Taxes are only within machine gun range!

Chapter 337 Milton's Two Weaknesses
Quetzaltenango, west side.

At the foot of the Chicabal dormant volcano scenic area, a guesthouse is currently welcoming a steady stream of guests.

Since the end of the civil war, domestic order and the economy have miraculously sprung up, and citizens with increased incomes have finally begun to enjoy holidays, traveling around during the Day of the Dead.

As one of Guatemala's most famous tourist attractions, this dormant volcano with a beautiful lake inside its crater has naturally become a top choice for many travelers.

A very typical Onsa couple were busy at the front desk greeting a family who had just checked in.

"Hello, welcome to the Mountain Foothills Hotel!" The man had a weathered face. He picked up a banknote and registered the guest's check-in information—this information couldn't be taken lightly; it would all be verified eventually. Under the new laws and regulations, people who couldn't provide identification information were not allowed to check into any hotel.

"The rooms offer 24-hour hot water and electricity. If you need to order food, you can call the front desk."

"The laundry room is on the second floor; you can use it by inserting coins."

"..."

The traveler, who had been eagerly anticipating his trip, happily took the room key and went upstairs to check in.

Following this family were a couple of travelers who were dressed quite respectably and were clearly foreigners.

The guesthouse owner remained enthusiastic, smiling and asking, "Good morning, sir and madam. Are you on holiday from work and out for some fun?"

The man opposite him replied very politely, "No, we are foreign businessmen."

"Oh?" The guesthouse owner's pupils contracted almost imperceptibly, then his smile widened. "Could you please show me your identification... Foreign businessmen? Are you here to inspect your company?"

The "couple" handed over their two passports and explained, "No, we're here for an inspection."

The guesthouse owner checked the passport very quickly... He even slightly raised his head to make sure the people in line behind him weren't looking at him before turning the passport to the visa page.

It didn't seem like they were registering or verifying their identity; it looked more like they were searching for some kind of information.

During the registration process, it didn't seem like they were just registering the information on the passport.

However... no one paid attention to this kind of thing.

"Registration complete, you two guests." The guesthouse owner, still smiling, handed the room key and passports to the couple with both hands. "The room is on the 3rd floor. Have a wonderful holiday."

"..."

After entertaining the two foreigners, the guesthouse owner and his "wife" continued to sit at the front desk, helping other guests check in.

Until evening...

His employees began to take over their night shifts. While most of the staff and guests went to eat, the boss narrowed his eyes, first instructing his "wife" to go to a room with a better view, and then carefully went upstairs through a private passage and entered a secret door.

Opening the hidden door and parting the densely hung clothes, the guesthouse owner immediately saw the couple on the twin beds in this special room, frowning and carefully examining the contents of the fake passport in their hands, scanning it over and over again.

They weren't surprised at all when they saw the guesthouse owner emerge from the closet instead of coming in from outside.

"Damon...you're here. Are you sure you don't have a tail?"

Damon looked at his two newly acquainted colleagues and sighed, "Don't worry... the entire guesthouse was built under my personal supervision, and all the staff were personally selected by me, so there won't be any problems. I hired a total of three construction teams, plus I did the work myself, so no one knows about the secret passages in the guesthouse."

"The soundproofing in this room is excellent; even if you stand right next to the door, you can't hear what we're saying."

"There won't be any listening devices; it's very safe."

After Damon finished speaking, he sighed inwardly—being an undercover agent in Guatemala was no easy task; he had to worry about losing his life at all times.

Even though he was certain he was safe, he was often woken up in the middle of the night in fright.

There was nothing they could do; even the CIA headquarters didn't know why the agents had been exposed... That was bad enough, but what terrified Damon the most was that he didn't even know why he hadn't been exposed!
He had no idea that he would be exposed because of some careless action.

Even those spies who had infiltrated the upper echelons of the Soviet Union, as documented in the records, were never so apprehensive or completely baffled, having no idea how Milton had managed to capture the spy.

In Guatemala under Milton's rule, tourist visa requirements were extremely lenient, with a large number of countries offering visa-free or visa-on-arrival access. Even within the government and revolutionary teams, there was an international atmosphere, which is completely different from the situation in North Korea.

