Read Online Take or Destroy! by John Harris - Free Book Online Page A

Colonel Hockold was dismissing his men from his mind, Colonel Hochstatter was busy examining his. His conclusion was much the same as Hockold’s.
    ‘They’re a pretty mixed lot,’ he said. ‘And there aren’t many of them.’
    Major Nietzsche, who had called the parade, shrugged. ‘Qaba’s not very big,’ he pointed out. ‘And after all the Luftwaffe’s responsible for the airfield.’
    He glanced at Captain Schlabrendorff, for an outline of the anti-aircraft position. Schlabrendorff was none too confident. ‘The town’s ringed by guns,’ he said. The whole area’s covered by heavy and light flak. Unfortunately, if they get into trouble in the desert, they’ll take them all away.’
    Hochstatter looked at his lists. ‘A few guns,’ he said. ‘A few engineers, a few gunners, and a few transport men, together with eighty-seven experienced grenadiers. Two hundred and fifty-three altogether. Tarnow -’ he swung round in his chair to the signals officer ‘- did you inform army headquarters of our needs?’
    Tarnow’s cold face was impassive. ‘As strongly as I could.’
    Hochstatter stared again at his lists, and finally at the map of Qaba and its defences. ‘Wutka,’ he said, looking up. ‘We must have your engineers.’
    Wutka’s head rose. Like Hochstatter, Nietzsche and Hrabak, he was there to recover from injuries received in battle, and he limped badly and was always glad to sit down. He was also overworked, sick of the war, sick of Qaba, even sick of Adolf Hitler. ‘Not a hope,’ he commented flatly.
    ‘There must be.’ Hochstatter pushed across the signal that had come in from army headquarters. ‘We must have more strong-points, road blocks, wire barriers, mines and booby traps.’
    ‘My men can’t do guard duties and build strongpoints,’ Nietzsche said.
    ‘And my men can’t repair damaged harbour walls and transport supplies and stand in for your men,’ Wutka snapped back.
    Hochstatter sighed. He liked to consider himself a civilized soldier and a believer in Krieg ohne Hass - war without hate. But while, on the whole, the units of the German army in North Africa managed to leave acrimony out of their dealings with the British, they found it hard to leave it out of their dealings with the Italians and each other.
    ‘You must try,’ he said patiently.
    ‘We’ve tried,’ Nietzsche growled.
    ‘Then you must try harder. We must have your men. If only for a few days.’
    Wutka frowned. ‘Very well,’ he agreed. ‘You can have thirty. But I’d like it in writing.’
    ‘I’ll see that you get it. Veledetti, how many can you spare?’
    Captain Veledetti’s brown eyes moved unhappily. He already considered he had barely enough to patrol the perimeter of the prison compound and he was afraid that if he had less the prisoners would break out and murder him as he slept.
    ‘Ten,’ he suggested warily.
    ‘Come, Veledetti.’
    ‘Twenty, then.’
    ‘That’s better. Hrabak?’
    ‘I can let you have thirty,’ Hrabak said. ‘But I must have them back the minute we get transport.’
    Hochstatter nodded. ‘Von Steen?’
    ‘Twenty,’ von Steen said. ‘Not one more, or the whole operation of the port will come to a stop.’
    ‘Twenty then,’ Hochstatter said. ‘That makes three hundred and fifty-three engaged purely on defence. Tarnow, ask army headquarters if we can’t borrow from Tobruk. What about guns?’
    Schoeler, the artilleryman, looked up. ‘Zohler got a smashed-up Mark III from 15th Panzers. We’re digging it in now. It can’t be repaired and won’t move and he had to tow it into position, but the turret can be cranked. He’s also got two old British tanks armed with two-pounders.’
    ‘Is that all?’
    ‘The panzers are sitting on everything they have,’ Schoeler said. ‘In case they have to be cannibalized for spares. They’re expecting to need them before long.’
    Hochstatter frowned. ‘Aren’t they all getting a little worked up about this big