Sneak Attack
By: AliasCWN
Captain Hans Dietrich strained to hear the radio message over the noise of his halftrack. His handsome face twisted with frustration at the news he was receiving. The German High Command had learned that the Allies were planning a meeting of some high ranking officers in the area; as a result, the Captain had been ordered to storm the American base and capture the men in attendance. He had managed to get his men and equipment within striking distance of the base without alerting the enemy, no small feat in itself, but now he had a problem.
One of his officers had just reported spotting two small jeeps racing toward the Allied base. Since he had ordered the radio signals monitored, and there had been no calls, coded or otherwise, he knew that they hadn't been summoned to the base. That left only one logical explanation; his attack force had been spotted and the jeeps were even now streaking toward the base to raise the alarm. Keying his radio, he ordered his units to abandon stealth and take up their position surrounding the base with all haste. Calling to his driver, he ordered more speed. Ignoring the cloud of dust rising behind them, they rushed to their assigned positions before the Allies could escape their net.
Once his forces were all in place, Dietrich made a quick inspection of their positions; they now had the American base completely surrounded. Earlier recon had reported only four tanks to defend the base against the twelve he had at his disposal. Even as he circled the base, he could see the Sherman tanks moving into their defensive positions, supported by troops and mortar teams. He sent his scouts to keep an eye on the defenses that were being deployed as he readied his own men.
"Lt. Stemrick, give the signal to begin the attack as planned." The Captain gave his second-in-command the order that would bring his plans to completion. The lieutenant saluted and hurried away to supervise the attack. As the ranking officer, Dietrich had decided to supervise from the rear, giving his younger officers a chance to get some valuable command experience.
The first tanks to approach the base were immediately targeted by a Sherman as they came within range. They returned fire, missing the American tank by mere yards. Mortar teams began to pelt the German tanks, trying to hit one of their few weak points. One tank took a direct hit from the American tank and lurched to a stop. Its crew piled out as the munitions inside began to explode. Dietrich ordered the tank abandoned rather than lose men trying to save it. The American tank began to slowly back toward its base, its crew keeping up a running fight as they retreated. The mortar crews made a valiant effort to cover its withdrawal from the battlefield. Two of the German tanks charged forward, their crews sensing a weakness in the American lines. The one in the lead, only slightly ahead of the second one, rocked as an explosion tore at its armored shell. The second tank, not seeing what had happened to the one in front, continued to charge. A second land mine exploded under that tank, leaving it sitting at an angle on damaged treads. The crew tried to continue the battle only to be killed when the American tank reversed direction and renewed its attack. Stopping short of their own minefield, the Sherman peppered the advancing German troops with machine gun fire. The German soldiers fell back only to be encouraged to charge again by their officers.
One soldier crawled forward to lob a grenade into the minefield. A second, and then a third, followed suit; the resulting explosions shook the ground where Dietrich stood. A machine gun team noticed their actions and joined in the effort to clear the mines. Slowly and methodically, they cleared a path. Men poured through, pushing the tank back again, only this time it was overrun by soldiers who tossed grenades at it. One of them disabled the tread, leaving the Sherman and its crew at the mercy of the advancing Germans. They didn't show any mercy; the Sherman's crew died inside their steel coffin without making any attempt to escape.
The radio was squawking steadily with reports from the battle. The German officers were reporting much heavier losses than had been expected. The American base was much better prepared than they had been led to believe.
The sound of 50 caliber machine guns drew the Captain's attention. He finally spotted the two jeeps with the heavy guns mounted on the back. From where he stood, it looked like they were trying to open an escape route through his defenses. Dietrich called to his officers to reinforce that particular part of his circle, forcing the jeeps to turn back toward the base. He watched as several of his halftracks burned as the two jeeps retreated to their own lines.
His surprise attack had turned into a pitched battle that only his superior numbers allowed him to win. The Americans fought stubbornly, refusing to give any ground without a deadly fight. Bodies, both American and German, sprawled haphazardly around the battlefield. Dietrich was depressed to note that his own troops made up the majority of those casualties
The Allied soldiers fell back slowly toward the heart of their base. The Captain was pleased to hear his officers finally reporting some real progress in their push for the base. He glanced at his watch; the battle had been raging for nearly an hour and a half; far longer than he had anticipated. The shooting was sporadic now, down to small arms fire and an occasional machine gun. The Allies were using snipers to harass his troops as they moved into the narrow streets. Dietrich listened anxiously for any of his officers to mention the American officers they had come to capture. The radio remained silent on that point, forcing Dietrich to speculate on their whereabouts.
