Chapter 5

The boss in Pelican Bay was only marginally smarter than the one in Birdseye, but he eventually fell into our trap. He moved on us with about 40 of his so-called soldiers armed with AK-74s. He expected an easy victory with that many thugs at his disposal, so he came with them, riding in a convertible so that he could see the whole show.

Of course, we knew that they were coming, since he made no effort to hide his intentions. I think he wanted to make us sweat while we waited for his onslaught. Well, this gave us plenty of time to get set up in prepared positions. In response to previous complaints, we had called out the entire militia, even though we knew that we didn't need nearly that many to make mincemeat out of the invading "army."

Jimmy even set up the two machine guns and the mortar, though he knew that they were vast overkill. It was quite possible that they would never get into the fight. There was a line of swamp just south of Pelican Bay which meant that there was only one decent highway running through it, so we set up an ambush along the road.

One side of the road had some firm and reasonably dry ground running along it for about two klicks, and the other side of the the road was a miserable, alligator-filled swamp boasting a lot of quicksand. This was where we set up. We dug in rifle pits and nests for our machine guns and mortar. Jimmy wanted to give each of the heavy weapons a chance for at least one shot, so he located them at the northern end and southern end of the ambush site. The rifle pits were spread out over a distance of 500 meters so that everybody had the hope of getting in a few shots at the enemy.

We knew that the enemy was coming in on trucks, with the boss bringing up the rear in his convertible. At least, he was not stupid enough to lead the charge. The plan was to let the entire convoy enter what amounted to a causeway through the swamp. Once they got on that section of road, there was no alternative to going ahead, since there was no place a large truck could turn around. We had radiophones stationed all up and down the line, so the defenders could be kept up to date on the progress of the enemy. The signal to start firing was the sound of the mortar shell exploding. At that point, everybody was supposed to shoot at the nearest enemy.

The radios were to warn Jimmy at the command post if the first truck was about to escape through the ambush before the last vehicle entered the kill zone. With only six trucks and one car, we didn't think that was likely, but we had planned for it. The .30 caliber machine gun was in position to shoot at the last truck and the .50 caliber, with its longer range, was placed to take out the lead truck.

Nobody was supposed to shoot until the mortar took out the car, with the exception that if the lead truck was about to escape, then the heavy machine gun was to shoot. Everybody was free to shoot if they heard the machine gun. Discipline was maintained with the threat of losing one's rifle and pistol if he fired too soon. That was the one thing that people feared most!

There was a real party mood among the militia. They all brought picnic lunches and plenty of mosquito repellent. Both would be needed before the day was over, no matter what happened during the firefight. The only thing that Jimmy insisted upon was that there be no beer or other alcoholic drinks brought with the militia. This was the other rule that could cost someone his weapons. Even "cough medicine" was prohibited.

As Jimmy expected, the convoy was late, but they finally did arrive. Everything went according to plan for the first few seconds. The trucks rolled by and the convertible came into sight. As soon as it was close enough, the mortar fired. Just at that moment, the driver of the convertible applied his brakes because the trucks had slowed for some reason. The result was that the mortar shell landed too far in front of the car and it was a clean miss.

The mortar crew was pissed beyond words at this perfidious behavior of the driver, and they wanted to drop another shell on the stopped car. However, Jimmy was concerned about wasting ammunition which was still in short supply for the mortar, so he had forbidden more that that one shot. The mortar crew was undaunted by this set back and took up their rifles and began shooting.

Meanwhile, the machine gun crew of the .30 caliber opened up with blasts at the car. They did a good job of reducing the car to scrap metal and the occupants to hamburger, so the boss was out of the way, no matter what else happened.

The noise of the mortar shell explosion was all the crew at the .50 caliber machine gun needed to set off a major hosing of the lead truck. Within only a few seconds, that truck was not even worth salvaging for spare parts, there were so many holes in it and its mechanical parts. The driver had been killed in the first burst of fire, and the men in the open back of the truck were hit with rifle fire at virtually the same moment. The truck contributed something else to the battle by swerving diagonally across the road and providing a very effective road block.

The fire from the rifle pits was very effective at wounding or killing most of the men on the open backs of the trucks. A few of the men, the actual number was never known, were spared by the fortunes of war and managed to slip over the side of the truck and vanish into the swamp. Most, to keep down their weight, had abandoned their rifles before leaping into the water. These men provided sport for the alligators which infested this particular portion of the swamp. None of the men were ever seen again.

The entire battle lasted less than 10 minutes, and there was nothing for Jimmy or me to do but admire the effectiveness and enthusiasm of our troops. It had taken only about 10 years for the bosses to instill an abiding hatred of them in the general population, and it came out in rare opportunities like this one.

Once the battle was over, Jimmy ordered the sergeants to have their squads loot the enemy troops, making especial care to pick up all of the weapons, including knives and clubs. Once a body was stripped of valuables, it was tossed to the alligators. There were too many to even think about burial.

When the looting was finished, it was found that only the first and last vehicles were undrivable, so tow trucks were dispatched from Ochnee to clear the road to allow traffic to resume. The mortar shell had chipped the concrete of the road a bit, so a warning cone was left to mark the place until the blemish could be repaired. Other than that, the next afternoon rain would remove most traces of the battle, and life along the road could return to normal.

A celebratory party was held that night to mark another victory for the expanding territory of New Ochnee. One could expect a baby boom in nine months and a corresponding reduction in the size of the militia a few month prior to that. That was OK, our militia was too big as it was, and it was sure to get larger when we, of necessity, incorporated the citizens of Pelican Bay into the militia.

The next day, Jimmy and I took a small delegation of troops to Pelican Bay to assert our new ownership of the fiefdom. We were welcomed with open arms by the populace. By now, all of southern Florida knew what was going on in New Ochnee and wanted to be a part of it. The acquisition of Pelican Bay doubled the population of New Ochnee and increased its area by almost 40%. The boss of Florida couldn't help noticing us now, and we were not sure that we were ready for that, yet.

That plant that was located just outside the town of Pelican Bay was the largest processor of frozen orange juice in the state, which made it the largest such plant in the world. A huge percentage of the union's profits came from sales to South America, Mexico, and Cuba. We were now in a position to disturb that plum of profit, and the union was bound to notice.

The union was milking every penny it could from the plant. They were keeping the mechanical parts of the plant at peak quality and efficiency, but they had a miserable record in the way they treated their employees. Most would have starved if they had not been able to buy food and other necessities from the company store. The employees were paid a pittance, but they had a charge account at the company store which kept them and their families alive. There was no provision for medical or dental care, and employees were kicked out as soon as they were unable to work for any reason. There was always a waiting line for employment at the only factory for miles around. Outside the factory, unemployment was almost 100%, except for the orange groves, and they were owned by the union, too, but run as a separate business entity.