Taxes are only within machine gun range!

Chapter 266 What era are we living in? Who's going to go boarding now?

But all the shouts were drowned out by the explosion.

boom! boom! boom!
One by one, modified shells were hurled at the deck of the "Guadalajara"!

The first wave of bombs had a very clear target: the various weapon systems on the deck, including the two main guns and other miscellaneous modified weapons.

Because there was no time to react, the drones' bombing accuracy was remarkably high, with two-thirds of the bombs successfully landing on the deck, and half of those landing near the weapons.

When the flagship was bombed, most of the assault boats escorting it were unaware of the enemy's location or the origin of the explosives.

Drones are so small that they are very difficult to detect with the naked eye, even with straight-line distances and height differences.

While most people were still chatting, they saw explosions coming one after another from the flagship's deck, and saw bodies rolling off the powerful warship.

To many drug dealers, this is no different from witchcraft.

"Enemy attack! Milton has attacked!"

"Where is Milton? There's no ship! I can't see a single ship!"

"Witchcraft, sorcery! I... I remember there's a cult in Guatemala that claims Milton is skilled in curses. Could that be true?"

"What the hell? You guys have better eyesight, those are drones! Quickly use machine guns and cannons to shoot those things down!"

"But we can't hit it... The target is so small, and it's flying in the sky. Our bullets are all regular bullets, not airburst bullets. How can we hit such a target?"

"We have to fight even if we can't hit them! We can't just stand by and watch Milton blow us to bits, can we?"

"..."

The assault boats that had not yet been attacked were thrown into disarray by the sudden attack. Most of them were already on fire, and the flagship, which had suffered casualties, was completely paralyzed at this moment!
The captain had never seen anything like it before. Without any prior notice, he instinctively turned the rudder hard to port, attempting a sharp U-turn to return the way he came!
At the hatch, Belt was nearly thrown out of the cabin by the sharp turn, but being a seal, he managed to regain his balance and step into the cabin.

"Drones, carrying bombs!" Belt frantically fled into the cabin, his mind replaying the horrific scene. He didn't have time to wonder where Milton had gotten so many small drones. "He actually came up with this innovative tactic..."

"Counterattack! Counterattack!" the captain cried out in a panic. "Stop the enemy's offensive!"

Belt's face twisted with anger: "What's the use of just talking about a counterattack? The enemy is in the air, and they're using drones... Quickly organize your men, use ship-based weapons or individual weapons, and shoot those things down in the sky!"

"The ship was rocking too much, the drone was too small, and it was constantly maneuvering at high speed, so we couldn't hit it at all!"

This time, Belt remained silent—when deciding on the attack area, he deliberately avoided Milton's aircraft range limit because everyone knew that the ship's air defense capabilities were practically nonexistent.

After a long while, Belt finally forgot about the problem and shouted, "Get back on track! Milton's warships are faster than ours. We can't escape by turning around. The only way to win is to face him head-on and force him into a decisive battle before he can adjust his course!"

"We still have half of our weapons ready for deployment, so we have a very good chance of winning!"

boom! boom!
Two more bombs fell, one of which nearly hit the captain's cabin!
The captain was at his wit's end: "But I don't know which direction the enemy is in!"

"Observe the direction the drones are returning!" Belt shouted through gritted teeth. "Tell those assault boats to keep going, use their high speed to rush in that direction, hold Milton back, and drag him to the flagship!"

"Wait a moment, I need to coordinate something first. As you know, this is a joint fleet, and several of the ships don't belong to us, so I can't directly command them..."

"Fuck you!"

For a moment, Belt had the urge to jump ship and escape.

With this level of skill, no matter how strong their theoretical strength is, they can't possibly compete with Milton even slightly.

But Belt calmed down a bit, because he noticed that the dense explosions were gradually becoming less frequent.

He immediately calmed down and even laughed twice: "Ha, hahaha!"

The captain, covered in sweat, was completely bewildered: "Uh, what are you laughing at?"

“I’m laughing. Milton is smart and creative, but he comes from a small country and has never seen a navy in his life. He’s still a bit inexperienced.” Belt stopped laughing. “Haven’t you noticed that the bombing frequency has slowed down?”

"If he breaks up his attack waves and continues to suppress our deck, we probably really have no hope of turning the tide this time... I recognize these drones; their range isn't too far. As long as we follow their return route, we'll find the enemy's trail in no time!"

“Don’t worry, Milton is just a warlord from a small country, while I used to serve in the SEALs.”

"Charge!... You don't want to fall into Milton's hands, do you?"

