Taxes are only within machine gun range!

Chapter 297 The Transport Chief is Here

Upon seeing Milton's army, the two brothers, their minds already corrupted by alcohol, were completely unable to process what was happening!

Is it fucking haunted?!
Shouldn't Milton still be attacking the Tekpan defense? Even if the Tekpan defense is strategically abandoned, isn't there still Chimaltenango, which remains completely unaffected?!

Even if Milton used his superpowers and took advantage of the chaos at the front to break through the Chimaltenango defense line, and even took the risk of not taking over the city and bypassing it, shouldn't there still be the Guatemala City defense line holding the line?

How could they appear directly behind Guatemala?!

What's the current situation in Guatemala City? Why haven't we received any news?

Countless questions flooded his mind, and at this moment, the lieutenant colonel finally experienced firsthand the devastating consequences of brain death.

Milton's army has already reached the back of Guatemala City, but there is no news from the front. Not long ago, they even reported that everything was normal!
What exactly is normal?
Milton couldn't possibly have already taken Guatemala City, could he?
While the lieutenant colonel was still reeling from the shock, the platoon leader in charge of the warehouse was already saluting the "enemy" as if to claim credit: "Reporting, sir! We did exactly as you requested, without alerting these two reactionaries from the old government, and we kept them in place!"

"Please inspect, sir!"

"..."

Upon hearing this, the lieutenant colonel finally understood why the person in charge of the first warehouse had warmly invited him to dinner, but hadn't insisted that they stay...

It turns out they were just worried about alerting the enemy.

He initially thought he was just exchanging some unimportant intelligence for Milton's money to support himself, but he discovered that this intelligence was absolutely crucial!

Even though he understood his fate, the lieutenant colonel still had one last question in his mind—what tactical objective did Milton's army come to this place to achieve?
Could it be that they're besieging Guatemala City?

Taking advantage of the coalition forces' brain death, they will surround the entire city of Tecpan-Chimaltenango-Guatemala, forming a huge super encirclement, and wipe out the entire government army in one fell swoop.
Does Milton have enough troops?
How thin is this encirclement? The Northern Group coalition is right behind them. How are they going to defend it? How can they prevent this encirclement from being breached?

The lieutenant colonel stared blankly as the captain of Milton's army drove the armored vehicle into the warehouse. The soldiers skillfully unloaded various types of shells from the warehouse and began loading the armored vehicle with them.

It was at this moment that the lieutenant colonel finally saw some things clearly.

These armored vehicles have already been in combat... and their ammunition is almost completely used up...

They were very purposeful... almost heading straight for the supplies they needed...

It wasn't just about looting supplies...

Various images came into view, and a very frightening guess suddenly popped into my head.

Milton's army knew the inventory of every warehouse very well, and these armored convoys were specifically there to resupply supplies.

They've practically turned these warehouses into supply depots.

The lieutenant colonel almost exclaimed, "You...your target isn't Guatemala City! It's the Northern Group coalition, a Honduran mercenary group?!"

Milton intends to bypass the government forces and directly eliminate another coalition force?!

The purpose of buying warehouse intelligence is not to attack the coalition's logistics, but to plan for our own logistics!
The Guatemala City campaign was all wishful thinking on the part of the Ministry of Defense and the "Joint Command." Milton never considered waiting for the coalition forces to join him; he always wanted to fight mobile warfare!

The captain watched as the armored convoy regained its combat readiness before heading towards the food storage area and glancing inside.

Then he laughed, looking at the lieutenant colonel with a hint of mockery: "Is this all your soldiers eat? No wonder you sold us the information."

Lieutenant Colonel: "..."

The captain first waved to the soldiers to eat and rest in shifts, and then called over a person with a camera to take pictures.

Soon, the lieutenant colonel, the warehouse, the armored vehicle full of fuel and ammunition, and the soldiers eating enemy food appeared together in a photo.

"Sir, filming is complete!"

“Very good… Mr. Godfather will be very satisfied.”

This cameraman held a special "position" in Milton's army called "propaganda officer," whose job was to record images on the battlefield that were worth showing, some to inspire soldiers and the public, and others to demoralize the enemy.

During this "Lightning" operation, the "Hell Tax Collector" specifically assigned the task of having the "Propaganda Committee Members" film footage of the captured enemy supplies.

