Taxes are only within machine gun range!

Chapter 332 Even being frantic won't help.
Sotocano Air Force Base.

This semi-permanent airbase, established by the U.S. military in 1983, had essentially deteriorated by 1995—after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the U.S. immediately reduced its military presence there. Currently, the total number of U.S. troops in Honduras has been reduced to less than 500, and their combat capability is very poor, mainly consisting of helicopter units and support personnel.

The vast majority of the aircraft are helicopters such as the UH-1 and CH-47, with very few fighter jets deployed.

But today, there happens to be an F-16 fighter jet at this air force base!
"Damn it, Milton is a madman! He's got some nerve! He doesn't treat us like human beings at all! Does he think we're dead?!"

"..."

A U.S. ground crew member watched as the pilot was forcibly pulled up and his F-16 fighter jet was driven away, sighed, and asked, "Is it too late to deploy now?"

In the past, he would have been dismissive or furious upon hearing that the "hellish tax collector" had done such a thing, and might even have shouted that he would teach that kid a lesson.

But now, even individual American soldiers have to admit that Milton is indeed capable.

“Let’s give it a try. They shouldn’t have completely withdrawn yet…” A major’s face was grim. “How could he move so quickly? How could those CIA guys be beaten like this?”

In fact, after being attacked and falling into a disadvantageous position, CIA chief Mick authorized his subordinates to request assistance from military bases.

But the CIA and the military are actually two completely unrelated departments. It's not as simple as Mick making a phone call to a military base and saying, "Hey buddy, send a few helicopters full of people to help me," and the air force base immediately sends helicopters over.

Mick first needs to contact the Pentagon to request assistance.

Then the Pentagon completed the authorization, allowing the Air Force base to send personnel to assist the CIA.

But... they got stuck at the step where Mick contacted the Pentagon, the Pentagon urgently discussed the plan, and sent Mick a reply.

For some reason, the Pentagon suddenly lost contact with Mick.

Whether it's a phone call or a backup emergency contact method.

Later, unable to contact the CIA director, they tried to reach Ramirez's villa, but to no avail. Their allies remained eerily silent, as if they had all vanished into thin air...

Faced with such a bizarre situation, and with the opponent being the "Hell Tax Collector" who has been mythologized by many Latin Americans, the air transport base naturally couldn't deceive itself into thinking nothing had happened and continued to deploy its forces according to the original plan.

They certainly knew the CIA might have encountered an accident, but shouldn't they at least know what happened over there before sending people over? Otherwise, wouldn't they just be sending Milton to his doom?

It should be noted that many of Milton's classic battles have been used as teaching materials by instructors and placed on the desks of some officers!
When dealing with such an enemy, caution and conservatism are decisions they subconsciously believe are the least likely to go wrong.

This is the inefficiency caused by the fact that the Honduran military, the CIA, and the US military are not in the same system.

Besides, many people believe that the CIA is well-equipped and has a great influence there, so it's unlikely that any major problems will arise in such a short time.

But no one knew that in that very short time, the CIA was beheaded.

The armed forces were severely damaged to the point of almost losing their combat capability.

The major took a deep breath and complained, "Conservative, conservative... If we hadn't gone through so many weird procedures and hadn't waited for those idiots at the CIA to reply, and had just sent troops as planned, we might not have been able to protect Ramirez, but at least we could have managed to keep Milton's special forces there."

"Now it's too late, they've already started their retreat."

If the enemy moves a little slower and the CIA is a little more resilient, the Pentagon can successfully contact Mick and send reinforcements.

If Milton hadn't been a madman who would launch missiles at the drop of a hat, blowing up the entire villa and tarnishing the elegance of special operations, the villa wouldn't have fallen so quickly, and the Pentagon could still have contacted the CIA's interim head and contained the enemy in time.

Unfortunately, there are no "what ifs".

The enemy's decisive attack and powerful combat capabilities meant that the US military bases were essentially just watching the whole thing unfold from the sidelines during this military coup!

By the time they realized what was happening, Ramirez had already been slammed against the wall by the shockwave of the cruise missile. The military quickly fractured, with many officers choosing to surrender to the current government. Congress and the presidential palace immediately regained control of the situation...

