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  Yet he was not ready to abandon the family plantation or the parish, and he felt that the other members of the militia would feel the same way. They would stay, but when the guard units moved out, Daniel and his family would go into temporary hiding. Since he was the only person that knew about their existence, he would not be available to answer any questions about them. Ray was not comfortable with that decision but knew that if were in Daniel’s shoes, he would probably feel the same way.

  It took the three men less than an hour to come up with a plan. Colonel Griffin would still supply Ray’s team with the three Humvees and drivers to take them to the Texas border. They would also take all the weapons, ammo, and explosives they could carry. Once contact was made with the Texas militia commander and he hopefully agreed for the Louisiana guard units and their family members to join his militia, the Humvees and drivers would return to Donaldsonville, and the armor and infantry would move out for Texas.

  The helicopters would also be sent into Texas but would initially stay on the border in case they were needed to provide air support for the ground units if they ran into trouble. The guard units would also bring half of the remaining armaments the escaped detainees had liberated in New Orleans. The other half would be hidden by Daniel so they would be used by his militia to strengthen its ability to defend their home parish.

  Chapter XV

  Just after dark that night, the Humvees and their passengers moved out. They would travel only at night without lights but using their night-vision equipment to navigate. It would still be slow going with one of the Humvees a half mile ahead on point. The route involved using small rarely traveled parish and country roads. The drivers of the Humvees had done a recon of the route several months earlier since Colonel Griffin wanted an escape route for his units if that became necessary. He was aware of the strong militia in Texas, so the route was specifically designed to get there safely to the Texas border that was controlled by the East Texas militia.

  The recon had gone as far as the Sabine River that was near the town of Mansfield, Louisiana, just across the border from Texas. That would be a problem since they would have to cross the river to get into Texas. The East Texas militia controlled the west bank of the river, but federal troops had a guard post on the east side of the river. Ray’s team would have to break through that post, but first, they had to get there.

  At the rate they were able to travel at night, it would take three days to reach the bridge. The first forty-eight hours went smoothly with the vehicles making good time at night and hiding out in the thick western Louisiana wooded areas during the day. The locals in the area had little fuel for vehicles, so they only moved during the day and there were no encounters with other people. During the layovers, Jamie finally got a chance to get to know the other four inmates that were part of Ray’s team. They had been housed in another barracks in the detention center so had not been a part of the meetings Jamie had attended.

  There was a short but stout middle-aged man from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, named Juan Gonzales. His grandparents had legally emigrated from Mexico in the 1960s and become naturalized citizens. Thus, Juan’s parents and he and his two brothers and his sister were all born American citizens. Juan was named after his grandfather who had worked for a landscaper in Baton Rouge and had eventually started his own very successful business.

  His son Jorge had been working for the business part-time and was attending LSU, majoring in engineering, and a member of the air force ROTC unit. He graduated in 1968 and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the air force. He successfully completed flight school and was soon flying an F-4 Phantom fighter jet. His jet was shot down over North Vietnam, and he was killed in March 1971. His son Juan was only three years old at the time, so he didn’t really remember his father but learned of his legacy from his mother and grandparents.

  He grew up determined to follow in his father’s footsteps. He graduated from LSU and received his commission in the air force and became a highly successful F-16 fighter pilot flying numerous combat missions during the never-ending war on terror. He had advanced in rank to be a lieutenant colonel in the air force but ended up in the detention center when he had refused a direct order to spy on his commanding general who was suspected by the new federal government of not being completely loyal to the new order.

  Another member of the team was a young handsome former Louisiana State Police officer from Shreveport, Louisiana. His name was Samuel Bennett. He had grown up in family of several generations of police officers. He had gotten a degree from LSU in Shreveport in criminal justice and joined the state police. He was trained as a SWAT member and had soon advanced to being a team commander. His entire team was considered a danger to the federal control of the state of Louisiana, and they had been arrested along with members of other SWAT units around the state.

  He did not know what had happened to the other men in his unit. Both Sam and Juan had wives and children, and they did not know their status but hoped to eventually be reunited with them. The other two men that Ray had recruited were from Texas and had been in the East Texas militia when they had been captured while on a recon patrol in western Louisiana. The first man was Gordon Travis, a direct descendant of Colonel William Travis who had been commander of the Alamo during the historic battle in 1836. He was a tall handsome blond young man who looked like he belonged in the movies. He had been born and raised in the small town of Van in Van Zandt County, Texas. He had gone to law school at the University of Texas and returned home to take over his father’s practice in Van. He was also a captain in the Texas National Guard and had commanded an infantry company that had become part of the East Texas militia after the EMP attack.

