Taxes are only within machine gun range!

Chapter 145 Shooting a Plane

boom!
The explosion of a 152mm high-explosive grenade is enough to wipe out all carbon-based life within a 20-meter radius, and will also cause varying degrees of damage to people within a 50-meter radius.

Iker was very lucky. Although he was within 40 meters of the blast center, there were buildings that provided some shelter, so he was not killed by the shockwave.

"Cough... Enemy attack... cough cough!"

He struggled to his feet, shaking off the shards of glass, but before he could utter two words, he began to cough violently.

A spurt of blood gushed from Iker's throat—he had suffered internal injuries.

"Sea... sea..."

Iker was utterly terrified. Why was the attack coming from the sea? Why was that transport ship firing at the dock?
You should know that all the artillery, machine gun positions, tank and armored vehicle turrets are now facing out of the port, not a single one is facing the sea!

By the time they turned their guns around, the first wave of bombing was over!
"Run! All...cough, armored vehicles, run! Don't fight back..."

"Machine gunner, RGP operator, hold the line!"

The howitzers are completely destroyed; this elite unit absolutely cannot afford any more losses!
"Can't reach it, it's too far!"

"RPGs only have a range of a few hundred meters! They're over three thousand meters away, how are we supposed to hit them?"

"The machine guns can't hit us either, let's retreat!"

"Don't retreat!" Iker roared, coughing up blood. "Everyone, hold the line! Do you want to go to a military court?"

Iker struggled to his feet and glanced towards the sea—an even more horrifying scene came into view.

A barrage of rockets flew slowly through the air, along with several missiles that were significantly faster and had very obvious targets.

This is……

The next second, the armored vehicles and tanks deployed near the port exploded right in front of Iker.

One of the AMX-13s, which had tried to take cover behind a bunker, was destroyed by a missile that came from the sky!
"what--"

boom!
The AMX-13's ammunition bay is located at the rear of the turret. The Javelin missile hit precisely, and the 75mm shells in the ammunition bay were detonated instantly!
A blazing fireball erupted from the ejection port, tossing the turret into the air like a toy before crashing down—carrying away two or three soldiers who were trying to use the tank as cover.

The driver's hatch at the front of the vehicle was blown open by the shockwave, and a charred and mutilated corpse was half-hanging on the seat, a truly horrifying sight.

The screams of soldiers nearby, struck by flying shrapnel, were even more piercing than the explosions of artillery shells.

"what--"

"Ahhh!!! My hand, my hand!"

"It's not safe near the tanks. They're their primary targets. Run!"

"Why did the enemy come from the sea? Who is attacking us?"

"Could it be Milton?!"

"Run away..."

What military court? Let's talk about military courts first, then we'll talk about living.

The scene was completely out of control, in complete chaos, with many people running out of their bunkers and fleeing further back.

Then they were bombarded by a hail of 107mm rockets.

Boom boom boom...

Amidst the continuous explosions, the fleeing infantrymen were engulfed in flames.

After the 107 fires had finished spreading, Iker, somewhat desperate, staggered out of his office and glanced outside.

The wreckage of five armored vehicles blocked the road, and the ground was littered with corpses.

Even more terrifying is that the various armored vehicles and bulletproof vehicles that were originally stationed at the rear and ready for immediate deployment are now facing a massive traffic jam because vehicles and fortifications at the front have been damaged!

We can't evacuate in a short time, and we can't disperse!

Those things that Lopez treasured, those chariots that gave him the confidence to stand on equal footing with the president, are now all blocked.

boom!
The large-caliber howitzers on the distant sea opened fire again, followed by a barrage of anti-tank missiles.

The howitzer missed the area where the armored vehicles were gathered; the shells landed a little further away, but they did destroy a tower crane, making the already congested intersection even worse.

Anti-tank missiles followed closely, once again destroying these armored vehicles that were like sitting ducks.

Then came a series of explosions, completely illuminating the night sky above the dock.

All that remained before Iker's eyes was a sea of ​​fire and a pile of scrap metal. He swayed and struggled to keep himself from collapsing.

But he had only one thought in his mind.

It's over...it's all over...

It could be said that this represented one-third of Lopez's armored forces, a force capable of handling a large-scale battle, yet it was utterly annihilated at the docks without any action.

Not a single enemy soldier was lost!
The troops, meticulously built over many years, were reduced to a pile of burning scrap metal on the ground in less than ten minutes!

This loss could even shake the foundations of Lopez's rule to some extent!
At this point, the transport ship had stopped firing and was turning to leave.

It looks like they've run out of ammunition...

Thank goodness, thank goodness.

"Why, why would they come from the sea?" Iker was completely baffled. "Did Milton bribe the captain?"

He staggered toward the back, ignoring the soldiers groaning in pain—this was a serious matter, and he had to inform Lopez immediately!
The mobile phone was damaged in the explosion and is temporarily unusable.

