Taxes are only within machine gun range!

Chapter 254 Digitalization

buzzing...

The drone's color CCD camera transmitted the images clearly to the screen—this drone is very difficult to detect even when continuously monitoring from 200 meters away, a lesson learned from actual combat in the Gulf War.

At this moment, a CIASAD agent was searching for Milton's whereabouts in every possible location, following the normal attack formation.

"...an artillery position for towed artillery has been discovered. Milton is really bold to have towed artillery in such a place."

“Because they are certain that the enemy has lost the ability to retaliate in kind.” A former SEAL fiddled with his mortar and said coldly, “In fact, that is indeed the case. Even if Milton brought the mortar into the city, Badr could only watch helplessly.”

The SAD agent in charge of operating the drones spoke up again: "However, Milton still maintained basic caution... all the towed cannons are deployed in a dispersed manner, so they won't be wiped out in one fell swoop."

“These are secondary objectives. Don’t forget our mission,” another former SEAL reminded us. “The drone’s battery only lasts for an hour. Even if we don’t want the drone and don’t consider returning, it will only last for a maximum of one and a half hours.”

“We’re looking,” the agent operating the drone said. “Milton has excellent awareness; the command vehicle won’t be easy to find.”

"Hmm... we found a command vehicle, but it might not be the target, because I just saw one too."

“Milton is really cautious. Even after the feint attack and the surprise attack on Badr, who has lost more than half his troops, his army is still very disciplined. Is he really, really a native of Guatemala? We still haven’t found out his background?”

This SAD agent was indeed a bit strange—given the capabilities of the CIA, they shouldn't have made any mistakes when they were fully investigating a Latin American.

"We've found out." The captain waved to his subordinates, "but the information we found isn't very reliable, so we didn't tell you."

"Unreliable?"

The captain glanced at the screen and didn't mind chatting during the investigation: "Yes... the investigation results show that Milton's background and resume are very clean, there is not a single problem, not even one."

"The problem arises precisely because there is no problem to be found. If he were truly a native, how could he possess such extensive knowledge... If it were merely strategic vision, I could understand it as genius, but Milton is equally adept at the minute tactical level, which requires a wealth of knowledge."

"Based on the information we found, Milton does not appear to have received any similar higher education."

The SAD team member controlling the drone stared at the screen and asked again, "Who's that? The KGB?"

“There was absolutely no warning.” The captain shook his head again. “It’s said that our spies over there didn’t have a single thing to say about Milton either… If it really was them, a spy of Milton’s caliber would have been exposed long ago.”

"Never mind those things, let our colleagues sitting in air-conditioned offices in America worry about it. We just need to do our own thing. Have you noticed anything?"

"After searching around, we found three command convoys." The SAD agent looked at the screen. "We can't see any difference. How do we take them down?"

“Randomly select one.” The captain didn’t even think about it. “A one-third probability is already very high, worth a try.”

"But the problem is, Milton's command vehicle is constantly moving erratically and hasn't stopped... Our drones might not have enough battery power to wait for the convoy to run out of fuel and stop briefly for resupply. That's far too cautious!"

Even if their mortars lock on quickly, the target still needs to stay in place for forty or fifty seconds.

If you're constantly making irregular movements, it's indeed not good for shooting.

Milton was truly an opponent without any weaknesses, maintaining exceptional discipline even with a huge advantage... No wonder Badr couldn't defeat him.

The assassination team is now in a stalemate. They had made a big promise to Badr earlier, are they really going to have to return empty-handed?

With the remaining battery power dwindling and Milton's army steadily advancing, the space available for artillery fire was shrinking.

If we leave now and have to reorganize, it won't be as simple as just going home.

First, the drones need to be charged; second, intelligence needs to be reacquired to predict Milton's marching route and find suitable locations to set up artillery.

Milton's planes were also a significant threat, and an attack had to be launched during the gap when the fleet returned to refuel, with a quick escape before the planes returned.

Such opportunities are not so easy to find.

Badr gave them only half a day.

"What should we do? Try launching an attack?"

"No need. Since Milton has such a good awareness of counter-assassination, let's just not point our guns at him. Find another high-value target, which can also cause him great losses."

"Hmm, which target are you planning to attack?"

The captain smiled, waved his hand, and signaled the team members to turn the drone around: "Didn't you guys notice this D-20 towed artillery position just now? Their firing speed and proficiency are significantly higher than other artillery positions... And look at this big truck, it looks like a logistics vehicle, but I think there should be a counter-battery radar hidden inside."

