The Dirty Dozen: The Fatal Mission Page #5

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I ordered an overflight

over the landing area.

I just had a hunch that maybe the

Germans were there waiting for us.

No partisan would

give you to the Germans.

Hey, I didn't say that.

Okay, we had orders that, for whatever

reason we didn't make any contact,

we were to come here.

So here we are.

The men that were supposed

to meet you did not come back.

We have heard no word

all night from them.

It's best to assume they were taken.

One of them was my brother.

If they were lucky,

they had a chance to fight.

Look, can we get a message to the

British submarine off the coast?

Yes, of course.

Tell them we made it.

Eagle Four to Lion One.

Eagle Four to Lion One.

Can you read me?

- Yes, this is Lion One.

- Go ahead, please.

This is Eagle Four. 7-187-9.

The visitors have arrived.

Very good. I have a message

from Overlord in London.

Can you get out

of Skopje at once?

They must be reacting to your

decision to overfly the landing site.

Tell me what's wrong.

Nothing's wrong.

We're on our way.

Affirmative.

Very good. Cheerio.

Look, I'm sorry your brother

came to meet us last night.

My brother, God willing, is dead.

He's lost consciousness again.

Yes, I can see that.

I asked you to find out where

Major Wright will attack the train

and after hours of interrogation,

you have no results.

Forgive me, general. But would it

not be better to hold up the train

or take another route?

What explanation am I

supposed to give the fhrer?

That I cannot save his men

from a renegade major

and 12 common criminals?

Where do you want to hit that train?

This is the plan

We go through open country...

and we meet the train

here, near Nish.

There's an overpass about 20 miles

north of the Bulgarian border,

near Pirot.

The train slows down there

because of a grade.

And I've trained my men

to jump on these moving cars

from the overpass

to take out these Nazi hotshots.

Then I'll explain it to my men. If they

have any problems, I'll let you know.

Well, what can I do

for you, Stern?

The men are a little

confused, major.

Oh, a little scared, maybe?

Well, a lot of things have been

happening that don't quite add up.

First, Hoffman jumps out

of that plane and bounces.

Hoffman was killed

in a training accident.

Only you grabbed the body and

the chute and got him out of there.

Yeah, then we don't jump

where we're supposed to,

we don't go into Skopje,

we wind up in the hills.

If you wanted to jump down with

the Germans and walk in Skopje,

you be my guest, Joe.

What the hell's going on, major?

All right. You're entitled to know.

There's a ringer

in the Dirty Dozen this time.

That's right, something rotten.

A Judas who's selling us all out.

Couldn't it be

one of the Yugoslavians?

No, the Yugoslavs

didn't slice Hoffman's chute line.

It's one of us, closer to home.

Yes?

Belgrade, general.

General Richter.

Give me the coordinates.

Notify Oberkommando

Berlin immediately.

No, never mind,

I will make the call myself.

They attacked here

less than an hour ago.

But, sir, our information was

that they would go on to Nish.

That's right.

Major Wright did not parachute in

where we expected him.

He didn't attack

where we expected him.

I doubt very much if he'll attack

the train where we expect him.

Get a plane ready

to leave in 15 minutes.

File flight information for Sofia.

He's dead, sir.

Yes, I can see that, captain.

I thought we were going

through open country.

The major keeps

changing his mind, I guess.

You know what I been thinking?

I got no idea.

I never had a

lieutenant before.

You're taking the body to Pirot

for burial and returning today?

Was last wish of deceased.

Your papers seem to be in order.

Wait a minute.

What village are you from?

Kumanovo, sir.

Just few miles from here.

I know where the damn village is.

How many partisans are hiding there,

waiting to murder German soldiers?

None, sir, that I know of.

Lying.

Damned Macedonians.

In mourning, are you?

For a dear departed soul, yes.

You could almost be German.

Nordic, hm? Pure.

Pure in this country of swine.

Open the coffin.

I want to see if you're smuggling

anything across the border...

besides the dead.

Sir, it was closed

after holy service.

In this life, there is...

Then I will open it.

Yeah?

All right, there must be

a phone in there.

Belgrade is trying to call back.

They must have got through.

All right, we'll be out

of here in five minutes.

And it'll be dark

in a half-hour.

Regular Army all the way,

right, sergeant?

Yes, sir.

Look, I got Muez's dog tags.

If anything should happen to me...

I want you to get those

tags back, if you can.

Yes, sir.

Now, we're supposed to attack

the train on the border.

The real target? East of Sofia.

So my last year in school,

I was either gonna get married

or try for the Foreign Service.

Must have been

a hell of a tough decision.

Don't laugh. I might have

been a very good wife...

and/or a reasonably bright

Foreign Service officer.

Might have been?

Can't you still be?

I don't think that far ahead

in the future, Joe.

Not anymore.

What about you?

No postwar plans?

I've been in the war

a long time.

No other way to go?

No.

I don't know of one, anyway.

Well, that's not

altogether true.

It's just that sometimes...

I want to give every Jew in the

world an automatic weapon and say:

"Hold onto this, you're gonna need it

just to stay alive in this century."

And other times I think, " My

God, there must be some time..."

when I don't have to kill

just to stay alive."

- Good morning, gentlemen.

- Good morning.

What's the latest, colonel?

We have an underground

report from Belgrade.

There was no attack

on the train last night

and they crossed into

Bulgaria roughly an hour ago.

What about the English Submarine

Force out here in the Adriatic?

No word since the last

communication from Skopje.

The assumption is the Germans

have seized the apartment

and destroyed

the communications equipment.

Well, maybe he's just afraid to use it

until he finds out who's on his side.

General, that train is one half day's

journey from the Turkish border.

The moment it

crosses the border

any attack upon it

is an act of war on Turkey.

What the hell

do you want from me, Clark?

I'm sure Wright will attack

when he sees

there's some chance to succeed.

General, I've taken the liberty

of alerting the 12th Fighter

Command at Alexandria.

But I thought we ruled out planes

because we couldn't be sure

of hitting 12 men in one

railroad car from the air.

You have an estimate?

They could scramble and attack

the train at 1200 hours today

whilst it's still in Bulgaria,

with a very good chance

of complete success.

And if the 12th Fighter

group attacks

the same time that the major

and his people do,

we won't have to worry about the Germans

killing off all the Dirty Dozen.

We'll blow them up ourselves.

If that happens, it's war

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