American Meltdown: Book Two of The Economic Collapse Chronicles (20 page)

CHAPTER
43

“For lack of guidance a nation falls, but many advisers make victory sure.”

-Proverbs 11:14

All of the men who had gone on the scavenging run to Louisville got a few of the solar panels. Matt helped everyone to get their panels set up as he had some experience with them. Matt added his panels to his existing setup on his metal work shed. The shed was exposed to more direct sun than his house. He connected a couple of the small batteries together in parallel to increase the capacity of the overall system.

On Thursday afternoon, Matt, Adam and Wesley took several panels up to Lt. Joe’s cabin. His cabin was the communication hub for the Eastern Kentucky Liberty Militia and the point of contact for the surrounding militias. It was imperative that his ham radio have an alternate power source.

Commander Franklin Johnson was at Lt. Joe’s when they arrived.

“Hey, fellas,” Franklin said when they pulled into the drive.

“How’s it going?” Adam asked as he shook Franklin’s hand.

Johnson told the men, “Sounds like the Coalition is about to do something big up north.”

“Like what?” Wes asked.

“Not sure,” Franklin said. “The details are on a need-to-know basis. All we need to know is that we need to be on high alert in case of a retaliatory strike from Howe.”

Matt said, “So we can assume it is something big enough to ruin Howe’s breakfast. I wonder if they are going to try to evict the federal forces from the Dakotas. They have to address that issue sooner or later.”

Johnson said, “We’ll know soon enough. We are getting Franklin set up with some digital communication software. The protocol is called PSK-31. It allows us to send text messages over the ham radio. The main benefit is that once it is in digital format, it
’s very easy to encrypt. The secondary benefit is that it can transmit over a much longer distance using less power.”

“Sounds complicated,” Matt said.

“Not to use,” Johnson said. “There is a free program that you can download from the internet called FLDIGI. Once the program is on your computer or laptop, you just type in the message and it will send out the signal in digital through your speaker. You can just hold your mic up to the speaker and it will transmit. Of course we have some cables to connect directly to the ham radio, but you could do it without them. You could even use it with regular walkie-talkies. You could broadcast the message with one walkie and hold the receiving walkie up to the mic of another laptop running FLDIGI and converse over longer distances than voice.”

Adam added, “So we could use a book cypher for that since it uses written messages?”

“Absolutely,” Franklin answered. “A book cypher is low tech, but very effective. Here is a flash drive with the FLDIGI program, so you guys can get it installed on all your computers. Make sure every squad has it installed on a tablet or some portable device that you can take in the field. Where did you guys get all of the solar panels?”

Adam rolled his eyes. “That
’s a long story, why don’t we go in and I’ll tell you all about it.”

Once inside, everyone greeted Lt
. Joe. They sat down in Joe’s living room as Adam told the story of the run to Louisville. Lt. Joe agreed that Adam had made the right call on the way home. Franklin didn’t question him as he had not been there and could not say what he would’ve done in the situation.

After the adventure briefing, everyone headed outside to get the solar array set up on Lt. Joe’s roof.

“Thank you, boys,” Lt. Joe said. “This is real nice. This will power the system just fine if there is ever an outage. No use letting the power go to waste in the meantime, though. I’ll keep my icebox running on it for now.”

Adam asked Joe, “Would you mind if we cache the firearms we took from the road bandits in your backwoods?”

“That’d be just fine, Adam,” Joe said. “As long as I know where they are in case I ever need them.”

Adam and the rest of the men worked together to get the weapons and ammo airtight and waterproof. They oiled and sealed the guns in Food Saver vacuum bags then sealed them in
twelve-inch PVC pipe with end caps. Finally, they headed out to the woods to bury them several hundred yards from Joe’s cabin.

CHAPTER
44

“Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.”

-Psalm 116:15

Pastor John Robinson kissed his wife goodbye and went to meet up with Albert Rust and the other militia men who had been assigned to Operation Rocket’s Red Glare.

“Pastor!” Rust said with surprise. “What are you doing?”

“I am going with you, Albert,” Robinson replied.

“No, you’re not. I don’t mean to usurp your authority, but the people need you here to head up security,” Albert replied.

Trey Dayton and several others had left Young Field to defend the southern Idaho border. Two-thirds of those who remained at Young Field would be heading to Minot, South Dakota, to participate in the Coalition effort to take command of Minot Air Force Base. Operation Rocket’s Red Glare was as close to a secret mission as they could get. The only men who were going on the mission were established militia, National Guard and Coalition Military. Newcomers were not part of the assault, both because of their lack of training and to reduce the odds of a spy getting a hold of intelligence.

Robinson said, “I stood in the pulpit preaching fire and brimstone against the government in the years leading up to this conflict Albert. I won’t miss it for the world.