The team members were very curious: "How can you tell? Why?"

“Heh… I’ve done this before when I was fighting. You can actually find prototypes for many of Milton’s operations.” The captain stared intently at the screen. “I think there’s at least a 30-40% chance that there’s a high-ranking Milton officer in this artillery position. If we can get precise coverage, we might be able to kill this elite artillery unit directly.”

"If their reaction is really quick and professional, we can kill a lot of enemies, have a chance to seriously injure senior officers, and even blow up one of Milton's cannons."

"As you all know, sometimes the wounded are more painful for the enemy than the dead."

Perhaps this kind of special assassination operation will not affect the overall course of the war, but taking out Milton's painstakingly trained modern artilleryman is a very worthwhile thing.

After hearing the captain's explanation, the other team members no longer had any objections.

After determining the coordinates, the PDA immediately calculated the firing parameters, and the special forces, who could even make sparks fly from the cannon barrel, completed the aiming at an extremely fast speed.

"I'll repeat myself, two rounds of firing, then immediately drop all equipment and retreat as planned." The captain put the PDA and drone equipment together and took out a high-explosive grenade. "Back to the safe house, get in the car, we're heading straight to Oaxaca... Milton is strong, but he only has armored vehicles, he can't catch up with us."

"According to intelligence... there is traffic nearby. Maintain the planned speed, and Milton's plane will not be able to distinguish us from civilians."

"...If there are any unforeseen circumstances, proceed with Plan B."

"Roger that!"

"fire!"

boom! boom! boom!
……

In Milton's artillery position, the company commander of the 3rd Heavy Artillery Company of the 2nd Heavy Artillery Battalion was dressed in the same clothes as the soldiers, commanding the battle with the utmost professionalism.

"Fire! Yes, very good!"

"Everyone is improving very quickly. Remember... don't think that we are strong just because we achieved such good results before. It was only because Mr. 'Hell Tax Collector' bought guidance shells with a lot of money that we looked like elite artillery. In reality, we still have many, many shortcomings."

"Mr. 'Hell Tax Collector' is generous with his money, he just wants us to have a better chance of survival on the battlefield, and we can't let him down!"

"Let me correct you..."

Just then, the warning light on the AN/TPQ-37 counter-battery radar on the left side of the tactical radio suddenly turned a blinding red!
At the edge of the display, six green cursors are slowly crawling across the screen at a refresh rate of six frames per second!

From that direction, to here... it definitely wasn't fired by friendly artillery.

“Southeast direction, azimuth... distance…” The company commander was operating the radar with tension. The AN/TPQ-37 counter-battery radar uses time-division multiplexing technology to search and track simultaneously. Each tracking point needs to continuously emit 36 ​​frames of pulses to complete the angle difference calculation, which takes at least 3 seconds to calculate the trajectory of the shell.

"Everyone, drop what you're doing immediately and evacuate the artillery positions! Quickly!"

"Company Commander, what about you?!"

The company commander roared, "I'll wait a little longer. I need to report the enemy's artillery positions. Everyone else, retreat! Hurry! This is an order. Anyone who disobeys will be shot on the spot!"

Those few seconds felt like an eternity.

The trajectory of the artillery shell has finally been calculated!

The target... is their artillery position, and it might even be him, the company commander!
The company commander saw the radio and the open door next to him almost at the same time. If he ran away at full speed now, he might have a 50% or 60% chance of survival.

Without any hesitation, he picked up the radio.

"Artillery Battalion Two, Artillery Company Three, enemy artillery position detected, coordinates... Good luck to you all."

After reporting, the company commander found a cover at random and crawled inside.

The shells then fell.

boom! boom! boom!
……

After Winnie mentioned that they had been attacked by the CIA in the city, Milton went to extreme lengths to further strengthen their already formidable anti-assassination measures.

Although he didn't think special forces were capable of competing with regular troops, he didn't let his guard down.

Inside the command vehicle, Milton was opening the panel, staring longingly at a feature that would only be unlocked in the future—the new features unlocked by capturing Palenque and obtaining the oil field. At this point, he was already past his prime.

Because no matter how the economy develops, or what top-tier equipment is distributed, losses on the battlefield are unavoidable.

Only when you've poured countless resources, time, and energy into creating a single soldier do you realize what it means to wish you could rewind and start over if even one person dies.

