Chapter 393: Military Mutiny (End)

When the first sound of an explosion rang out after nightfall, Colonel Numar, who had been feigning sleep and contemplating countermeasures in his bedroom, suddenly froze.

"An explosion? How could there be an explosion... Has Yuri finally begun his move..."

He hurriedly leaped from the bed, quickly intending to walk toward the window.

Numar's residence was located in the southwest corner of La Paz, only about a dozen kilometers from the city center.

Previously, because the authorities had detected some clues, they had suddenly used a transfer as an excuse to strip him of his military command while he was on his daily commute to the Ministry of National Defense.

The authorities clearly had not yet grasped more intelligence regarding his participation in the coup, or perhaps they were not yet certain that he was the mastermind behind this coup.

Perhaps because of these reasons, although he had been stripped of his military command and temporarily placed under house arrest, and was not even allowed to use a telephone, Numar's safety could still be guaranteed for the time being.

However, having lost all contact with the outside world for two days, Colonel Numar could not be sure if Yuri had already learned the news of his house arrest.

He had once thought about escaping through the second-floor window at night, but he soon gave up on the idea.

The authorities had clearly begun to investigate his affairs; not only had all the servants in the house been replaced with police personnel arranged by the authorities, but there was almost someone following him even when he went to the restroom.

Seeing the agreed-upon time drawing nearer and his house arrest dragging on day by day, he was increasingly worried that the authorities would soon investigate him, then transfer him to prison to await the judgment of a Military Tribunal.

Two days passed in such trepidation, so when the sound of an explosion came from outside the window, Colonel Numar only felt his nerves, which had been taut for two days, suddenly tighten, and then an incredulous smile appeared on his face.

Through the window, which had already been fitted with anti-theft bars, one could vaguely see the firelight from the explosions in the distance.

Then, one sound, two sounds...

Explosions rang out continuously, and the firelight and explosions caused this city, which had entered into dreams as midnight descended, to awaken from its slumber.

Then, the sound of air-raid sirens, the alarm bells of cars, the angry curses of neighbors, the barking of wild dogs...

This city suddenly became lively!

"Bang!"

The bedroom door was immediately pushed open, and two police personnel arranged by the authorities walked in.

When they saw Numar at the bedroom window, one of them immediately asked with an unpleasant expression: "Colonel, what are you doing?"

Seeming to confirm that Yuri and the others had started the coup ahead of schedule, Colonel Numar's expression finally had a bit more spirit than the depression and silence of the previous two days.

Being questioned by a police officer, he only smiled slightly, then gestured outside the window and said: "... Did a natural gas pipeline explode somewhere outside? I was sleeping soundly just now, and was suddenly woken up by the sound of the explosion, so I walked over to take a look!"

After speaking, without waiting for them to continue questioning, the Colonel very cooperatively walked back to the bedside and lay down.

The two police personnel looked at each other, huddled together to exchange a few words in low voices, then one person picked up an intercom and walked outside, while the other moved a stool in and stayed right there in his bedroom, seemingly with no intention of leaving at all.

Colonel Numar was somewhat displeased, but he did not say anything more.

More than a decade ago, after divorcing his first wife, he had the experience of remarrying; his second wife was a hot-bodied Argentine model, but unfortunately, she passed away in an accidental car crash only a few years after they were married.

Having reached his age, things like women had already been viewed very lightly, not to mention that his love for power was far greater than his love for women.

Over these years, Numar had been working hard to manage his own career, and even his two children did not have a very good relationship with him, instead being closer to his ex-wife.

Therefore, in this residence of the Colonel, besides himself, there were only a few servants taking care of his daily life.

Lying on the bed feigning sleep, Numar's mind, however, had completely lost all sleepiness along with the explosions that came from time to time outside the window and the noise after the entire city was awakened.

"... The coup was launched by Yuri, right?"

"I wonder if they will send people to rescue me..."

"... That explosion just now was very close, is it the Jingcha Zongbu side..."

"That poodle fed by that stupid woman Suzie is too noisy, I really want to put a bullet in it..."

