Wilhelmshaven, Germany
Day 9
Ironically, Hogan picked the same bridge Emery had crossed the night before. All bridge crossings over the canal had been beefed up after the incident and the two Army soldiers at this bridge were now supplemented with two Gestapo and two SS soldiers.
From the barn set atop a hill overlooking the canal and bridge, Colonel Hogan stood with Kinch. Hogan was dressed in a German army uniform, Kinch was in civilian attire. The traffic lined at the crossing was light and some cars were being waved right through. Hogan surveyed the scene through field glasses and then lowered them to trace with his own eyes the road that curved around coming up the hill and passed the barn. "As long as Fritz stays far enough ahead of them they'll never see him pull into the barn," he said.
Kinch nodded. "Dubois has everyone set up down the road to make sure you, Carter and Newkirk aren't caught."
"Good." Hogan looked down the road for a moment and then to Kinch. "It's going to be up to you, LeBeau and those three Underground men to make sure Miller makes it into town and to the boat."
Kinch nodded. "Are you still going to try and double back?"
"You bet I am." Hogan glanced toward the road one more time and then nodded to Kinch. "Let's get started." They walked into the barn, where Fritz, Miller and the boys were waiting with LeBeau.
"Well, Major," Hogan said. "It's time." He paused noting Miller's weary yet impassive expression. "You can still change your mind."
Miller was sure Hogan could see right though him, but he refused to acknowledge the fact that deep down, he was scared to death. He looked at the boys. At the time he had made his suggestion to the Colonel, Miller had not intended for the boys to go with him. Instead, he figured they would wait in the barn and be picked up when he and Fritz made it back. But they had insisted on going with him. After all, they argued, the Gestapo was looking for not only him but a group of youths as well. Plus they reminded him of the all or nothing agreement they had.
Miller turned back to face Hogan and shook his head.
Hogan looked at the boys seeing their expressions nowhere near as guarded as Miller's. They were scared, but would stand firm, the Colonel knew. He looked at Miller. "Then we say goodbye again."
"How about see you later?" Miller said, trying to keep the mood somewhat positive and keep his own concern at bay. He put his hand out.
Hogan gave a reassuring smile and gripped Miller's hand. "Paris?"
"When it's all over."
The Colonel nodded. "It's a promise." He let go of the handshake and saluted. "Good luck, Major."
Miller returned the salute. "Thank you, Colonel. For everything..."
Hogan nodded and then turned to leave the barn. "Wait for the signal that we're in position," he said to LeBeau.
"Oui, Colonel."
Hogan then stepped out of the barn where Carter and Newkirk were waiting in a second decoy German Army staff car. The car then drove down the road a couple hundred feet away from the barn and opposite the turn that led to the bridge. Newkirk pulled off the road and behind some brush, coming to a stop but leaving the engine idling.
"You can see the bridge from here, Colonel," Carter said, looking out the back window of the car.
Hogan looked past Newkirk and could see the bridge too. "Good." He raised the hand held radio. "Home Base this is Mirror Image. We're in position."
"Acknowledged." LeBeau signaled to Fritz and the sedan rolled out of the barn to the road.
It only took a couple of minutes to wind down the road to the bridge. A car was already ahead of them and Fritz slowed to stay back a good distance. Another car pulled up behind them. Otherwise there, was no traffic.
Miller had his window rolled down as did the boys behind him. Up on the hill, Hogan watched through the field glasses.
The car ahead of Fritz moved across the bridge. Fritz stayed on the brake long enough for the two Army soldiers to call impatiently to him to move. Fritz waited just a little bit longer. This got the attention of the Gestapo and SS soldiers who had been hanging back while the Army conducted the checkpoint. They now moved closer to the road from the guard hut near the bridge to get a closer look at this car once it moved.
Fritz did, pulling to the left and then turning right so that Miller and the boys were in clear view of the soldiers. The soldiers didn't know what to make of this.
Miller leaned out the window a little, a fear induced cocky grin flashing briefly. "Hi…looking for anyone in particular?"
The two soldiers blinked and then every man at the checkpoint reacted once they registered the face looking at them, and the English Miller had spoken. Miller flinched away from the window as one of the army soldiers reached for the door handle, the other fumbling to bring his weapon up to bear. Fritz stood on the accelerator, turning the car around the rest of the way and taking off back down the road.
The Gestapo and SS men rushed forward as the army soldier fired a couple of wasted shots at the fleeing sedan. The Gestapo then ordered everyone after the car.
Watching the scene from the hill top, Hogan realized he had been holding his breath, especially with the sound of the shots being fired. He breathed again, seeing the sedan flee but then found himself holding it once more as he watched the soldiers disburse for vehicles parked off the road. All of them were taking the chase.