During the last battle of Solora, Milton had already taken many photos of captured enemy supplies, which had enraged the people under the control of the Arsu government—their so-called "war tax," which had almost emptied their coffers, had all gone into Milton's pocket.

General Reggie, who was in charge at the time, was greatly vilified by Milton and turned into a joke.

I wonder what purpose these photos will serve?

The captain didn't dwell on these tasks that were none of his business. He ate a biscuit, drank some water, and shouted, "Assemble immediately after you finish eating and rejoin the main force... for prosperity and freedom!"

"This is a great war to liberate the whole country!"

The soldiers were equally convinced that they were fighting for prosperity, for the future of the entire nation, and to liberate their compatriots from their past suffering. Their morale was extremely high: "Yes, sir!"

"..."

……

The next day, in Guatemala City.

Ministry of National Defense.

General Reggie, a member of the "Joint Command" and who had been severely humiliated, kicked open the conference room door, his face showing extreme anger.

He happened to be away when Milton carried out the decapitation mission last time, and narrowly escaped with his life.

The temporarily appointed Deputy Minister of Defense, somewhat disgruntled, spoke up: "General Reggie, we are in a meeting..."

"What kind of meeting is this?! What kind of meeting is this?!" Reggie yelled. "Do you even know where Milton is?!"

“I know.” He said with a hint of disdain, “Milton only broke through our defenses in Chimaltenango before his army reached the vicinity of Guatemala City. His rear is not even secure yet. Ha, he tried to attack twice, but he couldn’t even break through the first line of defense before our men drove him back. Guatemala City is very secure now, and the fighting will not spread to the city.”

To be honest, they were already preparing to fly away from Guatemala City.

Who, besides a madman, would stay here when the capital is about to face war?

Reggie was furious: "Milton has already..."

The newly promoted Deputy Minister of National Defense was very unhappy with the general's interference and bluntly interrupted him, saying, "General, His Majesty the President is preparing for a grand military parade. In order to boost the morale of the soldiers and to stabilize the confidence of the people, everything else must give way to this. Do you understand?"

Grand military parade...

Reggie nearly choked. "Holding a military parade at this time? What's the point!"

The Deputy Minister of National Defense scoffed. Having studied in France, he addressed Reggie, a lowly soldier who had climbed his way up, with: "What use is he, General? Have you read history? Do you know that during World War II, before the Soviet Union was about to be driven to Moscow, there was also a grand military parade?"

Do you know how similar this situation is to that one?

Where is it now?!
Where exactly are they similar?

Milton's manpower is growing rapidly, his strength is increasing, and his economic development is astonishing economists. Even without fighting, the Pan-Madre Group will grow into a behemoth over time. On the other hand, the government army's organization is on the verge of collapse, its decision-making body has been beheaded and has yet to be rebuilt, and it has only managed to hold on until now thanks to external support. It is heavily indebted to the World Bank, has no production capacity of its own, and morale is low. The soldiers who have not yet betrayed the government are not unwilling to do so, but rather have no opportunity or intelligence to do so...

Aside from being besieged by enemy troops, where else could there be a similar situation?
Just as Reggie was about to say something, the Deputy Minister of Defense raised his hand: "It turns out that Milton's army has lost its edge and is simply unable to break through our defenses. Meanwhile, we are recruiting, and our powerful allies are on their way from the rear... Milton has made many underhanded moves, but he has never dared to wait for our army to be fully assembled, and he has never dared to engage us in a head-on battle. This shows that he also lacks confidence and that he is not as strong as we imagined."

"If we just hold on a little longer, new aid and equipment will arrive, and all our current predicament will be resolved."

"The Battle of Guatemala City will be the turning point of the entire war. Once we win this battle, the next step will be a major counter-offensive!"

"..."

Looking at the newly promoted Deputy Minister of Defense who was all talk and no action, Reggie realized at that moment what a heavy blow Milton's decapitation operation was to this country lacking talent.

If even a few more people from the "Joint Command" had survived, they wouldn't have made such a judgment, nor would they have underestimated Milton, this warlord who had grown so powerful in just one year that his strength had surpassed that of the national government.

Seeing that Reggie didn't speak, the deputy minister became even more arrogant: "General... in terms of tactics, we are not as good as you, after all, you have experienced many wars; but in terms of strategy, you are not as good as me. I will make the plans, and you just need to be responsible for winning the battle, understand?"

