Empire of Shadows

There were definitely people around.

This method of blocking a road had been passed down in the human world for who knows how long.

Since before transportation was convenient, before there were internal combustion engine cars, when people were still using horse-drawn carriages, this method already existed.

Not everything is like science and technology, where the more advanced, the better it is to use.

Things like this, old, traditional, but still usable, are often the simplest and most efficient.

Some scientists once claimed that using artificial toys to solve personal physiological needs was a moral and spiritual progress, but people still use the most primitive way to solve it.

Just like the large tree trunks in front of them, if you want to pass, you must find a way to move those things on the road.

A few huge logs, and it looked like slowly pushing them with the truck, to push them open, was also not feasible.

These tree trunks were intertwined. If you didn’t apply a ramming force, it would be very difficult to knock all these trunks away in one go, so in the end, they still had to get out.

As long as the people left the car, and came outside, the plot of those people would have succeeded.This was a blatant conspiracy, but it was also the most effective conspiracy. To judge whether a plan is good or not is not to see how complicated it is, but to see if it can be effective.

The transport team on the road was in such a weird state. They were neither continuing to advance, nor getting out of the car to remove the roadblock. Everyone was gripping their weapons tightly, wary of everything in the surrounding wilderness.

It wasn’t that they didn’t want to get off the road and go around this roadblock, but that it was really impossible.

Whether it was the Federation or Rapa, this kind of highway outside the city range would often be higher than the surrounding ground.

This was to prevent rainwater from accumulating on the road during rainy days, which would soak and damage the road.

So much so that in order to make the road have better drainage, there was only a cross-section between the road and the ground, not a slope. This was so that the water that had seeped into the interior of the road could flow out directly from the cross-section.

This also led to a very common situation. The ground on both sides of the road, due to the scouring of rainwater and other reasons, would become soft.

Once a car pressed on it, and it was a transport truck full of supplies, and the truck was full of heavy supplies, there was a high probability that it would be deeply stuck in the mud on the side of this road.

The tires would sink in, or slip. At that time, things would become even more troublesome.

After all, to pull a truck full of things out of the soft mud, the first thing they had to do was to unload the things on the truck, which was too troublesome.

In short, now, apart from returning the way they came, if they wanted to continue to advance, someone had to get out of the car and move the trees.

After being in a ”silent” state for about a few minutes, seven or eight minutes, the officer of the transport team had his soldiers get out of the car and move the tree trunks. The soldiers all had a look of resistance.

The probability of being exposed outside the car and becoming a target was much greater than being in the car. Moreover, this environment, the wilderness, there was nothing that could provide protection.

As long as there were really people, and they really wanted to keep them here, then they would definitely be shot into a sieve.

But an order is an order, and no one is allowed to resist. If they resisted, then the order would not be an order.

A dozen or so soldiers got out of the car. They were, somewhat nervously, holding their weapons and observing the surrounding wilderness. It looked like everything around was extremely quiet.

It was precisely this quietness that, on the contrary, made them feel that something was not right.

Now the arrow was on the bowstring. Whether they did it or not, they had no choice.

A few of them, carrying their weapons, came to the side of the tree trunk, and tried to lift these few trunks, but they had underestimated them.

These trunks looked to be at most a foot or so in diameter. It seemed that three or five people could lift them, but in the actual operation, seven or eight people couldn’t lift one trunk.

They could only seek the help of more people.

The officer, after a short consideration, had everyone get out of the car. A part of them would move the things, and a part of them would be on guard.

Just as that part of the people were standing by the side of the tree trunk, had found a point where they could apply force, and had begun to shout a slogan together and to try to lift the trunk, the sound of a submachine gun’s sweeping fire had appeared.

Some of the anti-government armed forces, who were draped in grass camouflage, and were prostrated in the bushes on both sides of the road, had suddenly stood up, and were firing frantically at those soldiers. The officer had directly lit a flare, and at the same time, had had the accompanying telegraph start to work.

The telegraph operator at the front line, at the first moment he had heard the ”didi didi” sound of the telegraph, had begun to urgently record these telegrams.

What they were using was all plain text telegraph, which did not need much decryption.

When he had, with a paper slip that said ”Transport team ambushed, location at...” handed it to the front-line officer, the officer had immediately issued an order for aid.

The anti-government armed forces in this city had already been cleaned up almost completely. In fact, he also knew that these rebels in this city were not the anti-government armed forces in the true sense.

In this small city of only a hundred or so thousand, there were several gangs entrenched.

Although Rapa was very poor, there were still gangs here.

After the chaos had arrived, these gangs had all had some crooked ideas. They had claimed that they were also anti-government armed forces, had directly overturned the city’s order, and then had plundered the city’s wealth.

These people simply did not have many firearms and weapons. To deal with them was like dealing with those disobedient ordinary people. There was no difficulty at all.

Now, those people were still hanging on the gallows in the city’s squares, swaying constantly with the gusts of wind.

