The Rag

by Michael Connelly

  The colonel had to make a snap decision. Withdrawal was not an option, so the column could either slow down and cautiously approach the island or move swiftly to try to engage the enemy before they could deploy into a strong defensive position. He chose the latter course of action and ordered the captain to speed up and quickly move to the attack. It never occurred to anyone to check this second bridge for explosives, but ultimately, it would have made no difference.

  The tanks and other vehicles in the assault force covered the three remaining miles to the island in just a few minutes and started to deploy according to the original plan. The captain could see the hunting camp on the island just a few hundred yards away. It consisted of a large building that contained sleeping quarters for almost fifty hunters, a kitchen, and dining and lounge area. There were several outbuildings that included dog pens and two apparent storage sheds.

  There was no sign of life, and none of the buildings appeared to have been used for quite a while. In addition, there was no sign of any fortifications, and the federal units were not taking any fire. The young captain felt like he had been kicked in the gut because he instantly knew that they had been duped. However, before he could even radio Colonel Collins and warn him, the captain heard two massive explosions to his rear. Both bridges had been simultaneously blown up and completely destroyed.

  The explosive charges planted on both bridges had been placed on the parts of the structural beams that were below the water in the bayous. Therefore, the federal forces could not have found them with a search like they had done at the first bridge. The day before, while members of the militia had been manning the phony roadblock on the second bridge, members of Roger Hall’s special operations team had used scuba gear to plant C-4 explosives on the bridges. They were set off remotely by team members hidden in the nearby swamps after the federal column had taken the bait and been lured into the ambush.

  Colonel Collins now had a hell of a mess on his hands. He had been between the two bridges when the explosions had occurred, and by the time he had inspected both sites, he found that not only had the bridges been destroyed, but additional IEDs had been set off on either side of both bridges. He had lost two more tanks, two Strykers, and several dozen infantry. Three-fourths of his column was now trapped because both bridges crossed deep bayous. They could not be crossed by vehicles although soldiers could easily swim across them unless they were carrying equipment. There was no other way out.

  The original federal force was now divided into three parts. There was the large contingent that was trapped by the fallen bridges, a much smaller contingent made up a few Strykers and about two hundred infantry and their vehicles that had not crossed either bridge, and then the part of the federal force that had been left in Donaldsonville. None of these components had any bridge-building equipment, and although a request had soon been made to the New Orleans headquarters, it had not been immediately replied to.

  It was almost a week later that a courier arrived from New Orleans and informed the federal garrison commander in Donalsonville that it would be at least another week before contractors would arrive on-site with sufficient equipment to build two pontoon bridges across the bayous. This was good news for Collins, but it did not solve his immediate problem. His trapped men had quickly run out of food and fresh water, and they were now relying on supplies being ferried across the first bayou in small boats. To make matters worse, an unusually early winter storm had moved into the area and the men were now cold and wet.

  On Ray’s plantation outside of Donaldsonville, Daniel and his tactical militia commander Frank Hebert met with the two East Texas militia commanders, Norman Blake and Roger Hall, to discuss what their next move would be. Their primary mission had been accomplished. They had delayed the movement of the federal force toward Texas for at least several weeks. There was still an opening for further damage to be done. They could have ambushes set up to limit the supplies being brought to the trapped federal forces, and they could try to ambush any relief column coming up from New Orleans.

  There were several problems with this approach. First, the feds would be expecting this and be better prepared to meet any such attacks than they had been for the ambush in the swamp. This made it questionable if the attacks would do much good, and they could be costly to the militia forces. The second problem of more concern was that there was still a sizable federal force occupying Donaldsonville, and so far, there had been no reprisals against the civilian populations. That was primarily because Daniel knew of several federal supporters in the city who would probably tell the feds anything they knew. So one of them was allowed to overhear a casual conversation in a bar about a rumor that there was a large force of East Texas militia in the Donaldsonville area. The ruse was to keep the feds from believing that the attack on their forces was the work of local militia.

  That appeared to be working so far, but if the attacks were continued and any members of the militia were captured, it could all fall apart. With this in mind, the leaders agreed that there would be no more attacks on the feds. The Texas units would return to Canton, and the militia would melt back into the local population.

  Chapter XXV

  When the team leaders reported back to General Donnelly, he was elated at the outcome. He had some serious time now before his troops had to engage an invasion force from the east. The Donaldsonville militia would notify the Texas militia when the feds were on the move again. Since he had that time, Donnelly decided to do what he was known for, be proactive, and go on the attack. The target would be the federal force on the western border of the militia-controlled area.

  He would draw up a plan of action and present it to his senior staff the next day. However, he had another meeting first. Ray Thibodeaux and the general’s son Jamie had sent word that they had something important to give to the renowned commander. When they showed up at the general’s office, Donnelly immediately hugged his son and congratulated him on passing the physical tests so he could start his training to be a special operations soldier in the militia. He told Jamie how proud he was of him, and Jamie now knew that he had truly been accepted back into the family.

