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

Big Guns

By Suzie2b

The Germans had been hitting the Allied supply lines day and night as they tried to get the upper hand in the desert. The Americans were having a rough time getting troops and supplies to where they were needed because of the shelling. And to make matters worse, the Germans had not been found to stop them because there were no planes available to do spotting from the air.

Captain Boggs had sent his most elite team to the worst hit area to do what no one else had yet to accomplish.

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

The Rat Patrol skimmed the desert floor as they crossed the sand to get to the coordinates they'd received from Captain Boggs radio call. Their assignment was to stop the German shelling "at all costs."

As they got closer to the coordinates, the four Allies surveyed their surroundings. Everywhere they looked they saw the remains of convoys—trucks, troop movers, munitions, craters where shells had hit the sand, and among them bodies that had been picked clean by desert scavengers. This went on for miles until they reached the coordinates where the last German attack had been according to the few survivors.

They got out of the jeeps as Hitch asked, "Why do our guys keep coming this way? Wouldn't it be easier to just change the route?"

Moffitt replied, "That's already been tried. However, the route can only be altered so much. And apparently it can't be altered enough to lose the Germans entirely. Hardly any of the Allied troops and supplies have been getting through."

Tully sighed. "And with all our planes pounding Rommel no one has been able to find even one of the enemy gun emplacements."

Troy looked at the private. "You think there's more than one?"

"There has to be, sarge. The Germans wouldn't be able to keep moving their big guns around to follow our guys."

"Yeah, I think you're right. That would explain some things."

Just as Moffitt was going to ask how Troy wanted to proceed, a shell whistled overhead. The four men ducked as it hit one of the already destroyed trucks, sending the wreckage spinning and shrapnel flying.

Troy yelled, "Let's get out of here!"

Hitch and Tully sped away as another shell hit the ground nearby.

When they were out of range of the big guns, Troy directed Hitch to find some cover. Hitch led them to a waterhole where they could hide.

Troy got out and said, "Hitch, Tully, check the jeeps for any damage." The two privates immediately went to work. "Could you tell which direction those shells came from?"

Moffitt shook his head. "No idea. By the time we could hear it, it was overhead."

"That's what I thought too."

Hitch stood up next to Bertha and said, "If the guns are so far away that we can't hear them being fired, then the Germans must be using ground spotters to direct fire."

Tully added, "Depending on what guns they're using they could be more than five miles from the target zone."

Moffitt agreed and said, "So they must be using spotters with walkie-talkies or radios."

Troy nodded. "We find the spotters, we find those guns."

"But how are we going to find the spotters? They'll surely see us coming."

"I may have an idea about that."

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

The next day around midmorning Moffitt and Tully went back to where the shelling had occurred. They stayed under cover and waited for the signal from Troy—a high-pitched whistle over the radio—and started their run across the desert. True to form the Germans soon began to shell the lone jeep.

Tully drove expertly around the wrecked vehicles, easily staying away from the explosives falling from the sky.

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

Troy gave the signal and he and Hitch waited for the explosions to begin. Then they set off to find their quarry. Hitch drove as fast as he dared while Troy stood in the back with binoculars searching for any tell-tail signs of German spotters.

Hitch skirted the hills with its rocky outcrops in hopes that any Germans would be too preoccupied with the other jeep to notice them.

Fifteen minutes later, just as the shelling stopped, Troy saw the sun reflect off of something. He touched Hitch's shoulder to get him to stop. The sergeant searched the area where he'd seen the reflection and saw movement. Troy jumped down into the passenger seat and said quietly, "Got 'em. Let's get out of here."

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

Back at the waterhole Troy showed them on a map where he saw the reflection and movement on the hill.

Moffitt asked, "Now that we know where they are, we need a way to get to them and find out where those big guns are located."

Troy nodded. "And then we have to shut them down."

Hitch said hopefully, "They've been shelling our guys day and night. We could sit and watch them until their replacements show up. Then just follow 'em back."

Moffitt smiled and looked at Troy. "It's so simple, it could work."

Troy smiled at the private. "Sometimes simple is best. Good thinking, Hitch. Let's shake it."