Reggie resisted the urge to slam the door and leave, upholding his responsibility to the entire nation, and cut to the chase: "Stop with the nonsense... If you have any sense of responsibility towards this country, tell the President to immediately rebuild the 'Joint Command,' with me as the commander-in-chief—let me tell you, Milton's target isn't Guatemala City; his real target is the Northern Warlords' reinforcements. He wants to prevent our rendezvous, understand?!"

“Yesterday, the Northern Group already sensed something was wrong, but I only just received the news… What the hell is the difference between our army and a vegetable?”

"As for our allies, our allies have already been attacked. As for Milton's thwarted attack, that was just a feint, at most a probing attack!"

"If it weren't for my connections with people over there, we probably wouldn't even know about this until tomorrow, until our allies are wiped out by Milton!"

The deputy minister was skeptical—had Milton's main force gone to the back?

Milton's real target was the Northern Group warlords?

After a moment's hesitation, adhering to his principle of not taking the blame, he finally picked up the phone and dialed the president's office.

"Your Excellency the President."

Arsu's voice sounded impatient: "Speak."

“Hmm…” The deputy minister thought for a moment and decided to report some good news first, “Our parade preparations are going very smoothly and will be perfect. We guarantee that after the parade, these soldiers will be able to go to the front lines with their equipment and thwart Milton’s offensive.”

Reggie was furious and nearly rushed forward to snatch the phone away, wanting to cut off the deputy minister's useless chatter and report the most important intelligence.

Arsu's voice softened a bit: "Hmm... good, we need to hurry! But you called me, surely it wasn't just to report on this?"

"Yes, there is one more small matter."

"Go ahead."

"General Reggie has just received a new..."

Before the deputy minister could finish speaking, Arsu was immediately enraged: "Reggie! How dare he show his face in front of me again? Why are you even mentioning him?!"

The deputy minister was bewildered: "Huh?"

"Didn't you see the news? Didn't anyone pick up the leaflets on the ground for you?!" Arsu said coldly. "Milton raided several of our warehouses again, took photos, and even wrote a few lines of big words on them, saying that he was once again thanking 'Transportation Chief' General Reggie for providing them with supplies!"

"I can hear the protests from the public right now in the Oval Office!"

The deputy minister glanced at Reggie and lowered his voice, saying, "But... General Reggie hasn't been in command of troops recently? This... this is Milton framing him, isn't it?"

Arsu scoffed, "Of course I know... but I have to consider the political implications, you know? Besides, if he hadn't done such a terrible job with the evacuation from Solora, how would Milton have had the opportunity to frame him?"

"So, what do you mean?"

"Considering that Reggie is objectively not responsible for this incident, he will not be punished," Arsu ordered. "However, in order to quell public anger, he should no longer be involved in commanding this battle."

The deputy minister disregarded Reggie's intelligence and replied, "Yes, Your Excellency!"

When he hung up the phone, Reggie's hands were trembling: "Why didn't you report it?! What did the President say to you?"

The deputy minister's fawning demeanor vanished instantly. He leaned back and chuckled, "I'm sorry, General Reggie... I just received orders that you are no longer the commander of this campaign. You are now stripped of all command authority, and someone else will take over command of the army."

Changing commanders at the last minute...

At this moment, Reggie finally began to miss his colleagues in the "Joint Command" who he had once vehemently denounced as useless.

Although this group of people are inexperienced, they are at least professionals, at least officers.

If these people were still alive, they would not have reacted like the deputy minister after hearing Reggie's intelligence; information transmission should not be so inefficient as to be close to zero.

After all the officers died and politicians took their place, Reggie finally understood what hell was like—no one could judge the importance of intelligence, and even if a reporting opportunity was secured, any excuse could interrupt the process.

Such a simple message is so difficult to convey!
Reggie, however, calmed down and asked, "Is this His Excellency the President's intention?"

The deputy minister shrugged: "It was his order."

"I see."

Reggie turned and left the Ministry of Defense, getting into his car.

His advisor, who had been waiting for him, quickly asked, "General, how is the situation?"

"...I have been relieved of my command."

"What?!" The staff officer exclaimed in shock. "Then, what do we do? Should we... should we run away?"

Reggie fell silent again. After a long while, he shook his head: "Go home... take out all my money, all my valuables."

“Use all my connections to find a way to tell all the soldiers the real situation on the front lines, to tell them where Milton is and what he is doing, and to get them to find a way to report it up to their superiors.”

"No matter what... I have a responsibility to the country."

(End of this chapter)