Belt's confident words gave the crew some confidence, and the ship quickly stopped turning, readjusted its course, and planned to wait for Belt's colleague to report the correct course.

Soon, a man rushed over, panting heavily.

He was Belt's colleague, a former SEAL, responsible for reconnaissance on the flagship.

Seeing him approach, Belt quickly asked, "How is it? Which direction are you roughly in?"

"Damn it, the walkie-talkie's destroyed!" the man cursed. "Get out of there, the next wave of attacks is coming! Milton isn't going to give us a break!"

Belt: "Huh?!"

Wow!

Not far away, a drone that had no intention of returning crashed into the captain's cabin window. The fragile drone, along with its six rotor arms, disintegrated in mid-air, and various fragments of the drone, along with shells, fell into the captain's cabin.

Half a second later.

Boom!
Intense flames engulfed the entire captain's cabin, sweeping through it along with various shrapnel.

As the storm subsided, Belt closed his eyes, and a feeling of despair finally rose within him.

Even special forces soldiers wearing a full set of heavy bulletproof gear would be unlikely to survive such an explosion... The captain of the "Guadalajara" is probably already chopped into minced meat.

Boom, boom, boom...

Without the captain's control, the warship's trajectory became unpredictable, and it was unable to perform any maneuvers to evade the bombs falling from the sky.

Milton not only planned different waves of air raids, but also meticulously calculated every detail.

During the first wave of air raids, because it was a surprise attack with a high hit rate, all firepower was concentrated on the various weapons on the deck.

The Guadalajara was prepared for the second wave of air attacks, so the first drone simply chose to sacrifice itself to ensure an absolute hit rate on the captain's cabin!

No, it's less about being meticulous and more about being extremely frugal.

Milton really wanted to win; he didn't want to give anyone a single opening and wanted to eliminate any possibility of failure!
Boom boom boom!
Several drug dealers, guns in hand, mustered their courage and rushed onto the deck, firing wildly into the air while shouting to bolster their courage: "Ah! I'll fight you to the death, ah!"

However, the thirty bullets in an assault rifle magazine are as unlikely to hit a fast-moving aerial target on a swaying platform as it is to try and hit the sun by slightly turning the gun and firing a burst at it.

Most of those bullets merely arced through the air in vain before falling to the distant sea, creating only a few ripples.

Before they could even reload, they saw several black dots appear in the sky.

getting bigger.

boom! boom!
Another bomb landed on the deck, hitting the last main gun precisely.

The shockwave, carrying scorching metal, once again thoroughly cleansed the entire deck.

Unlike the bomb that exploded in the captain's cabin, everyone could clearly see the explosions of these bombs.

The clothes of the two drug dealers who were closest to the explosion's epicenter were instantly torn to shreds by the scorching metal fragments, their colors carbonized along with the fabric.

The flesh beneath the clothes was scraped away piece by piece, and in the deepest places, you could even see the bone!
Through these holes, you can see parts of organs that have fallen out, and sticky intestines that have slid out, like noodles falling into the sea.

The two drug dealers were killed instantly by the explosion, their bodies charred black, and they died on the ground.

Several other drug dealers, either severely injured by shrapnel or inhaling the scorching air, almost simultaneously dropped their weapons and crawled on the ground, struggling frantically.

"what!!!"

"Help, ah..."

“I can’t breathe!”

"..."

The stench of blood instantly overwhelmed the smell of the sea, spreading across the entire deck.

The drug dealers, armed with guns, finally panicked completely: "What do we do?!"

As the sense of security provided by the "Guadalajara" faded, and after the previous attack had exhausted all their courage, the drug traffickers finally realized once again the name of their enemy.

These drug dealers, who had been persecuted by Milton once before, finally remembered how they had been persecuted by this "hellish tax collector."

Thinking about his painful past, a drug dealer screamed:

"Who knows how to steer the ship? Get to the captain's cabin! Quick, if the ship doesn't turn, we're all going to die..."

"The weapons on the ship are all unusable. Turn around quickly, we have to escape now!"

Another drug dealer, his eyes bloodshot, roared, "What's death? Isn't being caught by Milton the scariest thing?!"

The thought of something even more terrifying than death made the drug dealers panic even more. One of them looked at Belt and asked, "American, think of something quick. What do we do now? Can you sail a boat?"

Belt replied decisively, "I won't."

Are you kidding me? Milton's main target right now is clearly the captain's cabin. Anyone who goes in will die!
What about Americans?
Judging from Milton's illustrious resume, Belt would believe that he could eat Americans, let alone kill them.

Even if we were to set sail, we'd have to wait for a few cannon fodder to be sent up and for Milton's current wave of attacks to leave before we could actually operate the ship.

