As Sergeant Troy points the machine gun in his direction and pulls the trigger, Hans Dietrich considers his fate sealed. Coming after him in an unarmored staff car is suicidal, as he is well aware of, but he is out of options. General König has threatened him with execution and the Butcher's reputation leaves no doubt that this threat is not an empty one. In addition, the SS are already waiting for any slip-up on his part to start interrogating him. Only the grim determination that he cannot fail now and abandon his men to a fate worse than death at the mercy of the SS officers drives the Hauptmann on.
Hot pain sears in Hans Dietrich's shoulder and makes him lose control of the vehicle, as his left arm pulls the steering wheel to the side in an instinctive motion. At least, he has the presence of mind to steer the car in the uphill direction rather than toward the downward ledge which also takes him out of the gun fire of the American's automatic gun. Fortunately, the Kübelwagen's speed has not been enough to cause a serious crash and the gasoline tank has not become a victim of Sam Troy's bullets. Why the American Sergeant has not bothered to shoot at the Hauptmann again after stopping the car, is beyond Dietrich, as he would have had the perfect chance and reason to finish his long-time enemy off for good. But who is the German to complain about such a grave misjudgement on the American's behalf.
With desperation Hans Dietrich stares after the retreating forms of the Rat Patrol members, fleeing with the abducted General he is supposed to protect. Turning his head causes the pain in his shoulder to remind him of the reason for his accident. Aware that he has lost this fight, the German officer presses his hand on the shoulder wound to diminish the blood loss. Losing his life over some worthless bravado is not his intention, especially when there is nobody alive to witness his last stand. Once he has gotten his pain under control through breathing techniques, he gingerly opens the door and gets out of the car. Cautiously, Hans tries to discern whether the Allied commando units are still in the area, but finds everything eerily quiet. None of the Germans protecting the area is signaling, no alarm resounding, only the bodies of the shot-down soldiers lie strewn on the ground. After moving around to the car's other side, Dietrich pulls a first aid kit out from under the passenger seat with his left hand. Months of experience with the Rats and uncounted casualties have taught him to always keep such an emergency equipment close at hand.
As his right arm is mostly useless, he unbuttons his shirt with his left hand to expose his injured shoulder, then tears off the lid of the sulfa powder case with his teeth. Being the last man standing is not a new sensation for him, but one that never will cease to make him feel uneasy. The disinfectant burns as expected, but the powder also binds some of the blood spurting from the bullet wound. Using the splinters of the wind screen for cutting up his blood soaked shirt, so that he can tie together the loose ends with his left hand and teeth, Hans Dietrich wraps his shoulder in a makeshift bandage which will most likely not hold for long. But it should keep him from losing too much blood for the moment which is his main goal. Now, the harder part of his mission begins: going up the hill to the General's residence, checking for survivors and functioning equipment in any of the vehicles. Before starting this upscale Hauptmann Dietrich rummages through the staff car's glove compartment and trunk, sighing with relief, as he retrieves a canteen still half-filled with water. Taking a few gulps before turning to his task at hand, Hans Dietrich starts his ascent while taking the first aid kit and canteen with him.
The first two men he passes are dead, pierced by several bullets from Sergeant Troy's machine gun, and the German officer can do nothing more than collect the lower part their dog tags to report their deaths to their families, as is his gruesome duty. The third man however shows some signs of life. The gravely wounded soldier whimpers with pain and Hans Dietrich can see that the uniform in his stomach area is soaked with blood. "Ruhig, Soldat", he murmurs in a soothing tone of voice, as he crouches next to the young man who as he guesses is no older than twenty. The blond German's glassy blue eyes focus on the older one man's face, until he finally recognizes the young Captain who has been assigned to their unit only a day ago. "Herr Hauptmann, bitte...", the soldier starts begging but gives in to his tears, as the pain overwhelms him.
"Ich bin hier. Sie sind nicht allein", Dietrich tries to assure the young man that he is not alone, while he forces himself to make his voice sound calm and reassuring. Even without proper medical training beyond first aid and what he has learned in his youth, it is obvious that nothing could save the wounded German and he will die soon. "Wie heißen Sie, Soldat?", Dietrich finally asks for his name. Even though he will learn it soon enough from checking the dog tag's serial number, which is his duty to collect and report, against the Kompaniebuch, Hans wants to address the dying youngster with his name. "Fritz ... Fritz Meier", the young man answers between ragged breaths and whimpers of pain.