We need to go further back to use the landline...

With a heavy heart, Iker began to walk, a feeling of "fear" rising within him for some unknown reason.

It wasn't the fear of seeing so many corpses that I was afraid of, nor the fear of being held accountable by Lopez.

Soldiers can be recruited again, and armored vehicles can be bought again...

What terrified Iker was that he found himself suddenly lacking confidence in the outcome of the war.

Iker watched with a smile as the offensive on the front lines faltered, Milton wreaked havoc in those small towns, and even set fire to the courthouse.

He never thought that this tax collector, who could only stay on the border, could cause any trouble.

Milton can win, win as many times as he wants. He can win 10 times, 20 times, or even 100 times and it won't do much damage to Lopez's base. But if he loses just once, Milton will be completely ruined.

But now, Iker no longer has that confidence.

He simply walked forward in silence.

A soldier covered in small wounds, following behind, suddenly broke the silence: "Mr. Iker, can we... can we really defeat Milton?"

In the past, Iker wouldn't even need to think before slapping the man across the face.

But this time, Iker's first reaction was to remain silent.

“Of course we can win!” Iker, realizing his own fear, became even more enraged. He turned and snapped, “What kind of question is this?! Milton just knows how to use a few tricks, so what? Can he keep using those tricks forever?!”

"Victory will surely belong to us..."

"..."

Soon, the two arrived at the still intact communications room. Looking at the dock officials and dock workers whose faces showed fear, they remained silent for a while.

Iker stared at the phone, hesitated for a while, and finally picked up the receiver and dialed Lopez's number.

Lopez answered the phone almost without even hearing a busy tone.

"Iker! Iker, is that you?!"

"What's happening at the dock? Why isn't anyone answering the phone? What are you doing?"

"say!!!"

“Mr. Lopez… I am Ikel,” Ikel said with difficulty. “The docks were just attacked.”

Lopez was absolutely furious: "Of course I know the docks were attacked! The explosions in the harbor were loud enough for even a polar bear to hear! Do you know my phone's been ringing off the hook? Tell me what happened right now, Milton, that madman, that super madman, that psychopath, he actually dared to attack the docks, fucking, fucking!"

"You're all a bunch of useless trash, a bunch of good-for-nothings! Milton has already fought his way into the docks! Didn't you promise me that the defenses were as solid as an iron barrel? Is this what you call an iron barrel?!"

"Didn't they say that Milton would choose to attack the convoy instead of the dock if the scouts found nothing? What were the scouts doing? That level of firepower would have made a huge commotion. Were all our scouts blind? Didn't a single one of them spot the target?!"

"Trash! It's all trash!"

"Hmph..." "How exactly did Milton break through? What are our losses? Tell me now, now!"

At this point, Lopez let out a weary sigh.

The situation at the front was already dire. Milton's territory was far more difficult to conquer than expected, and even the rebels began to launch a counterattack. In the end, it was only through the risky actions of the air force that the situation was turned around.

They were hoping to turn the tide with howitzers, but then something else happened at the dock!

Lopez racked his brains trying to figure out what kind of magic Milton had used to bypass the multiple defenses and get into the dock.

Now all he wants to know is whether his howitzer is damaged and whether it's still usable.

"Since you were able to call me, it means the dock is still in our hands. You must have repelled Milton, right? What are our losses? Do we still have the howitzers? How many people died on Milton's side? Speak up! Iker, speak up!"

How many combat troops have we lost?

What's wrong with Iker? Why is he so silent today?

Controlling his complex emotions, Iker managed to utter with difficulty, "2..."

"Two armored vehicles were lost?" Lopez frowned. "Such a large loss? What about Milton's side? How many did he lose, and how many men did he bring?"

"Have they eliminated or captured any of their key figures?"

"The fact that he was able to break through our heavy defenses and even destroy two of our armored vehicles means that he must have come out with all his forces this time."

"Iker, speak up, why are you so quiet today?"

Iker closed his eyes and said quickly, as if he had nothing to lose, "Mr. Lopez, it's not that we lost two armored vehicles, it's that we only have two armored vehicles left."

Only two armored vehicles left...

Only two remain...

The call fell into a deathly silence.

Lopez's questioning voice came again, seemingly incredulous, as if he doubted he was dreaming and was still half asleep: "What did you say? Say it again."

“Mr. Lopez,” Iker said, taking a deep breath, “we suffered a crushing defeat and only have two usable armored vehicles left.”

"..."

Iker awaited the furious outburst on the other end of the phone, waiting for Lopez to vent his emotions.

The losses this time were devastating.

No one can remain calm in the face of such a loss.

But Lopez, unusually, did not immediately lose his temper; his tone even became calm: "You mean, Milton emptied my dozen or so tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, and a dozen or so armored vehicles, in one night, is that right?"

"...Yes, sir."

