Shadow Empire - Chapter 953 Country or Family?

President Diego did not talk about whether it was a good thing or a bad thing for the federals to come here to invest and build factories, because any ruler, even if he is not very smart, will understand that this is definitely not a bad thing.

So after Minister Label mentioned that Lance was trying to control a part of the area in order to stabilize the factory's production, Diego did not ask any further questions.

Because there is no point in asking further questions. Since the federals have already decided to handle this matter themselves, will it be useful even if he objects?

It doesn't seem to be of any use.

Sometimes, when it’s late at night and everyone is asleep, he would think about everything that has happened during this period, and he would feel a very inexplicable emotion.

Being a president in such a backward and poor small country is actually worse than being born in a wealthy family in the federation.

At least the wealthy people living in the Federation never had to worry like he did, wondering whether their rule and power would be stolen by thieves.

For the next period of time, Diego focused on dealing with the anti-government armed forces. His continuous conscription around the Zhuolan area greatly increased the number of troops under his command.

Pedro's power is still expanding in an orderly manner. They did not take over many cities immediately. Instead, they controlled the surrounding villages and towns around Sege City. Up to now, they only have one city, Sege, which is not considered a big city.

But no one would underestimate their strength. Not only did they seize a batch of military supplies from the Lapa government forces, they also had several field artillery.

They have become an anti-government armed force with "offensive" capabilities, so Diego focused his attention on the group that currently claims to be the second largest revolutionary force in Lapa, that is, Ross's group.

Ross has led his followers to occupy three cities. Ross's approach is completely different from Pedro's. They are expanding madly.

Of course, the ability to capture these cities so quickly was also related to the Great Famine.

Now most cities in Lapa are in famine. Even if they have no weapons, they can easily conquer one city after another.

It's just obvious that Ross hasn't thought one thing through, that is, he has taken over three cities, but whether he has the ability and materials to manage the three cities well is still a question and an unknown.

Diego's decision to attack Ross was obviously based on planning and consideration. He would attack some of them while their men were separated in three cities. This would definitely not be a difficult battle.

If we fail again this time, the situation in Lapa may slide into a direction that no one knows.

In early June, Diego commissioned a lieutenant general of the Lapa Army to lead 20,000 men to attack a city that was said to be defended by less than a thousand people.

The battle broke out on June 8th and 9th. Reporters from the Lans Newspaper, neighboring countries, the Asian Alliance, and even the Federation all rushed to the front line to collect news content.

This was the first time that Ross's men fought against the Lapa government forces. They were obviously still a little unfamiliar with the situation, and the battle was very fierce from the beginning.

However, there is a high probability that he will not get the result he wants this time.

After the last defeat, Diego asked the military to buy some materials about street fighting from the Federation. Although these materials were not very complete and detailed, they were enough for Ross, who also had no idea how street fighting should be fought!From the beginning of the firefight, the anti-government armed forces began to suffer a setback. Some of their deployments obviously did not work, such as some traps set in the room.

This time the Lapa government forces became a lot smarter. They almost never entered rooms that looked like they might have traps, or did not look like they had traps. Instead, they would first carry out a "blast" with grenades or something like that.

The vibration and fragments caused by the grenade exploding in the room were enough to activate the traps, making them almost useless in this battle.

By late June, Ross's defenders were no longer able to offer any resistance and they evacuated the city overnight.

It is said that the number of people who successfully evacuated was less than two hundred, and at least seven or eight hundred were lost in the city.

This was also a heavy blow to Ross, because he not only lost these fighters, but more importantly, he also lost the weapons they carried with them, and made some people question his decision.

This is far more unacceptable than failure!If someone dies, you can recruit him again.

But other things, such as weapons and authority, are difficult to regain once they are lost.

If they want the federal government to support them with another batch of weapons, they don’t know what kind of confusing treaty they will have to sign.

The next day, on the cruise ship heading to the federal mainland, Minister Rabbel read the news in the newspaper.

After suffering the loss of about two thousand men, the government forces of Lapa successfully recaptured the city and seized a batch of military supplies and ammunition.

His eyes quickly fell on the pictures, a large number of pictures.

The government forces lined up the bodies of the anti-government militants, and pulled out some of the "anti-government armed officers" separately, chopped off their heads, strung them up with ropes, and were held in the hands of some government officers.

There was no coding technology in that period, and even if there was, people would not know how to use it. Diego wanted to use these photos to deter the anti-government forces and make them understand that they would have to pay a price for what they were doing!

"What are you looking at?", his son came over and sat down next to him.

At any time, if any of them were hungry, they could pick up the phone and ask the kitchen to prepare a sumptuous meal for them, which would be delivered via a food truck.

If you only look at these people, you won't feel any famine at all.

They are dressed so decently that it is hard to associate them with the poverty and backwardness of Lapa.

In order to leave a good impression on the federal people this time, Minister LaBoer made several sets of formal suits for attending various occasions before leaving.

His youngest son quickly read the newspaper and smiled. "Does this mean that the situation will stabilize soon?"

He was originally considering whether to let his youngest son intern in a government department or in a capital group.

Now he has made a decision, which is to let this guy intern at Capital Group instead of going to the government.

Because he is a bit naive and not sensitive enough towards political matters.

In fact, he had other options, but his other children already had their own careers and did not need him to arrange anything.