Once his officers reported the base mostly under their control, Dietrich entered the base and began his search for their targets. His men were busy stringing wire to make a temporary holding pen for the Allied prisoners. Bands of American soldiers were being rounded up and held in the street until the enclosure could be completed. Every now and then a sniper would target the guards and the prisoners would make a run for it, forcing the German troops to round them up again.
Dietrich had his staff find an office he could use to question prisoners. Even before the enclosure was finished Dietrich was having the POWs brought to the office in small groups so he could ask about the officers.
"I don't know."
Another prisoner claimed he had no idea what had happened to the visiting officers. Most of them claimed that they had never even seen them. Frustrated after questioning men for over an hour, Dietrich sat back in his chair to wait for the next group.
"Captain."
Dietrich looked up to see Lt. Stemrick standing in the office doorway.
"Yes Lieutenant?" The Captain waited for his junior officer to give him more bad news, the only kind that he had received since taking over the base.
"We have their ranking officer Sir." The lieutenant responded, a puzzled frown on his face.
Dietrich brightened immediately, leaping to his feet. "Bring him in Lieutenant."
"Yes Sir." Lt. Stemrick turned to beckon to someone in the outer office. His guards appeared, dragging a wounded lieutenant into the room.
Dietrich studied the young officer critically. It looked as if the lieutenant was still waiting for his first whiskers to grow. Tall, dark haired, he held his back ramrod straight, tell-tale signs of a military upbringing. His right arm hung limp, blood still dripped off his fingertips. The guards gripped his arm above the wound, trying to keep their fingers clean. Dark eyes flashed angrily every time the guards nudged him forward. The young officer looked at Dietrich with defiance despite his obvious pain.
"Have a seat Lieutenant." Dietrich indicated a chair in front of the desk.
The young American eyed the chair but made no move to sit.
"Sit Lieutenant!" The Captain demanded in a firmer tone. He was about to tell the guards to enforce his order when the wounded man took a step forward and nearly fell into the chair. The Captain sent one of his men for a doctor, eying the man before him. "I have a few questions Lieutenant."
"I can't answer your questions Captain." The prisoner replied tiredly. "All I can give you is my name, rank, and service number."
"I'm afraid that I require more than that Lieutenant. It would be in your best interest to tell me what I want to know."
The prisoner shook his head stubbornly.
"Would you like a doctor Lieutenant?"
The prisoner looked up in surprise before dropping his eyes again. "All I can give you is my name, rank, and service number."
Dietrich sighed as he studied the wounded prisoner. "How is it that a mere Lieutenant is the highest ranking officer on this entire base?"
The prisoner refused to meet his eyes or answer his question.
"Did they leave you here to die while they ran?" An emotion flashed across the young man's face and was gone before Dietrich could identify it. "Surely there is someone else on this base that outranks you and could take some of this responsibility off of your shoulders."
The prisoner kept his head down.
"They are letting you, a junior officer, suffer in their place. You don't owe them any loyalty Lieutenant, they abandoned you."
"No!"
Dietrich smiled as the Lieutenant denied the accusations. All he needed to do was to keep him talking until he let something slip. "They didn't take care of you Lieutenant. I can get you a doctor. You will be safe in a prison camp and you will get to go home after this war ends." Pausing to give the prisoner time to process his offer, Dietrich studied the man before him. The Lieutenant had a square jaw; the Captain remembered reading somewhere that that was a sign of determination. The young officer didn't appear ready to cooperate just yet; maybe the scientists were correct about their theory.
A commotion in the outer office interrupted the interrogation. Dietrich looked up irritably and demanded to know what was causing the disruption. A German soldier stepped into the room and spoke to Captain Dietrich, eying the prisoner as he did so. The Captain ordered the guard to bring in the new prisoners, a satisfied smile replacing the frown he had been wearing only a moment ago.
