421: Chapter Four Hundred and Eighteen: The Little Friends 421: Chapter Four Hundred and Eighteen: The Little Friends From Sirte, Gao Yang gained a deeper understanding of the conflict between Teodulo and Pailano.
As anti-government armed forces, and also drug lords, Pailano’s status was much higher than Teodulo’s before the latter rose to power, because Pailano not only controlled the largest cocaine plantation in southwestern Colombia but also had a critical factor in his hands—an outlet to the sea.
Teodulo was originally in charge of one front of the FAEC organization, commanding merely a hundred or so soldiers.
However, this man was very ambitious and quite capable, and relying on his own abilities and ruthless style, Teodulo grew from a front leader of the FAEC to the big boss of the regional front.
For the Colombian anti-government armed forces, which were loosely organized and had gradually evolved into drug trafficking organizations, it was normal for those in the same organization to conduct their own business dealings, and it wasn’t surprising for internal conflicts to occur.
However, openly seizing territories was a taboo.
Therefore, after growing into the big boss of the regional front, or one of the FAEC’s leading figures, the daring and combative Teodulo set his sights on Pailano.
Belonging to different camps, Teodulo had no hesitation in attacking Pailano.
And though Pailano controlled a larger territory, had more people, and more money, he couldn’t withstand Teodulo’s superior warfare skills, especially since Teodulo was willing to spend all his resources to hire several powerful Mercenary Groups to fight for him.
Teodulo quickly defeated Pailano, taking over most of the cocaine plantations and even Pailano’s seaport.
Pailano, unwilling to accept defeat, launched several counterattacks.
However, his luck was poor, because Teodulo had found the Angel Mercenary Corps.
With the aid of the Angel Mercenary Corps, Teodulo’s battles became stronger and his power larger, while Pailano had no choice but to withdraw into the rainforest.
He lost almost all towns and plantations to Teodulo, and his money and personnel dwindled with every battle.
Seeing his imminent demise and unable to win on the battlefield, Pailano gambled everything in an attempt to hire a Mercenary Group to execute a “capture the leader first” strategy.
By killing Teodulo, he believed there was still a chance to turn things around.
Hence, the Satan Mercenary Corps came to Colombia.
The current situation was that after Teodulo seized the town of Santo Onos, pushing forward to completely eliminate Pailano would mean he had taken all of Pailano’s territories, allowing him to unify his entire domain.
The rainforest was not suitable for human habitation, so human settlements were scarce.
The geographical position of Santo Onos was very important.
Moreover, being far from all major cities, it was a place the government forces could not control effectively.
Teodulo could use the town’s population to support a large plantation.
Additionally, taking the final battle seriously, he not only brought the Angel Mercenary Corps but also personally established a camp near Santo Onos.
Teodulo chose not to settle in the town itself, but to clear a camp in the nearby rainforest, mainly to avoid government forces, which could do nothing to him in the forest.
However, if he dared to stay in town, he might be at risk of an airstrike or a decapitation action by the government forces.
The camp of Teodulo was less than three miles from Santo Onos, around four kilometers to be exact.
This distance wasn’t far, and with a road built by Teodulo and his men, the Satan Mercenaries, without any rest and determined not to abort the mission, set out immediately for Santo Onos.
Gao Yang and his group set out from the camp at two-thirty in the morning and reached the outskirts of Santo Onos as the sky began to brighten at four-thirty.
As they approached the town, the trees of the rainforest thinned out.
After spotting the houses of Santo Onos, Gao Yang and his group stopped thirty hundred meters away from the town, leaving the path and concealing themselves in the woods.
In the early morning, Santo Onos was shrouded in a layer of mist, which appeared vaguely beautiful yet obstructed Gao Yang’s vision.
The town seemed very calm.
After observing for a while and finding nothing of value, Gao Yang said to Lucica, who had been following him closely, “Are you familiar with this place?”
Lucica shook her head and replied, “None of us have been here, and those who were familiar with this place are dead.”
Shrugging helplessly, Gao Yang turned to Sirte and said, “You must have been to this town before, so give us an introduction.”
As Sirte began sketching a map of Santo Onos on the ground, he said, “I have indeed been here, but my knowledge is limited.
This town has about a thousand inhabitants, with a highway leading to Santiago, approximately two hundred forty kilometers away.
It does not belong to the Caqueta River system, and I don’t know where it leads.
