Upfall

Yatom, along with De Jong and Nudelman, ran to an unoccupied bunker and waited for the German reaction. But before the Germans could respond, a second hidden Jewish position at the base of the hillock opened up on the column—a Bren gun by the sound of it. The position was so well camouflaged Yatom missed it when scanned the little hill. Nudelman smiled as he saw German cyclists fall in the spray of bullets, while the Kubelwagens slewed left and right to avoid the fire. It was the first time the architect had ever seen Germans under attack—and from Jews no less. Yatom raised his binoculars again, though dust from bullets and the wheels and tracks of the German vehicles made it hard to see clearly. Two more Jewish positions now joined the ambush—another MG 34 and a small team of by the sound of it. Suddenly, De Jong and Nudelman threw themselves on the ground as German bullets snapped over their heads. The halftrack's machinegun was spitting out bullets toward them at an alarming rate, the gunner spraying the hillside like a man trying to knock grime off his car with a water hose. Yatom raised his Tavor.

Yatom saw a flash through the rifle sight and then heard the crump of the booby — trap as it mangled a German infantry team and their Kubelwagen. Nudelman let out a little holler, and Yatom shook his head in admiration Roskovsky's jury-rigged device. Still, the machinegunner in the halftrack was pouring fire onto the ridge—he was bound to hit something eventually. Yatom aimed the Tavor at the machinegunner. The range to the half-track was long — about 300 meters — but within Yatom's comfort zone and the weapon's capabilities. Using his day sight he put a visible laser dot on the target. Conscious of his dwindling ammo he fired three shots at the drumming machinegun, and watched with satisfaction as the gunner fell away. Several German soldiers from the second Kubelwagen shot back toward the nearby bunker filled with the Jewish teenagers. Then the enemy soldiers scrambled to their feet and dragged two of their wounded into the half-track. Yatom held his fire.

"Relax Nir" said Mofaz "I'm not reading Dr. Feldhandler's books. The German army" Mofaz paused hating what he was about to say "in our time, still uses this weapon—they call it the MG 3. That's how good it is - fires 1000 rounds a minute - or something like that." He put the weapon and a box of ammo in the trunk. They threw the shot up motorcycle into the damaged Kubelwagen, then hooked it up to the staff car for a tow back to Biali—no point in wasting spare parts or fuel. Roi uprighted the good BMW and threw on the leather coat.

"I always wanted one of these!" said the young commando, as put the machine in gear and gunned the engine. Roi took off down the road toward the village, his Negev machinegun bouncing on his back as the bike sped eastward.

That evening, Yatom, Mofaz, Feldhandler and the Biali leadership sat down to discuss the day's events. Shapira was absent, having already set off for Belzec with Chaim and the troop of demolition men.

"What do you make of today?" Jezek asked Yatom glumly. "It is not good?"

"No, it's not good" agreed Yatom. "Your men—boys—did well. We lost one. But they fought and that's important. The bunker system worked, even sparsely manned, and the mines and booby-traps are proving useful. But..."

Feldhandler took over. "These men were SS—the most brutal combat troops the Germans have. And it was just a patrol. I think they will come back in force and most likely very soon—maybe tomorrow or even tonight."

Jezek frowned. Sobel looked horrified. "We've moved a company of troops to the bunkers along with weapons and ammunition" said Yatom. "A second company is on alert. The third will stay in reserve until we see what the Germans have in mind."

Yatom looked at Mofaz. "These German troops are much better than what we've faced so far. Make sure the men know this." Mofaz nodded.

"Did you get any information from the captured German?" asked De Jong.

"Some" said Feldhandler. "The man — a boy really — has broken arms and ribs. He is in and out of consciousness, and doesn't know much except the unit that he is with, and what happened in the fight. According to his paybook he's been in active service about eight weeks."

"Eight weeks—that's all?" asked Mofaz.

"Maybe the unit is rebuilding. But these recruits are still fanatics."

"What‘s his rank?" asked Sobel.

"He's a Schuetze, a private—as low as you can go in the SS, so he can't offer much. The unit is Regiment 4 of the 2nd SS Panzergrenadier Division. Regiment 4 is called...Der Fuehrer"

Sobel snorted.

"It's not funny" continued Feldhandler. "They are an elite outfit and utterly ruthless—even if filled out with new recruits. If they break through, they will kill everybody in Biali—again."

"What equipment?" asked Yatom.