Seven guards accompanied the new batch of prisoners. To some, seven guards to four prisoners may have seemed excessive, but Dietrich never batted and eye. If anything, he would have ordered more than seven for these particular prisoners. He retreated around the desk before turning to face the door once more. Subconsciously he wanted the view of the desk to give him an air of authority that he felt he had been lacking since taking over the base.
The four new prisoners were prodded into the room, each one giving their guards a well-practiced glare. The Captain looked them over; looking for a weakness he could exploit.
"Good evening Sergeant."
"I guess it is for you Captain." Sergeant Sam Troy answered with a mocking grin. "That was a pretty neat trick you pulled, getting all the way here without being spotted."
Dietrich dropped his head to acknowledge the compliment. "I see that one of your men is wounded."
Troy turned to glance at Tully Pettigrew. The arm wound had stopped bleeding even before their capture. Tully claimed that he was 'fine' when asked about it. Troy shrugged, waiting to see what the Captain was getting at.
"The doctor is on his way, he could treat your private in no time."
"What's the catch?" The sergeant sneered.
"Answer a few simple questions."
"Not going to happen."
"Sergeant, I wish to know where all the officers above the rank of lieutenant are hiding."
The sergeant shrugged.
Dietrich, already tired and hot, let his frustration boil over. "Sergeant, I expect an answer."
"I can't help you Captain."
Dietrich straightened to his full height. He stared at the four men before him, trying to decide how to proceed. "Sergeant, you will tell me where the officers are hiding. My men will find them sooner or later anyway."
Troy shrugged again. "Then I guess you don't need my help Captain."
"Answer me Sergeant!" Dietrich demanded, stepping toward the American sergeant. Troy stared back at him, refusing to be intimidated. Dietrich let out a sigh and resigned himself to getting the answers the hard way. "Sergeant Troy, I will give you a choice, tell me where the officers are hiding or…" The Captain paused.
"Or what?" The sergeant asked.
"Or I will have one of your men shot…It is a rather drastic step…but you leave me no choice. If you choose that route, I will allow you to choose which one you wish to keep." Dietrich eyed Troy expectantly.
The sergeant glared at him, not responding. The other three watched the exchange with no change in expression.
The Captain waited for the sergeant to make up his mind. He didn't expect Sgt. Moffitt to respond since it was more likely to be one of the privates who would be sacrificed; yet Dietrich couldn't imagine Sgt. Troy sitting still while one of his men was executed. Watching the privates, Dietrich tried to detect any uneasiness on their part. Neither private appeared to be worried, which boded well for the Captain's agenda. Troy's next words however, shook his confidence a little.
"I still can't help you Captain."
Dietrich hesitated, not fully committed to his stated course of action. He looked over at the privates who still showed very little concern. Anger welled within him at the choices he was forced to make to achieve his assigned task. A simple order to capture a base and the men on it had become much more complicated than he had ever expected. With a wave of his hand he ordered his men to restrain both privates. Turning to Troy, he gave him an ultimatum. "Chose which one lives and which one dies Sergeant."
The Sergeant just stared at him, unblinking.
"Choose or I will have my men make the choice for you."
The American sergeant glanced at his two men, his dark eyes glittering with a strong emotion. Both privates met his gaze and each one nodded once. The sergeant dropped his head and held his tongue.
"Very well," Dietrich sighed, disheartened. "My men will make the decision for you." The Captain turned to order his men to choose a victim.
"Troy!" Moffitt appealed to his leader. "It's been well over two hours, closer to three. They've had plenty of time."
Troy looked at Moffitt and the two came to an unspoken understanding. Dietrich felt like an outsider who didn't speak the language.
"All right Captain, I'll tell you where we left them." Troy glanced over at his men, his own relief as strong as the relief he saw on their faces. "We left them hidden in a wadi about three miles from here."
"Really Sergeant, do you expect me to believe that?"
"It's true Captain. We spotted your column early this morning. We came back here and reported it and it was decided that anyone who was at that meeting was too important to be allowed to fall into your hands. We hid them and prepared the base for your attack."
