The conference room was quiet. Major General Green stood in front of the large LCD screen, rubbing his chin with his hand.
The other party was definitely prepared. His bottom was clearly touched by others without telling him, and he was also poked in a painful spot.
Indeed, if tonight's crisis management is successful, it will undoubtedly add a lot to his resume. However, if he fails, as the masked man said, he may be forced to take the blame and resign, and then live his retirement life early.
For a professional soldier, this is as unacceptable as being deprived of his life prematurely.
"General, I think these bastards are trying to intimidate us!" Colonel Reid said coldly: "If we compromise, I'm afraid it will have an impact on the image of our country and the military. Those damn KB elements will always think that we are weak and can be bullied.
.”
"You mean a forceful attack?" Green glanced sideways at his subordinates: "Can you guarantee that His Highness Gustav can be safely rescued?"
"I have enough confidence in my men." Rhett said with pride.
Major General Green did not speak.
"General, the longer the delay, the worse it will be for us." Red urged: "The faster we act, the higher the hostage's survival rate."
While Green was still hesitating, Lieutenant Linda's cell phone rang at the side.
After connecting it and putting it to her ear, Linda walked to the side and picked up the phone in a low voice. As the information liaison officer tonight, she has more than a dozen officers under her command who are responsible for collecting information and intelligence, keeping an eye on the island at all times.
every move.
Tens of seconds later, Linda returned to Green.
"General, something happened."
Green's face turned a little blue, and he turned around suddenly and asked, "What happened?"
His expression was a little stiff and his brows were furrowed.
The whole mess tonight had already made him uncomfortable enough, but something else would really make it difficult for him to walk away.
"Look at this."
She picked up the phone and said into the microphone: "Change the picture to the conference room."
The large LCD screen flashed and the local news station screen immediately appeared.
In the picture, many armed men in black combat uniforms were seen dragging corpses everywhere at the gate of the castle on the island.
Although the picture is not very clear, the clothes on the corpse are still vaguely visible.
Some of the corpses looked like bodyguards, and some were wearing evening gowns. At first glance, they knew they were guests attending a charity party.
"damn it!"
Green's scalp was numb and he said sharply: "Who took these pictures!? How did they take them!? Didn't I say that the news should be temporarily blocked?"
"We have indeed not released any information to the outside world. Even the police have warned us that we cannot release any information about this hostage crisis to the press without permission from the crisis management center."
Lieutenant Linda said: "Some of these pictures were taken by reporters from SVT TV station, and some were taken by independent reporters from the BBC. These reporters rented helicopters and used high-definition telephoto cameras hundreds of meters away from the island.
Filming took place..."
"Damn bastards!" Green could no longer control his emotions: "Do they know what they are doing!? Immediately send people to expel the bastards from the air, contact the relevant TV people, and ask them to stop immediately
Show these contents and images on TV channels!”
"Actually..."
Linda looked embarrassed and said: "Our people have already done this, but the TV station rejected our request."
"Why!?" Major General Green couldn't believe what he heard.
Linda said: "They said this is their freedom, their right to press..."
"Oh! God!" Green's face became extremely ugly: "You should contact the air traffic control center immediately. They will send people to intercept the damn news helicopter! Confiscate all the videos they shot. Don't follow me.
What am I talking about about freedom of the press! You tell them that it is just the decision of the National Counter-Terrorism Center. Anyone who dares not to listen is endangering national security and will be arrested immediately! Also, call the top management of their TV station. I don’t care who it is.
Someone who can talk to me."
"Yes, sir!" Linda stood at attention, turned around and left in a hurry.
Bang——
Major General Green slapped his palm heavily on the oval table in the conference room.
He knew what consequences these journalists would bring to him. When such a picture was put on a TV channel, it would cause a public uproar.
It goes without saying that what happens next is that I will be put under pressure from my superiors to handle the hostage crisis as soon as possible, which will disrupt all my plans to negotiate with the other party.
On the TV news, the scene seemed to be interrupted again.
A news reporter reported live from across the street from the island…
"... Starting from 8 o'clock tonight, someone heard gunshots on the island, and the power system was interrupted for a time. We tried to contact the castle management office on the island to inquire about the situation, but the phone could not be connected... According to insiders
, Tonight, the castle on the island was rented by royal family member Prince Gustav to hold a charity party, and the guests included Princess Charlotte of the Kingdom of Comoros..."
Having said this, the blond female reporter suddenly touched her earphones and said loudly: "Wait a minute... our reporters at the front captured a shocking scene earlier. Because the scene was too bloody, we just carried out technical processing...
"
Major General Green felt cold sweat break out on his forehead.
damn it!
Shocking picture!?
What could it be!?
Suddenly, the news station's screen switched, and a video was placed on the live broadcast screen.
A dozen people in suits who looked like bodyguards rushed out of the door of the castle banquet hall alternately, and a gun battle broke out with several armed men outside the door.
Those who rushed out of the hall seemed to have completely overwhelmed the seven armed men outside the door in terms of military quality. Two of them shot alternately and advanced, sweeping the entire parking lot like the autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves, sweeping away the armed men they saw.
Shoot them all down.
"These people are professional soldiers." Reid, who was standing next to the general, stared at Qin Fei, Lei Ming and others on the screen. "At least they have served in the special forces."
"Someone stop the picture!" Green turned and shouted to the officer behind him.
The screen stopped, and Green pointed at one of the women wearing a dinner dress and said: "This must be Princess Charlotte."
"There is a woman over there who seems to be a guest, and those people also seem to be her bodyguards. Let's find out what this person's background is right away."
"Yes, General." The officer nodded, turned around and sent a query command on the computer.
Green's phone rang. He took it out and looked at it, and the muscles on his face twitched slightly.
It was a call from a high-level official in the country, the big shot above him.
After answering the call, Green walked aside, listened more and spoke less, and finally responded with "yes, yes, yes" several times.
After hanging up the phone, Green returned to the conference table, sighed, and looked at Colonel Reed.
"Reed, I just received a call from above. The royal family has exerted pressure on the government. The hotline of the crisis management center and the police hotline have been overwhelmed..."
Colonel Reed looked at Green, his old superior, quietly.
"General, do you mean we should move out?"
Green rubbed his face hard with both hands and looked at the LCD screen absentmindedly: "They are pushing me to death..."
After a moment, he turned around and said to Rhett: "Now I have to give it a try without risking it. You go and prepare. Do whatever you want according to your previous plan..."
"Yes! Sir!" Rhett puffed up his chest, saluted, turned around and strode out the door and disappeared.