While the Colonel could not hold back while waiting for rescue, what he did not know was that a battalion of mercenaries led personally by Yuri had finally arrived in the nearby area.

"Damn it, there was a car accident ahead, the intersection is blocked. Get out of the vehicles, the entire First Company, get out!"

After receiving the news from the vanguard troops several dozen meters ahead, Yuri impatiently grabbed the communicator and roared into the channel.

Although La Paz is the capital of Bolivia, the road conditions are very poor; except for the limited number of main roads in the city center that are dual-lane, the rest have a feeling of the urban-rural fringe of a third-tier county in China.

It is hard to imagine that more than three-quarters of the roads in a country's capital would be narrow single lanes, and Bolivians do not have much traffic awareness; three-wheeled motorcycles and bicycles are parked everywhere along the roadside.

When Yuri and his men entered the city, perhaps because they were wearing the Bolivian Army uniforms prepared in advance by Colonel Numar, they were not stopped by the police occasionally seen along the way; many people even tried to get close to them, asking if they had received orders to go and quell the rebellion at the Presidential Palace.

They entered the city without firing a single shot along the way, but soon the terrible traffic of La Paz caused them to encounter their first trouble.

A private car and an ambulance had a car accident at the intersection ahead, blocking the march route Yuri and his men had originally planned.

Armored vehicles and trucks do not have wings and cannot fly over; seeing that they were less than a kilometer away from Numar, Yuri steeled his heart and personally ordered the Second Company and Third Company to proceed to the next target after the originally planned rescue of Numar, while he himself took a portion of his men to rescue Numar.

It took the mercenaries four or five minutes to get off the vehicles completely; Yuri wore a tactical helmet and tested the headset, and after confirming it could be used, he continued: "First Company, follow me, we are less than a kilometer away from the target. It is unclear what the situation is like in other areas if we detour now, so we will walk there..."

"Kaifu, you guys detour later, continue to advance along Santa Cruz Marshal Avenue, I hope to hear the news that the Guojia Dianshitai has been taken over within an hour..."

"Boss, guaranteed to complete the Task!"

"Laoer, the Huochezhan and Jichang are left to you!"

"Rest assured, Boss!"

After giving the instructions, Yuri waved his hand, and a reinforced company of more than two hundred people, under his leadership, rushed toward Numar's residence.

A large detachment of fully armed soldiers marching on foot on the streets of La Paz soon aroused the vigilance of some people.

So much so that when they arrived near Colonel Numar's residence, across a long distance behind two temporary defenses piled up with sandbags, government soldiers loudly raised a megaphone and began to question them.

"Which unit are you from... stop advancing... you are not allowed to come any closer... this is a restricted zone cordoned off by the President's order, no one is allowed to approach without orders..."

After the shouting was finished, whether it was an accidental discharge or to intimidate them, a gunshot actually rang out from the opposite side.

Yuri was startled, but soon reacted; this was firing into the air.

He had come to scout Colonel Numar's residence before; he raised his night-vision binoculars to look, and after confirming that there were only a dozen or so Bolivian Army soldiers responsible for guarding the place, "There are only a dozen or so defenders, but they have defenses and have set up two Machine Guns, which is troublesome. Let's not make any moves yet; a few people who have used rocket launchers, come out, find a place nearby to take out those sandbag defenses, and then solve them in one go!"

After all, having served in the U. S. military for several years, Yuri still remembered simple military tactics.

The two sandbag bunkers temporarily set up near Colonel Numar's residence, looking at the situation, it would be no problem for three or four people to crouch behind them.

The most troublesome thing was that each bunker had a Machine Gun set up; Yuri did not want to experience what it felt like to have a bulletproof vest hit by one at close range.

Fortunately, the mercenaries not only outnumbered them, but their equipment was also no worse.

Immediately, several soldiers carrying rocket launchers quietly stepped out to find suitable locations nearby to prepare to take out the two sandbag bunkers with Machine Guns.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

"Bang!"

Very quickly, several sounds of explosions rang out.

Ahead of Yuri and his men, flames soared into the sky; two sandbag bunkers had each taken two or three Rocket hits, the sandbags blasted directly into the air and thrown more than ten meters away.

