No infringement on the rights of the owners of "Combat!" is intended. This story is for the enjoyment of "Combat!" fans only, not for any monetary profit by the author.
Thanks to JML for proofreading and to Susan Rodriguez for beta reading.
Consequences
(The conclusion of the search for the 6th Panzer Regiment
begun in 'The Decision')
by: Queen's Bishop
()()()() indicates time has passed or the location of the action has changed
Previously in The Decision, Saunders devised a plan to trick a wounded Kraut captain the squad had captured into leading them to a unit of the elusive 6th Panzer Regiment. The plan hinged on the decision Billy would make as he and Doc escorted the prisoner back to the Second Platoon CP.
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Billy stood, looking down the sights of his rifle at the prisoner. He applied a small amount of pressure to the trigger. The Kraut's eyes looked as big as saucers to him.
"You cannot do this. I am a prisoner of war!" Cpt. Müeller stated emphatically.
'Saunders said to shoot the Kraut if he caused any problems,' the private thought. 'Well, I'm sure he pushed Doc, causing him to fall, and now Doc might never walk again. That's a problem.'
In the background, seemingly far away, he could hear the medic saying, "No, Billy, No."
'"Billy, did you kill any Germans during the war?" It was my kid brother, Tommy, or my Mom or Evelyn asking me the question.
'"Yes, it was war," I will say. "They shot at us and we shot back. And there was this one unarmed, wounded prisoner that I murdered in cold blood."'
He couldn't do it. How could he face his family? Evelyn? How could he face himself? He eased back on the trigger and lowered his rifle.
'Alright,' he thought, 'but I'm not going to leave Doc here alone and helpless. What if the Krauts found him? Even worse, what if I didn't make it back for him? He'd starve to death or die of thirst...The Sarge will be mad at me for sure, but I'm not leaving Doc.'
Billy sat cross-legged with the rifle in his lap and closed his eyes.
'Kirby said, "If you think long, you think wrong," so I probably should do just the opposite. If I think a while longer, I might be able to figure this out.'
Slowly, a new way out his dilemma came to him.
Nelson stood and walked back to where the medic lay. "Doc, don't worry. I'll get you back. I need some tape from your rucksack, okay?"
Doc looked relieved. Billy wasn't sure if it was because he hadn't killed the Kraut or because he had confirmed that he still intended to get him back.
"Sure, Billy, take whatever you need," the medic said.
Billy opened the bag and found a roll of adhesive tape. He slipped it into his trouser pocket and walked back over to where the Kraut was sitting. He noticed that the captain didn't smile at him or make any wise cracks; he just stared.
"Take off your trouser belt!" Nelson ordered.
Using his one hand, the prisoner managed to unbuckle the belt, pull it out of its loops and hand it to the young soldier.
"Okay, make yourself comfortable because you're gonna be here for a long time," Billy said.
The captain moved around a bit before settling back against the tree. Billy slipped the end of the Kraut's belt through the buckle, made a loop and put it over the captain's head so the tail was on the side of his wounded shoulder. He pulled the loop tight around the prisoner's neck before easing off an inch or so.
"What are you doing?" the Kraut asked. There was the slight sound of panic in his voice.
"It's either this or I shoot you. Now, put your right arm behind the tree."
Müeller did as Nelson ordered.
Billy took off his own trouser belt and again slipped the end through the buckle. He put that loop around the captain's wrist and pulled it tight, then wrapped some of the tape around it so the buckle couldn't slip and allow the Kraut to pull his wrist free. Finally, reaching around the tree, he grabbed the tail of the captain's belt and tied the ends of the two straps together in a nice neat square knot. When he was done, he examined his handiwork. There was enough play in the belts that the captain could move his right arm a bit, but only a bit, without choking himself.
Next, Billy squatted at Müeller's ankles. He again pulled out the roll of tape and wound it around and around, binding the ankles together. When he was satisfied, he stood and looked down at the prisoner.
"There," he said. "That should hold you. You'll be okay as long as you don't move around too much. I'll get Doc back and return for you as soon as I can."
"Private, you cannot…" the captain started to say something, but the young soldier didn't wait to hear the rest of the Kraut's statement.
Nelson walked away and immediately set to work constructing a travois from a couple of saplings and his and the medic's field jackets. When it was ready, he carefully lifted Doc onto it.
