Double The Sergeants Raid
By: AliasCWN
Chapter 7
"We saw Hitch Sir, they're holding him separate from the other prisoners." Moffitt and Tully had barely gotten into position when they had spotted Hitchcock being taken from one tent to another.
"What about Sergeant Troy?" Captain Boggs ask.
Moffitt shook his head. "We watched for two hours and never saw him Sir. There are a a lot of POWs , we may have missed him."
The Captain was skeptical but chose to let the matter drop. He listened intently as Sergeant Moffitt gave him the information they had gathered at the German base.
"Alright Sergeant, that will be all. We can take it from here."
"Sir, we have an idea."
Expecting this, Captain Boggs wanted to avoid any misunderstandings. "Sergeant, Command has expressly forbidden any action against the Germans until we can launch a counter attack."
"We understand Sir, but I think we can help."
The Captain refrained from saying the first thing that came to mind. Reluctantly, he nodded. "Let's hear it Sergeant."
The British commando began to explain his plan and soon had Capt. Boggs smiling and agreeing to discuss the plan with the Colonel.
"Wait here Sergeant, I'll be right back. I'll talk to the Colonel right now."
Twenty minutes later Moffitt was called to the Colonels' office to go over his plan for the Colonel. When he left he was feeling more optimistic than he had since finding the overturned jeep. He found Tully, they gathered some supplies, and soon they were once again headed across the desert toward the German base.
"So what are we doing Sarge?" Tully had parked the jeep in the wadi and covered it. Now he watched through the growing gloom as the sergeant pulled wire and explosives from the back of the jeep.
"As soon as it gets dark, you and I are going to go in and plant charges under the first row of tanks and halftracks."
The wind was picking up and Tully had to strain to hear the other man.
"Once we blow the charges, the destroyed vehicles will block the way for the others to escape, at least for a little while. Then the mortar teams will lay down a barrage on the remaining vehicles before they can break free."
"What about the prisoners?"
"Our troops are moving in under the cover of darkness with the wind covering any sounds they make. The spotter towers are going to be taken out as needed to keep the base from discovering the movement."
"Won't they radio in?"
"No." Moffitt explained with a smile. The radios will be jammed. With any luck, they'll blame it on the weather affecting the signals. You know how spotty the signal is during a heavy wind. If our troops can sneak in undetected before morning, we can surround them and hopefully destroy their ability to defend themselves."
"How does that free our prisoners?"
"The troops will make protecting them and setting them free a priority. If we do this fast, Jerry won't know what hit him."
Tully frowned, it seemed risky for the prisoners.
"It's all we've got Tully. We can't go in after them by ourselves. Once the shooting starts we can play it by ear and try to help them."
"Then I guess we'd better not get caught planting those charges."
Once again Tully got right to the heart of the matter. Moffitt smiled as he replied. "I wasn't planning on getting caught. Shall we go?"
Tully picked up one bag of explosives and waited for the British sergeant to pick up the other one. Without another word the two of them made their way carefully toward the German base and the line of tanks.
The guard passed close enough that Tully could have reached out and touched his boot. The lanky private held his breath and froze in position. The shadows under the tanks were darker than the surrounding area giving them sufficient cover to conceal them from the sentry. Tully watched the polished boots as they moved along the line of tanks. The moment they turned the corner he was moving on to the next vehicle.
He dug another hole with his knife directly under the tread of the tank. With the ease of long practice he buried the charge and concealed the wire so it wouldn't be discovered.
By connecting all of the charges they could set them all off together with one main detonator. Moffitt was running the wire to a wadi where someone would hide and wait for the signal to push the plunger. He made sure that he buried the wire deep enough that the blowing wind would not uncover it before they were ready to start their attack. The entire attack would be triggered by the detonations of the charges under the tanks.
Normally Tully didn't like a strong wind, he hated the limited visibility it caused, but tonight he counted his blessings and used its cover to complete his task. Planting the last charge, he ran the wire to the connector that Moffitt had already placed out of sight. With deft fingers he twisted the wires together and buried the length of it all the way back to the final explosives.
One more check to locate the sentry and he was on his way back to where Moffitt awaited him after completing his part of the nights work.
"All set Tully?"
Tully nodded.
"Then let's get moving, we still have to help guide those trucks into position before morning. We still have a full night ahead of us."
Tully led the way into the dark as Moffitt watched behind them. With an unerring sense of direction, the private soon had them back to their jeep. Driving without lights until they were clear of the base, they searched the dark desert for the slow moving trucks carrying the troops who would take part in the attack. Finally they spotted the first ones and Moffitt used his flashlight to signal the drivers.
"Let's move it Tully. The sooner we get all these trucks in place the sooner we can get some sleep."
Tully gunned the engine in reply and headed straight for the trucks. With Tully leading the way, one by one the trucks were guided to wadis where they could hide for the night and be in position for the attack in the morning. The wind continued to blow, hiding their movements and their tracks as the Germans hid in shelters to ride out the storm.
