CHAPTER 1235: CHAPTER 601: HEROES ACROSS THE LAND LIKE SCHOLARS FORDING THE RIVER

Mexico mobilized the Guard 1st Division directly under the Military Department, and the Guard 2nd Division, totaling over 22,000 people. The commander of this 2nd Division was Joseph Xiafei, who, after quelling a rebellion in Chiapas State, directly and at his own will, formed the 2nd Guard Division, which is a rookie force.

In addition to this, there were the Air Force, the 141th Special Battalion, and others, bringing the total to over 32,000 people!

The United Kingdom deployed the SAS, SBS, as well as some ground and air forces, numbering about 2,000 people.

Germany deployed the German GSG9 Special Forces and 20 TM-170 armored personnel carriers.

The rest... and so forth.

Totaling close to 90,000 people!

Of course, it is far from the 690,000 troops of the United States Gulf War, but is it not enough to fight drug traffickers in Colombia?

Colombia still has troops!

Starting from July 21...

Troops began gathering towards Colombia.

Everyone could feel the cutting edge of a great battle—

Even the black market had bets, Allies VS Colombian drug traffickers, who wins, who loses, the former having odds of 1:1.11, the latter 1:7999!

This obviously seems unprofessional, who the hell has odds that big?

"Bet! I’m betting the Allies win, a hundred thousand, I don’t believe it, this can fool me?!" This is the usual gambler, just wanting a small profit.

And the bigger gamblers bet on the impossible, betting on Medellin to win.

This is obviously a scam, these kinds of offline black market stalls, grab the money and run, often seen.

Within Colombia, many citizens began to worry about their lives, starting to flee or hide in safe areas.

And on July 23.

"President" Pablo of Medellin gathered crowds in the square, he loves giving speeches, loves being the center of attention.

Over 120,000 people in the square!

"I am Pablo Escobar Gaviria!!!"

"Boss! Leader! The one who feeds your children!!!"

His opening remarks are always so... straightforward, but it must be said, this is very appealing, with a group of people cheering enthusiastically!

"Those politicians lounging in Paris in air-conditioned comfort, drinking whiskey, those traitors licking Mexican boots in lavish offices in Bogota, and those self-righteous clowns in uniforms... they think they can extend their hands into my home? Into Medellin? Into this land watered with my blood, sweat, and cocaine?

"¡JA!¡Que se vayan al carajo!!!! (Ha! Let them go to hell!)"

His voice was heart-wrenching, and the cheers below were deafening!

"They call me a "Drug Lord"? Fine! Then let them see how a "Drug Lord" protects his people! How he safeguards his city! Medellin is my heart, my mother’s embrace! Every hill here, every street, every poor person in every block, is under my wing! It’s me who builds their homes! It’s me who treats them! It’s me who feeds their children! And you, Mexican vampires, Bogota dogs, what have you given them? Other than bullets and tears, what else?!"

"You think sending some pieces of paper with official stamps, dispatching a few poor souls in uniforms, or dropping some chunks of metal from the sky, can make me, Pablo Escobar, bow down? Can make Medellin, the city where I was born, fought, and bled, submit to you?"

"Dream on!!!!!!"

"Now, with your planes, your Special Forces, your informants, you hover like vultures, wanting to tear us apart? Wanting to destroy everything we’ve built?"

"Listen up, bastards!!"

The war to defend Medellin begins today, officially!

"I say to my brothers, pick up your weapons! Open your eyes wide! Any unfamiliar face, any suspicious vehicle, anyone trying to disrupt our order—eliminate them! (¡Acábenlos!!) Remember, I will reward your loyalty with gold! Your betrayal... is a cost you and your entire family cannot bear, Medellin is ours, we will not give an inch!

"I also say to those police and soldiers following the government, many of your salaries, I pay! Your family’s bread, I provide!"

"Now, your officers order you to deal with me? To deal with the one who feeds you? Utterly ungrateful! The smart ones, take my money, turn a blind eye, or simply join us, riches and glory beyond measure! The foolish ones, you want to be heroes? Your bodies will be thrown in heaps, your families will curse your choices in hell!

"And to that idiotic President Armando Benedetto: You think hugging Mexico’s leg tightly can secure a win? You think a bounty can buy my life? For every brother of mine you capture, I will blow up your courts! For every one of my men you kill, I will bury tenfold of your politicians and judges! You dare to touch Medellin, I will make Bogota tremble in fear! Your prisons cannot hold me! Your bullets cannot kill me! I am the Ghost of Medellin, I am everywhere!!"

Taking a full breath to say so much, Pablo was panting with anger, but his fury was spreading, his believers howling, looking at him with fervor.

"Victor, Mexican Victor, you dare to point fingers at my home from thousands of miles away? Dare to send your executioners to rampage on Colombian soil? ¡Cuidado! (Watch out!!"

"Your skyscrapers in Tijuana, your mansions in Guadalajara, your offices in Mexico City, are not as safe as you think! Your war against me will burn back to your own backyard! Every dead Mexican civilian is the price of your arrogance! You want to play with fire? I will give you the fire of hell!

"Medellin will not fall!!!"

"This is my kingdom! The poor here love me! The gunmen here will die for me! Every inch of land here is soaked with my will! Want Medellin? Then bring your armies! Bring your tanks and planes! See if your steel is mightier, or if our mountain dwellers’ will and vengeance burn hotter!!"

"We will fight at every street corner! On every rooftop! On every hill! We will let the invaders bleed rivers! Let the traitors die without a grave!!"

"I am Pablo Escobar!

With God as my witness, Medellin is my fortress!

Come on, cowards! We are waiting for you in Medellin!"

Pablo took a deep breath again, with a tone thick with sorrow, "Brothers of Medellin! Eagles of Antioquia!"

"My loved ones died for Medellin, I will never surrender, they will bless us, I need you to join, join the resistance team, join the action to overthrow those rich people."

"I love you all!"

"Happy Independence Day, Colombia."

He waved his arms towards the crowd.

We must look at a person with a dialectical approach, he is certainly bad because he traffics drugs, but for Medellin, Pablo built schools, perhaps he was currying favor, but it must be said, Medellin belongs to Pablo!

When he finished, his speech was soon broadcast in its entirety to a national audience, and Pablo’s "heroic image" quickly spread, instantly raising his profile in Europe and America.

Some even started an online campaign under the guise of "diversity", gathering offline to call on their governments to stop the war.

In Mexico City, nobody was venturing to speak out; domestically, few people sympathized with the drug traffickers, and those who did kept to themselves, knowing they would be ostracized—if not worse—if they were to speak out.

Victor watched the video of the speech, deeply contemplating.

While Casare, beside him, remarked with a sigh, "From a Colombian, Victor of Mexico, to dare so boldly speak against my home from thousands of miles away? Dare to send your lackeys to attack Colombian soil? ¡Watch out!"

"The high-rises in Tijuana, the mansions in Guadalajara, the power in Mexico City—all gone because you wouldn’t shut up when you should’ve! You thought rolling out the red carpet for a few American soldiers would win you this calamity of a war? No, every wound you inflict will bring your downfall."

"Pawns rise in this world, geniuses and heroes everywhere, throughout the long river of history, it is dotted with their glow, every one of them...a mere skeleton, not a hero."

"But cooped up in Medellin, it’s nothing but a dry bone, can’t consider it a hero."

Victor patted him on the shoulder, "You are a hero too."

...