Dietrich was about to dispute the account but the part about the base preparation caused him to pause; it would explain their exceptional readiness at the time of the attack. "You would never have left them out there alone." He argued.
"Of course not Captain. There were two staff cars and two jeeps for security."
"We never saw them." The Captain replied, struggling to hide the sinking feeling in his stomach.
The sergeant smiled. "We hid them in a wadi under some camouflage nets. We used rakes to cover their tracks. When your column got close we allowed them to spot us heading for the base; we figured you wouldn't take time to check the wadis once you saw us. We expected you to rush forward to spring your trap, and we were right. You rushed right past them while you were chasing us."
"Show me where you left them."
"No problem." Troy shrugged. "They had orders to run for the main base as soon as they were in the clear. All you'll find now is their tracks in the sand." The sergeant smiled.
"You will lead me to that wadi." Dietrich ground his teeth as he reluctantly admitted to himself that his prize prisoners were most likely out of his reach. "I want to see these tracks for myself."
"Sure Captain. It can't hurt anything now. I'll lead you right to it."
"No!" The German Captain halted in midstride. "You and Sgt. Moffitt will stay here. One of your men can show me the way." Dietrich pointed at Pettigrew. "That one."
"Tully's wounded." Troy protested.
"Then he won't give us as much trouble." Dietrich returned the sergeant's mocking smile. "The rest of you will wait here,…in separate cells." The Captain ordered the prisoners taken to the cells and separated. The lieutenant was sent with the other three members of the Rat Patrol while Tully was escorted to a halftrack.
Dietrich ordered him tied and helped into the rear of the vehicle. Still angry at the loss of his main targets, he ignored the rough treatment that his men used with the prisoner.
The wadi was slightly more than three miles from the base. Dietrich's driver had no problem finding it with the help of their unwilling guide. The tracks of four vehicles were plainly visible as they approached. There were no tracks leading into the wadi but the ones leaving were headed directly for the main base to the north. The German Captain fumed at his arch nemesis, The Rat Patrol, all the way back to the base.
He personally escorted Pfc. Pettigrew to the cells where the other members of his team were incarcerated. As the door locked behind Tully, Troy stood and walked to the front of his cell and peered out.
"I guess you missed them eh Captain?'
Dietrich refused to give him the satisfaction of an answer.
"You have to give the Lieutenant here credit; he did one heck of a job organizing a pretty good defense of the base. He didn't have a lot of time to set it all up."
Dietrich glared at the sergeant who ignored it and kept talking.
"You can't really blame the officers for getting out of Dodge. If I recall correctly, you're the one who said that 'an officer's duty was to stay free so he could use his training to help win the next battle. A captured officer is wasting his talents sitting around a POW camp.'" Troy grinned as he quoted the Captain.
"Your talents will be wasted in a POW camp Sergeant. I'm sure that your commanders will miss your particularly well-developed habit of being in the right place at the right time. This time you saved the officers, but unfortunately for you, you were not able to save yourselves. When we pull out of here, I promise you, you will be on your way to the dirtiest, coldest POW camp I can find."
"Now Captain, don't be a sore loser, you did manage to take the base. I'm sure that your commanders won't be too disappointed."
Something about the other man's attitude sent warning chills up the Captain's spine. Dietrich did some quick calculations. By his calculations, the nearest source of help was a good three hours away. The escaping officers would take at least that long to get there and alert their own forces. The return trip with heavier vehicles would take even longer. His unit should be well clear before a relief column could get anywhere near their present position. Still, the Captain was suddenly uneasy. Calling for Lt. Stemrick, he ordered his column to finish collecting anything of value and prepare to return to their own base.
Supervising his men personally, Dietrich had his unit ready within the hour. He ordered the prisoners loaded onto trucks for the journey and he left them under the care of a few guards while he headed for the cellblock. Leading the way, he took a small group of guards to collect his most valuable prisoners, the lieutenant, and the four members of the Rat Patrol.
The cell area was quiet when they arrived. Calling to his guards, he failed to receive an answer. Motioning his men forward, he waited as they checked the cells. After several minutes he wasn't surprised when they returned to report that the cells were empty. The bodies of the guards had been located in an empty office at the end of the hall.
