America: Starting with Daily Intelligence

Chapter 277 Tijuana

Zhang Ailun and Sieg boarded the Little Bird helicopter, put on their bulletproof vests, organized their equipment, and opened the green armory. When they saw the RPGs and rockets lying inside, they nodded in satisfaction.

He said, "Let's go."

The Beggars' Sect disciples immediately responded, pulled up the helicopter, and took off for Tijuana.

The one-hour journey passed quickly. The experience of riding in a helicopter was really not very comfortable, and it was incomparable to the cabin of a private jet.

Sitting atop it, Zhang Ailun looked down at the tiny ground below and realized that the Bird helicopter was indeed quite small. No wonder it could only perform special operations missions that required quick entry and exit. Last time, the Beggar Clan disciples sat on it for several hours straight, and thinking back, it was truly exhausting.

Upon arriving at the US-Mexico border, the Beggars' Sect disciples contacted the border control tower, informing them in advance that they would be flying a small bird helicopter across the border and reporting the number of personnel.

I thought I would get stuck on the way from the West Coast to Tijuana, but when I got here, I found that there wasn't even a guard on duty. It was a desolate place, and everyone was just slacking off.

They flew directly across the border.

If you smuggle yourself from Mexico, they might symbolically collect some travel expenses from you after they catch you, but if you run from America to Mexico, they won't even care about you.

Having successfully entered Mexican territory and arrived at the agreed location, Zhang Ailun contacted the Tijuana officials.

They did not choose to enter the city, as it was a chaotic place with a mix of people and things, and the bidding department was also a rebel force. After careful consideration, they landed at a simple, conspicuous airfield in the countryside.

The airport's environment is worse than even the rural outskirts of Laredo; it's not even paved with concrete and is overgrown with weeds. If it weren't for the graffiti of an "H" with two circles drawn on it, you would really think it was some wasteland.

The Beggars' Sect disciples also disembarked fully armed, ready to deal with any unexpected situations that might arise.

Upon seeing the helicopter land, airport management personnel, speaking fluent Spanish, rushed out to chat with them, their waist bags also fully armed.

What are you mumbling about?

"They don't speak English?"

Zhang Ailun pulled out $20 directly.

"Hey, we're stopping here for a bit. Here's your tip, okay? How about a little chatter?"

"Okay, good!!" The airport staff member's expression changed instantly. He gave a thumbs up, took the $20, flashed a mouthful of white teeth, and turned away with satisfaction.

Fortunately, they understand the most basic principles of communication. When in doubt, they just pay up.

Zhang Ailun glanced at the surrounding buildings and found that there was basically nothing worth seeing.

Not far away, there were several beat-up pickup trucks parked there, and the people in the cars were also looking over curiously. Each of them had an AK hanging around their neck. Just by looking at their posture, the leader knew that they were all criminals.

They're probably robbing people here, or they're in the drug trade.

"Boss, this airport seems to be full of drug dealers and thieves. Have we stumbled into a den of thieves?" Sig cautiously warned.

"What's the big deal? This is the US-Mexico border. Isn't it normal to have drug dealers and outlaws here? If they're so capable, let them try to rob me." Zhang Ailun patted the ammunition box. "If I don't blow it to pieces, I'll consider them incredibly robust."

Sieg didn't have much to say. After all, these criminals were just lawbreakers, not fools.

Seeing that they had armed helicopters and dark gun barrels, so thick, so black, so menacing machine guns standing there, who would dare to come up and rob them?

Do you only feel happy if you pull out a big thing from your crotch and shove it on his forehead?

One shot and everyone was blown to bits.

Zhang Ailun took out another twenty dollars and asked a member of the Beggars' Sect to buy a few bottles of drinks. The group waited there for a while, and soon saw several military armored vehicles driving in from a distance, their tires kicking up clouds of yellow dust. With a sprint and a drift, they reached the vicinity of the airport.

Fifteen or sixteen people carrying rifles and cannons and wearing camouflage combat uniforms got out of the car. Many criminals gathered at the airport thought they were there to cause trouble when they saw this, so they quickly got back into the car and drove away.

"Hello, are you from the Thunderfire Armed Nation?"

A tall, sexy Latina woman with glasses, short hair, and dressed in office attire stepped out of the co-driver's seat of the armored vehicle. She greeted us warmly and gave us a hug. "I'm the head of the bidding department in Tijuana. You can call me Paulina."

Zhang Ailun shook hands with her, hugged her, and said with some surprise, "Darling, hello! I really didn't expect that the person in charge of this matter would be such a beautiful lady. You've really made quite a scene; you've scared away all the rats in the neighborhood."

"That's to be expected. Everyone in Tijuana knows we're in a war with drug cartels. Smart people who don't want to die have already fled to other cities," Paulina said with a slight smile.