"Sorry, Doc, this won't be the most comfortable ride, but it will get you home," he said as he grasped the ends of the two poles and began pulling.
"It will be okay, Billy. Thanks for not leaving me."
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The sergeant and the scout watched from a distance as Billy had first aimed his rifle at the Kraut, and then, much to Saunders' relief, changed his mind and instead, trussed up the prisoner.
With a nod to Caje, the NCO left their hiding place and began working his way around the captain. He wanted to intercept Billy and Doc after they were well beyond the range of the Kraut's hearing, but he didn't want either of them to have to endure riding on or pulling the travois any further than was necessary. Caje, he knew, would keep watch of the prisoner and follow him once he managed to free himself.
Saunders moved parallel to Doc and Billy, keeping a watchful eye that they were the only ones moving through that part of the countryside. When they had traveled far enough from the Kraut, he went ahead of them, stepped into the path Nelson was following and waited.
Billy was trudging along, head down, a determined look on his face, when suddenly the Sarge was right in front of him. He stopped and lowered the poles to the ground. His first thought was that he had been walking in circles. Then, the unthinkable crossed his mind, that the rest of the squad had been killed.
"Sarge, is everyone all right?" he asked, dreading the answer.
"Yeah, Nelson, everyone's fine. They're waiting for us back at the Kraut staff car."
"But, Doc's hurt. He can't walk an' I had to leave the prisoner an'…"
"I know all about it." Saunders motioned for Billy to turn around, and there was Doc, kneeling as he unbuttoned his and Nelson's field jackets from the travois.
"DOC!" Billy's initial joy at seeing the medic up and moving about immediately changed to confusion. "Hey, wait a minute…what's going on?"
"Billy, we needed to trick Cpt. Müeller into leading us to a unit of the 6th Panzer Regiment an'…"
Suddenly, his role in tricking the prisoner dawned on him. "An' you needed a patsy to help you pull it off!" The young soldier was both angry and humiliated at the same time. He had been used and made to look the fool…and by Saunders, someone he trusted and looked up. "I guess everyone's having a good laugh," he said, so dejected that if he were still a kid, the tears would have started to flow.
The sergeant took a step toward him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Billy, I didn't pick you because I needed a patsy. I picked you because you're the one I trusted the most to make the hard decision…to do the right thing an' save Doc." He didn't say anything more, letting those words sink in.
Finally, Billy asked, "Is it what you would've done?"
Not for the first time, Saunders realized how much the war had changed him, for he had to think about his response. "In the same situation, I hope I would have," was the most honest answer he could come up with.
"But, I almost shot that prisoner," Billy, now ashamed, said.
"But you didn't, an' I knew you wouldn't."
"How did you know?"
"Because, Billy, that's not who you are," the sergeant said, giving Nelson a reassuring smile. "Now, unless you two need to rest, let's head back an' see if we're gonna catch anything in our trap."
"Well, Ah've been lying around long enough," Doc said with a grin.
Billy nodded. "I'm ready. Let's go."
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Caje kept his eyes on the captain as he pulled his canteen off his web belt and took a drink. Although Billy had done a good job of tying up the prisoner, the Cajun was confident that this Kraut had a few tricks up his sleeve…or in this case, down his boot.
With a small cry of pain, Müeller slowly pulled his left hand out of his tunic and his arm out of the sling Doc had fashioned to support his wounded shoulder. Then he drew his knees up toward his chest. Once the top of his boots were close enough, he slipped his fingers inside one of them and withdrew a knife.
The scout grimly realized that sooner or later, the blade would have been used to try to end Billy's, and then Doc's life.
The Kraut slipped the blade under the belt around his neck and slowly began sawing, moving his shoulder as little as possible. Finally, he managed to cut all the way through, thus freeing his right arm. He worked that arm and shoulder for a moment to restore movement before he cut the tape binding his ankles together. Then he stood and gingerly lifted his left arm to return it to the support of the sling and his tunic.
Müeller gave a satisfied smile. He slipped the knife into his boot and began walking back toward the staff car the squad had ambushed earlier in the day, just as the sergeant had predicted.
As he stealthily followed the Kraut, Caje made a mental note to pull off both of the captain's boots when he was recaptured.
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Saunders, Nelson and Doc sat down beside Kirby, Littlejohn and Phinney.
"Anything yet?" the NCO asked.
"Nah," the BAR man replied. "But now that you're back, I figure that Kraut should be comin' right along."
