The Spider and the Rats
By: AliasCWN
Chapter 4
The Germans awoke with a start and grabbed for their weapons. A voice called to them, in German, to surrender. More shots rang out, driving back any soldier who tried to move from the center of the camp. The men, fresh from sleep, cowered on the ground, unsure where the enemy was hiding. The voice called again for their surrender. The unknown speaker informed them that they were surrounded, and that they would not be harmed, if they dropped their weapons.
Thinking that the darkness would hide his movements, one of the Germans tried to hide in the shadows, raising his rifle to try to find the speaker.
There was a grunt and the soldier sprawled on the ground, unconscious. The other Germans peered into the darkness fearfully.
Again they were told to surrender or face annihilation. The German lieutenant tried to locate the enemy but it was too dark. Defeated, he ordered his troops to surrender. The ex-prisoners moved forward at Troy's command and collected the weapons. While some stood guard, the others returned to the truck to arm the rest of the Americans and let the Lieutenant know that he once again had a convoy to deliver.
"Sergeant Troy?"
"Yes Sir." Troy saluted the American lieutenant, motioning for Moffitt to join them.
"Thank you Sergeant, I certainly wasn't looking forward to spending the rest of the war in some POW camp."
"Don't blame you Lieutenant."
"So this is your show Sergeant, where do we go from here?"
"Can you get this convoy to your destination if we can keep the krauts off your tail?"
The Lieutenant looked around at his men and nodded. "I believe so Sergeant."
"Good. We'll get you started Lieutenant. We'll lead you part of the way but we're going to have to leave right away. Night travel will slow you down but you will have to try it. I don't care if you go all the way tonight but we need you to get out of the area. There may well be another German column on its way here."
"Understood Sergeant, I'll get the men organized and ready to move. Let me know when you're ready."
"Thank you Sir. We'll let you handle the prisoners. The krauts have an ambush waiting back there; we have to warn the relief column. We need to intercept them before morning so we're running on a tight schedule. I'd appreciate it if you could hurry things up a bit."
"Can do Sergeant." The Lieutenant called to his sergeant and between them they got the convoy ready to roll in record time.
With the two jeeps of the Rat Patrol leading the way, the trucks drove slowly across the desert, feeling their way along in the dark. Troy had Tully and Hitch take turns leading the convoy while the other jeep brought up the rear or ranged ahead to watch for the Germans.
When they were back on their original course and Troy felt that they were far enough from the ambush site to be on their own, he had Hitch halt in front of the lead truck.
Walking back to the first truck, he informed the Lieutenant of their location. "Can your guys find their way from here Lieutenant?"
"I'm sure that they can Sergeant. We'll keep moving, taking it slow for another couple of hours, and then we'll take a rest break in a wadi along the road. Thank you Sergeant and good luck."
"Good luck to you Lieutenant. Remember, there may be another German column headed this way, keep your eyes open."
"We don't want to get into a fight with them again Sergeant, we'll stay alert."
Troy saluted and stepped aside to allow the truck to continue on its way. Hitch, seeing the truck pull out, swung off the road to get out of the way. Making a circle, he looped back to pick up Troy.
"Let's pick up Tully and Moffitt; we have to find the relief column before they run into Dietrich's trap." As soon as he settled into his seat Troy started issuing orders. He was already trying to decide where the relief column had camped for the night. He knew they would be up and heading out at first light, and morning was not far off.
Swinging well clear of where Dietrich was dug in, the Rat Patrol kept to the road as much as possible. The flat, clear path was packed hard by caravans and convoys making travel faster than cutting across the desert. They weren't expecting anyone else along that stretch of road since it led straight to the Allied base and Dietrich lay in wait behind them.
Troy looked over at the other jeep and was dismayed to realize that he could see the features of its occupants. The sun was already peeking up over the horizon looking like a huge golden ball sitting half buried in the sand. Knowing that the relief column would soon be on the move, he searched the road ahead, hoping that they hadn't passed it during the night. Being on a tight schedule, with no time to lose, they hadn't checked the wadis along the way to see if the column was camped in any of them. As the sun brightened the sky and chased away the darkness, the jeep picked up speed. They were racing the last of the shadows across the desert floor when Troy finally spotted the column of vehicles in the distance.
He tapped Hitch on the shoulder and pointed. The blond nodded and eased his foot off the gas, allowing the little vehicle to slow. Tully caught up and pulled alongside. Troy pointed for Moffitt, a relieved smile leaving a white streak of teeth in his dust encrusted face. The Brit nodded tiredly, yawning as he leaned over to talk to Tully.
Troy called a halt to let the column approach them.