts Again!

Akochchi Town.

"Baram, don't move! We're applying medicine!"

In the dilapidated little house, Beth frowned as she applied medicine to her husband's wound.

"Look at you, why did you give up being a deputy director to join the army? The battle hasn't even started yet and you've already injured yourself."

As the police officer who led the uprising, Balram was invited by Milton to become the deputy chief of the Akoch Police Department after the Battle of Akoch ended and Lyman died.

But when Balam heard that the "Hell Tax Collector" was recruiting soldiers, and specifically the air force, he indeed refused the invitation and went to the checkpoint to sign up.

Beth continued to accuse, "Why didn't you tell the medic? I heard there's a hospital over there."

"You have to tell the medic about such a minor scratch?" Balam said indignantly. "Wouldn't that mean I'm talking to 'Hell'... or 'The Godfather' about how incompetent I am? I finally passed the test, what if he kicks me out?"

"You should be kicked out. You're such a good deputy director, why don't you just quit..."

Balam laughed: "What do you know? A man's romance is in the sky! And haven't you noticed that in the past two weeks, our quality of life has improved significantly, and the security situation has improved noticeably."

Since Milton took over Akoch Town, there has been much more border trade than before. Also, because Milton is constantly repairing things and recruiting soldiers, there is a great need for jobs, and people have become noticeably wealthier.

The security situation is excellent – ​​didn't you see those security cameras?

You'll get caught even if you steal a single crumb!
Recently, many people on television have been denouncing Milton as coming from hell, but the townspeople of Akoch believe that if life in hell is this good, they wouldn't mind living there forever.

Beth slapped his arm hard: "I know what you mean, I know our lives have improved since Mr. Godfather came... I, I just want to say, do you really have to do something like this? It's dangerous, really dangerous. The child is still young, he can't be without a father."

"You've already fought... so, do you really have to keep fighting?"

Beth now wishes her husband would go back to his original "cowardly" state.

She cherishes the hard-won good life she has now, but she also knows that such a life comes at a price, and she doesn't want her family to pay that price.

"I……"

"Alright, alright!" Beth quickly stopped her. "I know you're going to bring up that flag-carrying and shield-raising stuff again, but I can't argue with you. If you want to go, then go... Just be careful, okay?"

"Don't worry!" Balam laughed, turned around and pinched the child's cheek. "Then I'm off!"

After leaving home, Balam rode his dilapidated motorcycle to the southern checkpoint.

Today is the day when these people who have passed the assessment will officially begin their "real combat training".

They can now actually board helicopters for combat training!

"I heard that the 'Hell Tax Collector' has built an airport, a real fixed-wing airport, a little closer to Malacan Town. I wonder when it will be operational, and when I'll be able to work there..."

"Never mind, the sky is a man's romance!"

After completing the formalities, Balam stood with the other "elite" officers beside the tarmac, looking at the beautiful UH-1 in front of him, his eyes unconsciously revealing excitement.

The fuselage has a matte gray finish, resembling a fierce raptor; the mini machine gun on the door, which looks like a Gatling gun, makes one wonder what it would be like to use this weapon to strafe the ground from the air.

The instructor, known as "Iron Anvil," stepped forward and said expressionlessly, "Everyone, proceed with the previous training methods for combat training. Today, our target is a convoy of three armored vehicles. This operation includes a rappelling mission."

"My requirement for you today is very simple - not to be accurate, but to not make yourselves sick."

"Board!"

"Guaranteed to complete the mission!"

Balam immediately boarded the helicopter in an orderly manner, as was his usual training method, ready to carry out the mission.

However, everyone discovered the huge gap between actual combat and training.

First, there's the completely irregular shaking – because simulating helicopter maneuvers to evade counterattacks makes aiming at the enemy with a mini-machine gun extremely difficult.

With a large number of people, tension, anxiety, and noise, some chaos ensued on the helicopter as soon as the mission began.

Although it didn't escalate into a total annihilation, the mission was practically a failure—the bullets were all used up, and only two vehicles in the target convoy had been destroyed.

Needless to say, rappelling was another story. If it weren't for the good safety measures, with a pool of water underneath the helicopter, someone could have really fallen to their death during this training.

It was absolutely appalling!

When the helicopter returned, Balam and the others got off the plane and wished they could bury their heads in the ground.

What is this?

