Capítulo 1440: Chapter 686: Wasting an Ashtray!
The “honor” that the “rude man” Marcus Brelock defended with his life could not prevent his father, Old Elton, from making a decision in extre grief and realistic consideration.
After the family doctor, urgently summoned, gave Old Elton a sedative and provided brief care, the machinery of this ancient Texas family began to operate with high efficiency under the actual control of the second son, Kohl.
Marcus’s body was quickly and discreetly handled, and to the outside, it was declared as “an unfortunate hunting accident.”
anwhile, through a secret satellite phone line, Kohl conveyed the Breloque family’s final decision to the xican side: full cooperation.
Their submission was astonishingly weighty and deadly, not just a verbal commitnt, but a full disclosure of the core secrets of the Southern logistics system of the Texas provisional governnt, along with the tangled interest networks among several powerful families and nurous shadowy transaction records.
This intelligence pierced accurately through xico’s efficient intelligence system at the governnt of Paul Constantine Stuart, struggling hard on the Red River frontline.
…
Red River Frontline, Texas Temporary Command Post.
The communication channels were filled with desperate shouts and noisy static interference.
Paul Constantine Stuart’s eyes were bloodshot, staring intently at the map, where the blue arrows representing his troops were continually shrinking and retreating.
“Mr. President!”
A communications officer almost burst in, clutching a freshly deciphered telegram in his hand.
Paul jerked his head up, “What now?! Has Corpus Christi fallen completely?”
What he feared most was the total loss of the Southern port, which would sever all possibilities for external supplies.
The communications officer’s voice was urgent, “It’s our logistics! The main supply warehouses No. 3, 5, and 7 to the Red River frontline have, just now, almost simultaneously been precisely struck by the xican Air Force and long-range artillery! The stockpiles of fuel, ammunition, and dicine… all gone! The loss exceeds 80%!”
“What?!!”
Paul was thunderstruck, stepping back quickly and crashing into the map stand behind him, “How is that possible?! The locations of those warehouses are top secret, heavily guarded, and camouflaged…”
His words abruptly stopped.
The communications officer almost didn’t dare to look him in the eye, trembling as he handed over another telegram, “We’ve just received a public telegram from the Houston area… It’s from the Breloque family…”
Paul snatched the telegram, his eyes scanning the text; with each line, his face turned a shade greyer.
It wasn’t a simple statent of surrender but a manifesto filled with words like “exposing the incompetence and corruption of Paul Constantine Stuart’s governnt, leading Texas into the abyss of destruction,” “calling for reason and peace to avoid more needless sacrifices,” and “deciding to comply with reality and cooperate with the xican side to restore order.”
This was not just betrayal; it was the most fatal stab in the back, and they were rubbing salt into the wound, declaring to the world Paul Constantine Stuart’s failure!
“Breloque… Old Elton…?! Wasn’t his son Marcus supposed to be…” Paul’s voice was hoarse, filled with incredulous shock and fury.
“The news is confird… Marcus Brelock committed suicide. Right after their family made the decision.” A nearby staff officer added in a low voice, with a complex tone.
Paul was stunned.
Even an ancient family known for its stubbornness and loyalty like the Breloques chose to betray!
Are there no good people left?
Is there no justice left?
This ant that the foundation of the ruling class in the Texas Republic was completely collapsing beneath his feet!
“It’s over…” Paul murmured to himself, swaying slightly, having to reach out to grasp the table to barely stand.
As if to confirm his thoughts, in the hours that followed, bad news ca pouring in like an avalanche.
After the Breloque family, several important powerful families within Texas—Johnson, Garrett, even including so previously staunch independence faction legislators, all issued similar statents through various channels.
The content was largely the sa: condemning the “reckless policies” of Paul’s governnt for leading to disaster, calling for the cessation of resistance, and engaging in “constructive dialogue” with xico to “preserve the lives and property of the Texas people.”
The wall falls, and everyone pushes.
The tree falls, and the monkeys scatter.
These families controlled Texas’s economic lifelines, local ard forces, and dia outlets.
Their collective defection instantly drained the last traces of confidence and the societal foundation that Paul Constantine Stuart’s governnt relied upon for survival.
The already demoralized troops on the frontline, upon learning of the chaos at the rear, the severed supplies, and the cut-off retreat, began collapsing at an accelerated pace, with entire units refusing to carry out orders and even disintegrating.
Paul Constantine Stuart locked himself inside the command room.
He knew that he was finished.
His dream of the Texas Republic, gone, just like that.
Now the question was no longer about whether Texas could be held, but whether he, himself, could escape alive.
…
While Texas was plunged into a death struggle of chaos, in the National Palace of xico City.
Victor sat behind a large desk, listening to his subordinates’ latest report on the Texas situation, with no surprise on his face.
The “submission” of the Breloque family and the chain reaction it sparked were all within his expectations.
He considered himself to have a deep enough understanding of the character of these Anglo-Saxon elite classes, who revered power and profit far above the illusory concepts of “honor” and “loyalty.”
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