  Then the general sat down with him and Ray. Donnelly had seen that Ray was carrying something triangle shaped wrapped in plain brown paper, and he was curious to know what this was all about. Ray laid the package on the general’s desk and told him that it had been found by Jamie and retrieved by him despite the danger involved for him personally. Ray then took off the cover, and Ben Donnelly saw the 9/11 flag. The general could not contain himself. He reached out and picked up the flag and gazed at it while tears welled up in his eyes.

  With the exception of the original Star-Spangled banner, there was no other flag more precious to true Americans than the 9/11 flag. It had become even more important because the Star-Spangled banner that had flown over Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1814, where a major battle had taken place during the war of 1812, and the flag had eventually been enshrined in the American History Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. Unfortunately, that flag had been removed from the museum and disappeared. The progressive federal government had deemed it to be “politically incorrect” because it had been flown during a time when slavery was still legal in the United States.

  It was all part of the politically correct movement to demonize America, its institutions, and traditions so that the children in the United States could be raised to believe they lived in an evil country that was responsible for most of the ills in the world. That effort required a rewriting of American history to provide an interpretation of the Constitution and even the Declaration of Independence that declared them to be documents of oppression instead of those of freedom. The PC movement declared that the protection of things like freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, and especially the right to keep and bear arms were weapons of racism and tyranny and therefore must be abolished, along with all the symbols of the
government that was supposed to protect those freedoms.

  The American flag had ultimately been banned entirely, and its display was a criminal offense punishable by death. Ironically, the new federal government was not able to come up with a permanent flag to represent the new nation it was claiming to have become. The progressives from the gay community wanted their rainbow flag to be the new national flag; however, that was abhorrent to the radical Muslim community that wanted the black flag of ISIS to be the new national banner. Other racial and ethnic groups demanded that the new flag represent their interests and political agenda. Thus, the new order government had no flag, and this was just one of the indications that all was not well in the progressive paradise. Another such indication was the disorder and confusion among the federal forces that had been seen by Sergeant Bobby Williams during the attack on the enemy convoy.

  On the other hand, Ben Donnelly knew that the flag he was holding in his hands was already a unifying force for the American people, and it would be treasured by the people of East Texas, particularly the militia. It gave them one more thing to fight for, and it would lead them into battle. The next day Donnelly had the flag raised in the Canton town square with members of the militia and local civilians present. It flew for twenty-four hours under guard and then was lowered and transported to each county seat of all the counties controlled by the militia. It was ceremoniously raised at each city and then taken to the next location. Then it was returned to Canton where it was to be kept flying over the beautiful, somber Van Zandt County Veterans Memorial until it truly became battle tested in the upcoming battle with the feds.

  Chapter XXVI

  As promised, the general had met with his staff and told them to draw up a plan of attack on the federal force on the border of Kaufman County and Dallas County. He wanted this force destroyed before the militia had to face the other threat from the east. However, after reviewing the reports of the recon patrols that had mapped out the encampment of the federal forces, Donnelly saw an opportunity available and decided to alter the plan. The federal commander on the border of Kaufman County, like his counterpart Colonel Jacob Collins, was obviously a political appointee who had no military background. He had certainly received some training before receiving his command, but it was not enough to keep him from making a basic mistake. He had set up a large tent city where his troops and gang members were housed and a separate motor pool several hundred yards away where all but a few of his vehicles were located. The recon patrol saw that there were many pickup trucks, some two-and-a-half-ton military trucks, over two dozen armored Humvees, and six heavily armed Strykers. The federal commander was smart enough to have the positions heavily guarded.

  According to the intelligence gathered by the militia patrols, many of the trucks were covered and could contain additional weapons, ammunition, food, and fuel. If that was the case, then this could be a valuable acquisition for the militia; but even if there were no supplies, the vehicles would still be an important supplement to the militia inventory of vehicles and armor. Donnelly decided to send in an additional recon patrol made up of a special forces team to find out more.

  The patrol was made up of another special operations team commanded by First Lieutenant Jack Dawson, a tall, muscular, and highly capable former marine recon platoon leader. His team had two jobs to do. The first was to try to infiltrate the enemy motor pool and find out what, if anything, were actually in the trucks and to determine where the guards were, what their pattern was, and when the guards were relieved and replaced. The second was to make sure that there had been no reinforcements of the Iranian reserve force.

  When Dawson’s team moved across the Kaufman County line early on a moonless Saturday night, they set up positions where they could monitor the guards of the motor pool. The first guard unit relief occurred at 8:00 p.m. and the next six hours later at 2:00 a.m. Once the relief had occurred, Jack let a few hours go by so the guards would not be alert as they were at first, and he sent in two of his team members who now knew the routine of the guards and were able to infiltrate the motor pool easily. What they found was stunning.