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

Tully followed Hitch to a place where they could hide the jeeps. Then Troy led them up the hill, where they found some cover so they could easily see the Germans. There were three soldiers and two radios. Small crates of the German version of K-rations and plenty of water were sitting in the shade of a lean-to with the radios. The Allies were hunkered down in some brush, so close to the enemy setup that they could hear what they were saying to each other.

Troy silently pointed out at the desert. The German spotters had a perfect view of anything that might move out there. They were high, but not too high, and they could see, but not be seen as they directed the guns.

The hours passed slowly. The four Allied soldiers sat in complete silence, using hand signals and a notebook to communicate. Any movement they made had to be slow and deliberate to avoid detection.

Troy wrote a note to Moffitt. He wanted to know what the Germans were talking about. Moffitt wrote, "Nothing of importance. Mostly talk about family and how tired they are of eating the rations they have."

Eventually, Tully heard something. He touched Hitch's shoulder to get his attention and when his friend turned, Tully cupped his hand around one ear. Hitch listened and seconds later he nodded. He took the notebook and wrote, "They're coming," then passed it to Troy.

The sergeant nodded and passed the note to Moffitt as he listened for the sound of engines.

The Germans had punched a rough road up the hill and it wasn't long before two halftracks appeared at the back of the small camp. As fresh men and gear was being offloaded, Troy signaled his men back to the jeeps while the enemy was further preoccupied.

Once they were back where they could talk, Troy said, "Let's go find that road they're using."

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

They quickly found the narrow, rough road around on the backside of the hills where it was less sloped and easy to traverse. The four Allies hid to watch for the returning halftracks.

Troy and Moffitt used binoculars as they waited. Troy sighed and said, "They're taking their sweet time coming out."

Moffitt nodded. "They must have stopped for lunch before their return trip."

It was nearly another hour before the two German halftracks trundled out into the desert. Troy said, "Okay, let's go. Keep your distance. I don't want to be spotted following them."

Hitch and Tully followed the tracks left by the German vehicles while Troy and Moffitt kept their eyes open for the enemy.

They traveled about eight miles before Troy called for a halt. "See them, Moffitt?"

"Yes, I do." Moffitt pointed to a set of dunes and said, "We should be concealed over there."

"Right, let's go."

They stopped between the dunes. Hitch and Tully covered the jeeps with camouflage tarps before joining the sergeants on one of the dunes. There was no need for binoculars to see the gun emplacement.

Hitch gave a low whistle and said, "They aren't fooling around are they."

Tully gave a nod. "I see a Flak 38, a Flak 43, and a FlaK 41."

Moffitt added, "Not to mention the various large caliber machine guns and tanks."

Troy sighed. "They're determined to shut down our supply lines to force the Allies out."

Hitch asked, "What are we going to do, sarge?"

"I'm going to contact headquarters and tell them what we've found. Maybe they can scrounge up a couple of bombers."

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

The coded message was sent and they waited for a reply. When it finally came, Troy was not happy. "There still aren't any planes available."

Moffitt asked, "What do they want us to do?"

Troy read the message from the piece of paper he held, "They want us to 'stop those guns at all costs'. Another convoy is supposed to try to get through in less than three days."

Moffitt and Tully looked at each other as Tully said, "We aren't carrying anything that'll take out those guns, sarge."

Hitch sighed. "And I sure don't have enough bubble gum to do any good."

Troy asked, "What do we have?"

Tully replied, "German and American grenades. We used the last of our TNT during that last raid."

Moffitt asked, "What about our ammunition?"

Tully replied, "We've got plenty for the machine guns and pistols, but we're running low on ammo for the 50s."

Troy put his hands on his hips and looked frustrated. "All right. We can't do anything until tonight. Hopefully by then we'll have a plan in place. I need you and Hitch to start sorting through everything. I want to know exactly what kind of firepower we have."

Hitch said, "Right, sarge."

"I'll go keep an eye on our friends. Maybe I can think of a way to blow 'em up."

