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Authors: David King
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felt the building shake.
"That sounded close," he said, more calm than he'd been all evening. "Jerry must have started his attack on the Sherman tanks."
Peilowski ran out the door to the street entrance and Wilson followed. Another explosion roared. It came from the waterfront. A warehouse building shot up in flames.
"It's sabotage," Wilson shouted fiercely. "Call out every unit we have, round up every native, drive them back and seal them up in the native quarter. I can't fight a battle on two fronts."
4
As the two jeeps lurched from the unsubstantial sand of the desert onto the built-up roadbed of the main route southeast from Sidi Beda, a searchlight plucked them from the night and light machine gun fire hacked at the Rat Patrol. Scarcely had the light touched them and before the firing started, Tully and Hitch veered, Tully striking to the right of the light and Hitch driving to the left. Troy and Moffitt slammed bursts of fifty-caliber slugs in smashing blows about the searchlight. By the time the jeeps were twenty yards apart and parallel, the searchlight was extinguished and the firing had ceased. The moonlight showed a Jerry Volkswagen patrol car with its ugly slanted snout torn and ripped and its crew of four slumped and still. The car was in a slight depression on the east side of the trace and had been further hidden by the roadbed which lifted several feet above the desert. The car had not caught fire and Moffitt leaped to the ground with Troy. Tommy-guns at the ready, they approached the patrol car from opposite sides. The crew of four was dead.
Troy's eyes traveled swiftly up and down the road and found nothing that moved. He examined the car's position and grimly faced Moffitt.
"We ought to have our heads examined, Doctor," he said and smiled wryly. "We walked into this one. They were waiting for us. It poses a problem. Was this a routine patrol that just happened to see us coming across the desert or has a report come back from a party sent to the oasis and did Dietrich send them out to ambush us? In either case, did this patrol report us to Dietrich as they waited? What do you think. Jack?"
"I'd say it calls for a change of tactics, Sam," Moffitt said lightly. "What was your original approach?"
"Dietrich's CP is about four or five miles north, I'd estimated," Troy said. "I'd hoped we'd be able to use the track for a couple miles to pick up time, then turn east across the desert and come in that way. I thought Jerry wouldn't expect us from that direction, if he anticipated us at all."
"Perhaps we'd best retrace our path and go in from the direction of the oasis," Moffitt suggested. "It's so obvious I don't guess Dietrich would expect that either."
"No," Troy said thoughtfully. "Sorry to disagree, Doctor, but the original plan still is best. If the patrol reported us, Jerry would expect us to change directions after this encounter. If the patrol did not report us, we still have time to surprise Dietrich."
"Surprise Dietrich, Sam?" Moffitt exclaimed. "You don't expect to pop through his command post tossing out grenades as if they were crullers!"
"Not exactly, Jack," Troy said and laughed. "I thought that coming in from the east we'd run less chance of being spotted. I figured we'd find a place to hide the jeeps and then go in on our bellies again."
Moffitt was silent a moment. In the moonlight Troy could see a smile creeping into his eyes.
"I concur," Moffitt said. "Shall we see if there are any usable uniforms?"
They took a sergeant's jacket with three inverted stripes and a desert fatigue cap.
Tully walked over with a bottle of beer in one hand and a grenade in the other. "We going to blow the wreck?" he asked.
"No need to light a beacon," Troy said, rummaging in the car. "We'll take their canteens and cans of water, put a couple of holes in the fuel tank and be on our way." The wreck would be discovered sooner or later, Troy knew, and there was no need to leave a plain trail. They drove
"That sounded close," he said, more calm than he'd been all evening. "Jerry must have started his attack on the Sherman tanks."
Peilowski ran out the door to the street entrance and Wilson followed. Another explosion roared. It came from the waterfront. A warehouse building shot up in flames.
"It's sabotage," Wilson shouted fiercely. "Call out every unit we have, round up every native, drive them back and seal them up in the native quarter. I can't fight a battle on two fronts."
4
As the two jeeps lurched from the unsubstantial sand of the desert onto the built-up roadbed of the main route southeast from Sidi Beda, a searchlight plucked them from the night and light machine gun fire hacked at the Rat Patrol. Scarcely had the light touched them and before the firing started, Tully and Hitch veered, Tully striking to the right of the light and Hitch driving to the left. Troy and Moffitt slammed bursts of fifty-caliber slugs in smashing blows about the searchlight. By the time the jeeps were twenty yards apart and parallel, the searchlight was extinguished and the firing had ceased. The moonlight showed a Jerry Volkswagen patrol car with its ugly slanted snout torn and ripped and its crew of four slumped and still. The car was in a slight depression on the east side of the trace and had been further hidden by the roadbed which lifted several feet above the desert. The car had not caught fire and Moffitt leaped to the ground with Troy. Tommy-guns at the ready, they approached the patrol car from opposite sides. The crew of four was dead.
Troy's eyes traveled swiftly up and down the road and found nothing that moved. He examined the car's position and grimly faced Moffitt.
"We ought to have our heads examined, Doctor," he said and smiled wryly. "We walked into this one. They were waiting for us. It poses a problem. Was this a routine patrol that just happened to see us coming across the desert or has a report come back from a party sent to the oasis and did Dietrich send them out to ambush us? In either case, did this patrol report us to Dietrich as they waited? What do you think. Jack?"
"I'd say it calls for a change of tactics, Sam," Moffitt said lightly. "What was your original approach?"
"Dietrich's CP is about four or five miles north, I'd estimated," Troy said. "I'd hoped we'd be able to use the track for a couple miles to pick up time, then turn east across the desert and come in that way. I thought Jerry wouldn't expect us from that direction, if he anticipated us at all."
"Perhaps we'd best retrace our path and go in from the direction of the oasis," Moffitt suggested. "It's so obvious I don't guess Dietrich would expect that either."
"No," Troy said thoughtfully. "Sorry to disagree, Doctor, but the original plan still is best. If the patrol reported us, Jerry would expect us to change directions after this encounter. If the patrol did not report us, we still have time to surprise Dietrich."
"Surprise Dietrich, Sam?" Moffitt exclaimed. "You don't expect to pop through his command post tossing out grenades as if they were crullers!"
"Not exactly, Jack," Troy said and laughed. "I thought that coming in from the east we'd run less chance of being spotted. I figured we'd find a place to hide the jeeps and then go in on our bellies again."
Moffitt was silent a moment. In the moonlight Troy could see a smile creeping into his eyes.
"I concur," Moffitt said. "Shall we see if there are any usable uniforms?"
They took a sergeant's jacket with three inverted stripes and a desert fatigue cap.
Tully walked over with a bottle of beer in one hand and a grenade in the other. "We going to blow the wreck?" he asked.
"No need to light a beacon," Troy said, rummaging in the car. "We'll take their canteens and cans of water, put a couple of holes in the fuel tank and be on our way." The wreck would be discovered sooner or later, Troy knew, and there was no need to leave a plain trail. They drove
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