In Canton, Ray Thibodeaux was receiving intelligence from his cousin Daniel that the buildup of foreign troops and equipment coming into New Orleans was again accelerating. He was receiving similar reports from the recon patrols that were watching the ports in southeast Texas. Obviously, something big was being planned; and several weeks later, Ray received word that large convoys of enemy troops, armor, and artillery were on the move. But much to his surprise, they were not heading north but east. The enemy columns from South Texas made their way to New Orleans and joined up with the federal column waiting there. Then they all continued to move east on Interstate Highway 10 into Mississippi.
Ray and Daniel had both heard that there were small pockets of resistance operating along the Mississippi coast, but no one in Texas or Louisiana had any contact with them. This unfortunately meant that they had lost track of the federal columns. There was no explanation for this movement to the east since the states of Mississippi, Alabama, and even Florida did not have resistance movements powerful enough to warrant this type of attention from the feds.
In fact, the federal units had turned north shortly after entering Mississippi. This was initially unknown to the Louisiana or Texas militia, but fortunately, Daniel suspected that such a movement might be the case and had dispatched several recon patrols to the border between Louisiana and Mississippi. It took almost a week, but one of the patrols finally got information after they had crossed the border that a very large federal force had been spotted going north on a highway near the border.
This information was transmitted to General Donnelly and Ray Thibodeaux. It arrived almost simultaneously with an additional message from Jordan Billings who had been appointed commander of an elite company of federal infantry that had been ordered into Oklahoma to join other units preparing for a major operation against East Texas. The message also conveyed his concerns that this was going to become a major threat to the militia. While the militia leadership was pondering the meaning of this intelligence, they received word from several leaders of the Oklahoma militia that large convoys of federal troops and heavy equipment were moving through Oklahoma toward its southern border with Texas.
What was happening now became clear to both Ray and the general: the columns moving out of Texas that had turned north in Mississippi were probably going to enter Arkansas, turn west, and ultimately join up with the federal troops moving south through Oklahoma. Ray had the Blackhawk Helicopter units transport both militia recon teams and special operations units into southern Oklahoma to determine the potential strength of the enemy force and their possible points of attack. The result of this intelligence gathering was a source of great concern to General Donnelly and his staff. When all the federal units were amassed somewhere across the Red River that was the border between Texas and Oklahoma, there would be a force of almost fifty thousand men, scores of tanks, and dozens of pieces of heavy artillery preparing to attack the Alamo.
It had also been determined by the recon patrols that an airbase had been established in central Oklahoma where three dozen F-16 fighter jets were located along with a significant force of Russian attack helicopters. The bottom line seemed to be that the East Texas militia forces were ultimately going to be attacked by a federal force that would have the militia heavily outnumbered and outgunned.
Chapter XL
General Ben Donnelly met with his staff to discuss their options. These were the only people who knew the gravity of the situation, and they all agreed on one thing; retreat or surrender was not an option, so a plan of action had to be formed that would keep the federal forces from utterly destroying the militia and ending the hopes of millions of Americans who wanted to live free and take back their country.
During these meetings, Ray Thibodeaux provided the general and his staff with the updated intelligence from Oklahoma. The federal columns that had moved east from Louisiana and Texas into Mississippi and from there north into Arkansas would be joining up with the federal forces moving into southern Oklahoma within a few weeks. It was clear that the unified force would be heading to the Texas border to prepare for staging of an all-out invasion, and it appeared that they were planning to attack across the Red River. The federal forces were massing along Interstate 75, so it was believed that would take that route to Highway 271 and cross the Red River Bridge into Texas just north of the city of Paris, Texas.
The obvious defensive move was to destroy the bridge and force the federal forces to build a new bridge while under fire from the militia. There was one major problem with this approach, however, because of the lack of rain during the previous year: the river level was low enough at several points to the east of the bridge to allow tanks and infantry to cross without using a bridge. However, most of the staff believed that the destruction of the bridge would allow the militia to heavily defend that crossing. They were surprised when the general suggested that while a plan should be made to destroy the bridge, it might be wiser to leave it intact.
The general pointed out that the federal force would assume the bridge would be destroyed, but if it wasn’t, they would probably decide to use both the bridge and the nearest ford downriver to launch simultaneous attacks on the Alamo. In that case, they would be making the same mistake that had led to their destruction in a previous attack: dividing their force. Several staff members immediately pointed out that it would also mean that the militia would have to divide its force to meet both threats.
That was when the general dropped his bombshell that he had an ace up his sleeve that he had not yet revealed to anyone, even to his most trusted staff members. One of the first things that the new federal government had done after the EMP attack was to lock down all military bases in the county. This was simple enough in most cases since the vast majority of bases were under the command of officers who had proven their loyalty to the new federal order.
