Rise of the Argentine Empire

Saint Hérissé waited for the commander at the Akelarre Hotel, having splurged on a large private room.

The decor of the Akelarre Hotel hadn't changed much. It had been more than half a year since the last banquet, and the staff here seemed to have been completely replaced, which was a bit strange.

Saint Hérissé sat in the private room, quietly waiting for the commander's arrival. This time, to take down the so-called "Byrd Brotherhood" who dared to reach into Saint Hérissé's factory, he needed the commander's support.

At eight o'clock, Colonel Thompson Jr., no, it should be General Thompson Jr., yes, General Thompson Jr., had been promoted again. He was to be transferred to the Ministry of Defense soon, which was probably one reason why the "Byrd Brotherhood" was becoming increasingly rampant, taking advantage of the power transition to go wild.

This was information obtained from colleagues in the General Staff. The new commander of the Eighth Brigade was Colonel Martin, the original head of the National Defense Forces, someone Saint Hérissé felt somewhat uncomfortable with. He had jointly presided over military exercises with Thompson Jr. and narrowly lost to Saint Hérissé. Of course, Saint Hérissé was already preparing to go to school. Resolving this matter would be a good opportunity to leave Córdoba first, to avoid being targeted.

It seemed the Ministry of Defense had many tricks up its sleeve to incorporate the city defense forces. It was a pity that President Perón's efforts to seize military power seemed to be of little use. It seemed that those military personnel were the very ones who overthrew Perón. The enemy was within.

Thompson Jr. had changed into plain clothes, making him look much more approachable. He sat down, accompanied by his confidential secretary, Kane Trues, his chief steward.

"Commander, congratulations on your promotion," Saint Hérissé hurriedly poured a glass of wine for the commander and Kane respectively, then raised his glass in a gesture. Saint Hérissé was somewhat clumsy with these Western etiquettes.

"Little Hérissé, how did your entrance exam for the University of Buenos Aires go?" Thompson Jr. didn't pay much attention to these details, but instead asked about Saint Hérissé's entrance exam.

"Thank you for your concern, Commander. I passed," Saint Hérissé also looked a little excited.

"Well, not bad, remarkable. Do you have any ideas for the future, such as becoming a lawyer? I remember you applied to the Law School," he said with admiration. Getting into the University of Buenos Aires was indeed good. He stroked his mustache and spoke in the tone of a lecturer in class, making Saint Hérissé feel that the commander at this time was a rigid teacher.

"I will study hard in the future and strive to join the army again after graduation, or pass the national civil service exam and serve the country. Being a lawyer is not what I want," Saint Hérissé considered for a moment and spoke his inner thoughts.

"Okay, not bad... okay," Thompson Jr.'s expression didn't change much, but the slightly upturned mustache clearly showed that he was quite satisfied with Saint Hérissé's answer.

"If you have time recently, you can come to my house and chat with my son. I'm very worried about his studies. It's okay if he can get into a university like the Technological University. Just tell Kane about the time," Thompson Jr. said with a smile. Saint Hérissé didn't expect Commander Thompson's son to be about to go to college.

"Okay, okay, I will find time."

Then it was time for small talk.

"Cheers to the great Argentine Republic..."

"Cheers to the great Argentine Republic..."

It could be seen that Thompson Jr. was indeed a great patriot, at least in Saint Hérissé's view.

"By the way, Commander, do you know about a large criminal group that has appeared in the city?" Saint Hérissé asked.

"Oh? I haven't heard much about that. Kane, do you know anything about it?" Thompson Jr. shook his head and turned to look at Kane.

"Commander, it seems to be a local gang that has been making a lot of trouble recently," Kane also knew about this.

"Is there anyone supporting them from behind?" Thompson Jr. keenly grasped the key point.

"Hehe, the commander knows me best," Saint Hérissé scratched his head and touched his nose.

"I want to uproot this criminal group completely. These gangsters have seriously disturbed the normal life of the citizens, and it's also a provocation to you, Commander. There must be no tolerance for these corrupt elements' protectors."