The situation on the battlefield is even more difficult to fully grasp, with the fog of war everywhere, making it completely opaque. Now Milton can use drones to freely wander in enemy airspace to gather information, and he cannot be effectively countered, and vice versa.

If the enemy has drones that take pictures from the air, Milton's side will find it difficult to mount any very effective countermeasures.

Milton's anti-smuggling system is limited to territories he already fully controls and is currently ineffective in war zones. However, if he can acquire Tustra and Coca-Cola, this problem may be solvable in the future.

[Battlefield Counter-Infiltration System: If enemy items appear in friendly-controlled areas and airspace, an alarm system will be triggered.]

[Loot Repair System: Damaged enemy equipment, if not damaged beyond a certain limit, can be repaired by spending corresponding points]

As a qualified tax officer, you must learn to make the best use of resources.

Milton was browsing the panel when an urgent battle report suddenly came through.

"Reporting to 'The Godfather'!!!"

"The company commander of the 3rd Heavy Artillery Company of the 2nd Heavy Artillery Battalion has discovered the enemy's mortar positions and reported their coordinates!"

"Now, now... his artillery squad has lost contact. This is the last battle report he sent... There are numerous reports saying that there were violent explosions coming from that direction!"

Milton nearly lost control of his rage and almost stood up on the spot.

I was just thinking about how to reduce casualties among my elite troops, and now we've lost a company commander? And he was a valuable artillery company commander at that!
What you fear most is what will happen, right?
Moreover, how could that be possible? Milton had already deployed everything he could. There were scouts to counter enemy artillery reconnaissance, planes flying overhead from time to time, and drones conducting regular patrols... It's not that there were no oversights, but the time for these "oversights" was simply not enough for an army of Badr's caliber to make any effective response!

Only with extremely high technical and tactical skills, advanced information technology, and thorough reconnaissance could such a strike be accomplished.

Milton did not believe that Bader was at that level.

The answer might be quite simple... it's very likely an "old friend," CIASAD!

They actually dared to cause trouble?!
“Don’t rush, no need to retaliate,” Milton said coldly. “It’s no secret that we have counter-battery radar; the enemy has probably already moved it.”

"Immediately take control of the surrounding urban area and block all nearby roads!"

"Send all the planes over here and keep an eye on this place."

"Take me to the enemy's artillery positions, quick."

One soldier asked with some concern, "'Godfather,' what if the enemy hasn't left yet, and they've detected your movements and start firing this way?"

Milton suppressed his anger and said calmly, "If any enemy can still fire when we control the airspace, they will know what saturation bombing is."

"Yes!"

Soon, the two special operations platoons cleared the destroyed artillery positions, creating a safe space.

They then immediately set off, rushing towards the coordinates last sent by the company commander.

Milton arrived shortly after.

The artillery position that originally had a D-20 howitzer has now been reduced to ruins. The enemy's firepower density did not seem high, but it was very accurate. Of the dozen or so shells, one landed next to the cannon, one hit the ammunition stored nearby, and another landed near the command camp.

The other shells also landed very close to the target.

The secondary explosion completely leveled the entire artillery position.

"Take stock of the casualties and search for any surviving soldiers." Milton turned around and gave the order. "All compensation for the fallen will be paid tomorrow, and the company commander will be awarded the 'Hero Medal'."

"After consulting with the family, if they agree, his deeds can be publicized to everyone."

"On my turf, heroes must not be forgotten."

Once the special operations platoon at the front had located the artillery position and eliminated the danger, Milton followed without hesitation.

At this moment, combat aircraft were already circling in this airspace. If the enemy dared to show even the slightest trace, a rain of iron would fall from the sky!
Milton took two steps to a clearing that had clearly been compacted and leveled by humans, where he saw mortars lying there carelessly, as well as some equipment scattered and broken by the bombs.

“‘Godfather’, we’ve found a few mortars, and, and these things we don’t quite understand. They look like they’ve been blown up by grenades and are no longer usable.”

Flora leaned closer to take a look and pointed to the drone's equipment: "Oh, I recognize those things. They should be the control system for the 'Pointer' drone. The Americans used them in the Gulf War."

"However, I have no idea what the rest of the stuff is... It's strange, there's even some equipment that I can't tell what it is at a glance?"

American……

Milton pondered for a moment, then turned to look at the pile of badly damaged electronic devices. After thinking for three or four seconds, he blurted out, "PDA, digital assistant for individual soldiers."