The attack had wiped out communications outside of the East Coast by rendering the electric grid useless and knocking out batteries and generators that could power phones and computers. This was in addition to the destruction of cell phone towers and Internet communications. However, the federal government had prepared for this, and each base had a radio room set up that would protect long-range radios from the effects of an EMP attack. While the Pentagon had contacted all bases to order the lockdown, there were some bases that did not acknowledge the receipt of the order or confirm the lockdown.
These bases were mostly in the south and included Fort Rucker, Alabama, where army helicopter pilots were trained, and Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier City, Louisiana, just a few miles east of the Louisiana/Texas border. It was assumed by the federal government that the orders had been received and that a breakdown in communications kept them from acknowledging the orders. With so much going on, it had taken several months before anyone from Washington was able to check on the status of some of these bases.
Barksdale was a very important base where originally several squadrons of the aging, but still powerful B-52 bombers were located along with three F-16 fighter squadrons. The military cutbacks by the government had reduced the number of planes in the air force significantly; there had still been a full squadron of twelve B-52s and a squadron of eighteen F-16 fighters on the base, along with several newer and more powerful B-1 bombers. Fort Rucker was the home of a squadron of twelve Apache helicopters and another of twelve Blackhawks. There was also a large squadron consisting of sixteen A-10 Warthogs, the famous “tank buster” aircraft.
When federal patrols were sent to the two bases to find out why they had not made contact with the Pentagon, they found the bases virtually deserted. Many pilots, their supporting personnel, and their families were all gone as were numerous vehicles and most of the helicopters and aircraft. Also missing were the ammunition, bombs, and rockets that gave the squadrons’ awesome firepower. The federal troops that were loyal to the government had either been killed or locked up in buildings on the bases.
They had no idea where the patriots and all the equipment had gone. This caused a panic in the federal command, and an all-out search was launched to find the missing soldiers and the aircraft. It was unsuccessful; hundreds of people along with vehicles, aircraft, weapons, ammunition, and fuel appeared to have just dropped off the face of the earth.
In fact, the planes and personnel were now in and around a new hastily constructed airbase in the huge Angelina National Forest located in East Texas and taking up part of four counties. This large federal-designated area also included the Sam Rayburn Reservoir. This was the result of an elaborate plan that been designed several weeks after the EMP attack by the two base commanders who were preparing to fight the new federal government. It was a laborious process because maximum secrecy had to be maintained. Aircraft from the two bases were flown out one or two at a time to the regional airports in Longview and Tyler, Texas.
These airports had been set up with long runways that could handle large commercial jet aircraft. Since no commercial flights were taking place anymore, the airports were not being used; so they were perfect landing zones for military aircraft including the B-52s, B-1s, F-16 fighters, A-10 Warthog, and helicopters. Once they landed, they were quickly hidden in hangars or dragged into nearby wooded areas where sites had been cleared to provide them with a safe area with camouflage to hide them from any possible air surveillance. However, it was clear to the American base commanders that these airports would be among the places where the federal forces would look when they found out that there were planes and helicopters missing from these major bases.
Every plane and helicopter that was flown out of Barksdale and Fort Rucker contained more than just its crew; they carried the family members of the crews and as much ammunition, food, and fuel as they could hold. The next step was to find a new and secure location where not only the aircraft but the crews and their families as well as the fuel and ammunition could be hidden. The base commanders were in the counties that were already part of the East Texas militia, and they contacted General Donnelly for help. Militia patrols looked at many possible locations and ultimately determined that the Angelina National Forest was the perfect place.
There was an engineer company that had been based at Barksdale, and they were airlifted into the forest to join up with several local National Guard engineer units that had the heavy equipment needed to build not only several airstrips but also bunkers and housing where the aircrews and their families could be comfortable and protected from the elements. It took several months, but eventually, a massive secret military complex was constructed. While it was being built, several more hidden National Guard units came out of hiding to join the militia. They had been in hiding for weeks or even months until the militia had taken control of their counties. The unit commanders knew that they could do nothing on their own but now were in a position to join a large and powerful force.
The National Guard units consisted of a tank battalion, a military police company, and three companies of an infantry battalion. These units were assigned to guard the new top-secret installation being constructed in the Angelina National Forest. Securing the forest for use by the militia did not require a lot of effort. The new federal government had many things on its plate, and dealing with federal parks and forests was not a priority. The control of these sites was left in the hands of the park rangers, and as was the case in many of them, the rangers at Angelina National Forest were mainly military veterans who had taken the oath of office to defend the Constitution of the United States. They were loyal to that oath and became allied with the militia.
The militia officer assigned to supervise and coordinate this new secret base was Major John Donnelly, the general’s son and Jamie and Matt’s brother. He was not in command of the base; that was given to Brigadier General Harold Walker who had been the commander of Barksdale Air Force base. The aircraft and crews were gradually moved from Longview and Tyler to the new base, which was to be kept a secret by the base commander and General Donnelly, until now when the militia command staff found out that they were in a much stronger position than they had thought.