"He's got them all," Hogan said.
"Is Fritz far enough ahead, Colonel?" Carter asked.
Hogan looked and found the sedan barreling up the hill heading toward the turn. The two pursuing vehicles were a healthy distance behind as they had to negotiate around some traffic first as they got out of the starting gate.
"He's perfect."
Newkirk grinned. "Damn shame they're leaving that checkpoint wide open. Somebody might slip through..."
"Somebody is going to slip through." Hogan settled back into the passenger seat, grinning. Newkirk pulled the car around the brush and they waited, watching for the chase to come around the corner by the barn.
As Fritz's sedan was tearing its way back up the hill, Miller and the boys were looking the back window to see if they had picked up all of the soldiers. Seeing they had, and that they were sufficiently ahead of them, Miller turned back forward. "If they'd taken that bait any harder, they'd have taken the rod and reel."
Fritz pushed the sedan to the crest of the hill and through the turn, the tires digging into the dirt of the road. They made the short distance to the barn and pulled in, LeBeau and Kinch hurrying to pull the barn doors shut.
The two pursuing cars tore up to the crest of the hill and made the turn, flying past the barn.
Newkirk had the decoy car already on the road and he hit the accelerator once the German Army and Gestapo sedans came into view of the rear view mirror. The chase thundered down the road.
With the coast clear at the barn, LeBeau and Kinch pushed the barn doors open again and Fritz backed the car out. The two heroes waved to the sedan as it headed back down the road. Miller and the boys waved back before the car turned the corner and was gone from sight. LeBeau and Kinch went to the back of the barn to watch the car go back down the hill, approach the bridge and cross it...like it was doing nothing more than going for a Sunday drive.
They watched the car until they couldn't see it anymore and then returned inside the barn to send the signal and then wait for the Underground to pick them up. So far so good...
--- ----
Carter looked out the window behind him with concern. "You'd better step on it, those guys are coming up fast!"
Newkirk already looked troubled. "I've got it t' the floor now..." He looked at his gauges but could see nothing wrong, other than the speed wasn't up to where it should have been. He shifted down and then back again and realized the problem. "I think she's lost a gear..."
"Lost a gear?" Hogan said. "We didn't just try to come up that hill."
"Well, no sir we didn't but..." Newkirk tried to shift again. "She's not shiftin'. And I can't skip the gear, it's the top one that's out."
"Terrific---" Hogan was interrupted by gunfire coming behind them.
"Aw great, they're bringin' out the artillery!" Newkirk said.
Shots danced off the back fenders and one bullet hit the corner of the back window. Carter ducked. "They're not fooling around, Colonel!" the sergeant exclaimed.
Hogan turned to look briefly out the back window. The Gestapo car was in the lead of the pursuit was about a car length behind them. They would be overtaken in only a few minutes. He turned back forward and saw they had at least a mile before reaching the woods where the Underground was waiting to assist. Hogan cursed the open fields on either side of the road where they were at right now.
Another round of shots were fired hitting the back window and forcing the three heroes to duck again. "We'll never out drive them, but we have to fend them off." Hogan looked at Carter in the back seat. "Carter, did you bring anything with you?"
"No, sir. All that came with this Kraut uniform was the side arm..." Carter looked down to the gun at his side and then looked at the small wooden box that had been in the back of the car since they had gotten it from the Underground. "Wait a second!" He pulled the lid off and found four German hand grenades. "Jackpot!" He held one up to the Colonel.
"God bless the Underground!" Hogan said, taking the grenade.
"There's three more, Colonel."
"I think two will be all we'll need." Hogan turned back forward and rolled down his window.
"I'll cover you," Carter said. He pulled the side arm and used the butt end of it to smash out some of the glass that was already shattered. He then settled the gun in his hand and looked toward Hogan. "Ready, Colonel."
"Now, Carter!"
Carter opened fire as Hogan leaned out the window, pulled the pin on the grenade and then lobbed it back at the pursuing Gestapo car. The driver of the Gestapo car saw the object coming and swerved out of the way. The grenade missed landing on the Gestapo sedan and hit the ground directly in front of the Army car, forcing the front wheels of the Army car upwards before the car turned and landed on its side.
"One down..."
The Gestapo answered with a barrage of gunfire, taking out more of the back window of Hogan's car. Newkirk flinched as one of the bullets went zipping by his head and cracked the dashboard.
"Bloody hell..."