They're a disgrace to the "hellish tax collectors"!
"The result of this training is unsatisfactory," Instructor "Iron Anvil" announced calmly. "The mission failed, and there were non-combat casualties during the rappelling."

"But failing to meet the standard doesn't mean you're incapable. On the contrary, it's actually quite good that you did this well for your first attempt. Keep up the good work!"

The anvil was not lying.

Helicopter rappelling is an extremely difficult tactic, and accidents have occurred in the regular armies of all countries.

India, a country known for its humor, and its army, are even more prone to such antics. They can easily pull off a helicopter crash – forgetting to hold onto the cable and jumping straight out of the helicopter.

The "anvil" waved its hand:

"Alright, training is over for today. Anyone who is injured, please report for duty. The rest of you can go home after you finish eating. We'll meet at the same time tomorrow, so be on time."

Balam and his comrades arrived at the mess hall dejectedly—the army (tax enforcement team) had good food, but no one had much of an appetite.

Being rocked so much in the helicopter ride that I was completely disoriented, and then being rated "unqualified" by the instructor was a huge blow.

"Let's eat, let's eat... Putting everything else aside, the food here is really delicious. Anyway, I'm not going home for meals anymore. My wife is great in every way, except when it comes to cooking, sigh..."

"Look at this bacon and cheese macaroni, fried chicken wings, beef stew with potatoes... My goodness, it's all-you-can-eat."

"I now realize that what I ate before was at best animal feed."

"That's why I'm willing to die for Mr. Godfather."

Balam chatted and ate while looking up at the television—yes, the canteen even had a color TV, specifically for them to relax.

"...Senator Lopez made a statement regarding the recent turmoil."

"Let's turn the camera over there!"

Lopez...

Upon hearing this name, everyone present turned their attention to it.

The irrefutable evidence Lyman presented made them hate the senator to the extreme—harvesting the organs of their relatives and friends, and even selling living people to die in agony, was simply too much to not hate.

The victims didn't get a single penny of the money; it all went into Lopez's pocket.

"What kind of trick is he planning to pull this time?!"

"Damn it, I was thinking of voting for him."

"I won't believe anything he says."

"You don't believe me? I swear I'll blow his head off. As long as you follow Mr. 'The Godfather,' you'll definitely have that opportunity."

"..."

On the television screen, a reporter is asking Lopez a question.

“Mr. Lopez, well, as you know, Malacan TV did a live broadcast a while ago, in which the local checkpoint chief and tax chief Milton claimed that they had busted a smuggling operation.”

"They have gathered some evidence against you. What do you have to say about this evidence and the accusations Lyman made against you?"

Lopez maintained a smile throughout: "It's all nonsense."

"Um, how would you like to explain those videos...?"

Lopez interrupted directly, saying, "That's my privacy. What kind of evidence is it that I sleep with women? It's my freedom to sleep with whomever I want. What kind of evidence are those documents? They're all forged. I can tell you very clearly that this is a conspiracy, a conspiracy against me, an attempt to smear me."

"Instead of worrying about such trivial matters, we should focus on things that are truly important and challenge the Constitution."

“I would like to ask you all, Milton is just a station chief at a border checkpoint, just a local tax bureau chief, and he even appointed himself... How can someone like that have such a powerful armed force? Where did he get such advanced equipment? He even has armored vehicles!”

"Who authorized him to carry out such a large-scale armed operation? Did this military operation comply with procedures? Today he can directly seize a small town under the pretext of tax inspection, and tomorrow he can attack Quetzaltenango under the pretext of tax inspection, and attack Guatemala City under the pretext of tax inspection."

"Moreover, I have evidence, absolutely irrefutable proof... I can prove that Milton has deep collusion with the rebels entrenched in Vevetenango province!"

“Some people asked me what I’ve been doing for the past two weeks, whether I’ve run away, whether I’ve gone into hiding… No! I’m not that kind of coward! I went to Congress, I met with the president, I met with military representatives, I did my best to present them with the evidence I had, I didn’t sleep for several nights, just to tell them that Milton is trying to reignite the Civil War!”

“All his actions were unauthorized by the government, resulting in numerous deaths. He even had the power to arbitrarily try and execute others, and he funded the rebels!” “No, Milton himself is a rebel! He is undermining the peace, he is reigniting the civil war, he is escalating the conflict, and we will not tolerate such behavior.”