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

Hitch and Tully tallied up what they had to fight with. One box of 50 caliber ammo belts for each gun. There were 200 rounds for Troy's Colt .45 pistol and 300 rounds for Moffitt's Webley .455 revolver. And there were about 3000 rounds for each of the Thompson submachine guns. There were also twenty-five German grenades and thirty American grenades. Plus two rolls of detonator cord.

Hitch handed the piece of paper with the numbers to Moffitt, who read it through and said with a sigh, "All right, I'll go let Troy know what we have."

Up on the crest of the dune Moffitt lay down next to Troy and gave him the tally sheet. The sergeant read it with a frown before he said, "Not much here to blow up those big guns."

Moffitt looked thoughtfully out at the gun emplacement and the German camp just beyond. "You know, Troy, we don't have to blow them up. We just need to permanently disable them."

Troy nodded. "Yeah, that's true, but we still don't have … wait a minute." He suddenly had a thought and looked at the list again.

"What is it?"

Troy smiled. "I think I have an idea. Let's go talk to Hitch and Tully." The sergeants hurried down to talk to their privates. After he explained his idea, Troy asked his men, "What do you think?"

Moffitt said, "I don't see a reason why it wouldn't work."

Hitch said, "We have the grenades, but how are we going to tie things together?"

Troy said, "We use the det. cord."

Tully frowned. "There won't be enough cord for that, sarge."

"There must be something…"

"Twine." The others looked at him and Tully smiled as he said, "I've got a ball of twine in my toolbox. There should be plenty."

Troy grinned. "Great! You and Hitch get started on our bombs while Moffitt and I work out the rest of the plan."

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

It was nearly midnight. Troy had been watching the moon come up on the horizon for the past hour. He stood and went to wake the others. It was time to get going. Once they were all up Troy saw Tully reach for a machine gun and said, "No weapons on this one." He took his own pistol from its holster and set it in the jeep. "Our hands need to be free to handle our bombs without blowing ourselves up."

Tully let the gun slide back into its fender holster and Moffitt put his revolver in the jeep next to Troy's.

Each of the Allies carried a knapsack with two bombs—three German grenades tied together with an American grenade fixed in the middle that had detonator cord wrapped around it. All they had to do was pull the pins, light the lengths of fuses … and run.

Troy, Moffitt, and Hitch each took one of the big guns, and Tully was to blow up the Germans fuel supply.

There was just one soldier manning each of the guns and they all appeared to be sleeping on duty. The sergeants left Hitch at the first large weapon, Moffitt took the second, and Troy the third.

Hitch counted to ten before he pulled the pin and lit the fuse on each of his bombs, then headed back to camp without waiting for the others. Moffitt counted to five and did the same thing. As soon as Troy had his two bombs placed, he pulled the pins and lit their fuses.

However, a guard suddenly made an appearance in front of Troy. They stood there staring at each other when the first set of explosives detonated. Troy lunged forward to grab the guard and they both went down in a tangle of arms and legs.

The second explosion went off right on cue. When Troy's bombs went off he managed to use the German guard as a shield against the shrapnel. But by then he was seconds away from being surrounded.

Tully quickly found the barrels of fuel that were stacked behind the motor pool. By the time Moffitt's bombs went off he had the fuses lit, pins pulled, and was heading out. As he skirted the dark motor pool to get out, a German soldier stepped out of the shadows and yelled, "Halt!" Tully hesitated, then turned to run just as the bombs went off, sending the fuel up in a ball of fire. The concussion from the explosion hit both men and the German's rifle fired a shot as he went down. Tully rolled to his feet and ran without looking back.

Hitch had made it back to camp at a dead run as the explosions went off behind him. He didn't stop until he was at the jeeps. As he stood there catching his breath, he looked back at the mayhem he and the others had caused, and expected Troy, Moffitt, and Tully to appear out of the darkness.

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

As the Germans worked to control the fires, Troy was taken to a tent in the camp. He was pushed inside and stopped when he saw Moffitt standing to one side of a desk with a guard behind him. The sergeants locked eyes for a moment before Troy was again pushed forward to stand with his comrade. He stood next to his friend and asked quietly, "You okay?"