Carter handed Hogan another grenade. When a pause in the gunfire came, they repeated their mode of operation and Hogan tossed the grenade. This time however, Hogan didn't aim for the sedan itself but directly in front of it. The driver had no where to turn this time and when the grenade touched the ground the entire front end of the sedan was swallowed by a ball of orange.
The force of the explosion rocked the heroes in their car too. Newkirk fought with the steering as the car fishtailed a little. He let up on the gas only to bring the car back under control and then gunned it again once they were straight. The two destroyed pursuit vehicles were left behind.
Although there was a sense of relief between the three heroes, there was little celebration. They still had a lot to do and Hogan knew that the two explosions were bound to have got somebody's attention. They had to meet up with the Underground up the road and get the hell out of the area before it was too late.
--- ---
Wilhelmshaven was a fairly large seaport town and an extra Army sedan coming into town hardly raised an eyebrow amongst the citizens. But knowing that the Gestapo and SS were probably looking extra carefully at any Army car that came into town, Fritz and Miller both were watching the traffic around them and taking notice of any Gestapo soldiers on the streets. The boys were hunkered down in the back of the car, so as not to be obvious.
They passed one Gestapo car that didn't appear to take any notice in the Army car with the busted headlight. Miller turned to look out the back window, making sure the car kept going. It did, but the Major wasn't exactly relieved. He turned forward again.
"I don't know about you, Fritz, but I feel like they know it's us and they're just quietly setting a trap."
"Unless they have heard of the disturbance at the bridge and are on their way out there to assist," Fritz replied.
"Wouldn't there be more of them?"
"Not if they had gone out another road."
That was possible. Miller looked back to the street, watching the pedestrians, people on bicycles, other cars...and a Gestapo soldier standing at a street corner. Miller lowered his head and propped an elbow on the door panel, looking like he was dealing with a headache and obscuring his face from view of the soldier. Once they passed, he raised his head and looked behind him. The soldier was still watching the car. Miller turned back forward.
"They're watching..."
They would pass a few more like that, some scattered SS troops and another Gestapo sedan in the street. All the while, Miller felt obvious. Like there was great big neon sign on top of the car saying One American Bandleader and Three German Youths Here. Inquire within...
Major Hochstetter, as luck would have it, was in Wilhelmshaven, conducting his own personal search. At that same moment he was exiting a suspected safe house after his search turned up nothing. He paused to speak to another Gestapo officer near the street and then looked up as the Army sedan came down the street.
Miller and Fritz both recognized Hochstetter.
"Ohhh Lord..."
"Verdammt!"
Miller turned his face away from the window and looked at Fritz. "What the hell did you have to come this way for?"
"How was I to know he would be here?"
Hochstetter watched the sedan and noticed how the passenger had their face turned away. That was all he needed. The Gestapo major suddenly came to life and yelled for everyone to go after the car.
Miller looked behind him and saw the Gestapo scrambling for their car. "We've been tagged, Fritz..."
Fritz stepped on the accelerator, having seen the same in his side mirror. In the back of the car, three heads popped up and looked out the back window of the car, seeing the Gestapo sedan begin its pursuit. Fritz drove as fast as he could, turning down another street and then another trying to stay ahead of and out of sight of the pursuing Gestapo.
"If I can stay ahead of them, there is a street I will drop you and the boys off at. There's a safe house there, you can get there on foot. When you go there tell them you were sent by Fritz."
"What! Wait a minute, what about you?"
"I will do what I can to lose the Gestapo. But I will take no chance of them catching you and the boys. Not when we've made it this far."
"You don't care for long goodbyes do you?"
"Do you?"
"Not really, but I didn't figure it to be this short either!"
Fritz laughed. He weaved the car through some traffic and turned down yet another road, heading closer toward the piers. The Gestapo sedan got held up momentarily in the traffic.
"Get ready..." Fritz said. "I'm going to drop you at the end of this street right up here. The building is just up a little bit and it is number sixteen..."
Miller nodded, his hand on the door handle ready to open it. "It's been nice knowing you, Fritz. I truly appreciate all you've done."
"Herr Miller, I wish you the best of luck."
"I think you need it more than I do..."
Fritz pulled to a quick stop at the next side street "Go..."
Miller and the boys spilled out of the car and hurried away from it to the side street. Fritz pulled away and Miller and the boys paused at the side of the building, out of sight of the pursuing Gestapo sedan once it came around the corner. Miller gently pushed the boys behind him and watched as the sedan flew past them and continued after Fritz. He watched the car until it disappeared and sighed heavily. He looked around the street, the quiet neighborhood a stark contrast to the events that were unfolding. The boys were looking around too and looking at him anxiously, as if to say we must move, quickly! He sensed this and nodded to them. They started to walk down the street looking for number sixteen...