"First Platoon, move!"

Seeing that the sandbag defenses had been successfully wiped out, Yuri waved a hand, and dozens of mercenaries shouted, holding their weapons to provide suppressive fire against the villa's defenders while rapidly closing in on the villa.

This kind of loose charge was the most dangerous; the mercenaries' military skills were mostly rusty, and their discipline was lacking. Although they had an overwhelming advantage in numbers and equipment, several mercenaries were still hit by bullets during the charge, though fortunately, none were fatal, and a simple bandage was enough.

Without the sandbag bunkers and with their numbers completely suppressed, the dozen or so defenders fired a few shots before either retreating into a nearby alley and climbing over a wall to escape, or falling back into the villa, only to surrender with their hands raised shortly after.

After Yuri confirmed it was safe, he walked slowly into the villa under the protection of a squad, meeting Numar, who had been under house arrest for two days.

"Oh, Yuri, my friend. It feels so good to see you again..."

Upon seeing Yuri and his heavily armed mercenaries, Colonel Numar, who had lost contact with the outside world for two days and had been on pins and needles, ran over with steps that didn't match his physique, spreading his arms to give Yuri a hearty hug.

"Colonel, it's a pleasure to see you again!"

Yuri smiled and hugged him warmly, then said with a laugh, "Although I would love to hear you talk about your experiences these past few days, Colonel, this is clearly not the time for that. Get ready, Colonel. Oh no, I should call you 'Mr. President' now. The Presidential Residence, Jingcha Zongbu, and other locations have all been bombed. My men took the Parliament Building and the Huochezhan a short while ago and are currently marching toward the Jichang and the Ministry of Interior..."

Before he had even finished speaking, he felt his tactical helmet's communicator transmit a report of success.

"Boss, we've taken the Guojia Dianshitai..."

"Very good!"

He responded over the mic, then immediately turned it off and looked at Numar with a smile.

"Mr. President, you had best prepare a speech for the nation quickly... The Guojia Dianshitai is already under our control. My men will escort you to the station immediately to prepare to announce the coup to the whole country!"

As soon as Yuri's words fell, Colonel Numar's eyes curved into smiles, and the fat on his face trembled.

"Really..." His voice was noticeably trembling; he clearly hadn't expected Yuri and his men's strength and efficiency to be so high. From the start of the explosions until now, it had taken less than two hours to capture most of the most important targets in the plan.

Yuri met his gaze, revealed a seemingly gentle and harmless smile, and nodded slightly.

"So, let's get ready to go. Mr. President..."

February 13, 2008, the day before Western Valentine's Day, a coup that did not attract much attention occurred in the early hours in the inland South American country of Bolivia.

Former high-ranking general of the Bolivia United States Army, Colonel Numar, launched an armed coup in the capital, La Paz, due to his dissatisfaction with the socialism promoted by the former president and the policy of nationalizing mines and oil fields operated by foreign and private enterprises.

The coup succeeded with incredible speed; seven important targets, including the Presidential Residence, Jingcha Zongbu, and the capital's military Base, were hit by Missile strikes. Over a hundred politicians, including the former president and the Minister of Interior, went missing in the explosions and the coup, and thousands of police and soldiers went missing or died.

The coup forces took less than four hours to completely control the capital, La Paz, and simultaneously began to maintain order in the capital.

Colonel Numar also used the Guojia Dianshitai at the first opportunity to inform the nation of the coup. After announcing the news that the former president and others had unfortunately perished in the coup, he announced the establishment of a Transitional Provisional Government and appointed himself Acting President and Commander-in-Chief of the National Armed Forces of the provisional government.

He also used the television station to call on the more than 40,000 officers and soldiers of the army, navy, and air force, as well as the more than 30,000 police officers nationwide, to pledge their loyalty to the provisional government. He promised to introduce legislation to increase the benefits for military personnel and police as soon as possible, guaranteed the status of the Supreme Court located in the legal capital, Sucre, and promised that the coup would not further affect national stability, stating that the provisional government would do its utmost to maintain stability and ensure that new Yihui elections would be held as soon as possible.

For a time, the nation of Bolivia was in an uproar.