Almost instantly, the military coup, which had been in a very favorable situation, completely collapsed.

Sending an F-16 out now is almost nothing more than a face-saving act.

In any case, we must achieve some results and eliminate a few of the opposing side before President Reiner completely takes control of the situation, the army, and the country... otherwise, the defeat will be too humiliating.

A soldier watched the departing fighter jets and sighed, "I think the one who's most likely to go crazy right now isn't us, but our current president... He just lost the midterm elections not long ago and promised a lot to get the Republicans to compromise. This crushing defeat will definitely subject him to a barrage of attacks from his political enemies."

The major thought for a moment about the domestic situation and scratched his head: "I don't think it will affect his re-election. The domestic economy is at least recovering... It's just that he might lose more seats in the House of Representatives and the Senate."

"Forget it, it has nothing to do with us anyway... We didn't participate much, so we can just watch the show."

"Those guys from the CIA, on the other hand... they were absolutely furious."

"..."

Despite the fact that their attempt to stage a military coup failed this time, resulting in countless deaths, a loss of face, and leaving many potentially responsible officials in a state of constant anxiety, for the United States as a whole, this loss is nothing.

That is, the level of abrasion.

Americans might think Milton is really something, criticizing the CIA and the military for being unreliable and even showing his teeth at Latin America... but the improvement in their quality of life is real.

Of course, a media storm was inevitable.

beep...

As they spoke, two UH-1 helicopters took off with some American soldiers and flew toward San Pedro Sula.

"..."

……

In San Pedro Sula, near the ruins of the Ramirez estate, the sirens of ambulances and fire trucks wailed incessantly, and paramedics could be seen carrying out stretchers covered with white sheets.

More bodies covered in white sheets were laid out nearby...

Beside the corpse stood several people with ashen faces, the leader of whom was trembling uncontrollably.

Milton!!!

"You deserve to die, you fucking deserve to die!!!"

“There must be a price to pay, Milton must pay the price… the whole of Guatemala must pay the price!”

"Damn it, damn it..."

This person was none other than George Tenet, the newly appointed deputy director of the CIA. After the previous deputy director was subjected to overwhelming criticism and resigned due to the "second Black Hawk Down" incident caused by SAD, he took over the position of deputy director with great enthusiasm.

I happened to be on a business trip nearby these past two days, so I went to show off my authority to the CIA staff stationed there.

But who knew that after only a little over a year, "good things" would happen to him.

The damage was much greater than that of the previous "Second Black Hawk Down".

What's even more disgusting is that last time they were essentially betrayed by their lousy teammates in Guatemala. As the attacking force, the SAD was locked onto by anti-aircraft missiles during its flight phase. It was an intelligence problem, not a fault of their own...

The last time public opinion was calmed, this narrative was used to shift some of the responsibility and forcefully suppress the death toll to the record-breaking figure of 8, which at least managed to fool people.

But this time it's completely different.

First of all, this time the enemy was the attacker, and despite being outnumbered, they crippled the CIA in a direct confrontation... Furthermore, the number of casualties was astronomical. In the previous skirmishes, the CIA had already suffered more than 20 casualties, and after the headquarters and villas were bombed, that number has now approached 40!

It wasn't a covert operation, and with political enemies watching closely, it was impossible to reduce the casualties of nearly 40 people to less than 10.

In other words, during his tenure, the CIA is about to set a new record of disgrace.

This was almost a devastating blow to his future career, and an indelible stain on his reputation.

"Has the military made any move?!"

"Send fighter jets to kill them!"

"They haven't crossed the border yet, have they? Where's the car? Chase after them!"

"Let's go to the border too. I want to see just how arrogant they really are!"

Seeing his superior's fury, a CIA agent helplessly reminded him, "Sir, President Reiner has regained power and just declared all of Milton's military operations in Honduras legal... Congress has also voted to approve it. We have no law enforcement authority."

George turned and sneered, "Just because he signed it, I have to see it? Just because he approved it, I have to listen to it? These people violated American law, so what if we beat them up? Since when have our actions needed the approval of the government of a shithole country?"

"We must seize this opportunity, before Reina's control spreads too far, and capture and eliminate those lunatics!"

"That's an order, get me in the car!"

