The Spider and the Rats
By:ALiasCWN
Chapter 2
"Dietrich!"
"Yeah, it looks like he managed to capture the entire convoy." Having heard the gun shots, the Rat Patrol had raced to investigate. They had arrived too late to keep the convoy from falling to the enemy. Now Troy and Moffitt were sprawled on their stomachs on top of a dune watching the Germans swarm around the trucks.
"I count approximately thirty prisoners. They have some wounded." Moffitt studied the Americans, taking a tally.
"Yeah, but we can't take on Dietrich's entire column; there are just too many for us to tackle."
The two men fell silent as the prisoners buried their dead and returned to the trucks. The Germans had shifted the loads in the trucks in preparation for their departure.
"Troy, it looks like some of them are getting ready to leave. The trucks are all starting."
Troy twisted around to stare at the convoy. He rubbed his tired eyes before focusing the glasses on the scene across the valley.
"Yeah. It looks like Dietrich and his column are staying behind." The two sergeants watched with renewed hope as the prisoners and the captured trucks drove away.
"What's that?" Moffitt's clipped tones took on an edge as several men approached Dietrich with a radio.
"Looks like one of our radios." Troy stated uneasily. "Now why would Dietrich need one of our radios?"
"Precisely." Moffitt muttered, watching the Germans. "It doesn't appear that his unit suffered much damage; surely they have radios of their own."
"Yeah." Troy said again, distracted by the action across the valley.
"Hey Sarge!"
Troy turned to look back at the jeeps where Hitch was fiddling with the radio. Tully was pulling their code book out from under the seat. Throwing a knowing look at Moffitt, Troy slid down the slope toward the jeeps.
Moffitt glanced once more toward the disappearing trucks before he followed Troy, moving more cautiously than the American sergeant.
Troy was busily decoding the message when Moffitt stopped by his side. He wrote furiously as the radio message ended and began to repeat itself. There were gun shots from the valley as the message repeated. They all recognized the distinctive sounds of both German and American guns.
Moffitt spun around and clawed his way back to the top of the dune as the message repeated, punctuated by the sounds of gunfire. The message ended and so did the sounds of gun fire from the valley. Troy's face was pinched in a frown as he read what he had written.
"I take it that the convoy is asking for assistance." Moffitt smiled as he returned to the jeeps.
Troy looked up from his pad, still frowning.
"My guess is that they are asking headquarters to send out a relief column to rescue them. They probably reported fighting off the Germans but being disabled and needing help." The Englishman continued.
"Yeah, how did you know?"
Moffitt shrugged, settling into the passenger seat of Troy's jeep. "Dietrich has an American radio when his own radios are clearly operational. They just staged a gun battle using both American and German rifles; and all of this happened as the message was coming in. And, of course," the Brit added, "we all know that the convoy is in his hands."
"And they sent the convoy on ahead while his unit is still sitting here." Troy expanded on the British sergeant's theory.
Moffitt shrugged again. "The rescue column won't find the convoy, but they will find the 'good' Captain and his column."
Troy was shaking his head as the plan became clear. "I wonder when they broke our codes?"
"I would think that it was a rather recent development. This is the first convoy that they have managed to intercept. That would suggest that they weren't able to locate the others to stop them."
"Yeah," Troy responded, deep in thought. "If headquarters sends a relief column, Dietrich will be waiting. They won't have much of a chance if they're surprised. Dietrich will have all the advantages."
"It does appear that, like a spider, he has spun a web to capture them. We have to warn them." Moffitt stated.
"Not yet." Troy decided. "The relief column won't be able to get here before morning. They may start today but they will have to camp for the night. I doubt that the captain will go looking for them; he'll wait for them to come to him. That way he can dig in and pick the battle site." Troy was picturing the map in his mind, going over possible scenarios.
"That makes sense." Moffitt agreed.
"We are going to warn them, aren't we Sarge?" Hitch asked as the sergeants went quiet.
"Yeah Hitch, but not right away." Troy glanced at the others. "If we send a message, Dietrich will decipher it and know we're on to him. If we go back to warn them, we lose the convoy."
"What do you have in mind?" Tully asked with a hopeful grin.
"Well Tully, you've heard that old saying; 'oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive'. " Troy smiled at the lanky private, "I was thinking that maybe we can tangle that web a bit more. It seems likely that that convoy is going to stop for the night too." He looked at the others with a smile on his face. "What if we were to pay them a visit once they turn in for the night?" He glanced at Moffitt. "From what we saw, they didn't send a lot of guards with the prisoners and the trucks." He rolled his head and considered what he wanted to say. "I think we can handle them if we do it right."
"You want to take the convoy back?" Moffitt asked with a twinkle in his eye.
"Yeah, I do." Troy admitted.
Moffitt laughed with delight. "Sounds like a plan to me."
"Let's do it Sarge." Hitchcock agreed eagerly.
"Sounds like fun." Tully added.
"Okay, let's shake it." Troy laughed. "We don't want Dietrich to spot us here and we don't want to lose that convoy."
The four men climbed into their jeeps and drove away slowly so they wouldn't raise a trail of dust for the Germans to see.
Behind them, Captain Dietrich continued to position his unit so they could surprise the relief column the American commanders had promised to send. The spider had his web, now all that remained was for the prey to get stuck in it.