Seeing his father remain silent, the young man became confused. "Will the situation continue to deteriorate even after the war is won?"

Minister LaBoer sighed softly, took the newspaper back, turned the page to the cruel photos, and asked, "If you were the leader, cadre, or member of the resistance army, would you lay down your weapons and surrender?"

When his son saw the photos of bodies or body parts with grotesque deaths, he realized that this newspaper would only make everything more irreparable.

Minister LaBoer shook his head. If Diego had adopted his previous idea and negotiated with these people, there might still be room for recovery.

But he only wanted to kill these people to prove that he was the master of this country, as if he had foreseen the result.

And there’s still the problem of famine that hasn’t been solved. This is a dead end!

Now he no longer thinks about these things, he only thinks about what will happen after the Federation.

However, his view was the same as that of Minister Rabul. Diego had blocked all the retreat routes of the anti-government armed forces, including his own retreat route. Even if he suddenly announced that he would not kill all the anti-government armed forces and was willing to negotiate with them and resolve some differences and disputes through negotiations, the anti-government armed forces would not believe it.

At this time, Minister LaBoer's mood was much more stable than before, and he no longer felt panic or anxiety. Everything seemed to be as stable and calm as before.

This is the confidence that comes from joining the federation!If you can't stop the executioner's weapon from falling, then you'd better become one of the executioners yourself.

He is practicing this truth.

At this time, some people are willing to do anything to survive, whether it is illegal or not.

Because in the summer, there was something to eat in the jungle and the wild, and although the problem of famine still existed, it was obviously solved to some extent.

Diego planned to use the food shipped from the Republic of Jede to win over more people. With the help of some things brought by the victory of this battle, he quickly stabilized the situation around Zhuolan, and everything seemed to be moving in a better direction.

But in fact, there are still many problems here.

In the office of the presidential palace, Diego's face did not show much joy due to the victory in the battle.

Now the total number of Lapa government troops is close to 90,000, which means that he needs to pay the salaries of 90,000 soldiers every month.

If we calculate that each person needs to pay at least eight federal soles, this would be a monthly expenditure of 720,000 federal soles.

At the same time, these people need food, drink, defecation, and training, and ammunition also requires money.

Even if the pension is squeezed a bit, at least each person should be given more than one hundred federal sols in pension.

When they attacked Ross and occupied the city, more than 2,000 people died, which means more than 200,000 yuan in pensions.

In addition, the cost of treatment is also a big expense.

Because the war between the Slade and the Dantra people has been constantly escalating, a large amount of manpower has been consumed. The soldiers who they would not choose to rescue before will now be well taken care of.

Even if the federal government is willing to sell him drugs, he will find it difficult to afford the cost of using these drugs.

Even if you use some folk remedies from local witch doctors, it still costs money.

The pressure of various expenses made him feel a little breathless.

Now he doesn't have much choice. Once the wealth worth millions of federal soles in the treasury is used up, the remaining Para will only be enough for them to last until around October.

Or Diego would have to pay for the expenses himself until the end of the war.

Or he would find a way to squeeze some money out of others to continue the war.

It is unlikely that he would be able to do this out of his own pocket, although he is not short of money.

Then there seems to be only one possibility, which is to let everyone pay together.

"The reason I called you all here this time is because there is not enough money in the treasury." Diego spoke the truth right from the start without hiding anything.

"The money in the treasury can only last until October. After October, it will be difficult for us to pay the soldiers."

"Besides, the grain harvest this year is definitely poor, so it may not be possible to supplement this part of the expenditure through grain."

This is the tragedy of a country with a single source of income. The country's income and the people's income all come from food.

If it was just a simple lack of money, they could probably deal with it by cutting spending, but now they have no room to cut and they are still in a war, so this is indeed a problem that needs to be solved.

A minister asked quietly, "Will the war not be ended before October?"

Everyone in the room looked at him at the same time, including Diego.

Diego also looked at him as if he was a fool, as if asking him if he really thought so.

"It will take at least until October next year, when the income from food is stable, before there will be a chance to solve the problem."

The minister, as if not realizing that he had asked a stupid question, asked again, "So how do you plan to solve the problem you raised?"

Diego suddenly looked annoyed, "What do you mean by 'questions I raise'?"

"I'm just bringing out this real problem right now!"

"This is my problem with all of you!"

His voice became much louder, almost to the point of banging the table.

Another minister eased the atmosphere in the conference room. "He just used the wrong word for a moment. Diego, do you have any good suggestions?"

Diego glanced at the men, "My idea is that we...split the cost equally."

Other ministers also opposed it, believing that it was not a good idea to do so. How could they ask the ministers to pay for the war when there was no money?

And this country doesn’t even belong to them!

Why should they pay?Diego was a little annoyed. "If we don't pay, who will pay?"

“Let the ordinary people who can’t even make 500 paras a month?”

The ministers all chose to remain silent. As long as it did not infringe on their interests, they could pretend not to hear.

But once their interests are harmed, they will immediately oppose it.

The occasional normality made it impossible for the entire meeting to proceed well. Until the last moment, they seemed to have forgotten that there were a large number of federal investors.

This problem might be solved if additional taxes could be levied on federal investors.

Taxing the federals?

crazy?

In the end, these people parted unhappily. According to some ministers, it is still too early for October!Let’s talk about it after October.

For the first time, Diego felt so exhausted that he sometimes wanted to give up...