'About time,' whispered Chevannes, as they rejoined the others. 'Same marching order, all right?'
'Sir,' said Tanner. He held the face of his watch to the sky. He could just make out the hands. Fourteen minutes past eleven. Christ! he thought. This'll be close.
A couple of minutes later they had still not reached the first houses of the town and had gone less than two hundred yards. Frantically trying to perform mental arithmetic, he realized they needed to increase their pace if they were going to reach the truck before the gelignite detonated.
'Sir,' he whispered to Nielssen, 'we need to speed up.'
Nielssen nodded and a couple of minutes later they reached the edge of the town. Ahead, the wooden spire of the church was silhouetted against the sky.
Two figures emerged in front of them. Tanner felt himself tense, but as the two men passed, they merely saluted. Replacement sentries, thought Tanner. Poor bastards. Part of him wanted to warn them of what they were walking towards.
23.20 hours. Six minutes gone. Either side of the road, sleeping houses, the night as still as ever. The church getting closer. Tanner struggled with the overwhelming desire to run. His heart continued to pound. Two minutes until the shooting started. Would they make it? Or was he now facing the final moments of his life? Stop thinking like that.
He held up his watch to the night sky again. 23.21. Seven minutes. And there they were, two trucks parked together, a third the far side of the church. Nielssen halted them.
'Sir, we might as well take both these trucks,' whispered Tanner to Chevannes, standing directly behind him. 'More fuel and in case anything happens.'
'D'accord,' said Chevannes.
Suddenly figures appeared before them, calling out. Christ, sentries, thought Tanner. Nielssen spoke to them. How many? Tanner couldn't see but he had his rifle off his shoulder and felt in his haversack for a grenade.
'Lads, get ready,' he hissed.
A German soldier stepped forward, his tone aggressive, angry even. The moon now drifted clear of a cloud. It did not have much light to offer but it was enough for Tanner to see half a dozen men round the trucks. He glanced at his watch. 23.22. Eight minutes. Where the hell was the explosion? Had the fuse gone out? Had he miscounted? A bead of sweat ran down his back but he felt a chill at the nape of his neck. Come on, come on.
The German NCO pointed to the rest of them and walked towards Tanner. He was looking at Tanner's rifle and the Mauser slung on his other shoulder. Damn it, thought Tanner. Now just a few feet away, the German addressed him directly, ignoring Nielssen. Again he pointed angrily to the rifle Tanner held and the other on his shoulder. What was he saying? Why have you got two? Where did you get that Tommy rifle? Tanner had no idea.
Sod it, he thought. 'I'm sorry, mate, I don't understand a word you're saying,' he said, as he drew back the bolt on his rifle, pushed it forward, clicked it back into place, and squeezed the trigger. The report echoed round the church and surrounding buildings, the German crumpled to the ground, and at that moment, the bridge blew. Tanner started, but so did the enemy soldiers, who ducked involuntarily and looked south towards the bridge as an orange ball of flame mushroomed into the night sky. Seeing his chance, Tanner sprinted towards them. Pull the bolt back and forward, fire. Another man fell. A third fumbled at his rifle as Tanner swung the butt of his own into the man's head. The soldier cried out as Tanner kicked a fourth to the ground, all before one had fired a shot.
Shouts now from the surrounding houses. Tanner yelled, 'Into the trucks, quick!' Pistol shots - Nielssen and Chevannes. Screams from another man. Tanner grabbed Lance Corporal Erwood's shoulder. 'Get into the second truck and fire that bloody Spandau from the tailgate!' He searched frantically for Anna and the professor. 'Get in! Get in!' he yelled, when he saw them running, crouching, towards the first truck.
'Sir,' he shouted to Nielssen, 'drive the second truck!' Nielssen nodded, Tanner grabbed Anna's arm, shoved her towards the cab of the first and hastily jumped in beside her, shoving his two rifles between them. Of course, it was dark in the cab and the German Opel was unfamiliar. He hadn't thought of that. 'Jesus Christ!' he muttered. 'How do you start this bloody thing?' He fumbled around with his feet in the pitch-dark footwell, hitting pedals but there was no starter knob on the floor.
Frantically, he slapped his hand against the dashboard, finding what felt like a button, but although he pressed hard, nothing happened. Chevannes now clambered in next to Anna.
'Come on, Sergeant!' shouted Chevannes as Tanner inadvertently switched on the wipers. 'Merde! Get us out of here!'
Troops were now running out of the surrounding houses, shots cracking apart the night. Another button on the far right of the dashboard. What was it? The choke? From the back of the truck, their own men were firing and then, behind, an engine roared into life and the truck drew alongside.
'I can't get it started!' he yelled across to Nielssen.
'Isn't there a key?' Nielssen shouted back.
'No, nothing!'
'Use a piece of wire, or a screwdriver - it's above the ignition button.'
Tanner's mind raced as bullets smacked into the side of the truck, then feeling into his haversack he fumbled for his tool wallet and found what he was searching for - a set of five different-sized reamers. The first he tried was too large for the hole. 'Bloody hell,' he muttered, his heart hammering, then felt the second slide into the ignition. Immediately a small red light came on, revealing a sign that said 'ANLASSER' and what had to be the ignition button. Pulling what he hoped was the choke on the far side of the dashboard, he then pressed the button and the engine coughed into life. Yanking the reamer hard upwards to keep it in place, he shouted across to Nielssen, 'Tell Erwood to spray the other vehicles, sir!'
A bullet cracked through the windscreen. Anna screamed, and Tanner thrust the truck into gear, released the handbrake and the Opel lurched forward. 'Professor?' he shouted. 'Professor, are you there?'
'Yes! Just go!'
Chevannes fired his pistol through the window. More bullets rang out. Another thumped into the door and died. Tanner found the headlights, switched them on. Slits, just slivers of light, but enough. Out of the church square. Ahead, troops kneeling in the road. Tanner stamped on the throttle. Another bullet cracked through the top of the windscreen, and ripped through the metal roof, and Anna screamed again. Tanner charged at the men. Figures scattered but he felt a thump as he hit one, heard a scream. Feeling in his pocket he passed a grenade to Anna. 'Here!' he said. 'Pull the pin and throw it out the window. Can you do that?'
Anna nodded, pulled the pin and tossed it away. It hit the framework round the door and rebounded on to Tanner's lap. 'Jack, I'm so sorry!' she cried. Half looking ahead, half fumbling in his lap he found it and hurled it out as hard as he could.
Behind him the men were still firing. He was conscious of the Spandau's short, clattering bursts. Ahead the second bridge. No time to blow that. He dropped a gear, turned, rumbled across the short expanse, then drove left towards the valley road that led north. More shooting ahead, and Tanner ducked every time a bullet pinged nearby. From the back someone yelled. 'Keep going, Tanner, faster!' screamed Chevannes, then leant across Anna, grabbed
Tanner's Mauser and fired off five rounds in quick succession.
Changing up a gear, Tanner pushed down again on the accelerator as they reached the edge of town. He was vaguely aware of Chevannes reloading the Mauser and preparing to fire, then suddenly realized what the lieutenant had done. 'No, sir, don't fire!' he shouted.
With a loud crack, the rifle jerked upwards, Chevannes screamed and his head and shoulders were flung