“These folks will be fine. We have plenty of security personnel staying behind. The southern border is very well secured. There is little risk of a second attack on Young Field. Especially while we are gone. I think Howe is going to have bigger fish to fry after he hears from us in Minot.”

“You’re a grown man. I guess you can make your own decisions
,” Rust said.

They jumped into Albert’s jeep and headed out in front of the militia convoy. Their first stop was to be in Kalispell, Montana, to meet up with two other militia battalions. Today would be a slow steady roll over the 500 miles from Young Field to Kalispell. The two men had a lot of time to consider the outcome of the operation as they drove through the mountainous terrain between Boise and Kalispell.

Once in Kalispell, they were led to a staging area outside of town. The two local militia groups they joined were staying in a nearby farmer’s field.

Albert said, “It’s nearly dark, we better get these tents up right away.”

That taken care of, they headed to the chow line.

Pastor John said
, “The folks from Kalispell are very supportive of the militia. That fellow over there told me church groups and neighborhoods had organized to bring out this food.”

Albert and Pastor John sat down to eat with some of the other men from their group. The local folks had contributed a potluck dinner.

Albert said, “I’m going to try shepherd’s pie, chicken pot pie, and a bit of lasagna. I don’t want to be a pig, but everything looks so good.”

Pastor John agreed. “I know, I want to try everything, but I am going to save a little room. The dessert table has some pies that look very interesting.”

The next morning they were up early and the convoy moved out toward Malmstrom Air Force Base.

Albert commented, “This will be a short drive compared to the journey we made yesterday.”

When they arrived at Malmstrom, several high-ranking military officers laid out the plans for the individual battalions; both those of the state militaries and militia. They were all on the same team for this operation. With the combined forces of the militia, National Guardsmen and other state military personnel, this was a real army. Each battalion was given a grand overview of the objective and a detailed plan of the exact timing and mission objectives they were to achieve.

After the overview, the men broke for dinner. Pastor John said “These aren’t bad for MRE’s. They don’t compare to what we ate in Kalispell, but they’re probably on the top of the list for MREs.”

Albert said, “I’m grateful for what we have, but this is nothing like what we ate in Kalispell. On the upside, we get to sleep in the empty hangars tonight. Winter may be over, but that wind can pull the heat right out of you. They have large space heaters inside which should keep the hangars fairly warm.”

After dinner they were assigned to their space in the hangar. Pastor John said, “These cots are going to be a lot better than sleeping on the ground. I have to say they are pretty big; it’s a perfect fit for my sleeping bag. I think the generals have put together a solid plan. What do you think about it?”

“I believe it’ll work, Pastor.” Albert Rust agreed. “It sounded like General Allen Jefferson may have devised it. It utilizes all the military resources we have up here.”

“Too bad we
’ll lose those B-52s in the air raid,” Pastor John said. “They could’ve come in handy.”

Rust said, “They could’ve, but if they get airborne before we take the base, then we would have a real problem.”

“I hope I can live up to the honor we’ve been given in this battle, Albert,” the pastor said.

“You’ve already been tried in battle
, sir.” Albert patted the pastor on the back.

The men went right to sleep. They knew the next night would be full of apprehension about the coming engagement.

The next morning, the convoys rolled out in staggered groups toward the border. Everyone had a set place to stop somewhere in between Wolfe Point and ten miles from the North Dakota border. Wolfe Point was about fifty miles from North Dakota. This strategy spaced the camps out over a forty mile stretch of US Route 2. It made the camps harder to spot and reduced the chance of them all being taken out at once if they were discovered while approaching the border.

Pastor John and Albert woke early the next morning and rolled out.

“We don’t have much driving today,” Albert said. “Our camp is about fifteen miles from the border. No fires are permitted and tents have to be in earth tones.”

Pastor John grinned. “Mine was blue, so one of the fellows at the base gave me one of those old military tents. Otherwise, I would have had to sleep in the truck.”

Albert said, “It’s supposed to get down in the 40s tonight, so make sure you sleep with lots of layers.”

When they arrived
at the camp, Albert pulled his Jeep under a thick cover of trees several hundred feet from the road. That night they ate MREs and then prayed for God’s blessing on the mission. Several other men from Young Field joined them as they prayed. Pastor John prayed a special prayer of protection over each man. God’s peace came over the men and they slept much better than they expected.

The next morning, the advance team shot by the roadside camp. Several hundred Coalition State military soldiers went in hard and fast to eliminate the federal border guards and secure the town of Williston, North Dakota.

Williston was easily taken and the town’s people were very happy to help locate federal officers for elimination by Coalition troops. Most of the inhabitants of Williston had come from somewhere else to work in the oil fields. When Howe partially nationalized the oil fields, they were forced to accept whatever form of payment Howe decided was fair. Worse than that, they had been conscripted to stay and work the oil fields. They were not allowed to return to the towns from which they had originally come.