  The other Texan was Jack Jameson, a former firefighter in Dallas, Texas, who had been cited for heroism when he went into a burning house to rescue two small children. He had taken his oxygen mask off to provide them with the ability to breathe while he carried them out and had suffered some damage to his own lungs. The damage was severe enough so that he could no longer be an active firefighter. Because of his record, he was transferred to a prestigious position in headquarters but quickly became bored sitting behind a desk.

  After talking to his wife, Jack decided to apply to be a police officer in his hometown of Canton, Texas. He was accepted, and they moved to Canton. A few months later, the EMP attack occurred, and everything changed. The East Texas militia was formed, and Jack volunteered to be a member. Both Travis and Jameson had been captured during a failed raid on federal forces. The militia had received intelligence reports that there was an ammunition dump in northwest Louisiana just across the border. The compound was just guarded by a platoon of federal troops and seemed to be a relatively soft target, but unfortunately, it had been reinforced by three other federal platoons just before the militia attack.

  Travis and Jameson had only two platoons to make the attack that occurred at night; and when they ran into the larger federal force, they quickly realized they were outgunned, because not only were there more federal troops than militia soldiers, the feds had two heavy machine guns. Travis, who was in command of the operation, saw four of his men shot down by the unrelenting machine gun fire. He knew immediately that the attack would not be successful, so he ordered a withdrawal. He and one of the platoon sergeants, Jack Jameson, and two other troopers would hang back to provide covering fire for the retreat.

  The plan was only partially successful, because while the militia teams were able to withdraw, two RPGs fired by federal troops hit the positions occupied by Travis, Jameson, and the other two soldiers before they could escape. Travis and Jameson were knocked unconscious by the RPG explosions, and the other two militia members were killed. When Travis and Jameson regained consciousness, they were both handcuffed to beds in a federal hospital in Shreveport, Louisiana. Their wounds were not life threatening, and they recovered quickly but did not consider this a blessing because they knew that the feds
would soon be brutally interrogating both of them to get information about the location and strength of the East Texas militia.

  However, that never happened because, either by accident or perhaps design by a sympathetic member of the hospital staff, the two men were not sent to the federal prison where they would be interrogated but instead sent to the New Orleans detention center where they were designated as political prisoners suitable for reeducation instead of captured members of the militia. There was no paper trail, so the federal commander in Shreveport never knew what happened to his prisoners.

  Jamie talked for a while with these two men because he knew that they had provided Ray with the information about the East Texas militia that had led him to the conclusion that this was where he needed to take his men. Jamie learned that this militia was different from most of the local city and county militias that were set up for defense only. The general selected to command the Canton City militia had insisted that the militia be countywide. He had also insisted that the militia not be the government of the county. He would not command a military dictatorship. The county government and the town governments in the county would remain intact. The militia would be the military wing of those governments.

  The general also wanted to have everyone in the county be in the militia. They would be trained in small unit tactics so they could not jut defend the county but be proactive, conducting recon patrols to track the movements of the federal troops and, in some cases, combat patrols to acquire weapons and other supplies from the enemy and kill as many of them as possible. His plan was successful, and soon many other counties placed their militias under his command. Within a year, twenty-six counties had become part of the East Texas militia. It had become a powerful force and one that had also become a grave concern to the federal government.

  Jamie was intrigued and asked the two Texans who this general was. They said his name was Ben Donnelly. Jamie was stunned by the information but not really surprised. He knew immediately that the commander of the East Texas militia was his father.

  Chapter XVI

  Jamie immediately went to see Ray with this information because he was afraid it might endanger the whole escape plan.

  “My dad probably considers me a traitor,” Jamie told Ray. “If I am with you, he may refuse to accept you and the rest of the team into his territory. I can’t be responsible for that. I need to go off on my own before we get to Texas.”

  Ray’s response was adamant. “You are not leaving this unit, and you will let me deal with your father. Once he hears about whom you are now and how important you were to our escape, he will come around. Now get some sleep. We will be moving out in a few hours. That’s an order.”

  Jamie did as he was ordered, but he didn’t get much sleep. At a little after 4:00 p.m., the men in Ray’s team were awakened by gunfire not far from where they were camped. All the men grabbed their weapons and set up a defensive perimeter around the wooded area where they were hiding their vehicles. Once that was accomplished, Ray took Bill Jackson and John Magee with him to find out what was going on. He left George Carson in charge of the rest of the men.

  He and his small patrol moved out through the woods toward the continuing sounds of gunfire. It took only a few minutes for the team to reach the scene that was right along the road. Ray quickly saw that what was happening was a firefight between a federal patrol in four vehicles and a group of men who had clearly ambushed the patrol and bitten off more than they could chew. Ray saw eight men in the woods that were probably members of a local militia group, and they were in a fight with seventeen federal soldiers.

