Chapter 26 --- The Final Attempt
Hogan, still smirking, was heading back towards the barracks when he spotted Koch walking towards him casually. Until Koch was behind bars, Hogan was concerned, but not overly concerned. Looking around, he spotted Kinch sitting on the bench outside the barracks watching the Corporal approach the Colonel. Hogan suspected he'd better keep moving. Out of the corner of his eye, he spied Schultz and a guard approaching from the opposite direction.
"Colonel Hogan, a minute, bitte," said Koch with a smile on his face.
Hogan felt something was not right, but he knew he couldn't run, not while using crutches. So, as not to arouse suspicion on Koch's part, he stopped and waited as Koch approached him. Koch reached into his pocket, but not the one Newkirk had planted the gun in.
"I have something I think one of your men must've dropped during their disagreement earlier."
"What is it?" Hogan asked warily.
"Just this," Koch replied as he swiftly grabbed Hogan's arm with one hand and with the other pulled the luger Newkirk had planted on him. He pressed it against Hogan's temple as he pulled the Colonel close. Seeing Schultz and the guard closing in, Koch faced them with Hogan in front of him as a shield. Schultz and the guard hesitated, not knowing what to do now.
"Stay where you are, Schultz," he warned. "Come any closer and I'll put a bullet in his head." Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Kinch slowly approaching and took a few steps backward, dragging Hogan with him. "That goes for you too, Sergeant Kinchloe. If you value your Colonel's life, you'll stop where you are. Come any closer and I'll kill him!"
Kinch held up his hands, palms facing Koch. "Okay, man, take it easy. Just don't hurt the Colonel."
"All of you just stay away and he won't get hurt." Koch slowly started backing up, dragging Hogan every inch of the way, keeping the gun pressed against the Colonel's temple. "Colonel Hogan, you are going to help me leave Stalag 13. Tell me something, how did you know who I really was?"
Newkirk, Carter and LeBeau had been waiting in the barracks for their commanding officer to return and he was late. They suspected something must be wrong because the Colonel was never late. They were about to go into Hogan's office and plug in the coffee pot when the barracks door opened and Olsen hurried in, out of breath and frantic.
"You guys better come outside quick! Corporal Koch has Colonel Hogan as a hostage!"
The men exchanged troubled looks and hurried outside where they saw Koch holding Hogan with Klink's gun pressed against the Colonel's temple. They ran towards where Kinch stood and then stopped in their tracks.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Hogan lied. "You're Coporal Koch, a Luftwaffe guard at Stalag 13. If you're somebody else, you'd better see a doctor right away before you get worse."
Koch glared at the four men. "You thought you'd get away with it, didn't you?" he asked. "Thought you could actually get away with it."
"Get away with what, mate?" asked Newkirk innocently. "I have no bloody idea what you're talking about."
Koch smirked. "Of course not, Englander," Koch sneered. He then jammed the gun in Hogan's ribs causing the Colonel to wince which didn't go unnoticed by the Colonel's men.
Newkirk slowly took a step forward but stopped when Koch glared at him. Newkirk took a step back.
Hogan, turning his head slightly, saw from the corner of his eye that Koch was staring at his men. Licking his suddenly dry lips, and using all his strength, Hogan jabbed his elbow hard into Koch's abdomen nearly knocking the wind out of him. The Corporal staggered backward. As he did, Hogan's men advanced, hoping to disarm the Corporal and free Hogan. But Koch quickly recovered and wrapped an arm tightly around Hogan's throat holding him closer, stopping the men in their tracks. Hogan dropped his crutches.
Koch swallowed hard as he struggled to catch his breath. "You will see that a car with a driver is brought to me, Schultz. Schnell! I also do not want to see any guards following me when Colonel Hogan and I leave. If I see anyone following me, I will kill him."
Schultz looked at the guard and ordered him to get a car from the motorpool. When the guard left, Schultz looked at Koch. "Corporal, you can not do this! I'm ordering you to release Colonel Hogan right away!"
Koch snickered with amusement. "Colonel Hogan will be coming with me when I leave here. And just to make certain nobody tries to stop me, Schultz, you will be my driver. That way, if nobody cares about a prisoner-or-war and decides to fire, they might care enough about you not to."
Newkirk leaned forward and whispered in Kinch's ear. "We gotta stop him, Kinch. The fact that old Koch has the Gov'nor hostage won't stop the guards from trying to stop him. And they won't hesitate to start shooting either."
"I know," Kinch whispered back without turning his head. "We have to stop him from leaving camp with the Colonel."
Just then everyone saw the car drive up from the direction of the motorpool with the guard in the front seat behind the wheel. Stopping the car, the guard got out and closed the door. He then went to stand beside Schultz.
Koch edged his way towards the back passenger door of the car. "Open the door, Hogan, and get in," he ordered.
Hogan, gripping the arm around his throat with one hand, turned his head slightly, and spoke without looking at the Corporal. "Go to hell!" he exclaimed.
Sneering, Koch applied pressure to the arm around Hogan's throat causing Hogan to gasp for air. "I said open the door, Colonel!" he growled.
"And I said....go....to hell!"
With a growl of extreme anger, Koch applied more pressure to Hogan's throat causing the Colonel's eyes to widen. Hogan's men started forward, but a look from Hogan, his eyes warning them not to try anything, stopped them. His men saw that look and though they understood, were still willing to try and save their commanding officer from what they knew would be certain death once Koch got him outside the camp.
