Disclaimer: The Rat Patrol is not my property. They come out to play sometimes, then I send them home.

Taking a Pohl

By Suzie2b

Captain Boggs said, "General Pohl is one of Germany's foremost officers. Intelligence has discovered that he's doing a series of inspections throughout North Africa. High Command wants him alive for interrogation."

Moffitt asked, "Do you have an itinerary of his stops, sir?"

The captain handed him a schedule. "One of our operatives got a copy of this to us. Your best bet is the base at Abadan. The general is to be there four days from today."

Troy said, "It'll take us two days to get there, sir. Are we bringing him back here?"

"No. You'll be taking General Pohl to Dhahran where a detail will take him to an airfield to be flown to England."

Moffitt said, "Dhahran is only a few hours from Abadan, captain. If he's discovered missing before we can hand him over, it may be hard to get the general to the rendezvous before the German army comes after us."

Captain Boggs nodded. "Which is precisely why we're sending you. You've done this type of thing before and the jeeps will be faster than any other mode of transportation either army has to offer."

Troy stood as he said, "Well, we'll get him, sir. We'll leave as soon as the jeeps are ready to go."

##################

It was midday when the Rat Patrol arrived about a mile outside of Abadan. They used binoculars to assess the walls and guards. They watched the gate and noted that everyone—German and Arabic—was being searched coming in and going out.

Hitch said, "They're being awfully careful."

Moffitt nodded. "General Pohl is due to arrive the day after tomorrow. It wouldn't do to have some miscreant come in and foul up the works."

Troy turned to his men and said, "We've got a good line of sight here of the gate and the west wall. Hitch, you and Tully go around to the north and east sides. See if there's another way in. Don't go in too close and stay out of sight of the guards."

Both privates nodded and headed out.

##################

It took an hour to work their way around while staying out of sight of the guards stationed on the walls. Hitch and Tully finally hid in a patch of scrub to survey both the north and east sides of the base. The walls were a good thirty feet tall and the outer surface was as smooth as glass.

Tully said, "There's no way the locals could've built walls like that."

Hitch agreed, "And there's no way we can scale 'em without getting caught with all the guards."

"We'd better head back and tell Troy and Moffitt."

"Hold on." A German patrol had exited Abadan and was on the road heading north. "We'd better let them go by first."

Hitch and Tully laid on their bellies in the scrub barely breathing as they waited for the five vehicles to pass. Once they were clear, Hitch whispered, "Did you see who was in the lead halftrack?"

Tully nodded. "Dietrich. They must be doing one last patrol before it gets dark."

When the privates returned to their camp Hitch said, "Did you see that patrol?"

Moffitt nodded. "We did. Captain Dietrich is here."

Troy added, "He's probably in charge of base security for the general's stay. What else did you two see?"

Tully said, "The walls are German made for sure. I don't know how we're gonna get in."

"All right. We still have time to figure things out before General Pohl gets here."

##################

The next day while Moffitt was watching the base, Troy sent Tully with a walkie-talkie to keep an eye on the road. It was nearly noon when Tully's voice was heard saying, "Sarge, I think maybe we're going to have to change some plans."

Troy grabbed the walkie-talkie and asked, "What do you see?"

"Two armored cars, two halftracks, and about sixteen German soldiers armed to the teeth. And right smack in the middle is a staff car with a German general in it. They should be able to see them any second."

Troy and Hitch hurried to where Moffitt was standing just in time to see what Tully had described. Moffitt said, "Looks like General Pohl is a little ahead of schedule."

Troy looked at the open car with binoculars. Besides the driver, there was an armed guard in the passenger seat and another, lower ranking, officer in the back with the general—probably his aide. Tully appeared behind the others as Troy asked, "How long is the general supposed to be here?"

Moffitt replied, "Two days according to the itinerary."

Troy stared hard at the German base. "There has got to be a way in."

After the motorcade disappeared beyond the gate, they saw a straw-filled cart with two Arabs in it pulled by a donkey leave the base. They were stopped and searched by guards, who even poked through the straw, before being allowed to continue.

Moffitt smiled as he watched the cart move slowly up the road. "I have an idea."

Hitch and Tully went out to the road and waited for the cart. As soon as it passed their hiding place, they ran up from behind on both sides and yanked the men out of the cart.

A few minutes later Hitch and Tully returned to camp. Tully was leading the donkey as Hitch followed, and two unconscious Arabs were laid out on the straw. Troy smiled and said, "We'll go in just before sundown.

##################

While Troy and Moffitt put the "borrowed" robes on over their uniforms, Hitch and Tully tied and gagged the now conscious and very angry Arabs. When all was ready, Moffitt led the donkey with Troy walking beside the cart on the other side while Hitch and Tully hid under the straw with their weapons.

At the gate, the German guards stopped them. One patted down Moffitt while another searched Troy. A third started to poke through the straw with his rifle, which happened to have a bayonet attached.