More than half a year ago, in the military coup that Honduras called the "Flood Incident," the CIA suffered a historic defeat. According to official reports, a total of 14 CIA agents were "killed" in the operation, breaking historical records.

Some surviving CIA agents were ruthlessly arrested by the Honduran government, which presented all the evidence of the United States' violent invasion of other countries and put these aggressors on the table for public trial.

Even though the spokesperson denied any direct connection between the invasion plan and the U.S. government, he was still put on a very awkward stand by the reporters' follow-up questions.

Within Damon's information network, he knew more than anyone else—the "Flood Incident" directly led to the resignation of the newly appointed CIA deputy director, which in turn caused the CIA director to resign recently due to "illness." The newly appointed CIA director was eager to make some achievements and prove himself to be better than his predecessor.

But Damon knew that the actual death toll was far higher than that.

The CIA network, stretching from southern Mexico to northern Panama, has been severely damaged in this attack, and even the most optimistic estimate is that it will take at least five years to fully rebuild.

Although Damon is a member of SAD, he really doesn't want to continue working in Guatemala. He just hopes to get through this period peacefully and retire back home.

Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned, and what was bound to happen still happened.

Damon sighed inwardly, walked to the living room, pulled out a chair and sat down, and continued, "This is one of the few safe houses we have in Guatemala. We don't have all the weapons and medical supplies we need, and we certainly don't have any biological weapons. You two will just have to make do for now."

“You know, it’s not easy to build a safe house here.”

The woman nodded gently: "I understand your difficulties... However, I can tell you some good news, good news that wasn't included in the information I just gave you."

Damon immediately asked curiously, "Oh? What good news?"

The woman said, enunciating each word clearly, "If we are willing to join this mission, all relevant agents will be considered exposed and can immediately return home, ending their mission in Guatemala."

This is why she was willing to take the risk—a short, sharp pain is worse than a long, drawn-out one.

Who the hell wants to live a life of uncertainty? If I stay lurking in this godforsaken place any longer, I'll develop depression in no time.

Damon's spirits immediately lifted: "...Good!"

The woman tapped the bedside table with satisfaction and asked, "You should know that our previous landing plan was written directly into the newspapers by those idiots in the domestic media, right?"

"Sigh... I heard about it. I also heard that the whole world knows about this operation plan. Except for the people from the 'Guatemala Brigade,' the person in charge there was utterly humiliated and went directly to the White House to protest." "Clinton personally put pressure on the reporter, which is why he withheld some important information, especially the role of the US government in it."

"However, those two perfect landing sites have to be abandoned, and Milton must be on high alert... The difficulty of invading from the Miami direction is unimaginable. CIA headquarters is now developing another invasion plan."

"What we need to do now is to find a new and suitable landing site."

"To avoid a repeat of the Bay of Pigs invasion, we are required to visually confirm the safety of the landing site. Once we find a suitable landing site and relay the message back, we can go home!"

"No special operations are needed, no direct firefight with Milton's men is required, just take some photos... This is our best chance to end the mission!"

Damon was intrigued: "What are the specific details of the operation?"

“We have two missions, one ostensibly to investigate Milton’s air force readiness. That way, even if we are exposed, Milton won’t know we are looking for a new landing site. After that, it’s simple: take some photos, send them out, and that’s it.”

"We're here today for the mission we're officially on... We need supplies and rest at the safe house, so just cooperate."

"Once the cover mission here is over, we'll head to the coastal cities to see if we can find a suitable landing point."

"Now, we need some clean food, and a complete list of all the weapons you have here."

Damon immediately nodded in agreement: "Okay... I will cooperate fully."

After saying that, Damon turned and left through the secret passage to begin preparing food himself—getting sick during a battle would be a very serious matter.

Milton is terrifying everywhere, but the only redeeming quality is that he implemented sweeping reforms to Guatemala's food supply, making it easier for everyone to buy unprocessed, fresh, and natural food.

Buy the right seasonings and make a simple Mexican stew – that's the safest food option.

After setting the alarm, Damon turned around and went to his room—where a hidden door leading to the basement was concealed under the TV table.

It contains a large quantity of weapons!