A few militia men stayed behind in Williston to keep it secure and watch out for other federal troops crawling out of the woodwork. No doubt at this point, the federal troops had radioed for backup and the posse was on the way. The clock was ticking now. Everyone barreled down US Route 2 at breakneck speed.

It was about 140 miles from Williston to the base, but the first wave of soldiers left Williston as the advance team was killing of the federal troops in the town.

Pastor John looked at Albert’s speedometer. “115 miles per hour. We can make good time on this long straight road. We just left 30 minutes ago and we are already halfway there.”

They heard a sonic boom to the left and saw the F-22 Raptors zooming over the tree tops.

“Wow!” Pastor John exclaimed. “I’ve never seen anything like that in my life.”

“How fast do you think they are going?” Albert asked.

“I don’t have any idea. 500 knots, maybe 600.” The pastor replied.
“I couldn’t even see it. It was just a blur.”

Minutes later, they heard muted booms and saw clouds of smoke rising over the horizon.

Just before they arrived at the base, another sortie of F-22 Raptors caused a sonic boom as they passed directly over their heads. The closer explosions sent up flashes of brilliant light and bloodcurdling rumble.

Pastor John commented, “I could feel that explosion from my teeth to my stomach.”

Their squad finally arrived at Minot Air Force Base. Black smoke filled the air.

Albert said, “The smell of burning jet fuel makes it hard to breath. It looks like the element of surprise paid off big time. I don’t see any resistance at the main gate. We should be able to roll straight through the base.”

Albert was the team leader for their squad. He called out over the radio, “This is the building they were supposed to search. It was marked as an administrative building, but I think it may be more than that. Those doors look pretty heavy duty. Everybody stay sharp. I don’t know what we’re walking into.”

The team pulled straight up to the doors and jumped out of their vehicles.

Albert gave instructions over the radio. “The door is locked. We are going to blow it. Everybody take cover.”

Albert proceeded to place the explosive charge on the lock. As soon as he detonated the explosion, he called, “Go! Go! Go!”

The team was through the door before the smoke cleared. Albert called out, “Alpha, go left, Charlie squad, you take the right corridor. Bravo, we are taking the center hall.”

They meticulously cleared each room. As they approached the end of the hall, automatic machine-gun fire began to rain down on them. They took up positions in the doorways of other rooms in the hall. They exchanged fire with the hostiles at the end of the hall for several minutes.

Albert called for help over the radio. “We are pinned down in the center hallway of building 2-G. Repeat! Coalition forces are pinned down in the center hall of building 2-Golf. We need assistance to take this building.”

“We
’re right beside you.” The radio came back. “Our building was a residential building. We can send 20 of our guys to you. Be there in 5 minutes. Hang tight.”

Pastor John, Albert and their team continued to lay down suppressive fire, but they could not get a
clear shot.

Minutes later, they heard gunfire come from behind. The backup team was shooting into the enemy from the outside of the building.

The other team that came to assist called over the radio. “Two hostiles are down and the others have retreated into the room they were firing from.”

“Roger,” Albert called back. “We
’ll enter the room and start clearing. Follow us in and back us up.”

Albert led the team to the doorway. They opened the door and poured into the room. Gunfire erupted from several directions. The team scrambled for cover.

Pastor John found cover behind a row of crates. The room they entered was a warehouse space behind the administrative offices. Pastor John found a small space in between the crates and started to scan for a target. He saw a muzzle flash come from behind a wooden crate.

He prayed, “God make me accurate.” He then made his best estimate of where the center of mass would be behind the crates and took a single shoot. The man fell from behind the crate and his weapon went skidding across the floor.

Unfortunately, Pastor Johns muzzle flash had broadcast his position. He was drawing fire from two different assailants. Albert Rust took the opportunity to stand up from his cover and take a shot. He took out one of the men shooting at the pastor, but the bullet from another hostile found its path to Albert’s head. He fell silent. Instantly, without pain or suffering, Albert was transported from this life to eternal glory.

Pastor John did not hear nor see Albert get shot, but he felt it in his spirit when he fell. Pastor John thought to himself the words Albert must be hearing from the lips of the King at that moment, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” A single tear trickled down the pastor’s cheek.

Pastor John went back to the crack between the crates. Three hostiles ran out from behind their cover toward the positions being held by the pastor and his team. The pastor took a shot as did others from his team. The three men were taken down, but so were two more of Pastor John’s team members.

A grenade flew from the other side of the room and landed right by another one of the Coalition force members, taking him out as well.

The assisting Coalition team pushed into the back room. They were a well-trained Special Forces team.

As Pastor John saw the effectiveness of the team he thought,
It’s a shame that they had not been assigned to take this building. The casualties would have been much lower. Our team did very well, but we’re not trained for this sort of thing.