"Fritz, hör mir gut zu", Hauptmann Dietrich speaks with a gentle yet determined tone that makes the wounded soldier indeed listen intently, as the Hauptmann has asked him. Scanning the youngster's arm and noticing that he does not wear an additional arm wrap with the Swastika marking him as a Nazi, Dietrich continues carefully: "Glaubst du an Gott?" The soldier seems taken aback by the question whether he believes in god, but answers truthfully. "Ja." Closing his eyes briefly to collect himself, Hans Dietrich continues: "Dann wäre nun ein guter Zeitpunkt zu beten, Fritz." This is the most painful part of his duty to his men. To comfort the dying and be left with the guilt of being alive, while others he has been charged to protect die in front of his eyes.
Without hesitation, Fritz Meier folds his hands and starts reciting his prayers interrupted only by his gasps of pain and increasing struggle for breath. Hans Dietrich can tell, when the life finally leaves the young man, before he can reach the end of his prayer, as he whispers the "Amen" all alone. But Fritz Meier's face looks more at peace than it has had, when the Hauptmann has arrived. Reaching for the chain around the youngster's neck, Dietrich breaks off the lower part of the dog tag and puts it into his trouser pocket along with the other two he has already collected. Then he closes the soldier's eyes forever and carefully gets up from his side.
The sound of vehicles instinctively causes the wary Hauptmann to glance around nervously looking for some cover, as he envisions Jeeps and machine guns to appear at any second. As the hill sports a lot more vegetation than the desert environment he has spent the last two years in, finding cover is not an issue. When the sound of the vehicles draws nearer, however, Hans Dietrich can also identify that his instinctive fear of the LRDP has not come true. It is not the noise of the motors of the accursed American Jeeps which have cost him so many lives of his men and even more vehicles and supplies. The engine belongs to a limousine car, a most unusual occurence in the desert which initiates another form of wariness in the German officer. As soon as the vehicle finally rounds the curve of the path, Dietrich can make out that it is painted all in black - the most impractical color in the desert heat - and has been decorated with small flags with "Hakenkreuz" symbols on it. The sight of this particular vehicle and the Swastika flags instills even more horror in him than the Jeeps ever have. The staff car of an SS officer can never mean anything good. And if this is the SS officer, Hans Dietrich has had to deal with lately, things will soon become really unpleasant for him.
Obersturmbannführer Waldheim orders his driver to stop at the Hauptmann's side and regards the injured officer who has his cut-up shirt wrapped as tightly as possible around his right shoulder. Lowering the window, the SS officer sneers at the sordid looking Captain: "Herr Hauptmann. Sehr weit sind Sie nicht gekommen." Consciously suppressing a growl at the mocking words, Hans Dietrich answers in an almost neutral tone, barely betraying his loathing of the man: "Ich habe nach den Toten and Verwundeten gesehen." To prove his point of having looked after the wounded and dead, he pulls his collection of dog tags out of his trousers pocket and shows it to the SS officer. Ignoring the justification, the SS officer scoffs at the Wehrmacht officer. Through squinted eyes, the Obersturmbannführer takes in Dietrich's run-down appearance and injury, noticing the blood beginning to stain the make-shift bandage. "Steigen Sie ein, Herr Hauptmann!", Waldheim finally orders him to get into the car. "Aber passen Sie auf die Bezüge auf!" The proud Hauptmann is fuming inwardly that the Obersturmbannführer is more worried about the state of his seat covers than the injury of a fellow officer, but does not comment. Instead he valiantly and stubbornly keeps himself sitting straight without leaning against the covers, just to show some defiance.
When they arrive at the manor, General König's wife is already outside to greet them, or rather scream at Hauptmann Dietrich: "Sie sind verantwortlich dafür, dass mein Mann vor den Augen seiner Kinder mit einer Waffe bedroht und entführt wurde!" The young officer is slightly taken aback to be held responsible in such a direct manner for the General's abduction. Inwardly, he has to admire the Rat Patrol for daring to step onto the General's private property only to threaten him with guns in front of his children, before abducting him. Even though he can empathize with Mrs. König being upset on behalf of her husband's abduction and her crying children, he is still struggling with her accusations. Meanwhile, the slightly hysterical woman continues screeching in the direction of Obersturmbannführer Waldheim: "Sie sollten diesen Mann verhaften! Er ist ein Reichsverräter. Man sollte ihn hinrichten für das, was er meinem Mann angetan hat."
