120: The housing area was bombed! Casualties were heavy.

Facundo watched the scene before him, a cold sneer tugging at the corners of his mouth.

He picked up the communicator; his voice carried a hint of fatigue, but even more, the joy of victory.

"All units, attention: round up the prisoners and clear the battlefield! Damn it, we finally chewed through them."

By evening, the setting sun had dyed the sky a deep orange-red.

Facundo's Fifth Brigade finally linked up victoriously with the First Brigade and the Sixth Brigade, which had come to reinforce them, in the town of Copacabana.

In the temporary command post in the town, smoke swirled in the air.

Facundo gulped down a large mouthful of water, staring at the city marked prominently with a red circle on the map—Santa Ana Cartel.

"General Theodore, the rebels at the valley entrance have been completely wiped out. We've captured about two thousand people, and the rest have fled."

The frontline commander-in-chief of the First Field Army, Theodore, a middle-aged man who looked refined and scholarly, merely nodded upon hearing this.

He pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose and tapped heavily on the map with his finger.

"Run? Where can they run to? Santa Ana Cartel will be their grave."

His voice was not loud, but it carried an unquestionable sense of determination.

"Tell the brothers to hurry up and rest, and replenish their ammunition. Early tomorrow morning, we'll send Muñoz a big gift."

Theodore looked out the window; nightfall had begun to descend.

"The air force is ready. Tonight, let the jf-17 thunder fighter jets light the way for them first."

Two o'clock in the morning.

The night sky over Santa Ana Cartel was torn apart by a dozen sharp whistles.

Fifteen JF-17 Thunder Block 3 fighter jets were like ghosts in the night.

With the help of real-time coordinates transmitted from high altitude by the Rainbow-7 Drone, they precisely located their respective targets.

The rebels' military barracks area.

"Target confirmed, preparing to drop bombs."

The pilot's calm voice rang out over the channel.

The next second, the bombs detached from the pylons, and with the grimace of death, they dove toward the rebels on the ground who were still fast asleep.

"Boom—!"

The violent explosion made the entire city tremble.

Huge fireballs shot into the sky, illuminating the night as if it were daylight.

In the face of precision-guided bombs, the sturdy barracks were as fragile as paper, instantly torn to shreds.

The shockwave, mixed with rebar and concrete fragments, spread wildly in all directions.

The entire barracks area instantly turned into a hellish sea of fire.

The first round of airstrikes had just ended, and before the rebels on the ground could react from their daze, the second round followed closely behind.

This time, the targets were their artillery positions and ammunition depots.

Even more violent explosions occurred one after another.

The secondary explosions of ammunition created an incredibly "spectacular" fireworks show, turning half the night sky red.

"Ground forces, advance!"

Before the light of the airstrikes had faded, Theodore's orders were already issued.

The National Defense Force ground troops, having already assembled outside the city, launched a full-scale offensive.

Dozens of tanks and armored vehicles let out a deafening roar as their tracks crushed the ground.

Kicking up clouds of dust, they were like steel beasts, the first to smash through the simple defensive lines the rebels had built with sandbags and roadblocks.

Behind them, dense formations of infantry, rifles in hand, followed closely, pouring into the depths of the city.

At the other end of the city. Santa Ana Cartel Airport.

A dozen helicopters swept over at low altitude, their massive rotors kicking up a gale.

The cabin doors opened, ropes were thrown down, and fully armed Special Operations Regiment Soldiers descended from the sky like dumplings being dropped into a pot.

After landing, they didn't pause for a second.

They immediately formed combat teams and launched a lightning raid on key locations such as the airport control tower and hangars.

The airport's defenders, mostly Cartel militants, had never seen such a special operations formation.

Before they could organize effective resistance, they were beaten into a daze, and one key node after another fell.

In less than twenty minutes, the entire airport was firmly controlled by the Special Operations Regiment.

Subsequently, these hunters dispersed into the shadows of the city and began their hunt.

In the rebel command post, Muñoz listened with a livid expression to the string of bad news coming over the communicator.

"Report, sir! The southern barracks area has been bombed! Heavy casualties!"

"Sir! Our artillery positions are gone! All gone!"

"Command post! The enemy's tanks have already broken in! Ah—!"

The last report ended abruptly, accompanied by a scream and a violent explosion.

"Report! General Muñoz! The airport has also fallen! It's the National Defense Force's Special Operations Regiment!"

A communications Soldier scrambled in, his face full of fear.

"What?!"

Muñoz grabbed him by the collar, his eyes wide and bloodshot.

"How could the airport be lost?! What the hell is that waste Ignacio doing!"

"Bang!"

Just then, the door to the command post was kicked open.

The regiment commander responsible for guarding the airport, Ignacio, rushed in with a few remnants, covered in blood.

"General! We can't hold them! They came from the sky! We..."

Before he could finish his sentence, another Brigade Commander, Castañeda, also spoke with a face ashen with despair.

"General, the enemy's offensive is too fierce; the front line is about to collapse! We... we should retreat first!"

"As long as the green hills remain, there's no need to worry about firewood!"

"Retreat?"

Muñoz slowly let go, the madness in his eyes gradually replaced by a cold calm.

He slowly turned around and looked at Castañeda.

"You said... retreat?"

Castañeda felt a chill run down his spine under his gaze, but he bit the bullet and nodded: "Yes, General, if we don't leave now, it will be too late!"

"You're right."

Muñoz nodded, and then, without warning, drew the pistol from his waist.

"Bang!"

A gunshot rang out.

A bloody hole appeared on Castañeda's forehead.

The expression on his face froze at that moment, his body swayed, and he fell straight backward.

The command post fell into instant, deathly silence.

Everyone was stunned by this sudden scene.

Muñoz blew the smoke from the muzzle, scanning everyone present with eyes as if they were steeped in poison.

"Who else wants to retreat?"

No one dared to speak.

"Ignacio!" Muñoz shouted sharply.

"Here!" Ignacio jolted and stood straight up abruptly.

"I don't care what method you use; before dawn, you must retake the airport for me! If you can't take it back, don't bother coming to see me!"

"Yes!" Ignacio gritted his teeth, saluted, turned around, and rushed out with his men.

He knew very well that the airport's fortifications had long been plowed over by the National Defense Force's artillery fire.

With the few remnants he had, without even decent heavy weapons, what could he use to fight the Special Operations Regiment, which was armed to the teeth?

But he had no choice.

Going back meant death, and not going back also meant death.

If he charged, there might be a one in ten thousand chance.

"Get your shit together!" Ignacio kicked a trembling Soldier beside him.

"If you don't want your head twisted off by the General, then charge with me! Only by taking back the airport will we have a way to live!"

Driven by his hysterical roar, the remaining rebel Soldiers, like a pack of stray dogs, launched a counterattack toward the airport.

On the airport runway, several pieces of wreckage were still emitting black smoke.

A dozen-man Special Operations Regiment squad was relying on the wreckage of a transport plane to build a temporary defensive line.

"Captain, they're coming up again, and there are quite a few of them." A lookout reported in a low voice.