Upfall

"Fire" said Shapira. The four commandos dropped to their knees and launched a fusillade of bullets at the Germans. Beiber was hit immediately in the back by a long blast from Roi's Negev. A stray bullet from the machinegun hit also one of the nearby boxcars, penetrated the wood and killed an old woman sitting on the floor- nobody inside or outside noticed. The range was long for Shapira and Chaim, but their fire hit one of the fleeing Germans and drove the other two men to the ground. Bolander sighted them as they crawled along the exposed embankment toward a nearby copse of trees.

Uninterested in one shot, one kill precision, the marksman fired several rounds toward each man until he was certain he'd registered solid hits. When Shapira looked down the track with his binoculars all the Germans were still as stones.

Mueller had decided to go out the door last—he was the commander afier all and the train was his ship. He was just about to follow his men when he saw them come under fire. They were shot dead, one after the other, by a distant and deadly marksmen. Mueller's bowels emptied into his pants. He slammed the door shut and fell to the floor of the railcar sitting in his own filth.

Shapira reported to Yatom. Feldhandler, monitoring the com net, counted up the German dead, then broke in and explained that the Israelis had likely wiped out the guard unit. Yatom ignored Feldhandler, told Shapira to continue the assault, and ordered team Alef to move with him on the train.

Feldhandler, feeling immensely relieved, rose up from his ditch for the first time in hours. Ahead of him the two Germans he shot at the start of the engagement still lay where they had fallen. The man with the machine pistol appeared to be dead. The second policemen had pulled himself up to a sitting position against the train. He was pale and barely conscious, blood soaked the ground around him.

Feldhandler approached the man like he was a wounded but dangerous animal, stopping when he was five meters away—then shot him the German in the head. He continued on to the locomotive and climbed up to the cabin, rifle at the ready. The two Polish engineers were on the floor. Seeing him they cried ”Polski, Polskil" assuming Feldhandler was a Russian soldier. Feldhandler motioned for them to remain on the floor, jumped back onto the railbed. Yatom saw Feldhandler shoot the wounded German as he led his team across the open field, while Mofaz and team Bet remained in the treeline with Perchansky.

"Feldhandler, stop!" yelled Yatom as he approached the train.

Feldhandler stood still and squinted at the sayeret leader, thinking Yatom was going to upbraid him for shooting the German.

"Stop" repeated Yatom. "Don't move around the train. Shapira's on the other side. I don't want any friendly fire incidents."

Feldhandler paused. The other Israelis looked over at the prostrate Germans. Yatom told Ido to assess the Germans, but not treat them.

"They're dead commander" said the medic.

Yatom raised Shapira on the radio and told him that he was coming around the front of the train. Shapira reported that they were just a few meters away, outside the passenger car.

"Are there any Germans inside the car?" asked Yatom.

"Don't know" answered Shapira.

Yatom walked toward the the front of the train followed by Feldhandler and the rest of Alef. On the way, Feldhandler explained to Yatom about the engineers in the locomotive. Coming around the engine Yatom's saw Shapira's team, which the lieutenant had deployed outside the second-class rail car, as if in a hostage situation.

Yatom cautiously moved up to the door of the railcar, pressed along its side, followed by Nir and Rafi. Around them lay the sprawled bodies of dead German policemen.

Yatom waived Feldhandler over. "Your German is better than mine" said Yatom. "Tell anybody still in there to come out immediately."

Inside the car Mueller tried to calm himself. Whoever was outside the train spoke good German. Mueller's pistol was still strapped to his side. He considered suicide. His fate at the hands of bandits, or Russian soldiers or whoever this might be, would surely be cruel. Or, he could fight it out honorably, once they came in for him. The man outside the car yelled again for him to come out. Mueller smelled his own shit and tried to think clearly.

Yatom climbed up the first two steps to the car, followed by Nir. Nir slipped off his heavy radio and handed it to Rafi to lighten his load. Feldhandler called out a third time. When there was no response Yatom went in.