Taxes are only within machine gun range!

Chapter 146 Loss Maximization
Milton found a place to sit down, touched the howitzer next to him, and asked, "Lopez's arrangement is really interesting. He put all the armored units together. Before the battle, my goal was to destroy four or five armored vehicles, which would be a great victory."

As a result, the first wave of attacks caused a major traffic jam, and then Lopez's elite troops were wiped out in one fell swoop!
“His decision to divide his forces was even more foolish,” Flora shook her head. “The main problem is that Lopez didn’t expect us to attack from the sea, and this caught him off guard. If we were to launch a land assault, this arrangement would be fine.”

"However, the success of the special operations could not mask the disadvantages we faced on the main battlefield."

"The main purpose of taking over the howitzer is to prevent Lopez from using it. In our hands, it can only play a tactical role."

Milton agreed: "Yes, I can't indiscriminately bombard Quetzaltenango and randomly kill a few passersby, otherwise the resistance I face when I fight there later will be unimaginable."

"We still don't have enough manpower... Hey over there, don't let your guard down, keep watching, see if any speedboats are coming, see if any helicopters are coming from the sky!"

Milton glanced at the soldiers on guard out of the corner of his eye, then continued stroking the howitzer barrel, saying, "Didn't I tell you to open a branch in Mexico? How's that going? Are any of the locals willing to rebel against the Sinaloa Cartel?"

“Yes, but there is a lot of resistance, and many people don’t dare to openly confront drug lords.” Flora shook her head. “I think we still need to thoroughly clean up that place.”

“As long as there are still people in the area who want to resist, that’s fine.” Milton looked quite relaxed. “After all, this isn’t Guzman’s stronghold… On his turf, drug enforcement is much more difficult because everyone, from officials to ordinary citizens, will oppose you.”

"Without these industries, they would starve to death."

“In Tapachula, drug traffickers are also disruptors, which gives us a lot of opportunities.”

Flora stroked her Javelin missile, nodded, and asked, "But we're severely undermanned right now. We have to fight in the front lines and also fight for territory in Mexico. We have to make choices. We can't just split our forces, can we?"

“Then let’s have a small-scale rehearsal of the Mexican drug war.” Milton stood up, his eyes flickering slightly. “We have money, we have guns… let’s see if those Mexicans over there have any backbone at all.”

"It's about being peaceful and working together to grow our legitimate business bigger and bigger, and living safely under my protection."

"Or they would be shot a few times by drug dealers and kneel down, giving up everything they had, and living by crime under the terror of the Sinaloa Cartel."

Let them make their own choice.

More than a month has passed, and although Milton has not conducted any military operations in Mexico, the situation in Guatemala has already had a huge impact on Tapachula.

Most people would rather risk their lives to earn money by doing legitimate business than risk losing their head.

After the Van Kang gang was wiped out, order in Tapachula improved significantly.

Now that the Sinaloa Group is sending people to sabotage everything, there will definitely be people who stand up to resist.

Moreover, in the eyes of the locals, the Sinaloa Group may not be as formidable as the Milton Group.

In Guzman's homeland, the Sinaloa Group is indeed invincible, but on this side of the border, the name may not be as effective as Milton's.

Did a drug cartel kill the mayor?

Milton sent a helicopter straight to burn down the courthouse!
Do drug cartels have guns and cannons?

Milton also has tanks and helicopters, so who's afraid of whom?

Government troops are engaging in direct violent confrontation; isn't Milton doing the same thing?
In terms of terror, the name "Milton" is far more terrifying than "Guzman" in this border region.

There are quite a few people who privately refer to Milton's team as the "Milton Cartel".

Flora thought about it for a moment and understood the point. Then she clicked her tongue and said, "They've made a name for themselves... Yes, if you asked the locals to choose between 'Milton' and 'Guzman,' they might not dare to choose Guzman."

“A month ago, probably no one would have listened to me at all.” Milton took a sip of water. “Even if you offered me money and a gun, it would most likely have been hacked.”

Flora nodded: "So, in Mexico, we're using your name and the terror you've built up to mobilize the police and the masses to fight against the Sinaloa Cartel; and our main forces are still deployed to the front lines, right?"

That's roughly it...

Before the words were finished, one of the scouts suddenly shouted in alarm, "'Godfather,' a helicopter! There's a helicopter behind us!!!"

Milton and Flora's expressions changed drastically, and they rushed towards the cover almost simultaneously.

"Everyone, find cover on the spot, get off the bridge, get off the bridge! Do not reveal your position!"

"Clear the deck, beware of ammunition detonation!"

"Anti-aircraft missiles, bring me the anti-aircraft missiles..."

Lopez actually went to such lengths, sending helicopters to hunt him down?!
But thinking about it, it's understandable. If Milton had this loss, he would have been so angry that he couldn't sleep all night.

After hiding, Milton took out his walkie-talkie and asked, "Report the helicopter's location... How did you find it?"

As long as the helicopter turns off its lights and flies over the sea, it is virtually impossible to be detected at night.

Even though the soldiers were equipped with night vision goggles, it was still the same, because it was not just a matter of visibility, but also a matter of the curvature of the Earth.