"Commander, I want to bring in a few Italian cannons. I think they must have weapons of mass destruction... very dangerous, um," Saint Hérissé blurted out, but stopped before he could finish, as if he had said something wrong.

"Uh, are you kidding?" Thompson Jr. was taken aback, his tone suddenly rising. To deal with a small gang, he needed to deploy cannons. This wasn't something a normal person would think of. Had he misjudged this person? Was he some kind of fool?

"Yes,... Commander... a little joke, hehe," it was completely a slip of the tongue. Damn memory, he almost forgot that this wasn't New China, and the person sitting in front of him wasn't a silly netizen.

"Okay, you scared me. Just take ordinary, conventional weapons. No heavy weapons are allowed. Don't make too much of a fuss. You can call Kane then. I'm afraid you'll be too heavy-handed," Thompson Jr. suddenly felt a little uneasy, put out his cigarette, and thought it was better to be cautious, sending the seemingly honest Kane to keep an eye on him.

"Commander, don't worry, I'm a civilized person. The people in the General Staff are all civilized people," Saint Hérissé patted his chest and promised, emphasizing.

"Haha, you little rascal, go ahead and do it. Or should I transfer the people from the original Ninth Detachment to you? Oh right, it's now reorganized into the Ninth Company. That should be enough, right?" Although Thompson Jr. didn't think much of the small gang, he thought Saint Hérissé was just a novice and felt it was better to be cautious.

"Commander, that's definitely enough. This time, just allocate two squads to me, and I'll definitely do a beautiful job," Saint Hérissé excitedly rubbed his palms. That was more than five hundred people. Too many would make it difficult to cause trouble and command. Saint Hérissé's impression of the Argentine army remained at the lackluster situation of later generations and didn't dare to trust too many, even though Commander Thompson could be considered a relatively normal Argentine leader.

Two squads, more than a hundred people, were more than enough to wipe out a gang of several hundred.

Then, he briefly communicated the specific procedures with Kane. This involved mobilizing the army, which required due process. Ironically, Kane's plan was even more radical, which was quite baffling. Little Thompson began to suspect that his subordinates might have been hiding their true selves too well, one by one.

Soon, a military operation codenamed "Project Thunderbolt" was born, fully utilizing the brains of Saint Herse's keyboard warriors. It incorporated elements of counterinsurgency, feints, pinpoint breakthroughs, and even some special operations tactics.

Little Thompson finally nodded in satisfaction after reviewing the preliminary plan. This subordinate indeed possessed military talent and wasn't just spouting nonsense. Little Thompson had almost been dissuaded by Saint Herse's later jokes, wondering if he had misjudged the man.

The deduction was quite good. Although it was evident that it was still somewhat immature, he didn't point it out. A fledgling eagle needs experience to master the sky, and soldiers won't grow without the baptism of actual combat.

......

Meanwhile, within the city, the "Byrd Brotherhood's" Wanderer Bar served as an important stronghold.

Saint Herse's old nemesis, Champs, was getting handsy with a woman. He had been holding back for too long, as his wife had gone to the capital, providing the perfect opportunity for some mischief. Sitting across from him was the infamous "Mad Dog Rooney," and next to him was Abraham Beale, the Deputy Director of the Police Department, a tall, thin man with a gloomy expression.

"Mad Dog Rooney" was rumored to be of Italian descent, around thirty years old, wearing a white tank top and a gold chain around his neck. He had a centipede-shaped scar on his face, a burly build, and a somewhat cruel look in his eyes. He grew up in an orphanage and dropped out of school to join the Boy Scouts.

Now, he had risen to become the leader of the "Byrd Brotherhood" in Ke City, a notorious underground figure, an uncrowned king. After all, Ke City only had a few local small gangs, like the small-time thugs Saint Herse encountered at the vegetable market with Old Chen.

The "Byrd Brotherhood" was considered a large-scale criminal gang, with its own division of labor and cooperation. They even started dealing drugs, becoming infamous and posing a great threat. The city was very fearful of this gang but helpless, as even the Police Department protected them.