George, enraged at the prospect of what "good things" awaited him upon returning home, turned and got into an armored car, heading towards the border.

The convoy quickly reached the vicinity of the border.

George's gaze was gloomy as he kept talking on the car radio.

"Have you found them yet? Hurry... If we don't catch them soon, they'll be fucking back in Guatemala! I'm telling you, don't think the military is completely absolved of responsibility this time!"

"I know Mick asked you for help before he died! I have proof!"

"Forget about procedures, I, the voters, and everyone else in the world only know one thing—the military didn't come and stood by and watched the CIA fail!"

"Did you find it?!"

"..."

An F-16 fighter jet roared overhead, its low-altitude flight causing considerable noise that made many people uncomfortable.

However, good news soon followed.

"Suspected target spotted, very close to the border... exact coordinates are... their direction of advance is... prepare to attack..."

However, the pilot's voice suddenly froze.

"and many more!"

George was extremely anxious: "What are we waiting for?"

The voice on the other end sounded visibly panicked: "I've been locked onto by the fire control radar... My radar has detected four rapidly approaching targets! This is bad!"

what? !

What does it mean to be locked on? Does Milton really dare to send air force over?

"Reply quickly, what happened?"

Unfortunately, George didn't receive a reply; instead, four unusual voices simultaneously echoed from the sky...

He looked up and his gaze froze.

The three F-5 fighter jets, with their narrow and slender fuselages and triangular swept-back wings, were obvious... but what angered and terrified George even more was the conspicuous fighter jet flying at the very front.

The fuselage is short, stout, and compact, slightly wider in the middle section, and smoothly narrows towards the front and rear, forming a streamlined profile. The wing is a mid-wing configuration with a relatively thick airfoil and rounded wingtips.
MiG-29!

Bang bang bang!

The sound of the sonic boom entered George's ears.

Flying at low altitude, it evaded the F-16 radar formation until it was detected by radar at a distance of 20 kilometers, but at that distance, it could be reached quickly with an afterburner!
The F-16s, which were originally there to intimidate, ended up in a standoff with Milton's fleet of MiG-29s!

This……

The US Air Force is directly confronting the Guatemalan Air Force!
The already tense situation in Central America has escalated to a new level!
Everyone's hearts were on the edge of their seats.

Is this about to be an aerial battle...?

One F-16 against a fleet led by a MiG-29... To be honest, it's hard to say who would win in a real dogfight, but right now the two sides are in a standoff, and once they enter dogfight range, Milton's fleet will have the advantage.

Milton is really not giving an inch. They've already won so much, can't they just concede a little, give the Americans a little face to go back home and explain themselves? This has escalated the situation to this point.

The tense standoff lasted for a full minute. Under everyone's gaze, the F-16 finally turned back unwillingly and left Sotocano Air Force Base without looking back.

This tense aerial standoff came to an end. The F-16 pilots did not dare to violate Guatemalan airspace, nor did they dare to fire the first shot at the enemy air force.

"..."

Even the Honduran lackeys who were following George showed a complex emotion when they saw this scene.

A group of people stormed into the CIA's home, burning, killing, looting, and committing a world record, but in the end, the American fighter jets chose to back down.

Anyone else would have been slaughtered by the Americans long ago.

why?

Because they have a powerful country behind them...

Despite this minor hiccup, Milton's people have successfully entered the country.

George was absolutely furious. He yelled, "Cowards! Their army is a bunch of cowards! Get to the border, I want to confront them!"

Other agents working on the front lines could only sigh inwardly, lamenting that their superiors had lost their minds and were no longer thinking straight—had they really thought they were still in China after spending so much time in the US, in the office, and being flattered?

These idiotic, performative politicians elected by vote...

If it were an agent or decision-maker working on the front lines, they would have already left without a second thought, rather than go looking for trouble.

However, orders from their superiors could not be disobeyed, and the convoy followed orders and arrived at the border checkpoint.

George could even see those guys who treated the CIA like dogs changing their gear not far away!
He got out of the car, took out his identification, and said in a deep voice to the two men guarding the door with guns, "Bring out your supervisor... I am the CIA deputy director."

"I need an explanation from you."

(End of this chapter)