From powerful general-purpose machine guns, small-caliber man-portable mortars, and Javelin anti-tank missiles to high-precision equipment such as PDAs, micro drones, military frequency-hopping walkie-talkies, and various protective gear, firearm accessories, and MP5s and Colt M1903 pocket-sized hammerless pistols suitable for special missions, everything is available.

There are three M4A1s in the warehouse, even though they are not yet in service!
As Damon pulled out the weapons inventory and signed it, he muttered to himself, "I'm really annoyed."

"...Very powerful equipment, but unfortunately, Milton also captured quite a lot, so we don't have much of an advantage. Those idiots have given Milton far too much equipment. Damn it, we even lost an AC-130. Who can stand that? Luckily, this plane is just a C-130 on the surface, otherwise, who knows how embarrassing it would have been."

"Sigh, to be honest, I feel that even if the landing is successful, the opposition government established might only cause Milton a little trouble."

As a frontline SAD member living in Guatemala, he is most acutely aware of the dramatic changes in the social atmosphere.

Milton led a complete revolution from the bottom up... Now the entire government cabinet is monolithic, the politics are clean, the redistribution of interests has led to a surge in people's living standards, the army is powerful, and they have faith.

External pressure did not destroy the fruits of victory.

It was exactly the atmosphere of the early days of the founding of the nation.

Even if such a country were to forcibly establish an opposition government, and even with massive aid from the United States, the separatist forces of those extremely corrupt former government officials might not last longer than former President Arsú.

Damon felt that to achieve victory, it would be extremely difficult to divide Guatemala from within... He actually thought there were only two reliable methods.

First, dismantle the alliance Milton formed.

The Honduran government is already locked in a life-or-death struggle with the US government, just like Cuba. The weakest link in this conflict is actually Nicaragua.

Nicaragua's cooperation with Milton was the result of Milton's six-month negotiations, as they saw the potential for economic development through cooperation with Milton... Of course, the widespread anti-American sentiment within Nicaragua was also equally important.

However... these factors also make the alliance relatively weak.

Whether the situation will worsen or disintegrate depends on the policies of the next government.

In other words, the first national election since Nicaragua's constitutional amendment in October next year, 1996, will be of particular importance.

As long as Sandro does not come to power, they can divide Nicaragua, their fragile ally... thereby dismantling Milton's alliance and trapping them in that small piece of land in the middle of Central America.

Conversely, if the Sanders Liberation Front successfully comes to power, given their past "minor grievances" with the United States, it is foreseeable that they will completely side with Milton.

Damon thought the second, more feasible, and quickest way to win was to eliminate Milton.

Before Milton can establish a system that can function smoothly without him, eliminating Milton would cause Guatemala to collapse instantly.

Damon picked up the weapons list and walked out, muttering, "What's the point of a landing operation with an opposition government... we might as well take out Milton..."

Suddenly, he paused.

and many more!

These two things don't seem to be entirely contradictory, do they?

It's worth noting that Milton was recently taking advantage of the Day of the Dead to conduct an unofficial tour of the cities he had won in the Civil War... Although there was no official itinerary disclosed or any news reports, judging from the order in which he visited the cities, Milton was visiting them one by one in the order he had occupied them!

If this pattern continues, Milton will soon visit Champellico, the first port city he has captured.

Everyone now believes the Guatemalan Brigade is planning to land from the Caribbean, and Milton has already sent a large number of soldiers in that direction, which is considered a move to alert them...

But what if they change their plans at the last minute and land from the Pacific side? Could they ambush Milton?
Kill him while he's on his way to Champerico!

If the assassination succeeds, Guatemala will collapse, and Damon feels he can retreat more safely... If it fails, it will simply be the same as before: establish an opposition government as planned, so failure won't be a loss.

"Moreover, if we use this plan, we won't need to risk so much danger to take photos along the coast... We only need to carry out the mission of photographing the disguised military airfields, and then submit Milton's approximate itinerary. The CIA headquarters will naturally find a suitable landing site according to Milton's itinerary, instead of blindly pursuing concealment."

The more Damon thought about it, the more feasible his plan seemed!
The success rate is not small, and once successful, the rewards will be enormous.

"Ha... It has to be a top-tier elite like me. The brains of those old men sitting in the office are already filled with fat."

Damon picked up the weapons inventory, returned to his room, and explained his plan to his two waiting colleagues…

(End of this chapter)