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bridge. We ain’t got no planned route of escape. It looks to me like we bein’ sacrificed again. What do you think, Sarge?”
    “I think that we follow orders and put ourselves in the hands of the Lord.”
    Slick sucked his teeth and shook his head disgustedly. The other men were silent.
    “Of course, the good Lord helps those who help themselves,” Sergeant Williams continued. “So, I think that we’ll send a couple of our best shots high above the bridge to cover our retreat and to check out possible escape routes.”
    “How is that going to help us if we run into that German artillery division?” Professor asked. “We’re going to need more fire power than the small arms we were issued.”
    “A couple of howitzers could blast us to hell!” Slick interjected.
    “Is this a suicide mission, Sarge?” Big Ed asked. “Is they sacrificing us?”
    The sergeant thought for a moment before he answered. “All I know is if you fight bravely and carry out your orders, you gon’ make things better for the colored men who come after you. If it’s your time to die, it’s your time. Ain’t nothing can change that, but if you fight bravely, it’ll get recognized.”
    Slick questioned Big Ed. “You didn’t expect him to say nothing else, did you?”
    The sergeant pointed to Slick. “One more word and I’ll do you now!”
    “Can you get us some small artillery, like those forty millimeter cannons we saw on the outskirts of that little town we passed through to get here?” Professor asked.
    “All the weaponry we gon’ get through channels is what was already issued,” Williams answered. “But I know you boys confiscated some German mortars and a big Vickers machine gun in one of our last raids. You must have them stored someplace. If you still got possession, we need them now.”
    “If we had the guns you’s talking about, how would we move them through mountainous country, twenty-five miles beyond the German lines?” LeRoi asked in a tone that indicated casual interest. He knew that the sergeant was aware that his squad had begun to pilfer enemy equipment and ammunition, storing it on the German side of the lines.
    “We’re going to catch a train and let it carry us within four miles of our target. We’ll have a quick hike through a pass in the mountains and then down to the bridge. But if we’re going to get out of this with our lives, we’re going to need everything you men have, uh, collected, especially that Vickers.”
    “Carrying the Vickers and all the ammunition is hard enough on flat ground,” LeRoi advised. “And you damn sure can’t be no mountain goat with it.”
    Professor added, “The Vickers weighs over one hundred seventy-five pounds and you can shoot three hundred pounds of ammunition in twenty minutes. We’d have to carry that gun, plus over a thousand pounds of ammunition, and then we’d still have to fire the gun sparingly.”
    “Talk that ‘white talk,’ Professor! Talk it!” Big Ed said with a big smile, clapping his hands together for emphasis. “Tell him why it’s a bad idea. I knows where this is goin’. If we takes it, I’ll be the one who carries that old, bulky sucker. Four miles is the lifetime of a cow with that thing on your shoulder. The Krauts put it on a cart to move it.”
    “How long does a cow live anyway?” asked Slick.
    Sergeant Williams said, “We’ve got forty men. Every man can take a share of the weight. We may have to disassemble the Vickers in order to take it with us—”
    “You mean take it apart, sir?” Big Ed interrupted.
    The sergeant nodded affirmatively and waited for Big Ed’s response.
    “Well, I’m the handiest guy with a wrench in this group and if I had all day, I could easy figure this gun out. But I still wouldn’t want to try to put it back together again in the dark by flashlight.”
    “If you men want to increase your chances of living, you’ll find a way to bring that damned machine gun and some mortars! I can’t