The sounds of the 50 caliber machine guns of the commando team began to rattle outside. Dietrich ran to the window to peer outside in time to see the trucks loaded with prisoners careen around a corner and disappear from sight. His own men, surprised by the sudden appearance of the two jeeps, were ducking for cover and slow in organizing a defense.
The two jeeps fired off another salvo to keep the German soldiers down as they followed the escaping prisoners. Dietrich could only stare after them wondering where it had all gone so wrong. Defeated, he ordered the dead guards carried to the trucks and he began his return to his own base.
Riding in the first halftrack, he was half expecting the Rat Patrol to return and attack his column. He was so sure that they would that he put all of his men on alert. Their eyes scanned the surrounding desert for the fast moving jeeps, only they weren't there. Dietrich pushed his column hard, trying to get as far from the American base as possible before the rescue column arrived. He still thought that they were far enough away to pose no threat to his unit.
The call from one of his officers drew his attention to a dune in the distance. The outline of a Sherman tank stood out against the sky at the top of the dune. As he watched, a second tank appeared beside the first. There was another shout and he turned to see more tanks appearing on the dunes to the sides of his column. He didn't bother to look when there was a call from his rear; he knew that there were tanks there too. Calling for all the speed that his vehicle possessed, he tried to escape the trap that they had blundered into. As Troy had quoted him, he believed that it was his duty to remain free and use his skills to fight another day.
His halftrack cleared the trap with only moments to spare. The tanks tried to catch him but his driver was experienced in desert driving and was able to outdistance the heavier vehicles. He looked back once to see his column surrounded and stopped. He watched as Lt. Stemrick walked to meet the Allied commander to offer their surrender.
Despite the lost opportunity to batter the enemy, he was glad to see his junior officer take the chance to save lives. With his upbringing it would have been an unacceptable option; luckily the lieutenant was not burdened with the same values. He had mourned far too many of his men killed in battle; these, thanks to the lieutenant, might have the opportunity to return to their families after the war. The hopelessness of the situation had not been lost on his officers and they had chosen not to sacrifice their men in vain.
Frustrated at every turn and returning home a failure, Dietrich began to compose the report in his head that he would send to headquarters.
The Rat Patrol escorted the escaped POWs off the base to where the relief column had set up their command center. Leaving the trucks to be sorted out, Troy and his men went looking for the commander.
"Rat Patrol reporting Sir."
The officer smiled and saluted the men who looked rather disheveled. "Glad to see you made it. That was smart thinking sending that Arab ahead with the information while you went back to warn the base. It gave us a good start on the rescue even before the base fell."
"Thank you Sir. We were lucky that Sgt. Moffitt had friends in this neighborhood. I take it that the visiting officers all arrived at the base safely."
"Yes Sergeant and they all gave you high marks for your ingenuity. That was a very clever way to sneak them past the Germans."
"It's always worked for us Sir." Troy replied with a smile.
"I understand from the lieutenant that you were captured and locked in the cells. I'm curious, how did you know that the Germans would put you in there instead of confining you with the other prisoners?"
Troy laughed. "We didn't, but Sgt. Moffitt deduced that he would want to put us in the most secure place available. The cells seemed like the most likely place. Hiding the extra keys and weapons under the cots was Moffitt's idea too."
"And rescuing the prisoners?"
"The Captain was very cooperative there. We just waited until the Captain was occupied elsewhere and we made our escape. The prisoners were already loaded into trucks with only a few guards. It was easy to take out the guards and assign drivers. All we had to do was keep the rest of the Germans busy until the trucks could get off of the base. Like I said, the Captain made it easy."
The officer shook his head. "If you say so Sergeant; just glad that it worked out. I have a report that the German column has surrendered to our forces. There is an unconfirmed report that one halftrack got away."
Troy nodded, not surprised. "Probably Captain Dietrich; we haven't seen the last of him Sir."
"Maybe not Sergeant, but for now, we have pulled his teeth." The officer turned as another dispatch was handed to him. "I have to go. Good work Sergeant. Stick around a
while; we may have something else for you and your men to do."
"I hope so." Troy responded quietly to the departing back of the officer. With a jerk of his head, he led his men out to wait for their next call to action.
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