The sudden shot was loud and startled everybody, especially Schultz. For a long moment nobody had any idea where the shot had eminated from. Hogan's men all feared perhaps Koch had shot the Colonel and held their collective breaths. Everyone watched as Koch released his hold on Hogan and sank to his knees, and then fell over on his side. Standing behind where Koch had been standing only a few minutes earlier, with a pistol in his hand, a puff of smoke eminating from it's muzzle, stood Langenscheidt. He looked down at Koch's body before kneeling down and, pressing two fingers against Koch's throat, checked for a pulse. He found none. Then, he stepped over the body and knelt beside Hogan as the Colonel's men gathered around Hogan who was on his knees with bent head trying to catch his breath.
"Are you all right, Colonel Hogan?" asked Langenscheidt, genuinely concerned.
Hogan took a moment to gather himself. He nodded slowly.
"Mon Colonel?" LeBeau put his hand gently on his commanding officer's arm, fear evident on his face. Hogan turned his eyes to the little Frenchman. "I'm all right, LeBeau."
Schultz retrieved Hogan's crutches.
Hogan still on the ground, looked around at Langenscheidt. "Corporal, where did you come from?" he asked.
The young corporal didn't answer right away. Finally, after a long moment, he looked in Hogan's direction. "I was hiding in the trunk of the car. When the guard came to the motorpool, I was nearby taking a smoke break. He told me what was happening. I decided it would be best for me to hide in the trunk and surprise Koch that way," he explained quietly.
"Thank you, Corporal."
Langenscheidt, smiling, nodded.
Kinch helped Hogan to his feet. The Colonel accepted his crutches and slowly turned towards Schultz. He put a hand on the rotund guard's arm. "Schultz?"
Before the fat guard could respond, a voice was heard bellowing.
"Schultz! What's happening?! I heard a shot!" the voice was Klink's as he hurried towards the small group from his office. He paused and shuddered when he saw Koch's body on the ground, and noticed the drawn pistol still in Langenscheidt's hand. He looked from Langenscheidt to Hogan to Schultz. "What's happened here? Someone answer me."
"Herr Kommandant...." Schultz replied haltingly. "I....I....Herr Kommandant...."
Hogan looked at Klink. "Kommandant, Schultz and Corporal Langenscheidt are both heroes to us prisoners. Langenscheidt shot Corporal Koch here who was trying to leave the camp taking me as a hostage and forcing Schultz to be his driver."
Klink, mouth open in shock, looked at Hogan and then at Langenscheidt. "Corporal Langenscheidt, is this true? You shot Corporal Koch?"
"Jawohl,Herr Kommandant. It was as Colonel Hogan just said, sir. He was taking the Colonel as a hostage and forcing Sergeant Schultz to be his driver."
Klink shook his head before looking at Hogan. "Why would Corporal Koch take you as a hostage, Hogan?"
"Isn't it obvious, Kommandant?" asked Hogan, innocently. "Koch must have found out you and I were onto him and decided he had to escape fast. He must've overheard you talking to General Burkhalter on the phone and figured he better get out. So, he took me hostage and planned on using me as his means of escaping, and ordered Schultz here to drive the three of us out of camp."
"I see. Schultz, Corporal, good work." He then looked down at the body on the ground. "Have the body removed, and then, Schultz, take a man and search Corporal Koch's belongings in the guard's barracks. Anything suspicious, you are to bring it to me immediately! General Burkhalter is on his way here." He turned away sharply and headed back to the Kommandantur.
"Jawohl, Herr Kommandant," Schultz replied softly. He felt someone's hand on his shoulder. Looking up, he saw Hogan looking at him, concerned. Sighing, Schultz shook his head sadly.
"Colonel Hogan, I wanted to stop him before he could take you out of the camp. But, I couldn't ....that is, I was...."
Hogan understood. He felt badly for the fat Sergeant. He knew Schultz to be a good man with a good heart who wouldn't harm anybody. He also knew Schultz would have done something if he had the nerve. Sighing, Hogan nodded. "Schultz, it's okay. Really. I know you would have done something if you could. Just let me say thank you for trying to stop Koch."
Schultz, looked into Hogan's brown eyes. He saw in them an understanding. He slowly nodded. Schultz then looked at Langenscheidt who smiled warmly at the fat Sergeant. After a moment, a small smile crept onto Schultz's face.
"You heard the Kommandant," he said. "We must have the body removed and then search Corporal Koch's belongings in the guards' barracks. Let's go."
"Before you leave, Schultz," Kinch said. "Do you need us anymore? Or can we get the Colonel back to the barracks and have Sergeant Wilson take a look at him?"
"You can leave," Schultz replied. "But don't try to escape before General Burkhalter gets here."
Kinch slapped Hogan on the back as the men started back to barracks two. As they walked away, Hogan looked over his shoulder at the rotund prison guard. He wanted to say something, thought better of it, and remained quiet as they reached their destination. Kinch looked at LeBeau as he opened the door of the barracks.
"Louie, find Sergeant Wilson. Tell 'im Colonel Hogan requires his services in barracks two."
Hogan looked over his shoulder, annoyance showing. "I don't need a doctor. I feel fine."
"Begging the Colonel's pardon," chimed in Newkirk. "But I'm afraid you're outnumbered four-to-one in favor of having the doctor look at you."
"Newkirk...." Hogan rolled his eyes in exasperation as they entered the barracks. "I said...."
"Then humour us, Colonel," said Kinch. "Since you injured your back in the tunnel a year ago in that explosion, we worry that anything you go through physically might jeopardize any recovery you've made."
"Please, Colonel. For us?" added Carter looking at Hogan with his sad, puppy-dog eyes.
Sighing, Hogan shook his head. Looking at his men, he sat down on the bench beside the long table. "If it'll shut you guys up, all right," he said with a lopsided grin. "Just keep in mind this is the only time I'm letting you guys pull rank on me so you better enjoy it. Because once Wilson gives me a clean bill of health, I'm back in charge again. Understand?"
"Wouldn't have it any other way, Gov'nor," chimed in Newkirk with a devilish smile.