To the west of the town, the terrain rises into mountains, which are excellent for cocaine cultivation.
In short, this town is extremely remote.
More than fifty percent of the town’s population is Indigenous, and the rest are mostly of Indigenous mixed descent.
They are not valued by anyone, so the place is very poor, extremely poor.
However, the people here are quite fierce, and as long as you pay them, they are willing to do anything.
For whoever controls this place, cultivating cocaine is their only source of income.
The government does not allow cocaine cultivation, so the people have no love for the government forces.
As for the terrain, there’s not much to say.
The buildings here are very chaotic.
I haven’t been all over the town; I’ve only drawn the main road, which is the only place I’m familiar with.
Here, in the southwest corner of the town is the best construction, and I think Teodulo will be staying there.”
Additionally, there’s a lake to the southwest of the small town, and the town’s two water planes are on that lake.
The building Teodulo is most likely to occupy is right next to the dock where the water planes are usually moored,” said Gao Yang.
After getting a rough understanding of the town’s layout, Gao Yang nodded and smiled, “You’ve been quite detailed.
So, where do you suggest we enter from?”
Sirte pointed to the northern end of the map he had drawn and said, “Here, relatively speaking, the least likely place for Teodulo to appear is here.”
Gao Yang pondered for a moment before lifting his head and speaking in a deep voice, “It’s still early, and there aren’t many people up in town yet.
We need to hurry and enter the town to ask around.
As long as Teodulo is here and if circumstances permit, we can choose the timing and mode of our attack to take out Teodulo.
If we don’t have the liberty to choose, then we’ll decide based on the circumstances whether to launch an assault or abort the mission and retreat.
Does anyone have any opinions or suggestions?”
After mulling it over for a bit, Glolov shook his head and said, “There are no better options.
I have no objections.”
Everyone else also expressed no objections, and Gao Yang immediately said, “Good, we must hurry now.
Let’s move out immediately.”
The whole team swiftly set off, approaching the northernmost end of Santo Onos town.
Li Jinfang was in the lead, but this time the team didn’t spread out very far, with the line of thirteen men compressed within twenty meters.
As they emerged from the rainforest onto the cleared space at the edge of the small town, they came upon a muddy path.
Li Jinfang picked up his pace and started to jog towards the small town, but as he was about to reach the nearest yard, he suddenly raised his arm to signal a warning and quickly aimed his rifle at a clump of grass by the roadside.
Gao Yang followed Li Jinfang’s direction and looked over, only to see a figure swaying to their feet from the roadside brush.
After raising his weapon, Gao Yang could make out clearly that the figure standing was a child.
The child appeared to be about seven or eight years old, an Indigenous person, wearing an oversized T-shirt full of holes that covered down to the child’s knees, making the child resemble someone wearing a dress.
The child rubbed his face, yawned, and despite being aimed at by several dark gun muzzles, didn’t seem scared at all.
Instead, he appeared rather intrigued, examining Gao Yang and his companions with a look of curiosity.
In the rainforest, the humidity is extremely high, and the child’s clothes were soaked and clung to his body.
Hence, even though the child appeared to be sleeping by the roadside, Gao Yang felt it was unlikely for anyone, especially a child, to sleep on the open ground outdoors.
Gao Yang immediately said, “Lucica, ask him what he’s doing here and why he’s here.”
Lucica spoke a few sentences in Spanish and then reported to Gao Yang, “He says he’s been sleeping here.
He also asked if we are government forces.”
Gao Yang shook his head and then said, “Why would he be sleeping here?
I don’t think that’s likely.
Tell him to be clear about it.”
After Lucica inquired further, she said gravely, “His dad was going to beat him, so he ran out and just found a place to sleep outside the town for the night.
He often does this.”
A seven or eight-year-old child wouldn’t pose much of a threat, and by now, a few others had spread out to search the area near the child without finding anything suspicious.
It was just a runaway child they had come across, but the child could prove to be useful.
Gao Yang promptly said, “Ask him if he knows the whereabouts of Teodulo and his men.”
After Lucica asked a long question, the child nodded and then stretched his hand out towards Gao Yang, babbling a few words.
Lucica translated, “He says he knows where the people you are asking about have gone, but if you want to know, you have to give him something in return.”
Gao Yang didn’t hesitate and replied, “Tell him that if he shares what he knows with us, I will give him money.” (To be continued.
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