One drug dealer couldn't wait any longer, so he decided to take a gamble and rushed into the captain's cabin as fast as he could.

Before he could even figure out how to fix the mess of equipment in front of him, the terrifying buzzing sound came again!
The drones are back!

Sure enough, drones were constantly monitoring the deck of the "Guadalajara" from the sky!

The drug dealers frantically raised their guns and fired in unison, creating a barrage of bullets in the sky as they desperately tried to stop the drone.

Luck seemed to be on their side. The drone, now diving at low altitude, was no longer nearly impossible to hit. A 7.62 bullet grazed the drone, blasting off a propeller blade.

The drone with six propellers instantly lost its balance and tumbled to one side. This time, the shells did not explode directly in the captain's cabin, but rather on the outside.

boom……

A bloodcurdling scream immediately erupted from the captain's cabin: "Help! My leg has been blown off!"

"what……"

However, the others did not make any move; instead, they urged him on.

"Just adjust the boat's direction, it's like turning a steering wheel when driving, it's very simple!"

"Hurry up! Milton's attack failed. If you turn a corner, you can buy us a lot of space to survive. Keep it up!"

"Brother, don't worry about it. As long as you manage to get out of here, I'll cover your medical expenses!"

The second wave of attacks was indeed weaker. Although most of the flagship's firepower was completely destroyed before it even engaged the enemy ships, the major victory of successfully penetrating their own ship's cockpit gave them a glimmer of hope for victory.

Later, some bombs were still dropped to clear the drug dealers from the deck, but the intensity of the firepower finally decreased.

After paying the price of several more lives, the drug traffickers finally managed to regain control of the warship.

"Get out of here immediately... Make sure the assault boats hold them off." Belt breathed a sigh of relief. "Thankfully, Milton's firepower seems to be insufficient; their drone attack waves appear to have stalled..."

Belt paused for a moment after saying this, staring blankly at the sea.

One of the drug dealers instinctively turned around and asked, "What...?"

He only asked half the question.

Because of this one glance, they knew why Milton's drone attack waves had stopped.

The answer is simple: his capital ships have arrived!
The assault boats, which were already fighting independently and belonged to different drug trafficking groups, suddenly scattered like birds and beasts. Those assault boats that rushed up turned around at the fastest speed and scattered and fled frantically, trying their best not to get close to the side of the "Tax Scorpion".

The assault boat pilots surrounding the "Guadalajara" frowned and simply shielded the flagship in front of them.

Clang, clang...

The sounds of various bullets and small-caliber machine gun shells hitting the ship's hull could already be heard.

The crew of the "Guadalajara" could only turn around and flee in terror once again, escaping into the cabin.

"We'll hide on the ship and fight Milton to the bitter end!"

"I'd rather sink with the ship than be caught by Milton!"

“We’ll hide inside the ship’s cabin. We know the terrain well, and we’ll guard the ammunition depot. If he dares to get close, we’ll fight him to the death.”

Desperate drug dealers raised their guns: "Let's fight!"

"..."

……

A temporary "drone carrier".

Milton stared at the screen displaying the signal interruption and sighed deeply—another huge amount of dollars had sunk to the bottom of the sea.

"It still missed... Scout, did I hit the target?"

"The explosion didn't occur in the captain's cabin, but it seems the people there were injured. They're trying to salvage the ship, and three more assault boats are heading our way!"

On the screen of another reconnaissance drone, the "Guadalajara" was billowing thick smoke, and almost the entire upper deck had been splattered by bombs.

The crew, composed of drug traffickers, had virtually no damage control capabilities, allowing the thick smoke and flames to spread and burn a large amount of weapons and equipment.

Judging from the damage alone, if the ship's main structure is not severely damaged, there is a good chance that it can be repaired if it can return to port.

"Launch the final wave of drones to suppress the deck; all ships, proceed in formation as planned!"

"Full speed ahead! Their flagship isn't going to make it back!"

Sure enough, once the deck was attacked, the Guadalajara was essentially paralyzed—initially, when the old captain was still alive, the ship made a sharp turn, seemingly trying to escape.

Then it turned and tried to sail towards Milton's fleet.

After all the weapons on the deck were removed and the entire ship was "decontaminated," they turned around and tried to escape.

It was like the left and right hemispheres of the brain were at odds for a long time.

Taking advantage of the enemy's complete disarray in decision-making, Milton's fleet was finally able to spot enemy ships on the horizon and see thick smoke rising in the distance.

However, the enemy cannot see them for the time being.