However, the soldier stood there, shaking his head: "'Godfather' sir, um, um, the helicopter doesn't seem to have spotted us."

Milton, who was already bracing himself for the gunfire, froze in place upon hearing those words.

"What do you mean? The helicopter didn't spot us? Then how did you spot the helicopter?"

Logically, units at higher levels should always discover units at lower levels first.

"High-level attacks and low-level attacks are not just a joke."

The soldiers can spot the helicopter, but the helicopter hasn't spotted the soldiers yet. What's going on?
But Milton knew the situation was critical, and the opportunity was fleeting. Regardless of why the helicopter hadn't spotted him, he had to seize this chance to make it never see him again.

“Show me where the helicopter is,” Milton said, as he unscrewed the bottom cover of the S-7 launch tube, inserted the thermal battery, and checked that the liquid nitrogen cooler at the front of the launch tube was in good working order.

The warrior led Milton out and pointed to the distant sky.

"Southeast direction, two kilometers."

About 2km away, a very obvious searchlight beam came down from the sky, sweeping aimlessly across the sea.

Normally, with the sky so dark, a helicopter 2km away would be virtually impossible to spot, but who can resist turning on a searchlight in the middle of the night?

Anyone who isn't blind can see it.

The Miltons were completely dumbfounded.

The soldier asked cautiously, "Uh, they seem to be looking for us? Is that right? Could it be other helicopters, on a search and rescue mission or something?"

The others also found it a bit outrageous and wondered if the helicopter was really coming to find them.

Flying four or five hundred meters high and turning on a searchlight late at night doesn't seem like something an enemy would do.

Just think about their airstrike just now; the helicopter landing gear practically skimmed the surface of the sea! They wanted to minimize their presence as much as possible.

Looking at the helicopter in front of them, it's hard to imagine they are enemies, no, it's hard to imagine they are human.

Milton thought about it carefully and shook his head, saying, "Even if it's a search and rescue helicopter, the people with the authority to mobilize it in this area are Lopez's people... After knowing that we bombed his port and seized his howitzers, can Lopez still act as if nothing happened and ignore our existence to conduct a search and rescue here? Impossible, they are looking for us."

As he spoke, Milton locked the anti-aircraft missile's crosshairs onto the helicopter.

Flora followed, her face full of disbelief: "Are they courting death?"

“Look at this helicopter, its searchlight is so perfunctory,” Milton said. “It’s just sweeping around randomly without any pattern, and it’s just hovering in that area. It’s not really trying to get over here.”

Flora understood now: "So, this is just Lopez trying to save face? At least in the later reports, he can write that he chased us all the way with a helicopter, which will save face?"

“I guess so.” Milton, having recovered from his initial shock, said, “Think about it, Lopez doesn’t have our flight path. Now, with the lights off in the middle of the night, how is he going to find us?” “He’s just here to save face, to give us a perfunctory visit.”

As soon as he heard the helicopter was coming, Milton immediately went on high alert without thinking much about it.

Looking back now, it's understandable that a helicopter aimlessly roaming the open sea would be difficult to spot.

A hint of sympathy flashed across Flora's face: "...So, they didn't really intend to find us, they just happened to come here?"

The anti-aircraft missiles had already locked on. Milton pulled the trigger and said, "Yeah, they're really lucky. They might be the first aircraft we shoot down."

"Go away!"

One second later, the launch tube suddenly trembled, the missile engine ignited, and it flew out of the launch tube at high speed toward the helicopter in the sky whose model could not be identified.

huh~
The flash of an anti-aircraft missile launch is very obvious—the missile itself, which looks like a meteor, is also very obvious. Even though the crew members on the helicopter are following the searchlight, they can still spot the flash in their peripheral vision.

Milton could clearly see that, a little over two seconds later, the helicopter in front of him frantically prepared for an emergency climb, attempting to maneuver and evade.

Unfortunately, it was too late.

At a distance of 2000 meters, the time from launch to impact is only a little over three seconds. What can a pilot do in that one second?

The pilot tried desperately to pull up the control stick, but even bending it until it creaked and deformed like metal was useless.

boom! ! !
The moment the warhead struck the fuselage, the shockwave tore the rotor blades apart, and the orange fireball from the exploding fuel tank expanded in the air, bursting into a firework in the night sky.

The burning wreckage was torn to pieces and fell into the sea, splashing up huge sprays of water.

The helicopter arrived, and it was instantly destroyed. That's it?
Milton's first mission to shoot down a plane went as smoothly as a dream.

The people on the ship had a sense of unreality. A helicopter, gone, shot down?
"That's it?" Flora gazed in that direction. "That's all?"

Milton placed the anti-aircraft missile on the ground and shook his head: "Look how polite Lopez is. Giving us a howitzer wasn't enough; he even wanted to set off a firework before leaving. How embarrassing."

“Lopez is really going crazy now.” Flora glanced at her Javelin missiles. “A dozen armored vehicles, howitzers, and now they’ve even sent a helicopter in… My God, this is almost the result of a small-scale annihilation battle, and our losses are zero!”