"Soon, the president and the military will issue statements declaring that we will fight these evil elements to the end, and that we will send troops to suppress Milton and eliminate them along with the rebels!"

"The rebels want war, so we'll give them war!"

"God bless us, victory will be ours, may our military prowess be assured!"

"..."

Balam and the others stared at the television screen, unable to believe their eyes. They simply couldn't believe that someone could be so shameless.

When faced with irrefutable evidence, a few perfunctory words are enough to dismiss it.

Then they declare the "Hell Tax Collectors" to be rebels?!
"Damn it!" Balam jumped up, his appetite gone. "Lopez, that shameless scoundrel!"

"What should we do?! Should we notify Mr. 'Godfather'?"

"He must already know."

"Let's not rush, we believe Mr. 'Godfather' will definitely have a way to solve this."

"Instead of worrying about that, let's think about our training tomorrow... If we're like this in actual combat, then we'll be the ones who killed the 'Godfather'."

"yes……"

"Don't worry, have you heard the story of 'The Godfather'? In less than two months, 'The Godfather' has grown from an unarmed ordinary prosecutor to what he is now, with a powerful army and so much advanced equipment. He will definitely win."

"Besides, Lopez's rhetoric won't fool many people. He should worry about his approval rating first."

"..."

……

Malacán Airport.

Just now, this simple airport was officially completed—concrete runway, scattered hangars, fuel depots, and so on. It is small but complete.

Taking off and landing some small aircraft is no problem at all.

Flora's abilities are truly remarkable.

Of course, while it's called Malacan Airport, the actual location is between the two towns, slightly off from Malacan town—a location that's secluded enough and has a more suitable terrain.

Milton was selecting an aircraft from the control panel at that moment.

"Boss, bad news!" Flora rushed out of the airport control tower. "You, no, we've been declared rebels."

“Unexpected, yet reasonable.” Milton didn’t seem too surprised. “But he miscalculated… Who is the regular army and who is the rebels is not determined by who shouts the loudest, but by who has the strongest firepower.”

"Anyway, we don't do any business with them. After declaring ourselves rebels, we've actually sealed them off to some extent—the entire northern border is going to fall into our hands. Are they going to give us the border trade for free? I'll gladly accept it."

Flora reminded us, "Boss, the two towns we've taken over can't support the border trade business!"

“So that’s where the importance of Quetzaltenango, the second-largest economy in the country, comes in,” Milton began. “They want to fight me, and I want to fight them too—how much tax can I collect from just two small towns?”

"He said I was a rebel? Well, congratulations, he's right, I am a rebel."

"Once I gain the upper hand, I can turn the tables and declare him a rebel."

"This matter is not important. Lopez and I have actually been at war for a long time. It's just that he's probably been overwhelmed by his approval ratings lately, so he has to bring the war into the open in an attempt to divert attention from the conflict."

"On the contrary, his doing this will bring me closer to the resistance."

Flora's eyes flashed: "However, the civil war, which has gradually subsided, may break out on a large scale again."

In 1994, the two sides in the civil war had barely reached an agreement on their bottom lines and were on the verge of a ceasefire.

But now that this statement has been released, it's as if the government forces are no longer accepting any ceasefire and are determined to carry out the annihilation campaign to the end.

A large-scale war is about to resume!

Moreover, judging from Lopez's attitude of pulling out all the stops to take down Milton, the intensity of this civil war is likely to surpass that of the past by a great deal.

"I want to restart the civil war."

"How can a gang that has committed countless tragedies control the highest levels of the country? Why is it that just because I investigated some taxes and took down a drug cartel, I'm considered to have betrayed the country?"

"Whom did those police officers who sacrificed their lives in the fight against drugs betray?"

“Lopez is just a congressman, and the president is just the president. Fighting against them doesn’t mean betraying the country… Besides, I’ve never been affiliated with anyone, so how can I be accused of betrayal?”

"Agree to a ceasefire now, and sign a humiliating treaty of peace... no, a treaty of defeat?"

"How can drug dealers, human traffickers, genocidal terrorists, and corrupt bureaucrats be the victors? I won't stand for that."

"I want to restart the civil war, and if I don't win, I will keep fighting."

Flora blinked: "Sure! Once we've taken over a province—no, once we've taken over the three provinces of Port, Economy, and Border Trade—let's see what kind of excuse they come up with!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Milton's phone rang.