“We had nearly 400 soldiers involved in this operation, with all kinds of machine guns and rocket launchers, and we deployed all the reconnaissance troops in advance, but none of that mattered, did it?”

"Yes... sir."

"Milton's losses were negligible, weren't they?"

"Yes, sir."

"The howitzers are gone too, right?"

"It must have been stolen by Milton."

It was difficult to speak, but now that things were out in the open, Iker had nothing to fear and said everything that needed to be said.

Lopez even laughed: "So, what is our enemy? Aliens? Milton came in a UFO and wiped out all my men, is that it?"

"In that case, I think we should just surrender and stop fighting."

"dont you agree?"

Iker's teeth ached a little: "Mr. Lopez..."

"Speak!!!" Lopez finally couldn't contain the anger that had been building up since earlier. "What exactly did Milton do! Unless he bribed the US Army to attack my port, he can't possibly escape unscathed, he can't!"

Iker then said, "He... he somehow managed to rob your transport ship right at sea."

Lopez fell silent instantly.

A picture immediately came to mind.

“Milton… he has a helicopter…” Lopez suddenly realized the key point, “That madman… he took the helicopter out to sea and then stole my boat!”

Iker nodded with a wry smile: "Yes, and then he seems to have airlifted some weapons to the ship, and then, together with howitzers, bombarded our positions. In order to facilitate support and avoid losses, our armored forces were concentrated in the rear. As a result, the rear became the front, and after one round of attack, a lot of tanks were destroyed."

"..."

After a long pause, Lopez slowly uttered a name: "Milton."

Finally, that kind of contempt is gone.

Milton achieved in one night, with zero casualties, what the rebels had accomplished over countless years and with countless lives.

If anyone dares to underestimate this person at this point, then Lopez doesn't deserve to be in his current position.

Iker asked cautiously, "Mr. Lopez, what should we do next? He's got the howitzer now..."

“The howitzer in my hands and in his hands are completely different weapons.” Lopez took several deep breaths. “Don’t be afraid… He doesn’t dare, and can’t, fire indiscriminately at the town like I do.”

"Even if he dares, I have such a large territory, he can bomb it all he wants. Even if he damages the cannon barrel, it won't affect me much."

"What about the losses of those armored units?" Iker asked cautiously. "What should we do?"

Lopez, suppressing his heartache, said, "So what if it's a loss! I've already signed a new contract with the smugglers in Russia, and soon a batch of newer, more powerful tanks will arrive at the port—not light tanks like the AMX-13, but real tanks."

"What we need to do now is to clear the road up the mountain before these tanks arrive, so that the tanks can have a better chance of operating."

The panic and unease that had been lingering in Iker's heart gradually subsided.

"Then, then there shouldn't be any problem, sir. I'm sorry..."

“No need to apologize, this really isn’t your fault.” Lopez displayed remarkable calmness and rationality at this moment. “Milton is no simple man… I need to contact the Americans again and talk to them about this to see if I can get their help.”

"Also, I will contact people in other war zones and ask them to transfer their own people over here as well—the port bombing was too terrible, they will be terrified and won't refuse to come."

Lopez said resentfully, "I'd like to see how Milton is going to fight the Americans!"

Iker, who had been feeling uncertain, finally felt reassured after hearing these words.

Yes, the congressman can even contact Americans...

Even if Milton is incredibly powerful, would he dare to do anything to the Americans? And even if he did, could he defeat them?

“Sir, I’ll tidy up the port now… It’s a pity that Milton took that howitzer.”

“We’ll get more howitzers, we’ll get more tanks.” Lopesk controlled the tremor in his voice. “As long as I have money, everything will be alright… And who said I’m going to let Milton take this howitzer?”

"what?"

"Send out helicopters!" Lopez gritted his teeth. "Milton, does he think he's the only one with helicopters? Blow that cannon up! I don't believe he can bring anti-aircraft missiles with him!"

Actually, he was just a bit sullen from losing and wanted to save face—where was a helicopter supposed to find a ship at night? And even if it did, would they dare get close? Did his men think they could play VBSS?

But at least sending a helicopter to symbolically search for them and breathe on them is a form of resistance.

……

maritime.

All the lights on the transport ship have been turned off, and it is heading in the planned direction.

"'Tax collector,' you actually brought anti-aircraft missiles?"

Flora inspected the howitzer—the two recent shelling attacks had nearly torn the transport ship's fragile top deck apart.

Milton adjusted his night vision goggles: "Just in case, what if there are helicopters involved in the defense of the port? Right?"

"Shooting down planes is so much fun! We haven't shot down a single aircraft yet. I wonder when we'll get to do it."

"It's a pity, it seems we don't need it now." Flora chuckled. "Besides, the javelin can actually be used to shoot down helicopters, just switch it to direct fire mode."

"Come on, launching one is like taking your life..."

(End of this chapter)