Chapter XLI
This additional force was strong, but it was not enough to put the odds in favor of the militia in the coming fight. Donnelly had not let his troops on the ground be informed about the complete situation for security reasons, but they did know they were in for a decisive fight that they could not afford to lose. The word of the impending threat to the East Texas militia had quickly spread to other Texas counties and other states. Everyone knew that if the Alamo was taken, the possibilities of a successful fight against the feds would disappear, possibly forever.
The response was immediate. Daniel Thibodeaux and Louisiana militia commanders were aware that the movement of the government troops out of New Orleans to join the federal force massing in Oklahoma had left only sufficient troops to maintain the detention center and occupy New Orleans and a few surrounding parishes. There was no way that the feds could launch any offensive operations in Louisiana, so Daniel felt confident that he could send reinforcements to the Texas militia. He dispatched three infantry companies and a weapons platoon with mortars and heavy machine guns.
In the West Texas panhandle, there were a number of county militia units that effectively controlled their counties primarily because they were sparsely populated, and there was no reason for the feds to spend resources subduing them. However, since virtually every able-bodied man belonged to the militia, they were able to send several infantry companies to East Texas. Other reinforcements came from New Mexico, Arkansas, and Mississippi. None came from Oklahoma, however, because Donnelly had a special job for the two thousand men of that militia.
The Oklahoma militia general David Williams had trained his men with the same intensity that he had learned from General Donnelly’s methods, so he had an effective fighting force that he willingly placed under Donnelly’s command. Williams was told to essentially make his force invisible. They were not to try to ambush or harass the federal forces building up on the Oklahoma/Texas border but were to wait until the battle was joined. Then they were to move in behind the federal forces, cut off their supply lines, and launch swift surgical strikes against the feds from their rear.
Donnelly had a plan that he hoped would give the militia a good chance of not only beating back the attack by the federal forces but doing devastating damage to the feds that would put them on the defensive. The plan involved an elaborate ruse that was one of the techniques that Donnelly was famous for. Matt Donnelly and his engineers were ordered, with the help of civilian contractors and two infantry battalions, to construct defensive positions south of the bridge across the Red River from the area where the federal forces were expected to attack. In fact, federal troops had already been allowed to secure the bridge after a brief firefight with token opposition from the East Texas militia.
The defensive positions being built by the militia would involve entrenchments for the infantry and redoubts for the placing of artillery, antiaircraft guns, and tanks that would be close enough to the bridge to provide heavy fire on the enemy as they tried to cross the bridge. However, the positions were also close enough that they could receive fire from enemy artillery and tanks deployed along the north bank of the river. Many of the men building the trenches and redoubts wondered about the wisdom of this since the militia was sure to be outgunned, but they were under orders, and the general had always made the right calls so far.
In fact, only Matt and several of his officers know the truth. These defensive positions were going to be occupied but only by fake artillery, tanks, and antiaircraft weapons. These were being constructed at a location outside of Canton and while made up of logs and plywood and would look like the real thing from the air. The general was also well aware that the feds had spies planted within the militia ranks, and at least one of them had been identified as a member of one of the infantry battalions inv
olved in the construction. His movements were being carefully monitored by two members of Ray Thibodeaux’s intelligence unit who were attached to Matt’s engineers.
The spy was a private named Leroy Jones who had showed up at the western border of Kaufman County several months earlier. He claimed to be a US Army veteran of the 101st Airborne who had escaped from Dallas and wanted to join the militia. He had federal identification papers and an expired Texas driver’s license that appeared to confirm that he was a US citizen from Texas who was living in a federally occupied area. Unfortunately for him, when questioned about his military history, he was talking to a real veteran who had served in the 101st Airborne and knew that the information conveyed by Jones about the company he served in was incorrect. This was reported to Ray Thibodeaux who shared it with General Donnelly, and the two men decided to accept Jones into the militia and possibly use him to provide false information to the enemy.
That was precisely what happened when the two members of militia intelligence followed Jones late one night to the bridge over the Red River where they used their night-vision goggles to watch him pass on some papers to two federal soldiers. The militia intelligence operatives believed it was a map of the positions that were being prepared by the militia. Jones was allowed to return to the militia position without being arrested but would continue to be watched in case he could be used again.
The actual militia defensive positions were being built by other units approximately three miles south of the false positions. They would be out of range of any federal artillery along the river but would be in a perfect position to open fire on the federal troops and armor moving toward the phony defensive entrenchments. The troops building this second position were led to believe that they were constructing a fallback position in case the forward trenches were overrun. The militia intelligence operatives had someone inform Jones about this and also let him know that the forward positions were under orders to hold their fire until the main federal armor units had crossed the river. They were supposed to do this even though they would possibly receive some heavy incoming preparatory fire from the federal positions.
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