"You should have received the shipment of weapons we transported by now, right? How are you finding them to use?" Zhang Ailun asked.

"Our personnel are still getting familiar with that equipment, but everyone is armed, which is already quite good. Our leader is also satisfied with it, but compared to the firepower of those groups, it's still far behind. Tijuana needs to be liberated!" the female manager said.

"Aren't you afraid of incurring a vicious retaliation from the drug cartels? The mayor of Tijuana was probably elected by them, wasn't he?" Zhang Ailun asked in surprise.

"Afraid? Does that mean we shouldn't do it?" The female supervisor smiled. "Since we've already chosen to fire on them, we're not afraid of retaliation. To be honest, since we started the resistance, we've already lost more than a dozen high-ranking officers and hundreds of brave rebels, but the fresh blood hasn't dried up yet. We'll be victorious sooner or later! At least in Tijuana, there shouldn't be so many outlaws and desperados."

"Then you need firepower support even more." Zhang Ailun immediately began to promote his attack helicopter. "In order to let you experience the importance of firepower, I drove this attack helicopter all the way here. For only $199 million, you can buy a high-configuration attack helicopter with a 7.62 machine gun and a 30mm cannon. A few shots can destroy not only armored vehicles, but even tanks. And it's a bulletproof version."

The female supervisor had already noticed the armed helicopter parked there, and the soldiers of the resistance team next to her couldn't take their eyes off it, as if they were seeing a stunningly beautiful woman.

"Minister Paulina, if we had had something like this before, and had gained air superiority and air-to-ground firepower, we would never have lost so many lives." The rebel's eyes burned with envy.

How come any armed nation over there can sell this kind of thing? They can't even put together a decent night vision helmet or a full set of army gear.

Mexico's annual military budget is a paltry $60 billion, which is not even a fraction of what the US spends. Military officers can embezzle more money in the time it takes them to sleep than their military budget is actually allocated.

Who isn't corrupt? If the US military is corrupt, does that mean the Mexican military isn't?

The country's army, navy, and air force are not equipped with many impressive features.

Let alone advanced firepower, it would be good if it could meet World War II standards, but the key is that it didn't have any. It used all the old relics that the US had phased out in the early days.

The navy's configuration consists of four American-built Knox-class frigates, along with over 30 light frigates, over 40 littoral patrol vessels, and missile boats, but no submarines. They're all rusting on the surface. The air force's most advanced assets are four F-5 fighter jets, plus 33 PC-7 light attack aircraft converted from propeller trainers. The rest are various trainer aircraft, auxiliary aircraft, and conventional helicopters; there are no dedicated attack helicopters or large transport aircraft.

The army currently lacks even main battle tanks and heavy artillery; its most powerful firepower consists of 120 French-made ERC-90 Lynx six-wheeled armored reconnaissance vehicles.

With such poor firepower, this army was getting beaten down by drug cartels, not to mention the Tijuana Independence City Armed Forces on the US-Mexico border.

The leader of the organization immediately deployed an A10, a small attack helicopter, which is even more extravagant than the military's configuration. Just look at how terrifying it is!

That's why they say they're from next door.

"A $199 million armed helicopter is indeed a very cheap price, but our military budget is not large, and we need to allocate it to other expenditures." The female manager fell into deep thought.

"I've already shown you great sincerity. If you want to win this battle, you need its firepower support!" Zhang Ailun wasn't making baseless accusations.

After all, the Mexican military doesn't have any decent air power at all; it's just for show. Even if it did, it would be in the hands of drug cartels. When they fight each other, their firepower is just the same old street fighting tactics, a bunch of weaklings fighting each other.

If you could fly a Little Bird helicopter out, you could beat them so badly in urban warfare that even their own fathers wouldn't recognize them.

If you're using an A10 gun to bombard the ground, what armored vehicle, even a tank, won't be effective?

"Mr. Jin, the A10 Warthog attack aircraft you mentioned is not within our purchase scope because it is too expensive. The only one we currently have the budget for is this Little Bird helicopter that you flew over."

The female manager glanced at the little bird helicopter with reluctance, then tossed her hair, blinked, and said with a smile, "Of course, if you're willing to give us a discount, we'd be happy to buy the product you're promoting."

"...I'm not doing charity work." Zhang Ailun was speechless. I'm kindly introducing you to the equipment, and you're trying to get it for free, huh?

"Business is business. This Little Bird helicopter meets all the standards for service aircraft and can serve for at least another ten years. We can also include after-sales maintenance services, with each maintenance costing only $5. Of course, if the damage is too severe, the spare parts will cost extra."

Zhang Ailun continued his pitch, and the female manager listened intently. They weren't completely unfamiliar with the project, and they were quite interested in the Little Bird helicopter.