"You recognize this?!" Flora exclaimed in shock. "What is this? I've never heard of it before."

“It’s normal not to have heard of it, because this thing is still in the experimental stage,” Milton explained. “Only agents of CIASAD’s level would be able to be equipped with such advanced individual equipment.”

“As expected, our enemy is SAD.” Flora sighed. “That’s not surprising. SAD is likely to seize the opportunities that Baldr couldn’t.”

“With these equipment, such as miniature electric drones and PDAs, they can indeed conduct reconnaissance in extreme environments and find opportunities to fire and withdraw in what can be described as fleeting gaps.”

"You've taken precautions, but there's nothing you can do. The equipment gap is too big, and many times it's impossible to defend against everything."

Once the battlefield counter-infiltration system is unlocked, there won't be any more situations where it's impossible to defend against...

Thinking about this, Milton suddenly realized that in addition to the reverse osmosis system, there was also a trophy repair function.

Milton immediately opened the panel and checked the equipment, especially the PDA, to see if it could still be repaired.

[This can be fixed after the feature is unlocked.]

The moment Milton saw those words, Flora said with a hint of regret, "What a pity, SAD has learned their lesson this time. Before they left, they threw a grenade."

"The six mortars were only slightly damaged and can be considered spoils of war, but they cannot make up for our losses at all. We need to find a way to prevent this from happening again, otherwise the cost of war will be much, much higher."

Milton agreed with this view and nodded slightly.

Don't underestimate the loss of just a few people and a cannon.

Special operations rely on these seemingly insignificant small victories to cut open the enemy's wounds one by one, allowing quantitative changes to lead to qualitative changes and maximizing the cost of war!
If signs appear, we must find a way to stop them.

Flora squatted down and fiddled with the damaged PDA: "Looks like it can't be fixed? Should I throw it away?"

“No, keep all this equipment. I’ll find a way to repair it.” Milton glanced at her, still appearing very calm. “If I can repair it successfully, I can turn it into a trump card… I can show the Americans what a quasi-digitalized army looks like.”

"'Digitalization'... It seems you think that mechanization leads to informatization, and informatization leads to digitalization?"

"Yes."

"I'm really looking forward to it... Hmm, speaking of which, what about those SADs? They must have already completed their disguises, made fake documents, and arranged an escape plan. With their level of expertise, they might actually be able to get out smoothly."

"We haven't taken Tustra yet, so we can't block all the roads. Assassinations are also difficult because it's hard to pinpoint targets and chase directly. Military vehicles can't keep up with civilian vehicles... After we take Tustra, SAD will be nowhere to be found. What are you planning to do then?"

Some soldiers, including those who had been rescued by the company commander and survived the shelling, also looked at Milton with a hint of expectation.

Most soldiers actually knew that avenging their company commander was a very slim chance.

Perhaps, perhaps, the all-powerful "hellish tax collector" has a way.

Milton really wanted to say that he didn't have any good ideas either, but looking at these wounded soldiers with pleading eyes, he sighed.

"I have a solution."

Flora asked, "What method?"

"airplane."

"The planes... are fast enough, but the biggest problem is that we can't find them right now."

“Airplanes aren’t for finding people.” Milton shook his head slightly. “Airplanes are for bombing roads—we can’t block the highways, so let’s just blow them up. The road conditions and traffic jams will severely delay SAD’s plan to leave by car.”

Blow up all possible highways along SAD's escape routes?!
Flora looked on with awe: "What if they choose off-road?"

“If they go off-road, they won’t be able to maintain a speed difference with our military vehicles, and they will lose their biggest advantage,” Milton said coldly. “This will give me time to take Tustra and send out pursuers.”

Once you have complete control of Tustra, you can find this team of SADs on the panel!

“It’s feasible, with at least a 20-30% chance of success.” Flora nodded. “One last question: is it worth it? For just a few SAD members, we’re going to bomb roads across the country, send a considerable number of troops across the mountains to track the enemy, and completely blockade the airspace. The cost will be extremely high. The goal of the entire operation is merely retaliation. In other words, it’s a high-cost military operation with no benefits whatsoever. Are you sure?”

"If you always focus on the economic aspect, you'll end up taking yourself into the bag too."

Milton glanced at his men in the distance, who were looking at their comrades' dog tags with obvious sadness, and then said:

"And you're right about one thing."

"This is revenge."

"None of them are allowed to run away."

(End of this chapter)