Moffitt replied, "I'm fine." He glanced at the minor scratches on Troy's face and arms. "You?"

"I'll live."

One of the two guards said angrily, "Schweig!"

Troy didn't need a translation to know that they were to keep quiet.

A few minutes later a German captain walked in, went straight to his desk, but didn't sit down. He glowered hatefully at the Allies and said in a low, clipped tone, "Do you know what you have done?"

Troy looked at Moffitt, then turned back to look the captain in the eye. "I think we have a pretty good idea about that."

The captain abruptly jerked the chair back and sat down. "Where are the others?"

"What others?"

"I cannot believe that just two of you carried this out! Where are the others?"

Troy smiled slightly. "Sergeant Sam Troy. 19946636."

The captain took a deep breath in an attempt to calm his anger as he look at the second sergeant. "What have you to say?"

Moffitt stood stiffly, head held high as he said, "Sergeant Jack Moffitt. British army. 270394."

"I see. I will tell you here and now. You will talk."

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

Hitch was pacing nervously. It had been an hour since the bombs went off and there'd been no sign of Troy, Moffitt, or Tully. He tried hard not to think what might've happened to his friends.

A few more minutes passed, then Hitch heard a soft call come from the dark. "Sarge?"

With a sigh, Hitch called back, "Tully…" The private staggered into view and collapsed to his knees. Hitch rushed forward and knelt down. "Are you okay?"

"Got hit by a stray bullet."

"Come on, let's get you to a jeep."

Tully stood with some help and looked around. "Where's Troy and Moffitt?"

Hitch supported his friend as they made their way to the closest jeep. "They aren't back yet."

"But…"

Hitch grabbed a med kit and a flashlight as he said, "Yeah, I know. They should've been here by now." He turned on the light and handed it to Tully. "Hold this." Hitch quickly unbuttoned the bloodied shirt, then gently moved Tully's other hand away from the wound.

Tully grunted painfully as Hitch pressed gauze against the still bleeding wound in his left side. "They had to be captured. We have to…"

As the hiss of pain interrupted his friend, Hitch said calmly, "We'll get them back, Tully, but first we have to take care of you." He got the bleeding stopped, applied sulpha before covering the wound with gauze, and wrapped everything up with an elastic bandage. Before Tully could complain, Hitch gave him a shot of morphine and said, "We can't do anything right now. It'll be daylight soon enough. Until then, just rest. I'll keep an eye on things. Maybe I can get a glimpse of Troy and Moffitt."

Tully decided not to argue as Hitch helped him get his legs into the jeep and felt a blanket being wrapped around his shoulders. As the morphine took effect, Tully was able to relax some and began to doze.

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

Tully opened his eyes when Hitch gently shook his shoulder and blinked at the daylight. He asked groggily, "What's up?"

Hitch replied, "I just saw Troy and Moffitt. They were being escorted across camp. I know what tent they're in and I'm going to go get them."

Tully let the blanket fall from his shoulders as he moved slowly to get out of the jeep's passenger seat. "I'll drive…"

"No, you should wait here."

"Think about it, Hitch. Are the Germans going to just let you drive in, pick up their prisoners, and drive away … in broad daylight?"

Hitch knew he was right, but said, "I'll have to chance it. With your injury…"

Tully started around the jeep to get to the driver's side. "I'm goin' with you, Hitch, and that's final. You man the 50 and I'll drive."

With a sigh of resignation Hitch climbed into the back while Tully slid carefully in behind the wheel. He maneuvered the jeep around the dunes until they could see the camp, then stopped. Tully asked, "Which tent did you see 'em go into?"

Hitch pointed. "That one there in the middle with the guards at the door."

Tully gave a nod. "Right. Ready to go?"

Hitch primed the 50 and braced himself. "Ready!"

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

Troy and Moffitt heard the unmistakable sound of the 50 rattling off rounds of heavy slugs and looked at each other. The captain quickly began to cross to the tent flap, shouting at the guards as he passed the prisoners. In the blink of an eye, Moffitt reached out and yanked the captain back. He spun the German around and Troy punched him squarely between the eyes, breaking his nose. Moffitt let the now unconscious captain fall to the floor and followed Troy to the door. When they cautiously peeked out, they noticed the guards were gone and Moffitt said quietly, "The good captain sent them away when the shooting started."