Hitch and Tully squirmed out of the way carefully as the guard thrust the bayonet into their hiding place. They heard one of the guards say something in German and the cart began to move. Hitch and Tully thought they were home free until the guard decided to take one last stab into the straw and hit Tully in the side of his left calf. Surprise and pain forced a quiet gasp out of the private as Hitch quickly put a hand over his friend's mouth.

As they moved further onto the base and into the Arabic quarter of Abadan, Hitch wrapped a kerchief around Tully's wound. When the cart stopped, Troy and Moffitt pushed the straw away, anxious to find the two privates.

Once they were uncovered, Troy said in a low voice, "Are you two okay?"

Hitch said, "Tully got stabbed in the leg, but it doesn't look too bad."

Moffitt asked, "Are you going to be able to continue?"

Tully nodded. "Stings like a son-of-a-gun, but I'll be fine."

Troy and Moffitt quickly removed the robes and left them in the cart before retrieving their weapons from Hitch and Tully. Troy said, "We passed headquarters on the way in. Let's go."

Moffitt shook his head. "It's late, Troy. I doubt any officers will still be there. More likely they'll be sitting down to dinner."

"What do you suggest?"

"Let's find the visitor's quarters. We can wait there for General Pohl."

As darkness enveloped Abadan, the Rat Patrol went on the prowl. The few Arabs they did encounter along the way seemingly didn't take notice of them. When they left the Arab quarter and got to where the base was situated, they had to slow their pace and be extra careful. There were guards everywhere.

They passed the barracks for the enlisted men and the officers before Moffitt stopped them and pointed to a sign across the street from the alley they were in that read Der Besucher Kaserne. He whispered, "Visitor's Quarters."

There was a guard on either side of the entrance. As they watched, the officer that had been in the staff car with General Pohl walked up and showed his ID to one of the guards before going inside.

Troy led his men around to a place where they could cross the street unseen in the dark. When they were settled in the alley next to the visitor's quarters, Troy whispered, "Moffitt, take Tully and change out the guards."

The guards were quickly dispatched and the bodies dragged into the alley where Troy and Hitch helped Moffitt and Tully into the Germans jackets and helmets.

They stood on either side of the entrance for nearly an hour before a car pulled up in front of the building. Captain Dietrich and General Pohl exited the car and the captain told the driver he was no longer needed that evening. As they walked to the entryway of the building, Moffitt and Tully heard Dietrich say, "I hope your stay will be most satisfactory, General Pohl."

They stopped at the door and the general said, "I am sure it will be, captain. I have so far been very happy with what I have seen concerning our people."

As the general turned and walked inside, Dietrich turned to leave, intending to walk to his nearby quarters. For some reason he happened to glance down and noticed the bloody kerchief around Tully's lower leg. He stopped and looked Tully in the eye. Before the captain could completely register who he was seeing, Moffitt hit him hard on the back of the neck.

As Dietrich went down, Tully caught him and dragged him around the corner. Moffitt started inside after General Pohl, who, upon seeing what was happening, had taken his pistol from the holster on his hip and ducked down next to the entrance.

Before Troy, Hitch, and Tully could join Moffitt a shot rang out and the sergeant was down. Troy checked the doorway while Hitch and Tully got Moffitt to his feet. He saw the general running down the corridor and said, "Hitch, you're with me! Tully, get Moffitt out of here!"

Moffitt held his side and quickly said, "No, I'm fine. It's going to take all of us to get out of here with the general."

There wasn't time to argue, and Troy knew it wouldn't do any good anyway. The four of them ran after General Pohl, who had managed to get to his quarters and lock himself in.

As they reached the door, the general's aide stepped into the hall to see what the commotion was about. Upon seeing the allied soldiers running towards him, he raised his gun to fire, but not before Troy fired first, hitting the officer twice in the chest. Standing next to the general's door Troy looked at Hitch and Tully and said, "Break it down."

Tully said, "Those shots must've alerted the sentries. Stand back." He fired a burst from his machine gun at the doorknob, effectively opening the door.

General Pohl began shooting from inside his room, forcing them to duck for cover.

Troy said, "Hitch, you and Tully go see what you can do about blocking the main entrance!"

The privates ran back down the corridor and took a look outside only to see German soldiers running towards them from all directions. There wasn't a lot of time left. Tully took a grenade off his belt. Hitch nodded and took one from his own belt. On the count of three they pulled the pins and dropped them at the base of the doorway. As they ran back to Troy and Moffitt, the explosions brought down the facade.

When they rejoined the sergeants, Hitch asked, "Is he out of ammo yet?"

A bullet ricocheted off the wall in the hallway and Troy said, "He is now. That clip only holds eight rounds." He stood up and stepped inside the door. "You're out of bullets and we're running out of time, general. We need to get going."

Slowly General Pohl stood up from behind the overturned table he'd taken cover behind. "You will never get out of here with me. This I guarantee, gentlemen."

"Well, we're going to give it a try." Troy walked past the general and went to the window. He parted the curtains and looked outside. "Not much of the view." Troy opened the window, which led into a narrow alleyway. "Let's go."

