The crossing of the Red River Bridge had been unopposed by the militia, and within two hours, there were over fifty tanks over the river along with two brigades of federal infantry. The tanks were deployed in three separate lines with federal infantry units following each group of tanks. They moved forward toward what they believed were the militia positions that had been bombed and hit hard by federal artillery. They expected to meet minimum resistance, but they almost immediately ran into unexpected trouble. Mason Williams and Gregory Jordan were both sergeants in Matt Donnelly’s combat engineer battalion. Both had military experience in demolitions and now were hiding in separate foxholes not far from the fake American entrenchments.
They had participated with other engineers in placing antipersonnel mines and IEDs loaded with C-4 explosives across the line of attack being used by the federal troops. The mines were contact mines that were set off by pressure, so unfortunately, many of them were set off by the tanks and no real damage was done. However, there were numerous mines, so not all were run over by tanks, and many of the rest were stepped on by members of the federal infantry. Many of them were killed or wounded. At the same time, Williams and Jordan were remotely detonating the IEDs to damage the tanks, and they disabled eight of them.
This slowed the federal advance down but did not halt it, and the second wave of tanks and infantry had been moved into position to cross the Red River at the bridge and join in the attack. This appeared to be a good sign for the success for the federal force, but it never happened because in addition to the combat engineers that were setting off the charges that were slowing the federal advance, there were six other members of the militia hidden in foxholes not far from the bridge. They were special forces troops with lasers. After the initial federal movement across the river, these men watched as the second wave of federal forces was massing on the north side of the Red River and informed General Donnelly’s headquarters who, in turn, ordered the commander of the airbase at Longview to launch four fighters to destroy the bridge. The fighters had been rearmed with rockets, and 20mm ammunition and with the use of the laser-guided targeting deployed by the special operations troops took out the bridge with one attack.
While this was occurring, the federal troops and armor crossing at the ford downriver had been met with unexpected heavy opposition from the militia. Their attack had ground to a halt at the same time that the federal force attacking in the west had reached the militia positions and found that they were unmanned and that there were nothing but dummy artillery and armor positions at the site. The federal force did not know what it was facing, so the commander ordered all his units to hold in place until daylight when they could get an idea of what the militia strength actually was. He also ordered all his armor, artillery, and infantry units that were to have crossed the now-destroyed bridge to head east and cross at the downriver ford.
This was exactly what General Donnelly had hoped for, and as dawn broke the following morning, all hell broke loose on the federal units. The militia artillery opened fire on the federal armor and infantry that had crossed the river on the bridge the night before. The federal units could not retreat back toward the destroyed bridge, so the advance was halted, and the federal force moved back a few hundred yards until it was out of range of the militia artillery to wait for the rest of the armor and infantry to cross at the ford and come to reinforce them. The crossing would not take place until just before dawn, and it would take at least four more hours for the reinforcements to join the main force south of the river. That was assuming that they could overcome the surprising strong militia force that had fought the initial federal force at the ford to a standstill.
The column of federal tanks and infantry that had crossed the river at the shallow ford in the middle of the night had not expected any opposition but had sent an infantry squad across the river first to conduct reconnaissance of the area immediately south of the crossing. This type of recon activity was something the militia was prepared for. The combat engineers had not set any of the mines to be detonated by contact, but instead the engineers were in deep-covered foxholes in the area; so when the time came, they could detonate the mines remotely. They were not detected by the federal recon patrol, and neither were the militia tanks nor infantry hidden from sight a mile away from the river ford. They were behind a sparse tree line, but large sand berms had been constructed to hide them, and they were camouflaged so they could not be spotted from the air.
When the federal recon patrol signaled the all-clear, twenty-seven tanks, eight Strykers, and two dozen Humvees, along with two brigades of infantry, started to cross the river. After most of the force had made the crossing, the hidden militia engineers started detonating the IEDs and mines. Tanks were being disabled when their treads were blown off and some Strykers and Humvees were totally destroyed. The infantry was also hard hit with over one hundred men being killed or wounded. This all occurred before the militia armor and infantry moved in for the kill. They did not have the tanks or infantry to match the federal force; so they made a quick surgical strike hitting the federal force with heavy fire, destroying more tanks and other armored vehicles, killing more infantrymen, and then withdrawing into the darkness. This left the commander of the local federal force totally bewildered. He did not know how strong the militia force was that had just attacked his units or where they were now. He just knew that his command had suffered significant casualties in a location where they had been told there would be no militia opposition.
He sent a radio message about his situation to the overall federal commander, General Thomas Moreland Jr., a traitor who had once been in the US Army as a supply officer but had been facing a court-martial for secretly stealing military equipment and supplies and selling them on the black market. He was saved by his father, US senator Thomas Moreland Sr. of New York, who was a key supporter of Richard Thompson who had become the president and ultimate dictator of the former United States of America. The senator had convinced the president that the charges brought against his son had been political and had been orchestrated by his superiors in the military who felt that their oath of office to defend the US Constitution was superior to any oath they had been ordered to take to obey a dictator.
