Chapter 607 - 551: The Battle Begins!

Barrett was deeply troubled.

He stayed by Song Heping's side to undertake a surveillance role.

From the start, when Kelly attempted to collaborate with Song Heping, she had already planned to plant an undercover operative by his side.

For an outsider who isn't within their own system, cooperation is possible, but one must always be on guard.

For the CIA, it is acceptable for someone to be the fall guy, but it must be a fall guy they can control.

And one who can be disavowed at a critical moment with all the blame dumped on them.

Unexpectedly, Barrett suddenly realized that he couldn't fathom Song Heping at all.

This person's actions often defied expectations.

Like how he dealt with the four major families this time.

According to the CIA's deductions, Song Heping would ally with Shorty to fight a life-or-death battle with the four major families, and whichever side failed, it would not be detrimental to the CIA.

For after a brutal firefight, both sides were sure to be weakened.

What Kelly wanted was for all the Cartel organizations in Mexico to be embroiled in a long and brutal strife.

Only when they were completely exhausted would it be the optimal time for the CIA to intervene again.

Unexpectedly, Song Heping did not choose to engage in direct combat, but instead played a counter-espionage move.

This was almost an unsolvable overt conspiracy.

Infighting finally erupted within the Gulf Group.

Sanchez and Spencer finally made their move against Lascano.

Just this night, in Tamaulipas State of Mexico, where the Gulf Group's headquarters were located, the military and police departments deployed over two thousand personnel, clearing out seven drug and weapons warehouses.

These drug and weapons warehouses were all controlled by the Los Zetas Organization, and in one night, the Los Zetas Organization suffered heavy losses.

"Boss, there's trouble!"

As Lascano was grim-faced, watching the military and police officers smash his drug warehouses and arms depots around the country on TV, a subordinate charged in.

"There are cops all around us!"

"I know." Lascano wasn't panicked, his expression ominously dark: "Sanchez, that swine, is going to make a move on us. Notify our brothers, execute the retreat plan!"

"Understood, Boss!"

The subordinate turned and left.

Lascano quickly went into his bedroom, opened a closet door, and twisted the secret door inside.

The wooden closet swung open, revealing the weapon cabinet hidden behind it.

Inside, all kinds of individual soldier equipment were complete.

Lascano put on his tactical vest at the fastest speed, slotted in the body armor plates, which were all pre-arranged and just needed to be worn simply.

Pistol, assault rifle, night vision goggles, gas mask…

This time he did not dare to forget the gas mask.

Hand grenades, shock bombs, smoke bombs…

He hung them all up.

After grabbing his equipment, he turned and left the room, planting trap mines as booby traps before exiting.

Finally, he took a look around his surroundings.

Having lived here for over two years, he did have some attachment.

Then he turned downstairs and headed straight for the lobby on the first floor.

The core members were all waiting in the lobby, and in the courtyard outside, henchmen were piling up sandbags next to the walls and setting up machine guns, ready to defend to the death.

"Is everyone ready?"

"Ready."

"You should all know what to do, I won't say more."

Lascano's gaze swept over everyone present.

Those who could stay here were his trusted confidants.

They were all core members with code names starting with Z.

All former Special Forces.

"Z8, sound the alarm, repel them."

"Z9, activate the self-destruct mechanism, give them a big surprise when the time comes."

"Yes!"

"Yes!"

Each person hesitated not at all.

These guys were all former Special Forces and tactical police personnel.

They were a cut above the average gang member in terms of obedience and execution, and they were desperados. When they took off their military and police uniforms and joined the Los Zetas Organization, they would commit a murder as per the organization's demands, usually assassinating a government official or a police officer.

This was a mandatory process and also their pledge of allegiance.

Therefore, these people had no way out.

Either glorious wealth or a dead end.

After issuing the orders, Lascano said to the others, "We can't linger here any longer. The perimeter has spotted police traces. We must retreat immediately. The life and death of our brothers depend on whether our detachment can complete the mission as planned. Move!"

With a wave of his hand, he turned around and led the team towards the basement.

Meanwhile, several dozen members of the Los Zetas Organization were still in the building.

They were left under the command of Z8 and Z9 for the operation.

More than twenty other members of the Los Zetas Organization entered the basement, then opened the pre-prepared secret passage and entered without hesitation.

This tunnel had been constructed after they occupied the place, so secret that even the Gulf Group was unaware of it.

It ingeniously ran from east to west through a corner of the slums, but whether the exit had broken out of the cordon of the military and police, no one knew.

Therefore, the timing for evacuation was also critical.

As Lascano and his twenty-plus men were sprinting through the tunnel, on a street near the headquarters of the Los Zetas Organization, an armored personnel carrier led by the military police, followed by a team of SWAT, was slowly advancing down the street.

The impoverished residents of Mexico's slums were no strangers to such military-police firefights.

Everyone promptly shut their windows and doors, hiding at home, just waiting for the gunfire to subside.

At the same time, on three streets in three directions towards the Los Zetas Organization headquarters, three equally equipped SWAT teams were slowly advancing.

Once inside the neighborhood, Team A's SWAT leader contacted the operation command center from inside the armored vehicle.

"Team A has entered the neighborhood."

"Team B has entered."

"Team C is making smooth progress; has entered the neighborhood and encountered no attacks."

"Command received, cut the power now, and continue to advance with caution."

Snap—

The already sparse streetlights suddenly flickered, then went out all together.

At this moment, the entire neighborhood was like a massive tomb, with all the participating SWAT members pulling down night vision goggles from their helmets, entering night vision mode.

The armored vehicle continued its slow advance, like a cautious old ox.

When Team A advanced to a point 800 meters from the Los Zetas headquarters building, suddenly one of the SWAT officers shouted out—

"Second floor on the right!"

Followed by immediate gunfire.

Pa-pa-pa—

Pa-pa-pa—

The first shot finally rang out.

At the same time, a member of Los Zetas suddenly appeared on the left building, shouldering an RPG launcher, aiming at the leading armored vehicle, and pulling the trigger.

Swoosh—

A rocket illuminated the darkness.

The distance of less than 50 meters was covered in an instant.

"RPG!"

The Team A leader warned over the channel and led his men to retreat to the wall of a building on the street.

Boom—

The rocket hit the armored vehicle squarely, and flames shot out of the crevices.

"Team A has encountered the enemy!"

Subsequently, the SWAT officers immediately took cover behind nearby buildings and opened fire on the building.

"Backup!"

"Backup!"

"Backup!"

The channel was filled with tactical terminology; all teams were under attack and requesting immediate reinforcements.

Actually, such Vanguard Teams are just cannon fodder.

They are used to detect enemy ambushes.

Once the enemy is discovered, the main force immediately reacts.

Sure enough, a UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter soon appeared in the night sky, with the machine gunner at the hatch controlling the M60 machine gun, starting to go into a frenzy firing at Los Zetas members on the rooftops.

In the sky, tracer bullets streaked by, leaving smooth trajectories.

A member of Los Zetas on the rooftop was unable to dodge in time and was hit by dense 7.62 caliber bullets, blood and flesh flying everywhere, and the body was flung down the stairs, landing with a thud not far from the ground attacking team.

The ground SWAT support forces began to advance.

They could see the enemy's fire points from the front exchange of gunfire.

The reinforcements arriving in armored vehicles didn't dare come too close this time, starting to use the heavy roof-mounted guns for covering fire from a distance.

For a time, gunshots were deafening everywhere.