After thinking for a moment, the female manager took out her phone and contacted him apologetically, saying, "Mr. Jin, I need to discuss this with my department."

"Okay." Zhang Ailun nodded in agreement, knowing that business couldn't be rushed, after all, they were poor.

But people who aren't poor wouldn't come to him to buy goods; they'd already been in contact with the military and arms companies.

The other party took out his phone and contacted someone in his department. After a few minutes of conversation, he hung up and returned with a smile, saying, "Mr. Jin, after careful consideration, our department has decided to purchase your Little Bird helicopter for $199 million. If we can win this battle and take over Tijuana's various departments and economic system, we might consider purchasing the A10 then. We previously placed a $200 million arms order with your armed nation and paid a $60 deposit, so we still need to pay you $336 million in total."

"You need to transfer the money to two separate accounts." Zhang Ailun immediately provided the foundation's official account and website, instructing them to transfer the remaining payment for the arms to Armed Nation's account, while the other payment for the helicopter sale would be transferred to the foundation.

"Okay." The female manager sent the account information to the department head and quickly said, "Mr. Kim, our finance department has already made the allocation."

"OK".

Zhang Ailun soon received a text message notification that a sum of money had been transferred to the Armed Nation's account. Another sum of money had been transferred to the Hamburger Foundation.

He shook hands with her in a good mood. "It's a pleasure doing business with you, Ms. Paulina. Please give my regards to your rebel leader. If you have any needs, you can place orders with our Armed Nation again in the future."

"There will be opportunities. However, our people are not very familiar with the Bird helicopter. Could you have your people explain the operating instructions?" the female manager said again.

"That's not a problem."

Zhang Ailun immediately instructed the Beggars' Sect disciples to teach them piloting skills. Since the other party intended to purchase armed helicopters, they must have recruited professional air force pilots. Learning to fly wouldn't be a problem; with instruction and demonstration, they would quickly learn to fly the Little Bird helicopter... probably.

The leader looked up at the helicopter ascending into the sky, swaying left and right as if performing acrobatics, and couldn't help but be startled. Fortunately, the helicopter circled for a moment and then landed smoothly.

The rebel members piloting the helicopter were extremely excited, their faces flushed. After getting off the plane, they chattered excitedly as they shared their experiences with their teammates.

On the surface, everything seemed to be going well, but the Beggars' Sect disciples were terrified. They rushed to their leader's side and muttered under their breath, "WTF! Where did they find such a professional pilot? They almost triggered the fire control radar and the plane would have tilted and crashed!!"

"What's wrong? Is there a problem? They didn't attend a military academy; they were all self-taught in civilian life. They used to fly gliders as training aircraft, so there shouldn't be any problems, right?" the female supervisor asked.

"No problem... I think I've taught him how to enter hover mode, and he's doing quite well. But you still need to find professional personnel to assist him, at least someone who can read radar and coordinates." The Beggar Clan disciple breathed a sigh of relief.

What kind of amateur troupe is this?

Are they really just going to get carried away with passion and start doing whatever they want?

Is this still the 21st century?

"We will consider hiring professional air force personnel," the female manager replied immediately.

The transaction was completed. The other party learned how to fly an armed helicopter, which enhanced their armed forces. The leader also received the money, and everyone was happy.

I politely declined their invitation to visit me in the city, to avoid getting carried away with my ideas, since I was on their turf.

Watching the resistance team leave, Zhang Ailun sent a message to Bailey, asking him to drive his Cirrus SF50 over and pick up a few of them to go back.

The Cirrus SF50 was much faster than the Little Bird helicopter, reaching speeds of 500 kilometers per hour. It took less than half an hour to reach the border town. The leader saw the Fathead Shark swooping down from afar and landing on the makeshift runway.

"What kind of airport runway is this?!" Bailey exclaimed as soon as he opened the door. "Boss, if you have to make a few more hard landings like this, your wheels are definitely going to be ruined!"

"Your wheels are in danger! Do you think this is Los Angeles? The developers have spent all their money on villas, cocoa, and women. Where would they get the money to build roads here? This is already the flattest airport runway in the vicinity. Enough said, let's get back." Zhang Ailun said irritably as he led his men onto the private jet.

I plopped down on it, let out a long sigh of relief, and realized how comfortable it was to have my own private jet.

The chief of staff never wanted to sit in the back cabin of that garbage attack helicopter again.

Bailey started up the Cirrus Fathead Shark with a lot of rambling, and it took off, flying away from the small town on the US-Mexico border and heading towards Los Angeles, California.

Everything was fine when we arrived, but we received a warning from the border control tower on our way back.

Fortunately, nothing unexpected happened, and I was able to enter the country smoothly after sending a message to Blitz.

Because the Grand Master used his financial power!

(End of this chapter)