The General Raid

By: AliasCWN

Chapter 1

"Are the jeeps ready?"

"You always ask that Sarge," Hitch laughed, "and you always get the same answer."

"And what answer is that?" Troy persisted.

"Yeah Sarge, they're ready," Hitch grinned.

"Good, because we're pulling out in them minutes."

"Ten minutes!" Hitch looked over at the other jeep. "What about Doc and Tully?"

"What about them?"

"They aren't here. Do they know we're leaving?"

"Should they?" Troy asked.

"Should they?" Hitch repeated. "Don't you know?"

"Yeah, I know," Troy grinned. "I was just checking to see if you did."

Hitch stared at Troy while he tried to figure out what the sergeant was up to.

"Hitch."

"Yeah Sarge?"

"I sent Moffitt to find Tully. They should be here any minute."

"Why didn't you just say that?"

Troy grinned and shrugged. "I just did."

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yeah."

"Then finish your last minute checks so we're ready when they get here."

Hitch nodded and went back to checking the oil in his jeep.

Tully and Moffitt arrived a few minutes later with their arms loaded with supplies.

"We already stocked the jeeps," Hitch stated when he saw the supplies.

"These are extra," Moffitt explained. "Our new assignment is going to be longer than the one we originally expected. The Captain said to make sure we got what we needed."

"And we'll be bringing an extra man back with us when we return," Troy added.

"Who?" Hitch asked.

"A German general by the name of Heimlich Klober," Troy replied. "Our job is to find him, capture him, and bring him back here."

"Do we know where to start looking?" Hitch asked.

"As a matter of fact," Moffitt smiled, "we do."

"Then let's go get him."

Troy and Moffitt both laughed.

"Okay," Troy agreed, "let's go."

The four of them climbed into the jeeps and drove off of the base. Three days later found them watching a German base deep behind the German lines. Troy was fairly certain that they hadn't been spotted and was hoping that they could catch the Germans off-guard.

"There she is old man." Moffitt pointed at the base in the distance.

"Let's hope he's there and hasn't changed his travel plans." Troy responded.

"How are we going to get to him?"

Troy lowered the field glasses and shrugged. "I guess we'll have to go in and check out the base. He should be there by now so we won't be able to catch him enroute."

"That's assuming that he is on schedule," the Brit responded.

"Until we know differently we have to assume he's right where headquarters says he will be." Troy glanced back at the jeeps where the privates stood guard. "We'll watch the base today and if we see him we can go in tonight."

"And if we don't see him?"

"He's supposed to be here for another four days; we can afford to wait and see if he's here."

"And if we still don't see him?"

"We'll wait two days and if we still haven't seen him we'll go to plan B."

"Plan B?"

"Yeah, we'll check the base commander's office and see if we can find anything that will tell us where he is now." Troy didn't look away from the base as he answered.

Moffitt raised an eyebrow as he watched Troy. "This general must be important."

"Yeah," Troy agreed. "Captain Boggs and Colonel Quint said not to come back without him. Another thing; we have to bring him in without harming a single hair on his head."

"That may be difficult to guarantee."

"It may be; but those are our orders."

"And we are to bring him back to the base?"

"Those are our orders," Troy confirmed.

"A German general," Moffitt murmured. "We'll have the entire German Afrika Korps hunting for us."

"Yeah."

"Sounds rather interesting."

"Interesting?" Troy laughed. "Sounds crazy to me."

"But crazy works for us," Moffitt smiled, "just ask Tully."

"It had better," Troy turned serious, "because this may be one of our toughest assignments yet. We're way behind enemy lines and we're taking a high ranking officer and we have to make sure he stays completely healthy."

"We've captured high ranking officers before."

"Yeah, but we didn't have to take them so far. And we didn't have to guarantee their safety."

"The lads and I have faith in you Troy; if anyone can get us through, you are that someone."

"Well don't put too much faith in me; it's going to take all of us to get it done."

"You come up with a plan and we'll help you carry it out," Moffitt assured him. "No one is expecting you to do it alone."

"What if I make a mistake?"

Moffitt shrugged. "No one is perfect, not even you. We trust you to make the best decisions possible and we will follow your lead. If we do something wrong, we correct it and move on."

Troy groaned. "Only mistakes can get people killed."

"That is a risk we take every day. I don't think you can worry about that without driving yourself crazy."

Troy smiled. "Maybe we're already there."

"Perhaps," the Brit agreed with a smile, "but again, it's a risk we take. I, for one, don't consider myself crazy on a normal day."

"And when was the last time we had one of those?"

"Point taken," Moffitt smiled. "But I think you know what I meant. We do what we have to do to get the job done. You're very good at what you do."

"Yeah," Troy nodded, "but I'm only human, I make mistakes."

"You'll never convince the lads of that."

Troy snorted. "They're too trusting for their own good."

"I disagree," Moffitt answered. "They don't trust everybody; they're usually very selective about who receives that honor." Moffitt smiled as Troy began to shake his head. "You've earned that trust Troy, whether you believe it or not."

Troy sighed. "I've just been doing my job. Taking care of them is my responsibility."

"And it doesn't go any deeper than that?"

Troy lowered the glasses and looked over at the other sergeant. "Not on paper."

Moffitt laughed. "Rest assured, we feel the same way. Now, shall we tell the lads our plan?"

"Yeah," Troy agreed. "It looks like we're going to be here awhile. We need to secure the camp and get something to eat. I want us to take turns getting some rest so we're ready when it's time to go in."

"Perhaps we should also go over our escape plan while we have the opportunity. Once we grab the general the Germans aren't going to be far behind. I think it might be wise to have several different options available."

Troy nodded thoughtfully. "Good idea. Any suggestions?"

"Several," the Brit nodded. "I prefer not to involve the Arabs, but if we do get into trouble, I know several of the locals."

"Will they help us?"

Moffitt shrugged. "I can ask, but as I said, I'd rather not involve them."

"We won't," Troy answered, "unless there is no other option."

"If that is our only option then we might just be in real trouble. Even if they agree to help us there is no way to know if it will be enough. We have to remember that the Germans have spies everywhere."

"Like I said earlier," Troy responded, "we don't have much choice; we have our orders." Troy turned and slid down the slope until he could stand without revealing himself. He was halfway to the jeeps before Moffitt followed.