Troy pointed when he spotted the jeep. "Here they come."

Tully swerved as he sped through the camp, hoping the German bullets would miss them. As they neared their target, Tully saw the sergeants' step outside. He slowed just enough so Troy and Moffitt could climb in.

As Tully took off, Hitch ran out of ammo. Troy grabbed a machine gun and passed it back to Moffitt. Without looking at the sergeant Tully quickly handed the second gun to Troy.

As the jeep sped out of the German camp, the captain stumbled from the tent holding a handkerchief against his bleeding nose.

Tully drove back between the dunes so they could pick up the second jeep, then they disappeared into the desert before the Germans could rally to give chase.

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

Once they were sure they weren't being followed, Hitch got Troy's attention in the back. When the sergeant leaned down, the private said, "Tully was hit after he set his bombs!"

Troy asked, "How bad?"

"A bullet in the side may have hit a rib!"

Troy looked back at the other jeep, then said, "Find someplace with cover!"

A convenient wadi a couple miles further on had plenty of cover for them to hide in. When the jeeps stopped, Moffitt hopped out of the back and faced Tully as he slumped forward and held his injured side. "Tully…" Then he saw the blood as Troy and Hitch hurried over. Moffitt knelt and gently moved the hand to open Tully's shirt. "This didn't just happen."

Hitch said worriedly, "He got hit after he left his bombs in that motor pool. I did the best I could, but the bullet's still in there and it might've hit his rib."

"Let's get him out." Moffitt glanced at Hitch and said, "I'll need a med kit."

Troy helped Moffitt with Tully. They got him down and leaning against the jeep's wheel. The private groaned at the movement and Troy said, "Easy, Tully. We'll get you fixed up."

Moffitt looked at the bloody bandage with a frown. Hitch handed him a med kit and said, "I had the bleeding stopped before."

Moffitt took the kit and said, "I'm sure you did, Hitch, but all the driving and bumping around the desert undid your good work." He took scissors and cut away the bandage to examine the wound. Then Moffitt used gauze to stop the bleeding.

Tully gasped and squeezed his eyes closed.

Troy asked, "Can you get the bullet out?"

Moffitt shook his head. "I don't think I should try. He's lost too much blood to take the chance."

Hitch said quickly, "I can spare some, sarge."

Moffitt said, "Only if it becomes necessary. I suggest we get him to the nearest hospital."

Troy nodded. "You take care of Tully. I'll check the map."

Hitch said quietly, "I didn't want him to come with me when I decided to go after you guys."

"You couldn't have done it alone, Hitch."

"I know, and that's what Tully told me, but…"

Troy said, "You did what had to be done."

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

Tully didn't remember much of the ride to the field hospital. And he certainly didn't remember the doctor removing the bullet and discovering one cracked rib. But now, as he started to wake up, he noticed that he wasn't moving and bouncing anymore. He also realized the pain was just a dull ache in his side now. And there was a British voice quietly reading from the book he always seemed to have.

When he finally was able to coax his eyes to open, the first thing Tully saw was Moffitt sitting next to his cot with the afore mentioned book in his hands. Just beyond sat Troy and Hitch playing cards. However, what Tully didn't notice was the hustle and bustle of the hospital around them.

Moffitt noticed that the patient was awake. "How are you doing, Tully?"

The private looked up at the sergeant and whispered, "Okay."

"Are you in any pain?"

Troy and Hitch moved to check on their friend as Tully said, "No … just tired."

Moffitt smiled slightly. "Then go back to sleep. That's the best thing for you right now."

Tully asked, "What about the other gun emplacements?"

Troy said, "High Command is sending planes to take care of them."

Tully's eyes were heavy as he whispered, "Stay awhile?"

"Of course."

Hitch said, "I don't have anywhere else to be."

Troy nodded. "I have a report to write eventually, but I can do that right here."

Tully's eyes slid shut and moments later Moffitt's voice again washed over him as he dozed off.