Moreland ultimately convinced the president that his son was an expert in military strategy and tactics and should be in command of the federal attack on the East Texas militia. He also convinced Thompson the political appointment of son to this command would earn the president the permanent support of the powerful group of politicians controlled by the older Moreland.
In fact, the younger Moreland knew nothing about military strategy and tactics but was heavily relying on the advice of his executive officer, Colonel Jordan Billings. The colonel had several men on his staff that had been planted by Ray Thibodeaux, and they were his link to Ray and the militia. As the attack plan on the militia was developed, details of that plan made their way to Ray Thibodeaux and General Donnelly. That was how they knew of the strength of the federal forces, the planned point of attack across the bridge, and that the feds had discovered another crossing site downriver from the bridge. This made it easy for the militia recon units to locate the site.
When Moreland received word that his force at the ford had been attacked, he turned to Billings for advice. He was told to have the troops on the south side of the ford hold in place until the rest of the force arrived from north of the bridge. Then he suggested they move slowly and carefully south until they reached a highway that would lead them to a point where they could attack from the right flank of the militia that had penned down the federal forces that had crossed on the now-destroyed bridge.
Moreland asked Billings why he thought the troops crossing the ford should waste time heading south and then west instead of just immediately heading west on the highway along the river that would get them to the other federal force faster. Billings told Moreland that he suspected that since the militia had somehow disc
overed the crossing but had only managed to oppose the federal forces with a relatively small force of their own, they would probably have expected the federal advance to take the shortest route to the main federal force and the militia would probably have it heavily mined and have possible ambushes set up along the route. Billings argued the more southern route would be safer. Moreland took his advice and issued the order. Jorge Ortega had been in the command center when this decision was reached. He was one of the two men who actually were militia members working for Ray Thibodeaux. Ortega went immediately to the secret radio that he had hidden outside of the command post and sent a coded message to the militia command post that had been established just south of the main but still-undiscovered militia defensive line.
The stage was now set for an epic battle. The militia forces in the west had ceased firing while awaiting the next move by the federal troops that had crossed the bridge while the militia to the east at the ford was waiting for the federal reinforcements to arrive. General Donnelly met with his staff in the command center just behind the second and real line of defense and assessed the situation. Despite their successes during the night, the militia was still outnumbered and outgunned, at least when it came to ground forces. It was with this fact in mind that Donnelly issued orders for an all-out air assault on the federal forces.
While this air assault plan was being finalized, the militia infantry, artillery, and armor units were nervously awaiting the inevitable attack of the feds to their front. Their morale was bolstered when several militia Humvees passed through their lines and started moving in front of all the deployed troops. The first of the vehicles was flying a flag they all recognized: the 9/11 flag that, as promised, was to be leading them in the fight. With the exception of Jamie Donnelly and Ray Thibodeaux, the flag was still guarded mostly by the men who had months before escaped from the federal detention center in New Orleans. The detachment was under the command of former Navy SEAL George Carson.
At 9:34 a.m., the federal force that had been north of the Red River Bridge when it was destroyed made it to the downriver ford and started crossing the river. The column included forty-three tanks, all the federal artillery, and two infantry divisions with Strykers and armored Humvees. As soon as Donnelly learned that the crossing had begun, he ordered the air assault to begin.
Chapter XLV
The militia force had twelve A-10 Warthogs, known as the tank busters, and eight of them were assigned to attack the federal forces crossing the Red River ford. The other four were to support the sixteen Apache helicopters that were going in to attack the federal armor that had made it across the bridge. This was a risky operation because the federal troops were equipped with surface-to-air missiles that could take down Apaches. The Apaches could come in fast and hard, but they still were vulnerable to small arms fire and especially to surface-to-air missiles. To protect them, General Donnelly ordered four special forces teams to move forward close to the federal positions. Their job was to protect four mortar platoons that were also going forward, along with six pieces of militia artillery. They opened fire on the federal infantry just as the Apache helicopters and the A-10s were moving in for the attack.
The combination of the 81mm mortar fire, the militia artillery fire, and the machine gun and automatic weapons fire of the special operations teams forced the federal infantry to hit the ground and destroyed much of their ability to engage the helicopters and Warthogs. The result was a devastating attack on the federal armor. Sixteen tanks were destroyed along with thirteen Strykers and armored Humvees.
At the same time, the other Warthogs were hitting the tanks at the Red River ford. Fourteen more federal tanks were destroyed, but this did not stop the federal force from continuing its advance. It then fell into the trap laid by Jordan Billings that had directed it to the southern route, and militia tanks and IEDs did more damage to the advancing federal force. However, the remaining federal armor and thousands of infantry troops eventually were able to link up with the remnants of the main force south of the Red River Bridge. They were preparing to attack the militia positions when the militia B-52 and B-1 bombers came in.