The officer and the soldiers had also gotten some benefits from this battle, so the soldiers, and the officer, were all very enthusiastic about the work of ”suppressing the bandits.”

Now they needed to go to a farther place, a larger city, so they needed more supplies and equipment, mainly food and ammunition supplies.

If there was no ammunition, they could still think of other ways, but if there was no food, it was absolutely not okay.

These soldiers would mutiny. This time Diego had recruited so many soldiers, it was by relying on his propaganda that ”as long as you join the army, you can eat your fill.”

If these soldiers were not fed, they would definitely make trouble.

Once the army is unstable, a terrible situation may occur, a mutiny, or even a desertion!

The officer had found a colonel, and had had the other party make his own arrangements, and had dispatched a part of the soldiers to the scene of the incident to solve this problem.

He had never thought that this was a problem, until more than an hour later.

A large batch of soldiers who had fled back had told him that on the way to support the transport team, they had been ambushed, and had suffered heavy casualties.

This was clearly a premeditated, planned attack and ambush!

They were not clear what on earth had happened outside the city. After they had requested instructions from their superiors, the officer had not sent any more troops, but had stayed in place and had waited for new instructions.

By the time new reinforcements had set out from Zhuolan, and had arrived at the scene of the incident three or four hours later, besides a ground full of shell casings, and also blood, and some burned bodies, there was nothing else...

This matter was quickly reported back to the Rapa’s Presidential Palace. Diego, after hearing it, couldn’t help but show an annoyed expression.

Ever since the federal people had set their sights on the Yalan region, the troublesome matters here had been getting more and more, and more and more!

He even had a thought of also wanting to go to the Federation to study.

At least after defecting to the Federation, he wouldn’t have to be so annoyed.

He wanted to reach up and tear his hair, but in the end, he had given up.

Seeing President Diego in such pain, Fernandez said, ”There are their people in the Presidential Palace, or rather, the army... in the Ministry of Defense.”

When he had said this, Fernandez had felt a trace of an... awkward feeling that he couldn’t describe.

After coming to Rapa, and having intervened in the work of the government here, he had finally realized how terrible the situation here was.

Before, Diego had only had a little over 30,000 troops in his hands. The so-called Ministry of Defense, the military, was actually just a decoration!

They had no training plans, no logistical support, had never studied strategy or tactics, and were not even sure how a battle, a war, should be fought.

Perhaps to swarm up and then to shoot with their weapons held high was their tactic.

Their daily task was to sit together and chat, or to go out together to enjoy, to shop, to visit the brothels.

He was talking about these officers here.

They were too lax. The reason why they could become generals, become officers, was not because they themselves were so outstanding, but purely because they had gained Diego’s trust.

But it was under such circumstances that there were traitors in the military, which was something he had not expected.

Diego had not reacted at first, but soon he had realized what Fernandez was saying. He held his head in his hands, and a painful expression had appeared on his face.

His eyes had become bloodshot. ”On what basis do you say that?”

Fernandez had thrown the simple report in his hand back onto the table. Their military officers didn’t even know how to write a report. These reports were still written by the military officers he had brought back from Jede.

On it, it had briefly described what had happened, the situation at the scene, and the officer’s handling method.

Everything was very appropriate. A new batch of supplies had already begun to be transported, this time with more soldiers.

Diego had wanted to know if Fernandez had any thoughts on this group of people who had attacked the transport team, but Fernandez had instead told him that in the Presidential Palace, or in the military, there were people from the anti-government armed forces.

Fernandez shook his head. ”This doesn’t need evidence, Mr. President.”

”What the transport team was transporting, from what place to what place, and at what time, how many people were escorting, these are all confidential to the outside world. Only the internal people know.”

”People in the military, some people in the Presidential Palace, but you see, those anti-government armed forces, they probably knew their transport route and transport time even earlier than the soldiers on this mission. Do you still think this was just an accident?”

Fernandez shook his head. ”This was not an accident!”

Diego was listening to his explanation, not knowing what he was thinking.

After a long while, he had finally asked, ”Have you encountered such problems in your development?”

Fernandez nodded. ”Jede also had such a period. We solved all the problems very well.”

The Jede Republic had also, before, had a very fierce ideological competition, because the current president and the former president had wanted to comprehensively learn from the federal social system, and to delegate a considerable part of the power that was tightly held in the hands of the privileged class, the ruling class.

This had harmed the interests of a part of the people, so a similar incident had also happened in the country, but it was not as severe as Rapa at this time.

In the end, the president’s part had defeated the other part, and had confirmed the Jede Republic’s reform plan, which had also, in a certain sense, allowed it to achieve ”greatness.”

So when it came to this, Fernandez did seem to have a lot of experience.

”The most important thing now is to, as much as possible, to find out the turncoats who are hiding in the Presidential Palace, and the military.”