Abraham Beale was of Jewish descent, backed by Jewish financial groups, and was also a former Mossad informant. Saint Herse only learned about this later.

Since the establishment of Israel, Jewish influence in the United States had expanded greatly, controlling most of the nation's propaganda newspapers. Argentina was also an important development target for Israelis, a truly vampiric nation.

As for Champs, he was Saint Herse's old rival, although he hadn't caused too much trouble.

"Rooney, you need to pay close attention to that Plari factory."

"I've already had my men take care of it. It's not a big deal, just a small factory."

"You don't have to worry when the Brotherhood handles things. We're absolutely reliable. Those people have already been threatened. The security personnel have been hospitalized, and some are even in jail."

"That's good. Let's see how that kid fights me," Champs' mustache twitched, his face full of smugness. Last time someone saved Saint Herse, but this time, he was going to strike at the root of the problem.

"Oh, right, someone went to bail them out today, after all, they didn't really break the law," Abraham said, putting his arms around the girl next to him and getting handsy.

"It's okay, it's just a few people. I'll have my men bring more people and chop them up," Mad Dog Rooney said nonchalantly, taking a sip of tequila.

"Boss, it's been taken care of," the second-in-command of the Byrd Brotherhood pushed the door open and whispered in Mad Dog Rooney's ear during the conversation.

"They've all been taken care of. Those people have already been fed to the pigs, without a trace."

"Okay, you let the brothers go to the "dance hall" to have some fun, as a token of my appreciation."

"Alright, Boss."

"Mad Dog Rooney" also wore a crazy smile on his face, looked at the person across from him, and took a sip of Bloody Mary, his favorite drink.

Now, the "Byrd Brotherhood" in Ke City had grown to more than two hundred thugs and had also ventured into other industries, living very well. As for those who resisted, they were really fed to the pigs.

......

The next morning, Saint Herse boiled eggs, cut bacon, spread salad dressing on toast, and ate breakfast while reading the newspaper.

"The Buda Admission Officially Concludes."

"Three southern Brazilian states attempt to hold an independence referendum, suppressed by the Brazilian military authorities." These three states have a population of more than ten million, close to the entire population of Argentina, with a total area of 570,000 square kilometers.

"The 17th Horse Racing Festival Concludes."

"The Byrd Brotherhood Organized, Multiple Locals Report to the Police," What's the use? Their backer is the police station.

Saint Herse leisurely finished breakfast.

......

Saint Herse took the procedures approved by the commander and came to the Eighth Brigade barracks. The barracks had changed a lot.

Saint Herse almost didn't recognize it.

"Boss, are you here to see me?" Aragon's voice.

"Yes, I came specifically to take a look."

"Beep beep beep, emergency assembly," the Ninth Battalion seemed to have received orders.

The Ninth Battalion had been reorganized into the Ninth Battalion of the Eighth Brigade, still the brothers who trained together.

"Hello everyone, tonight our Ninth Battalion has a secret military operation."

"The total number of the Ninth Battalion is 507, with 507 actually present, report complete," the Ninth Battalion commander gave a military salute.

Although Saint Herse was not the battalion commander, the commander personally ordered it, so he had to cooperate.

Saint Herse made an emergency deployment and prepared the equipment.

He also went to the warehouse to collect a batch of guns to prevent the "Byrd Brotherhood" from having firearms and ammunition, causing unnecessary losses.

Looking at the energetic Ninth Battalion, Aragon had also become more solid and capable of standing alone.

Tonight was a military operation to encircle and suppress the "Byrd Brotherhood" criminal organization.

It was estimated that they didn't have many guns, so Saint Herse made a double insurance.

This time, these lawbreakers would be dealt with once and for all. Aragon had made great progress, constantly revising and correcting the plan.

Everyone was eager to wipe out the criminal gang. They were familiar with this kind of thing.

The people from the other battalions looked on enviously. In peacetime, it was too difficult to earn military merits.

Killing a chicken requires a butcher's knife to be enjoyable.

The people from the Byrd Brotherhood were still indulging in pleasure, unaware that a crisis of life and death was approaching them.

......