They were equipped with five-hundred-pound bombs that destroyed tanks and other armored vehicles and killed hundreds of federal soldiers. There was now complete chaos among the federal troops, and that was when Donnelly ordered the ground attack. His armor, artillery, and infantry drove the enemy back toward the Red River where the retreating federal troops were forced to abandon their tanks and other vehicles in order to join the infantry and swim across the river. However, they found no safety because the Oklahoma militia under the command of General David Williams was waiting for them on the north side of the river and killed many more of the enemy. Even the remnants of the federal fighters could not help because they were once again met by the militia jets and their superior pilots and were either shot down or forced to retreat. The same occurred with the Russian attack helicopters that the federal commander had held in reserve and now employed in a final but futile attempt to turn the tide.
During the ambush of the federal force that had crossed at the ford earlier that day, something had occurred that provided a great deal of satisfaction to the members of the Donaldsonville, Louisiana, militia. The companies dispatched by this militia to assist in the defense of East Texas was led by the militia combat commander Frank Hebert, but he was joined by Daniel Thibodeaux, who felt like this was a fight he had to be a part of. He owed that not only to the people of Donaldsonville but to his cousin Ray.
As the militia ambush of the federal force unfolded, Daniel was in charge of one of the Louisiana militia platoons that were supporting the armored battalions striking the federal column. It was designed to be a fierce but quick fight since the militia knew they were not strong enough to successfully sustain a long battle. The primary attack was being carries out by militia armor, but the infantry was heavily involved, and their job was to fire on trucks containing the federal infantry and cause as many casualties as possible.
Daniel’s platoon was heavily engaged with the federal infantry who were leaving their vehicles that were being shot to pieces when Daniel saw someone he immediately recognized. The officer in charge of the infantry in the column was Omar Shala, who was still masquerading as Colonel Raphael Ortega, the man who had ordered the massacre of innocent civilians in Donaldsonville. Things quickly became personal for Daniel; he pointed out Shala to some of the other troopers and told them to concentrate their fire on all the federal troops near Shala but to leave the enemy colonel to him.
His men complied, and Daniel watched as one enemy soldier after another went down under the intense fire. Shala was in a panic as he tried to organize his men to return fire, yet the rest of Daniel’s platoon had been informed of what was going on, and they all concentrated their angry fire on the men with Shala who they suspected had likely been with Shala in Donaldsonville. Several of the Louisiana militiamen had grenade launchers, and they used them to blow up the trucks that the federal foreign fighters were using for cover. This fire drove Shala out in the open, and this gave Daniel the opening he wanted. He was an excellent marksman and took careful aim on the vicious Islamist. His first shot knocked Shala’s AK-47 rifle from his hands, and his second shot took out the man’s left knee, causing him to collapse to the ground and leaving him unable to walk.
Daniel now had a clear path to Shala; so he drew his Bowie knife that had been handed down through his family for years and ran straight at the man that had brutally ordered the killing of so many men, women, and children in Donaldsonville. Daniel’s men fanned out to cover him because they knew what was about to happen. Within seconds, Daniel was standing over the man he had seen leading the attack on Donaldsonville and who he thought he would never see again, and he watched with great satisfaction as he writhed on the ground in pain. When Shala saw the militiaman standing over him holding the biggest knife he had ever seen, this so-called brave jihadist
who willingly ordered the slaughter of innocent women and children and sent his own men to their deaths was now begging for his life.
Daniel knelt down beside him and said simply, “Where I am about to send you, there will be no virgins waiting. You will just burn in hell!” Then Daniel used his knife to gut Shala like he would a wild hog. He deemed that appropriate, and then he ordered his platoon to withdraw with the other militia units, and he left Shala to die the slow and painful death that he deserved.
When the federal commander, General Moreland, learned that his units were in a catastrophic retreat, he decided to abandon his soldiers and save himself. He ordered his command post evacuated. He knew that he would be initially blamed for the debacle but felt that he could successfully shift the blame to his chief advisor, Colonel Jordan Billings, for giving him bad advice. Unfortunately for Moreland, Billings and two of his officers were missing from the command post, so Moreland had no choice but to get in the Humvees with his staff and personal guards and head north. They had only gone a few miles when the convoy was ambushed by a large force of Oklahoma militia.
The firefight was fierce but relatively short since the militia force was being supported by Lieutenant Robert Cannon’s special operations A team. Jamie Donnelly was with the team. He was now a section leader, and he and the soldiers under his command were firing at the federal convoy guards when Jamie saw a lone man sprint from the convoy and head into the surrounding desert. He ordered two of his section members to pursue the individual. They quickly captured him and brought him back to Jamie. He immediately recognized the rank on the collar of the captive and knew that his men had taken the man they were after: federal general Thomas Moreland Jr.