"Tax collectors, we've struck it rich!"

Milton was completely bewildered: "What do you mean by getting rich? What are you talking about?"

"I borrowed the filming equipment from Aurelia!" Flora said smugly. "VBSS was such a success this time, I'm going to mail it back, make it into a video, and play it on a loop during company recruitment... It'll be unbeatable! We'll never lack business again! Holy crap, one operation, we stole a ship and a cannon, wiped out an armored company, and shot down a helicopter!"

"If we weren't so small and unknown, this case study would have spread throughout the PMC industry!"

“…You can barely keep up with the orders I gave you, and you’re still thinking about this nonsense?” Milton complained. “You should hurry up and expand the company. If you can’t manage it, find a professional manager. Don’t try to manage it yourself.”

"We're looking! We're looking!" Flora was in a really good mood. "Mainly, this is a battle for revenge, right, 'Anvil'?"

“Don’t worry, Bernard checks on the company from time to time, he’ll find out soon.” After saying that, “Anvil” turned to Milton and explained, “Bernard is our former boss.”

"Hahahaha!" Flora laughed wildly. "He would never have imagined that 'War Wind' Company now has helicopters, so many people, such strong firepower, and can still carry out such difficult missions and achieve such good results... Hmm, 'Tax Collector' is also a major director of the company, so what he has, rounded up, is practically part of what the company owns."

"Can I borrow your computer for a bit?"

Milton rolled his eyes: "That's enough... We're about to run aground, let's get the stuff back safely first."

"..."

Twenty minutes later, the transport ship ran aground on a shoal. Soldiers who had been waiting nearby immediately stepped forward and began to unload the cargo quickly and methodically using the helicopter's hoisting function.

Twenty minutes later, all the equipment, including the howitzer, was loaded onto the truck.

The convoy set off immediately, and around 5 a.m., everyone returned to Akoch Town unharmed.

Almost no one in the town slept; everyone gathered at the town gate, watching Milton's convoy return. When Milton returned with a monstrous howitzer, everyone erupted in cheers.

Although they didn't know what Milton was up to, they could see a military convoy leaving the town and realized that "The Godfather" was going to do something again.

The convoy has now returned intact, and even brought back a cannon, clearly indicating that the mission was a great success.

"The Godfather is invincible!"

"My God, this huge thing, was it originally Lopez's plan to use against us?"

"They actually snatched it?"

"Great! Let's blast Lopez all the way from the Pacific to the Atlantic!"

Flora sat in the car and stretched comfortably after the convoy arrived at the Akoch Police Station: "'Tax Collector,' I'll take the day off tomorrow and mail the video to the company... By the way, want to come for a drink?"

“I have a lot to do.” Milton shook his head. “I need to…”

“‘The Godfather’, the rebels called you in the early hours of the morning. It sounded very urgent… You weren’t there at the time, so I’m staying here.”

A call from the rebels?
Milton frowned, and without even celebrating his victory, immediately went to his office and called Juan.

The other party answered almost immediately.

Juan's voice came through: "'Hell Tax Collector'?"

"What's wrong? Don't panic," Milton said slowly. "Has something unexpected happened at the front?"

Juan smiled wryly and said, "Yeah...sigh, we were saying we were going to attack your side, but alas, not only did we not get through, we also lost a few more positions."

"How many more positions have we lost?"

"Yes... The regular army not only deployed armored units on a large scale, but also sent out its air force once again. Our anti-aircraft missiles almost hit them, unfortunately! We suffered heavy losses under the air attack and were forced to retreat. I'm truly sorry..."

"After they cleared out our air defenses, their armed helicopters came over, and some positions became even harder to hold."

Juan felt somewhat ashamed, but still explained for his soldiers: "But you must believe that it was not because our soldiers were not brave enough in battle... Although we suffered heavy losses and lost our positions, our soldiers did not let the enemy get away with it either."

"In the past few days, we've destroyed one enemy tank and two infantry fighting vehicles. Although the casualties were heavy, it was all worth it. The intensity of the battle may increase in the future, but we will definitely hold our ground. Our plan to counterattack and reach your border may have to be postponed a little... I'm sorry."

Milton glanced at Flora, then chuckled, "No, the intensity of the battle won't be any higher, at least not on your side."

Juan asked, somewhat puzzled, "Why? Do you have any new updates?"

"Nothing new, just that I launched an attack tonight, and Lopez lost a few men and some equipment, which are now in my hands."

Juan perked up immediately: "That's great... You repelled Lopez's attack? What did they lose?"

Since Milton brought it up, it must have been a great victory. Perhaps they wiped out an enemy infantry platoon, destroyed an armored vehicle, or even destroyed an infantry fighting vehicle!

Moreover, Milton's losses should not be too severe.

After so many days of intense fighting, all Juan heard was bad news; it was rare to hear a report of a real victory!

“They didn’t suffer many losses,” Milton said slowly. “They took out a dozen or so tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, a dozen or so armored vehicles, and stole a 152mm howitzer. I don’t have time to count how many people died, maybe a few dozen. They also took down a helicopter. That’s about it.”

Juan: "???"

(End of this chapter)