As soon as the call connected, a hurried voice came from the other end.

"'Hell Tax Collector'? I am Juan!"

Milton glanced at Flora and chuckled, "I knew it!"

"Juan, did you see the TV? Now I've become a rebel too."

“They’re so shameless!” Juan chuckled. “We just didn’t want to be slaughtered, we just resisted those thugs who stormed into our city and opened fire, and now we’re considered rebels, just like you.”

Milton didn't waste any more time on small talk and steered the conversation back to business: "You're calling me at this hour, is your runway repaired yet?"

"Yes!" Juan was a little excited, but also a little nervous. "I reported this to the command center, and everyone took it very seriously. We mobilized all the resources we could to build a track... It's 500 meters long. We couldn't pave the track with concrete and steel plates in a short time, so we could only pave it with a mixture of soil and gravel. Even trucks couldn't damage it... Is it usable?"

He was really nervous.

The rebels have been effectively cut off from logistics for a long time, and it has been very difficult to transport weapons and equipment. They have been able to hold on until now entirely thanks to the support of the local people.

Having finally found an ally willing and capable of helping them, they didn't want their own inadequacy to prevent supplies from being delivered.

"Don't worry, that's enough. As long as it's not muddy ground, my planes will take off... I currently have three planes, each capable of carrying 6 tons of cargo per trip. Tell me, what supplies do you need?"

Juan was no longer as polite as before, and said very sincerely, "We need a lot of things, the most important of which are guns, bullets, food and medical supplies. As long as the logistics can keep up, our combat effectiveness will be much, much stronger."

“Okay,” Milton agreed. “Machine guns, mortars, recoilless rifles, and shells, right? I’ll send you a few sets later.”

Juan: "?"

"As for food, I'll send you canned goods for easier preservation. As for armor, I can still provide it. Let me repeat, this stuff is really important. It can not only protect against bullets, but more importantly, it can protect against all sorts of random shrapnel."

"...Thank you so much. You really gave me a fleeting moment of fantasy that the rebels could push back to Guatemala City, hahaha! By the way, how would you like to pay? We have a lot of gems here, but they're blocked and we can't sell them in large quantities. Would you agree to use these things as cash? We can give you 50% off, not 30% off."

"If that doesn't work, we can also pay with gold and silver, but we might not be able to gather that much precious metal in a short time. Would you be willing to pay in installments?"

Milton immediately refused: "I don't need your money... What I want is the same as before, people. I have airplanes, but I don't have pilots. I need pilots, I need crew members, I need instructors. I don't want money, I just want people."

“Yes…” Juan paused for a moment and said, “Some instructors came from Cuba before, and a few of them stayed here and didn’t leave. Some of them were pilots of fixed-wing aircraft before.”

“Very good.” Milton glanced at the trucks nearby that were hauling goods to the airport and continued, “Didn’t I ask you for helicopter crew members last time? Pack them up and send them to me, and these supplies are yours… I guarantee that before the land transport routes open, you’ll see transport planes fully loaded with supplies arriving at your airport every day.”

"Deal!" Juan said, feeling both guilty and excited. "To be honest, these pilots were never of any use to me... We, we originally wanted them to go to you."

“I don’t have a habit of robbing my allies. I won’t take your things or poach your people for free,” Milton said. “Now, one last question: Is the route safe?”

Juan gave a wry smile: "We haven't had any planes for a long time, so they won't deploy air defense weapons here... Similarly, the collapse of the Soviet Union led to the outflow of many weapons. We managed to get a few SAM-7 air defense missiles. Although we didn't hit their plane that time, the regular army stopped sending air force here after that."

"As long as we fly a little higher, we won't be spotted by people on land."

The Guatemalan regular army has very few planes, which they cherish, and they are unwilling to lose them to a group of rebels who are already doomed to defeat.

We'd rather have more army soldiers die than lose a plane.

“Very good.” Milton looked at the Fifth Master, whose skin was trembling in the breeze, not far from the airport runway. “Send over the precise coordinates, along with some of the more noticeable landmarks in the vicinity… I’ll bring people over in a bit.”

“Okay…” Juan suddenly paused, “Wait, you, you’ll come over later? How can that be? The environment here isn’t good, we, we, this is too impolite… Wait a minute, I’ll go inform headquarters!”

(End of this chapter)