Straightening in spite of the pain in his shoulder injury, Hans Dietrich cannot simply accept without any protest that the General's wife asks for his arrest and execution for treason, when he clearly bears no guilt of such a crime. "Frau General", he uses the typical address of calling a wife by her husband's title, as he tries to calm her, "ich bitte Sie, sich zu beruhigen. Die Ratten sind berüchtigt für solche Aktionen und haben meiner Truppe immer wieder Verluste zugefügt." The proud Captain struggles with the admission of having been defeated by the Rat Patrol more than once and suffered considerable losses, but his pride is not worth more than his life in this case. After all, he still has to convince her and the SS officer of holding no alliance with the Rats, as otherwise this accusation in front of the SS could lead to his interrogation and very well lead to his execution. "Weder habe ich ein Interesse an der Kooperation mit diesen ... Individuen, noch würde ich mein Vaterland für sie verraten. Ich habe Ihren Mann mehrfach zur Vorsicht gewarnt, jedoch hat er mich eher bedroht als ernst genommen." Mrs. König scoffs at his words that her husband has rather threatened the young Captain than taken him seriously, when he has warned him of the Rat Patrol and their stunts.
Seeing that her hot fury is at least dampened for the moment, Hans tried to calm and comfort her further: "Wir haben alles in unserer Macht Stehende getan, um die Sicherheit Ihres Mannes und Ihrer Familie zu gewährleisten..." "Offensichtlich nicht genug!", the angry woman interrupts his explanation that they had done all they could to protect her husband and family with "Obviously not enough!". Hauptmann Dietrich cringes, as he observes the SS officer's glee increasing with each new part of the conversation, since he is currently listening to without interruption. "Frau General, fast ein Dutzend Männer haben ihr Leben verloren!", Dietrich reminds her of the dozen of men who have died in this mission, as he feels the dog tags weighing as heavily in his pocket as their loss weighs on his conscience. "Sie können uns nicht alle des Verrats bezichtigen!" Mrs. König becomes furious again, as she repeats her accusations of treason more passionately, reminding him that he is the sole survivor left behind by the Rat Patrol: "Das tue ich auch nicht! Ich bezichtige nur Sie, Herr Hauptmann. Der einzige Überlebende, während alle anderen von diesen Ratten umgebracht wurden!"
Obersturmbannführer Waldheim chooses this line, as the perfect cue to launch his own attack. "In der Tat, Herr Hauptmann. Kurios, wie Sie immer wieder als einziger Überlebender hinter diesen Ratten verbleiben. Man möchte fast glauben, Sie wären mit Ihnen im Bunde." Hans Dietrich is paling visibly at the accusation of collaborating with the Rat Patrol to kill his own men and balls his uninjured left hand into a fist to force himself to keep his tongue in check and not loose his head literally over a sharp remark against an SS officer. With a straightened posture and narrowed eyes, he grits out: "Ich kann Ihnen nicht sagen, weshalb ich das Glück oder Unglück habe, noch am Leben zu sein, auch wenn diese Ratten mich hätten töten können. Aber ich schwöre bei meiner Ehre als deutscher Offizier, dass ich weder ein Vaterlandsverräter, noch im Bunde mit den Ratten bin!" His oath on his honor as a German officer that he is neither a traitor nor collaborator of the Rat Patrol is spoken with all his righteous indignation. Whether it is a fortune or misfortune that the Rats have spared his life so often, only time will tell soon.
Obersturmbannführer Waldheim steps closer to him, deliberately invading the younger Captain's personal space with the sole purpose of making the tall, lean officer more nervous and angry. Without a warning, the shorter man punches Dietrich's injured shoulder, causing the Hauptmann to double over with a yelp of pain. Dealing two more punches for good measure, the SS man leisurely takes out a set of handcuffs and cuffs the hands of his intended prisoner behind his back. Deathly pale, sweating and panting heavily, Hans Dietrich is too occupied with struggling to remain on his feet and stay conscious to put up any noticeable resistance against his unwarranted arrest, which is exactly what Waldheim has intended.
The Obersturmbannführer bows to the General's wife with a insolent sneer, as he takes his leave with his prisoner: "Sie entschuldigen mich bitte, Frau General König. Ich muss eine Ratte befragen." At being called a Rat, Dietrich's righteous indignation reawakens in spite of his weakened state. "Ich ... bin ... keine ... Ratte", he manages to grind out between heavy pants, as the SS officer pushes him roughly towards his staff car. "Das wird sich noch weisen, Herr Hauptmann", Obersturmbannführer Waldheim sneers, as he opens the car door and takes out his side arm to point it at the German Wehrmacht officer. When Dietrich has to bow low in order to get into the car reluctantly, a strike hits him in the back of his head and he blacks out completely.