The Spider and the Rats
By: AliasCWN
Chapter 5
The American column moved slowly across the desert sands, its lead jeeps sweeping back and forth as if looking for something. The loose formation left the vehicles scattered in a jagged line, not their usual tight formation. As they drew closer to the ambush site, the commander called a halt. The entire column stopped as he pulled maps from his tank and called his officers to an impromptu meeting. They gathered around the tank and pointed at the map, occasionally pointed in one direction or another around them.
The commander glanced at his watch and nodded. Sending his men back to their own vehicles, they waited for the signal, which wasn't long in coming. While the Germans had been watching the column hold its meeting, they had missed the four men of the Rat Patrol as they crawled into position leading extra men from the relief column.
The signal was a hand grenade exploding along the tread of one of Dietrich's hidden tanks. Disabled as the grenade blew the tread apart, the tank was swarmed by more men with grenades. The halftracks exposed themselves to attack the small group of Americans spoiling their surprise. Machine guns opened fire on the halftrack crews, hitting them and blowing the gas tanks. With each explosion, the German forces became more and more flustered and disorganized.
Realizing that his trap had sprung on him, Dietrich ordered his tanks to attack. By now the American tanks had fired up their engines and were forming a circle around Dietrich's forces. His carefully laid plans had not included this scenario and his men were ill prepared for the position they now found themselves facing.
The American tanks pushed the advantage of surprise and moved against Dietrich's armor. Shells flew back and forth, pretty much ignored by the men still trying to take the last of the halftracks.
Mark Hitchcock led the charge to the top of the dune where he and the men following him dropped to their stomachs to fire at a halftrack just over the other side.
Sam Troy, leading another group of men, raced to hit the same halftrack from a different direction. The Germans, caught between the two groups, fought back valiantly. Troy ducked some bullets and rolled to the side to find a new position.
A familiar voice cried out and he looked in time to see Hitchcock roll back down the hill holding both hands over his face. Just then the bullets began hitting the sand next to him and he had to return his focus to the halftrack. With renewed determination, he targeted the enemy gunner, reducing their firepower to the slightly less lethal rifles. The soldiers with him pressed their attack. With the heavy machine gun out of commission, they soon took the crew of the halftrack out of the fight.
Troy saw Tully lead his group in a grenade charge against the final halftrack. The armored vehicle was no match for the three grenades that landed squarely in the rear. Smoke and shrapnel belched from the heart of the vehicle, silencing its crew permanently.
The German troops were still showing some resistance but the Americans had planned their surprise well. Having the tables turned on them had taken a lot of the fight out of Dietrich's men. Slowly, the Americans pushed them into small pockets and outgunned them.
The tanks had engaged each other in the open, slugging it out. Dietrich had lost half of his tanks as they left their hiding places. One had been hit as it struggled in the loose sand; trying to pull out of the hole its crew had dug to hide it. Another slid down the slope of the dune sideways, leaving it vulnerable to its American counterpart.
Conceding defeat, Dietrich called to his remaining commanders to retreat and salvage what vehicles still fought.
Seeing the tanks pulling away, Troy left the clean up to the officer from the relief column. Clawing his way to the top of the dune where he had last seen his driver, he saw the blond lying motionless at the bottom of the slope.
Tully stood with his back to Troy, beside Moffitt, who was kneeling over Hitch. Troy couldn't see anyone's face and he feared the worst.
"Moffitt?"
Moffitt turned at the strangled cry behind him, alarm on his face. His eyes ran over Troy's body, searching for injuries. Seeing that Troy was uninjured, he smiled, realizing the reason for the tortured cry.
"He's all right Troy. The bullets kicked sand into his eyes; he couldn't see. He was quick enough to roll out of the line of fire and had enough sense to keep his eyes closed and not rub them. I think I've managed to wash all the grit out without scratching his eyes."
Hitch stirred and Moffitt turned back to help him sit up. Troy studied the water streaked face, looking for signs of distress. The blond blinked repeatedly and his eyes looked red but he smiled brightly. Troy let his muscles relax, giving way to relief.
"Okay Hitch, you, and Tully go get the jeeps." The two privates nodded and Tully reached down to help Hitch to his feet.
"Thanks Doc." Hitch said with a grin.
"Any time Hitch." Moffitt replied with a smile. "If they start to bother you, come to me, don't rub them."
"Got it Sarge."
When the jeeps pulled up in the middle of all the chaos, Troy and Moffitt were deep in conversation with the column commander.
"The supply column arrived at their destination Sergeant. Headquarters wants us to deliver the rations that the Germans were forced to leave behind."
"Maybe we should get them loaded then Sir; we're pretty sure that there is another German column headed this way to pick them up." Troy encouraged the column commander to load the supplies in the spare trucks they had brought along.
They used every man they could spare from guarding the prisoners or watching the desert. The men formed lines to pass the rations from one truck to another, stacking them neatly so they would all fit. Once loaded, the column followed the proposed route of the convoy to the dug in battalion. They were greeted with cheers as they arrived since rations were running low. Despite their complaints about the food, each and every man there preferred them to starvation.
Headquarters, upon receiving the preliminary report of the relief column, ordered the Rat Patrol to wait and accompany the column on its return trip. Since they weren't leaving until the following morning, Troy and his men requested tent assignments so they could get some sleep. With the relief column in camp, space was limited, so the clerk hesitantly told them they would have to share one tent. The expected argument never materialized as each man nodded wearily. They parked their jeeps next to the tent, pulled their blankets out of the back, and fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillows.
When the German shells started raining down on the camp, they slept through nearly all of it. The base personnel were able to drive the attacking force away before they did much damage, but by then the Rat Patrol was awake.