"Were there any problems at your end?" Littlejohn asked, looking at Doc and Billy.
"No, everything went just like the Sarge had laid it out," the medic responded.
"Nelson an' Doc played their parts to perfection," Saunders added.
The big private smiled and nodded, giving his young pal, Billy, a pat on the back.
With that, the squad resumed their quiet surveillance of the scene. About a half hour later, their patience was rewarded as Cpt. Rolf Müeller made his appearance. He went immediately to the ditch and retrieved the letter he had hidden there. Then he looked around where he had been shot and found his Luger. Finally, he went to the staff car and tried to start it, but without any success.
Kirby held up the rotor and grinned. "I didn't want him getting' too far ahead of us," he softly said.
Müeller pulled the water skin off one of the dead Krauts and drank thirstily before setting out on foot to deliver the message that had been entrusted to him.
Saunders waited until he was well down the road before standing. "Kirby, take the rear. Caje should be coming right along. The rest of you, let's go," he said.
As soon as the scout rejoined the squad, he, Kirby and the sergeant carefully moved ahead of the captain. The NCO wanted to try to nab their 6th Panzer prisoner before Müeller's arrival created an uproar. And, Saunders also thought it would provide their best chance of taking the captain prisoner again, something they were all looking forward to doing.
Caje spotted the two guards stationed by the side of the road. If not for the torn up scrub brush, it would have been easy to walk past the spot, never realizing that two hundred yards or so away, nestled among the trees, was a unit of the 6th Panzer Regiment.
The sergeant signaled Kirby to get the captain, and Caje to take the guard on the left. He would take care of the one on the right. He and the Cajun circled and approached the guards from behind. Caje quietly and efficiently dispatched his while Saunders had the Thompson pressed against the back of the other guard before he even know what was happening. Once the scout had dragged his guard's body into the underbrush, he returned and put a gag on the sergeant's prisoner and bound his hands.
In the meantime, Kirby had come up behind the captain and quietly said, "Put your hands up. I know ya speak English, so don't try nothin'."
The astonished German stopped and slowly raised his right arm.
"Good. Now turn around an' take that Luger I seen ya pick up earlier outa your waistband an' toss it away. Nice an' easy, or I'll put a hole right through ya."
Once the captain had done as instructed, Kirby walked him back to the rest of the waiting squad. When they arrived, Müeller dropped to one knee and asked for a drink. All of the fight seemed to have gone out of him. Phinney pulled his canteen off his web belt, removed the cap and handed it to the Kraut.
As Saunders and Caje approached, hustling the guard along between them, everyone's attention momentarily turned toward the three men.
The captain slipped his fingers inside his boot.
"Oh, mon Dieu!" Caje exclaimed. "HE'S GOT A KNIFE IN HIS BOOT!"
The Kraut pulled out the knife and lunged toward Phinney, the closest man to him. He would have killed the replacement if Nelson hadn't acted as quickly as he did. He lifted his rifle and brought the butt down hard on Müeller's arm, sending him to the ground with a cry of pain. Billy stood over the prisoner, pointing his rifle at him.
The Kraut sneered. "You did not have the courage to shoot me before! You will not do it now."
"Wanna bet?" Billy replied, spitting out the words.
"I should have taken care of you when you were tending the corpsman!"
Kirby gave Müeller's foot a small kick. "An' I shoulda put a hole in you when I had the chance."
"Alright, Kirby, knock it off. Get both his boots off," Saunders said gruffly. "Make sure he doesn't have anything else hidden there."
"Corpsman, I need medical attention! My arm is broken," the prisoner demanded as the men began to roughly remove his boots.
Saunders went over to Billy who was kneeling beside Phinney. The young replacement was holding his bloody arm while Nelson applied sulfa and a bandage. The tears for himself that he had earlier held back now welled up in his eyes for another as he muttered, "I'm sorry, Phinney. You could've been killed. I'm sorry."
Nelson looked up at the sergeant. "Sarge, this wouldn't have happened if I'd…"
The NCO shook his head. "Look, Billy, I don't know the future an' neither do you." He paused and looked at the rest of the squad and their prisoners and smiled. "…an' I guess that Kraut captain doesn't either. We make the best decisions we can; that's all we can do."
Billy slowly nodded.
"Now, let's get this soldier home," the sergeant said as they helped Phinney to his feet.
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