  Some of the trucks were empty, so they were clearly used to carry troops, but others were full of food and fuel. Still, others contained weapons such as machine guns, RPGs, mortars, and ammunition. What the troops also saw was that the vehicles, including the Strykers and Humvees, all had their keys in their ignitions. The federal commander apparently had no real fear of an attack by the militia since he thought they would be occupied with protecting their eastern boundaries, and he wanted to be ready to move instantly when he received the attack order from his superiors. He obviously had not received the word that the federal advance in the east was stalled.

  After the team confirmed that the strength of the Iranian reserve force had not changed, it returned to Canton and reported to the general. Donnelly was now ready to move. He met with his staff and told them how he wanted the operation to unfold. Within twenty-four hours, the details of the plan had been finalized; and on a crisp fall night, it went into effect. In the middle of the night, two battalions of the militia were quietly moved into the defensive positions maintained by the reinforced Kaufman County militia. However, their mission was offensive, not defensive. They would attack the federal forces but not before the militia air power had been deployed.

  Thar would take place after the first phase of the operation was successfully completed. That initial phase consisted of the two special operations teams commanded by Jack Dawson and Norman Blake supported by two militia platoons taking control of the enemy motor pool. At 4:20 a.m., just an hour before dawn, the special forces teams moved in and quietly killed all the guards of the federal motor pool. They did this by getting behind them, using one hand to cover their mouths, and their other hand using knives to either cut their throats or drive the knives into their kidneys. Either way, there would be no outcry to alert other guards. It was all quick and efficient.

  Once the guards had been terminated, the militia infantry platoons were brought in to secure the motor pool perimeter. They were accompanied by other members of the militia who were prepared to drive the Strykers, Humvees, and other vehicles. They were moved into position to wait for phase two of the operation that consisted of the attack on the main federal encampment. The attack was initiated at dawn by three militia Apache attack helicopters just as the federal troops and their gangster mercenaries were stumbling out of their tents.

  The Apaches came in side by side, opened fire on the federal position with their 30mm chain guns, and tore up the camp and its occupants. The chain guns were devastating, and over a hundred feds were killed or wounded in the first pass. The first three Apaches were followed by two more that added to the casualties. The enemy was hit so hard and so fast that they were only able to get off a few shots from small arms at the helicopters, and none of the choppers were hit.

  As the Apaches flew off, the militia infantry began their attack on the camp. They were led by six tanks and eight Strykers all firing their machine guns at the dazed-and-confused enemy. Faced with this type of firepower and the advancing infantry battalions, the federal force disintegrated. Many of the gang members and federal troops ran toward the motor pool to try to get in the vehicles and escape. However, Blake and Dawson had their men in position.

  As soon as the Apaches had launched their attack, some of the militia drivers had started moving the trucks out of the motor pool and into the safety of Kaufman County. Simultaneously, other drivers had mounted the enemy Strykers and armed Humvees and moved them into positions to provide fire support for the militia infantry and special operations teams. So as the enemy rushed toward the motor pool to get their vehicles, they were met with heavy automatic weapons fire that stopped them in their tracks.

  The federal commander tried to have his men return fire to try to break through to the vehicles, but the gang members had seen enough. This type of fighting was not what the
y had been told to expect. They were used to attacking towns with poorly armed militias or mostly unarmed civilians. The gang leaders and their followers turned and ran toward nearby wooded areas or tried going west on Highway 80. The federal commander only had about a hundred men with him attacking the motor pool. The rest of his men had been attempting to defend the camp, but they had been quickly overrun and the remnants were also in full retreat. The help the feds had expected to arrive from the Iranian reserve unit to the west had not appeared.

  Chapter XXVII

  The Iranian reserve force was not coming to the aid of the main federal force because it had plenty of problems of its own. At approximately ten the night before, three militia Blackhawk helicopters had transported two more special operation teams, two infantry platoons, and a team of combat engineers with the equipment and explosives needed to set IEDs up along the highway. They were put down in a pasture near the highway but about three miles from the Iranian position. It had taken several trips by the Blackhawks to get everyone into the landing zone, but it was done quickly and efficiently, and the men moved into position.

  The two special operations teams were deployed in sniper positions around the Iranian camp, and the infantry platoons set up ambushes along Highway 80. The engineers were busy setting up IEDs along the three-mile route between the Iranian camp and the militia positions. The two infantry platoons had the toughest job. They needed to face both east and west so they could stop the Iranian advance from the west and also kill the retreating federal troops and gang members trying to escape the attack on the main camp to the east.

  The platoons were under the leadership of their company commander of B Company of the First Infantry Battalion, Captain Jonathan Martin. He was thirty-five years old, a US Army veteran, and a resident of Wills Point, Texas. He had been in business as an electrical contractor until the EMP attack had occurred. Since the power grid was shut down, Jonathan could no longer generate income from his primary job, but he had a ten-acre family farm that would at least provide his family with food.