"We're about to engage the enemy. Open fire from the broadside... Watch out for the assault boats. We must stop them."

"Yes……"

The scout, looking at the screen, suddenly interjected, "'Godfather,' look here... it seems the drug dealers have completely given up on taking control of the captain's cabin!"

Milton was taken aback: "What? They're not going to fight for the captain's cabin?"

At this point, Milton's drone offensive had become unsustainable, and he could no longer maintain pressure on the enemy's deck.

The original plan was to stall for time like this, and once the enemy ship entered the firing range, the main guns of the "Tax Scorpion" would fire, attacking the waterline, and sink the "Guadalajara" to the bottom of the sea before the enemy could recover and try to regain control of the ship.

But the enemy simply abandoned the captain's cabin?
Are you sure you want to give up?

"Sure!"

"Great!" Milton was overjoyed. "Then don't use the main guns yet. Use rocket launchers, machine guns, and cannons. We must suppress their decks!"

"The main gun can be used to help our assault boats drive away the enemy's assault boats."

"Roger that!"

Flora tapped the table and suddenly asked, "'Tax collector,' are you planning to seize the enemy's ship? Are you planning to board it?"

A boarding maneuver is a direct close-quarters battle where friendly naval personnel board enemy ships to engage in combat!

It looks cool, but the risks are also very high.

“That’s too dangerous.” Milton immediately shook his head. “Fighting CQB on a ship? Or fighting when the enemy has seized the armory and has the means to kill each other? It’s not worth me paying such a high price for these few enemies who are doomed to defeat.”

Flora agreed with this view, and then asked, "Then why do you still want to suppress the deck?"

“It’s simple. We can’t take the ship by force, but we can tow it away,” Milton chuckled. “Let’s see if we can entangle the engine, or find other ways to disable it.”

Flora suddenly realized: "As long as we pull the ship back, the people on board will either surrender, starve to death, or blow up the ship themselves?"

“Wrong.” Milton waved his hand and smiled. “People’s courage can be exhausted. If we fight them head-on now, they might have the courage to fight to the bitter end.”

"But if you leave them out in the cold for a few days, and let them realize that nobody cares whether they live or die, they won't want to die anymore."

"At that time, we can even instigate internal strife among them."

Flora understood and smiled, "Once we get the ship back, we can try to repair it and turn it into our coastal patrol vessel. This ship is too slow; it's not really suitable for being incorporated into our existing fleet."

Milton said nonchalantly, "It can be used temporarily, but it will be phased out soon. It's too old... I mainly want to use this ship to build a tourist attraction and a museum."

"The museum will play videos on a loop showing how these drug dealers were showing off their power, and it will also play videos of that military exercise on a loop, telling everyone everything the drug dealers said, word for word."

"Those who die on the ship will be embalmed and their bodies will be used to build an exhibition hall on the spot, so that my people can have a more direct experience of the great war on drugs."

“Champellico Port is missing a tourist attraction like this, and I’m just filling that gap.”

Flora retorted again, "I've noticed you really enjoy making museums. Now you have the 'Museum of Jingguan' in your hometown, and a warship museum in the port... It's hard to imagine what kind of museum you'll create next?"

"Are you planning to blow up Arsu, drag him onto a train to sign a surrender document, and then turn this train carriage into a museum?"

Milton looked at her with some surprise: "Hey, not bad, quite creative, just remember to pay the copyright fee to France."

Rumble…

While the two were chatting, the "Tax Scorpion" not far away was already firing at full force, and the enemy's assault boats were fleeing in panic. Two of them had even been hit and caught fire.

The "Guadalajara" was covered in bullets, and no one could withstand such firepower to get onto the deck.

Those on the ship seemed determined to fight to the bitter end, and despite the inevitable defeat, not a single person appeared.

Of course, Milton was quite pleased with their complete cowardice:
"Very good, send two tugboats!"

"Tangle their engines!"

"besides……"

After giving the instructions, the communications officer came up.

“‘Godfather’, um, the train engineering team’s phone number.”

Milton nodded: "Give it to me."

Jin Kang's voice came through, filled with strong doubt: "Mr. Milton, tell me the truth, is your area of ​​water safe or not? I heard there was a lot of commotion there."

"If that doesn't work, we can take the alternative route."

Milton glanced at the enemy flagship, which was now trapped, and the attack craft that were being chased and were about to collapse, and couldn't help but laugh: "Goldsmith, where do you get so many strange and outdated information?"

"What's all the commotion about? I'm building a museum. Don't listen to the rumors spread by outsiders."

"Just go wherever you want. I told you, it's absolutely safe."

(End of this chapter)