”Especially in some very key departments, like the Presidential Palace’s secretariat. Your people, whom you think you can trust, all need to be screened.”

”If they always grasp our specific movements, then I can only say, even if the best general comes to command this battle, the final result will be the same.”

”While we are fighting them blindfolded, our opponents are, on the contrary, competing with us with their eyes open.”

”In a boxing ring, a blind man can never win against an opponent who has no bottom line, and has good eyesight.”

”Even if this blind man was once a professional boxer.”

”Even if his opponent is just an amateur boxer.”

Diego had already understood. He rubbed his temples. Those who had gone to the Federation to study and inspect, were basically all people who had already defected to the Federation.

The reason why he had not dealt with them now was to avoid a greater internal turmoil.

These people were not just a single individual. They often represented some forces. If he were to deal with them now, it was very likely that it would force the forces behind them to stand with the anti-government armed forces.

So Fernandez’s advice to him was to temporarily not to touch these people. After the civil war had achieved a phased victory, then they would come, step by step.

But now it seemed that it was not okay not to deal with them.

They all knew that it looked like this was an incident of an anti-government armed force hijacking a government transport team, but in fact, it all had a very direct relationship with the federal people behind them.

If it weren’t for the federal people, let alone a civil war, these anti-government armed forces would not even exist.

Diego asked, ”What do you plan to do?”

”Kill them?”

Fernandez shook his head. ”No, not so intense. Find something for them to do, so that they have no chance to continue to care about our work.”

”This way, it will not cause their excessive resentment, which would lead to a turmoil in the high-level, and it can also solve our current problem.”

He was in the middle of saying these words to Diego when suddenly the phone rang.

”Sorry, I have to take this call.”

This was Fernandez’s office. He had invited Diego over because he wanted to start to rectify the Presidential Palace, and he would definitely need Diego’s authorization.

Diego was a very emotional person. The people in the Presidential Palace were all people he trusted.

When he could trust these people, he would show that kind of unconditional trust, just as he didn’t believe that these people could harm him.

For example, Gomez. So many of the funds and projects in his hands were all completed through Gomez. When he did not suspect Gomez, he had completely trusted him.

But once he had begun to suspect, then he would find a way to kill all these people, as long as he could prove that these people had really done something to let him down.

So to rectify the Presidential Palace, it was possible that it would touch on some of Diego’s more sensitive feelings, and would give him an illusion—

Is Fernandez doing this with some kind of a motive? So he had to explain it clearly to Diego.

Diego nodded. He did not leave, but just sat there, watching Fernandez take the call.

He was the supreme ruler of this country. He didn’t think there were any secrets that needed to be kept from him.

Fernandez had glanced at Diego twice, and had sighed that reincarnation was indeed a technical skill.

Then he had put his attention on the content in the receiver.

The call was from Jede. The other party had told him a very important thing.

From today on, the Federation would no longer sell standard-specification bullets to the Yalan League region, but would instead sell bullets of a smaller caliber.

In other words, all the current weapons of the Yalan League would no longer be able to get matching ammunition from the Federation.

”When did this happen?” he asked in a low voice.

The voice in the receiver was a little panicked. ”It’s been rumored for the past few days, but today the federal government has officially implemented this policy.”

Fernandez took a deep breath, a pained expression on his face.

He was not surprised, because this was the meaning of a technological monopoly. This was one of the reasons why the Federation had invested so much in science and technology every year.

Once something unpleasant happens, they can directly cut off the supply, to increase the pressure, and even to increase their own war potential.

”What is the discussion in the office?” he couldn’t help but take out a cigarette, and then he had glanced at President Diego.

President Diego was also looking at him, which had made him a little embarrassed. He could only force a smile, and then turned his head to look at other places.

”The president has already gathered the domestic industrial experts, and is in the process of discussing the possibility of us producing our own bullets.”

Fernandez sighed when he heard this. ”Alright, I know. Call me anytime if there is any further news.”

Although he was not in Jede, he knew that this discussion would definitely not have any positive results.

They can’t produce it.

Diego, seeing him hang up, had asked with some curiosity, ”You look very frustrated.”

Fernandez suddenly didn’t know how to tell Diego. To arm 200,000 soldiers might sound like a very simple matter.

First, find 200,000 people, and then give them a full set of equipment, weapons, ammunition, and then after a simple training, send them to the battlefield.

But in fact, it was not that simple.

Even if everyone only fired one shot, that was 200,000 bullets.

On the battlefield, soldiers can’t just fire one shot. It is very likely that in one battle, they can use up tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of bullets.

Rapa’s ammunition reserve was actually not very large. Once the battle became fierce, their bullets would soon be consumed.

At that time, how would they fight against the anti-government armed forces?

The federal people will definitely continue to transport standard-specification bullets to the anti-government armed forces. The thought of this had suddenly made Fernandez also have the pained and annoyed expression that Diego had had.

Why, why must the federal people set their sights on this land?