“About a dozen, I think.”
“I’ll swear that was Müller leading them,” said Kelly, still mortified that he had been the only one who had missed.
The assailants appeared to be separating into two distinct groups, one group to the left of the main entrance and the other to the right.
“They are going to try to skirmish towards us. They must be insane—we have the advantage!” said Manteufel. “Ignore where the firing comes from. Concentrate on the other side, that’s where the assault will come.”
The group to the right of the farmhouse opened up with everything they had. “Ignore that!” roared Manteufel. “Keep your eyes on the left group!”
With a roar, half a dozen men leapt to their feet on the defenders’ left and sprinted towards the house, firing their weapons. Two were downed after less than three paces and the others went to ground and retreated.
“They won’t try that again.” Manteufel spoke quietly and calmly.
Calm reigned for a while with only sporadic firing from the ambushers.
“What do you think they’ll do now, Horst?” asked Sybilla.
“If it were me, I’d try to get around the rear of the house,” he replied.
As if to confirm his words, a round crashed through the window on the east side of the house and thudded into the opposite wall.
“There’s someone firing from the copse on the hill. They’re trying to get around us as I suggested. If they do, we’re in trouble,” observed Manteufel.
“I have to get my rifle,” called Kelly. “You three, take up a position near the side window and prepare to put down rapid fire on the copse. Wait for my word, I’m going to make a dash for the car.”
Kelly shuffled through the kitchen to the rear door and opened it. He could see the car no more than a half a dozen paces away, but for four of those paces he would be completely exposed. The angle of the house would provide shelter for the first yard, and the car was facing the copse, so if he could make to the rear, he would be sheltered while he rummaged in the boot. For the remaining few yards, he would have no cover.
“Now!” Kelly waited until he heard the volley being laid down on the copse, then leapt across the gap, ending up on his stomach, slithering to a halt under the rear of the car. Hastily he opened the boot, which provided additional cover, and collected together the dozen or so boxes of small arms ammunition. Calling to Manteufel, he tossed them across the gap to his comrade standing in the sheltered part of the building.
Kelly stole an apprehensive glance behind. If someone came up the western side of the house at this moment, they would find him right out in the open. Carefully he picked up a long object wrapped in hessian. Unwrapping it, he produced his precious sniper rifle, a beautiful Lee Enfield .303, complete with telescopic sight, precision barrel and hair trigger.
“I’m coming in, Horst! Warn the others and get ready to lay down fire.” He waited a moment to allow Manteufel to prepare the others then called, “Now!”
The man in the copse was not taken by surprise this time and managed to get off a shot at the fleeing Kelly. Kelly heard the round sing past his ear as he dashed for the open door, landing full length on the kitchen floor. He didn’t wait to thank his maker. Scrambling up the stairs, he crawled forward to the side window in the east bedroom. Poking the muzzle of the Lee Enfield through the already broken window, he peered through the scope and scanned the copse. There! A shape, indistinct, but definitely a man.
Kelly pulled the rifle into his shoulder, the cross hairs on the scope centred on the shape, controlled his breathing, then gently squeezed the trigger.
He saw the man throw his arms in the air then disappear from view. Kelly didn’t stop to admire his handiwork; he was already crawling towards the west bedroom. The window here was intact until Kelly pushed the rifle muzzle through the bottom left pane and rested it in the junction to provide stability. He scanned the area on that side of the house. Nothing definite, but he detected a slight rustling in a hedge around two hundred yards away. There it was again but further along—someone was in all likelihood creeping alongside the hedge and using it for cover. Kelly noted that there was a break in the greenery about ten yards further on. Carefully, he lined up the rifle so that he was aiming at a spot midway up the hedge and about a foot beyond the end of it. He would get one shot at whoever it was as they broke cover and dashed across the gap back into cover.
Kelly tensed as he saw a slight movement near the end of the hedge. A head appeared and turned to observe the house. The last thing the unfortunate man saw was a flash from an upper window a millisecond before a .303 round crashed into his forehead and exited through the rear, taking half of his head with it.
Kelly was about to return to the east window to check on developments when he was hailed by Rahn from below.
“Dan, get to a front window. There’s a barn half right, about four hundred metres, I’m sure that’s Müller on the corner!”
Kelly squirmed his way across the floor to the window and poked the muzzle of his rifle through the shattered glass. Lining it up on the corner of the barn, he peered through the scope. It was Müller right enough, gesticulating to someone near him. Kelly fought to calm the excitement rising in him as he lined the cross hairs up on the SS General’s chest.
Just as he squeezed the trigger, a round crashed into the woodwork just above his head. It caused him to flinch