  Ray was able to see that two federal soldiers were down, either dead or wounded, and three of the attackers were also down. Both sides had suffered casualties, but the federal force clearly had the advantage. They had automatic weapons that produced a much higher volume of fire than the semi-automatic used by the attackers.

  This put Ray and his men in a quandary. He could not understand why the dwindling attack force had not just moved back into the thick woods where they might have been able to escape. However, it didn’t really matter as Ray considered all the possibilities. First, he did not know if the attacking force was a patriot militia of just some outlaws trying to capture federal vehicles and weapons and ammunition. He also did not know if the federal unit had been able to contact other federal units in the area to come to their assistance. Either way, if the firefight continued or if additional federal forces arrived to end it, Ray and his team would lose access to the highway they needed to get into Texas.

  Ray decided that his only option was to use his people to destroy the federal troops and open the road to Texas. He sent Captain Jackson back to bring up the rest of the team with the exception of the three National Guard drivers. If things went badly and they had to get back to the Humvees, he wanted the drivers ready to go. He also had Jamie stay with the vehicles because he was the only one in the team who did not have a background in either the military or police work. Ray would not put the boy at risk.

  Ray and Magee moved away from the ambush site and met the rest of the men where they could cross the road unseen and get behind the federal forces. It just took a few minutes to move through the thick woods and get into position. Once they were in a place that gave them clear lines of sight on the enemy, Ray signaled them to open fire. Seven of the federal soldiers were dropped immediately. The other eight turned and got off a few ineffective shots at Ray’s men before they were also cut down.

  Ray and his men cautiously approached the federal position but made sure the vehicles on the road shielded them from the other group of fighters because Ray was still not sure who they were. As they checked the feds and found that they were all dead, Ray heard someone thanking him and his men for saving them. Ray saw that one of the men had stepped out onto the road with his weapon raised above his head. Ray stepped out to meet him and found that his name was John Turner and he was the commander of a group that was actually the remnants of a Louisiana National Guard infantry company.

  They were one of about a dozen units in north Louisiana that had gone into hiding after the EMP attack when the feds tried to turn National Guard units into an arm of the new federal government. They had taken their families with them and managed to survive until a few months ago when federal forces had launched a major offensive in north Louisiana to hunt down the units. Turner believed it was because the government was concerned about the hidden units making their way to East Texas to join up with the militia there.

  In fact, Turner told Ray that had been the plan when the federal sweep started. They had to have been tipped off by someone inside the units because they moved swiftly and decisively against the guard units and destroyed them. They were merciless, killing most of the guard members and some of their families. The rest they sent to detention centers to be reeducated.

  Turner’s unit had been alerted by two men that had escaped from a tank unit that had been attacked. However, the warning came too late. Before Captain Turner was able to get his unit organized to move out, they got hit; but since they knew an attack was imminent, the company put up a hell of a fight. They inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy but suffered heavy casualties of their own. Turner was ultimately able to escape with twenty-two men and most of the women and children. They were now hidden several miles away, but they had little food, and so Turner had taken some of his men to the highway in the hope of ambushing a federal convoy and getting food and some ammunition and weapons that they also needed. Then they planned on trying to make it to Texas.

  The plan was to kill the federal troops in their convoy, steal their uniforms, and use them to disguise members of the militia. They would drive the vehicles and use their cover to attack the men guarding the west side of the bridge. Then they could cross into Texas. Ray saw this as an opportunity to breach the federal defense at the bridge for both the Louisiana guard unit and his team.

  T
he problem was that Turner had told Ray that the federal unit they had attacked was actually the relief guard force for the troops guarding the bridge. That means they were scheduled to be at the bridge in a few hours. With the delay caused by the extended firefight on the road, it was going to be impossible for him to bring the rest of his unit and their families forward and make it to the bridge on time for the changing of the guard. Being a few minutes late would probably not be a problem, but under current circumstances, they would arrive at least an hour late. This could cause the bridge guards to be on high alert and possibly have contacted other federal units to come to their support.

  Ray had to come to a quick decision because he only had two choices: have Turner and his guardsmen conduct the ruse with Ray’s men in support or have his team take the identities of the federal troops and have Turner and his people follow in the three Humvees. He chose the latter option and had his men don the uniforms of the dead federal troops. However, of his thirteen men, he only put eight in the false identities. The other five men were assigned to get out of the vehicles and approach the bridge area through the surrounding woods and prepare to provide covering fire for the undercover unit.

  Chapter XVII

  The plan unfolded as it was designed. The convoy containing the disguised men approached the checkpoint that consisted of a retractable steel gate covered by two manned sandbagged positions at each end of the gate. Behind the gate was an aluminum building that served as the guardhouse where the guards would go to get some rest or eat their MREs. Ray had sent a patrol out ahead of the vehicles to check out the defenses.