#################

Outside, Captain Dietrich had regained consciousness and had joined his men at the front of the building. Some were trying to dig through the rubble, but that would take too much time. He gave orders for them to halt their efforts, because he knew the Rat Patrol all too well and they would be looking for a way out of the building, if they hadn't already done so. Dietrich ordered the men to fan out and search, then took two men with him as he went to the side of the building.

The captain was just in time to see the Rat Patrol heading down the narrow alley in the opposite direction with General Pohl. He told the men with him to go around and try to head them off while he followed through the alley.

As they ran out of the alley, a bullet ricocheted off the wall above their heads. Troy turned as his men ran by him with the general. Dietrich was taking aim, but the sergeant was gone before he could pull the trigger.

When the captain exited the alley there was no sign of the Rat Patrol or General Pohl. The men he'd sent to cut off their escape were nowhere to be seen. Dietrich looked around unhappily, wondering where his quarry had disappeared to. He went to the next alley and carefully peered around the corner to see one of his men running towards him. There was a long ladder laying on the ground with several broken rungs, as if it had been dropped or pushed from a considerable height. Captain Dietrich looked up at the roof and sighed. He was falling behind, but he wasn't out of the game just yet.

#################

Troy, Moffitt, Hitch, Tully, and their prisoner ran across the rooftops of several buildings, using whatever means available to get from one to the next, until they were forced to go down to ground level again. They knew they needed transportation if they were going to get out.

Hitch called out, "Sarge, there's our ride!"

Troy nodded. "Let's shake it!"

Hitch got in behind the wheel of the halftrack and started it up. Moffitt and Tully got into the back and waited for General Pohl, but he had turned to Troy and said belligerently, "This is as far as I am going, sergeant. I refuse to set foot in this vehicle."

Troy frowned. "You don't seem to understand, general. You don't have a choice in the matter." Troy grabbed him by the arm and forcefully turned the general to the back door of the halftrack. "Climb in or be dragged in. That's the only choice you've got to make."

General Pohl looked up at Tully, who was reaching down to pull him in. The general slapped the hand away and climbed up. Troy followed as he yelled, "Let's go, Hitch!"

As they barreled through the base towards the gate, Tully manned the mounted 30 caliber while Troy and Moffitt used their machine guns in an effort to dissuade the Germans from trying to stop them. It worked for the most part, as soldiers scattered and ducked for cover, but there were some, more stubborn than others, that paid for their bravery with their lives.

As the halftrack burst through the gate, Captain Dietrich arrived just in time to see the Rat Patrol slip through his fingers once again. He began to yell orders to give chase, but he knew it was too late.

When they reached the jeeps, Troy and Moffitt bound General Pohl's hands behind him and put him in the passenger seat of Troy and Hitch's jeep.

Hitch and Tully went to the Arabs they'd left tied up to set them free. When the gags came off, they were hit with a barrage of words they couldn't understand. They were removing the ropes as Tully asked Moffitt, "What are they goin' on about, sarge? We're lettin' them loose as quick as we can."

Moffitt said, "Suffice it to say they aren't too happy with any of us."

Troy looked at his fellow sergeant. "You want me to look at that wound in your side?"

Moffitt shook his head. "Now isn't a good time. I'll be all right until we get to Dhahran."

##################

Three and a half hours later the jeeps rolled into Dhahran and General Pohl was handed over to the detail assigned to take him to the nearest airfield.

The bullet that had hit Moffitt went through the flesh of his right side. It wasn't serious and he hadn't even lost much blood before it stopped bleeding on its own. Hitch cleaned it up and wrapped a dressing around the sergeant, then went to help Tully with his stab wound. "We'll be at a field hospital before the end of the day. You both need stitches."

Moffitt settled into the passenger seat of the jeep and smiled tiredly. "Thank you, Dr. Hitchcock."

Troy had finished his call to headquarters as Hitch tied off the bandage on Tully's leg. Troy asked, "How are you two doing?"

Moffitt said wryly, "A perfectly good shirt has been ruined and you want to know how I'm doing."

Troy smiled and looked at Tully as Hitch helped him to his feet. "How about you?"

Tully sighed. "A little sore, but I'm good to get going."

Troy watched the private limp towards the jeep. "You play passenger for a while. Hitch and I will drive." Tully opened his mouth to argue, but the sergeant pointed a finger at him and said, "Don't start."

Moffitt asked, "What's the word from headquarters?"

"As soon as they get word that the plane with General Pohl is in the air, Captain Boggs will notify High Command that they're on the way. And as soon as possible after you and Tully see a doctor, we're to head back to base."

Hitch said hopefully, "Maybe we'll get a couple days off before our next assignment."

Troy smiled. "Don't count on it."

Tully grinned as he got into Hitch's jeep. "We can hang around the field hospital for a day or two. Moffitt needs time to heal up some."

Moffitt smiled. "You'll probably be on crutches, Tully." He looked at Troy. "So, yes, a day or two resting is just what we need."

Troy chuckled softly and shook his head as he got in behind the wheel next to Moffitt. He knew he'd find a way to get them a few days off. They deserved it. "We'll see."