Read Online The Rat Patrol 3 - The Trojan Tank Affair by David King - Free Book Online Page A

with the machine gun."
    Troy waited until a blast from the other side of the trace indicated Hitch and Moffitt had destroyed the guns at that position and then he squeezed off a blast at the grenades under the M1938. Metal hurtled through the air and dirt and rocks pelted Tully and him.
    Back down the track, the convoy still was halted. The men had left their trucks and were spread out on both sides behind the lead truck. They yelled and started forward as the jeeps neared the lead track. One of two majors standing in front of the first truck spun about and apparently ordered the men back. They halted but did not stop cheering. The second major, his face red and angry, strode up to Troy as Tully stopped.
    "What is the meaning of this?" he demanded.
    Troy pushed back his bush hat and started to laugh.
    The second major, a slender blade of a man with snapping dark eyes, moved up quickly.
    "I'll handle this," he said crisply to the other major. "Get your men back in their vehicles." He jerked his head to Troy. "Bring your men back with me, Sergeant," he said and turned on his heel, taking long steps back toward the last van.
    Troy winked at Hitch and Tully. "We'll drive the jeeps back to the rear," he said.
    They pulled around the convoy and parked the jeeps side by side headed toward Benghazi. They were inside the van and Tully was boiling water for coffee when the major climbed over the tailgate. He stood tall and straight, every inch an executive or lawyer turned officer in his tailored gabardine fatigues with the gold leafs on the collar and a gilt leaf painted in the center of his helmet. In baleful silence, he glared at each of them in turn.
    "You broke security," he said in a cold, thin voice but his eyes were hot. "You were under strict orders to remain concealed. Now every man in this convoy and every Arab in the area knows the Rat Patrol is with us."
    Troy walked over to the table and sat on a stool. He pushed the bush hat to the back of his head and lighted a cigarette while he struggled to keep his simmering anger from boiling.
    "When the coffee is ready, maybe the major would like a cup," he told Tully and looked at the officer with narrowed eyes. "You might as well sit down and make yourself comfortable. It looks like we have a lot to talk about. Just who are you?"
    The officer's cheeks paled and the skin tightened on his jaw. He took a step toward the table and stood over Troy, drawing in his breath and holding it a moment as if fighting for control.
    "Major Grogan, G2," he said tightly. "I'm riding in the cab of this truck and I'm in charge of your unit until you reach your next transfer point. I was the only man in the convoy who knew who you were or that you even were with us. I know nothing of your mission except that it is Top Secret and that an extraordinary amount of planning and preparation has gone into it. I know that Allied Headquarters regards it as vital to the spring campaign in this sector. And now you've blown it."
    "Sit down, Major." Troy had calmed himself and he said it coolly. "Jerry knew we were in the convoy all along. Your outfit blew us before we started."
    "What!" Major Grogan shouted and now his face flushed under its deep tan. "Your effrontery is unbearable, Sergeant. Your conduct is insufferable. Your display of bravado ahead on the trace was brash and foolhardy. You are nothing but a rodeo performer playing to an audience. Just what was up there, if anything? An Arab or two with a herd of goats that you drove off with your fireworks display?"
    Troy no longer was angry. In fact, he was beginning to enjoy himself.
    "Two dozen Arabs commanded by two Jerry Panzer officers," he said quietly. "Two machine gun positions, each with a heavy and a light weapon. The Arabs were armed with machine pistols and grenades. They had set a trap and would have destroyed or captured the entire convoy."
    Major Grogan had been staring hotly at Troy, but now the fire in his eyes went out and his face turned