The Different Battles Raid
By: AliasCWN
Chapter 14
"He's camped for the night." Sam Troy eyed the German camp warily. "There ought to be more guards."
"I agree. The ones he does have are all staying close to the camp." Moffitt shifted his position to check the other side of the encampment. "I don't see Hitch or Tully but there are guards on that one tent."
"That bigger tent is Dietrich's. He just came out; it looks like he's changing the guards." Troy called a play by play of the Captain's actions as Moffitt watched it unfold.
"They have to be in that tent Troy. I count two guards out front and another one around the back."
The American sergeant watched as Dietrich ducked into the tent with the guards. He was only inside a few minutes before he came back out and entered his own tent. The sergeants watched as the camp settled for the night, the lights winking out one by one until only the Captain's tent was still lit.
Troy rose to his feet in one smooth move, eager to get started. "Let's go pay our friendly neighborhood Captain a visit. I like sneaking around his camp a whole lot better when I know where he's at. He has this nasty habit of dropping in at the most inconvenient times."
"That he does." Moffitt agreed, rising to his feet. The darkness hid their moves so they weren't afraid of being spotted. Without the field glasses they wouldn't have been able to see into the camp, even with all the lights.
"I still don't like it." Troy glanced over his shoulder at Moffitt. "He should have more guards out and he allowed way too many lights. It's like he doesn't expect anyone else to be in this part of the desert."
"Perhaps you could ask him what he's thinking when we drop in to visit." The British sergeant teased with a wicked grin. Sobering quickly, he hesitated as he followed Troy.
"What is it?"
"What if this is a trap? What if he knows we're coming?"
"Huh!" Troy grunted. "He knows dang well that we'll come for them. This wouldn't be the first time he tried using one of us as bait. The thing is, we know it might be a trap. That makes it harder to spring the trap. Besides, I doubt that he'll be expecting us to visit his tent first."
Moffitt conceded the point and concentrated on moving silently from shadow to shadow. Before he knew it, they were behind the tent where the Captain had retired for the night. They ducked as a guard strolled past, oblivious to their presence. Troy reached down and lifted the edge of the tent; and as Moffitt stood guard, he slithered under the canvas into the sleeping area.
A light still burned as Dietrich sat at a desk made of crates and filled out his daily paperwork. The scratching of his pen covered the slight whisper of sound that Troy made as he crossed the room. Raising his gun, he brought the barrel down on the head of the unsuspecting officer. With a quick twist of a knob, he extinguished the lantern, leaving the Captain in the dark. It was unlikely anyone would find him before he regained consciousness as no one would want to disturb their superiors sleep except for an emergency.
With a chuckle, Troy realized that someone would probably come looking for the Captain before long because he intended to create just such an event. Slipping under the canvas, he rejoined Moffitt.
The guards at the rear of the tent presented no difficulty; he walked past Moffitt without seeing him. Moffitt merely chopped him along the side of the neck with the edge of his hand. The guard fell into his arms without even dropping his weapon.
The two guards in front required a perfectly timed team effort. Both men had to fall at the same time to prevent an outcry. The one Troy chose nearly gave them away as he spun on his heel just as Troy stood up behind him. Only the sergeant's quick reflexes saved them; he hit the guard in the face with the butt of his rifle. Moffitt's target hit the ground right behind him, felled by another chop by the edge of his hand.
Ducking inside, they found Tully helping Hitch to his feet. Pvt. Kirkland was looking confused but trying to help. At the sight of them entering the tent, he nearly dropped Hitch.
"Let's go!" Troy whispered urgently. He eyed his driver critically, trying to determine if he could make the trip to the jeep.
Seeing the appraisal, Hitch straightened his leg and leaned heavily on Tully. "I'll make it Sarge. If I slow you down too much you can just leave me behind."
"Like h…." Troy snarled, urging his men forward.
With Tully and Kirkland supporting him, Hitch hobbled out of the tent and into the darkness behind. Troy and Moffitt guarded the rear as Moffitt directed Tully as to where to find the jeep.
"Can you go any faster Tully?" Troy called to the staggering trio. "Those guards are going to be missed pretty soon."
"Trying Sarge." Tully called over his shoulder as Hitch stumbled and almost fell once again.
"Go on without me Tully."
"Nope."
"I'm slowing everyone up, it's not worth it Tully."
"Explain that to Sarge after we get you out of here." Readjusting his grip, Tully threw Hitch's arm over his shoulder.
"Almost there." Moffitt's softly spoken words were almost lost under Hitch's labored breathing.
A moment later and the jeep came into sight. Troy and Moffitt stopped and waited for the other three to get settled in the jeep before they dashed for it.
A flash behind them was accompanied by the crack of a rifle. A bullet whined as it hit the jeep and bounced off into space.
Troy paused to return fire as Moffitt jumped for the 50. He cleared the big gun and covered Troy as he joined the others in the jeep. By now more German guns had joined the first one and they were getting the range. Bullets hit the jeep with more frequency. Tully floored the gas pedal and headed for rough terrain where they had more cover. The gunfire became more erratic and less accurate as Tully put more distance between the jeep and the camp.
Troy relaxed as Tully picked his way through the rocks toward the open desert and the oasis.
"Troy," Moffitt called softly over the sound of the engine, "we may have a problem."
Troy leaned closer to talk to Moffitt. "May? Five men in one jeep and it's going to be light soon. Dietrich will be embarrassed and hopping mad when he wakes up. They're going to come after us with everything he's got." Pausing, he leaned toward Moffitt and grinned despite his predictions. "What do you have to add to that?"
"I smell gas. They may have hit our gas tank, or our fuel line, or hopefully only our spare can." He dropped his bombshell in a cool, collected voice but Troy detected the note of tension underneath.
"Crap!"
"My thoughts exactly old man, although I may not have used that exact word." Moffitt informed him with a smile.
"Tully, find us a place to pull up, we need to check the jeep for damage."
Twenty minutes later and the news was bad. Tully found a wadi to hide them and he used a flashlight to check the jeep. Crawling out from underneath, he announced that a bullet had nicked the fuel line.
"Can you fix it?"
"No Sarge, I don't have any extra line. I can tape it and it will hold for a bit but the gasoline will eat right through anything I have on hand."
"Tape it; maybe we can keep taping it until we get back to the oasis."
"Won't work Sarge, we'll never make it that far in this jeep. There's got to be another way."
"If there is I don't have a clue what it could be." Troy growled. He looked to where Moffitt was tending to Hitch. The rest of them could hoof it but Hitch wouldn't last a mile on that leg. Leaving him behind was not an option but he had no idea how they were going to take him along.
"It's ready to go for now Sarge, but like I said, we won't get far." Tully interrupted his thoughts to let him know that the jeep repairs were finished.
"Alright, let's shake it, we ride until we have to walk." They helped Hitch back into the jeep and Troy noted that his fever seemed to be getting worse. Moffitt met his eyes and shook his head slightly before climbing behind the 50. Troy leaned forward and put his hand on his drivers shoulder for support.
Tully started the jeep and babied the little vehicle for all it was worth. He coaxed every last mile out of it that it had. They had to stop several times to re-tape the lines, trying to save as much gas as possible.