T WAS APRIL 1945 AND, AFTER YEARS OF BITTER FIGHTING, THE NAZIS WERE FINALLY ON THE VERGE OF DEFEAT. SOVIET FORCES HAD SMASHED THEIR WAY THROUGH EASTERN GERMANY. THEY WERE CLOSE TO LINKING UP WITH THE BRITISH AND AMERICANS, WHO WERE ADVANCING STEADILY FROM THE WEST.
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UHRA, UHRA… DEATH TO THE FASCISTS!
STORY FERG HANDLEY ART KEITH PAGE COVER KEITH PAGE
4 THE SITUATION WAS STILL CHAOTIC, THOUGH, WITH LARGE POCKETS OF ENEMY TROOPS STILL IN THE FIELD. ON A CLOUDY AFTERNOON A PAIR OF SOVIET ARTILLERY SPOTTERS LAY IN COVER, JUST FIFTEEN MILES FROM THE CITY OF LEIPZIG. CAN YOU SEE THEM, COMRADE LIEUTENANT?
DA, SERGEANT. THEY’RE DEFINITELY NAZIS.
LIEUTENANT LEVKA KOSILEV WAS A JUNIOR OFFICER ATTACHED TO A SOVIET ROCKET BATTERY. HE’D SEEN LITTLE REAL ACTION SO FAR, BUT FIVE HUNDRED YARDS AWAY A UNIT OF S.S. HOLDOUTS WERE DUG IN AROUND THE RUINS OF AN OLD FARMHOUSE. THE EVIL RATS, THEY’RE JUST WAITING FOR OUR BOYS TO SHOW UP.
DA, BUT THEY WON’T BE SO TOUGH ONCE THE KATYUSHAS START FALLING ON THEIR HEADS.
5 LEVKA REACHED FOR HIS FIELD RADIO. BUT HIS POSITION HAD BEEN SPOTTED BY ANOTHER DETACHMENT OF S.S., WHO IMMEDIATELY LAUNCHED AN ATTACK.
FEUER, LIQUIDATE THE IVAN SCHWEINEN!
LEVKA AND HIS ASSISTANT - SERGEANT DMITRI GUROV - GRABBED THEIR WEAPONS AND RETURNED FIRE. UNFORTUNATELY DMITRI WAS HIT.
NAAARGH! GUROV… NJET!
6 THE N.C.O. WAS DEAD AND LEVKA WAS DOWN TO HIS LAST FEW ROUNDS. AS HE CURSED HIS LUCK A BURST OF GUNFIRE ERUPTED ON THE GERMANS’ FLANK.
WAIT, WHAT’S THIS? UNGH!
IT WAS AN AMERICAN SQUAD ON A FORWARD PATROL WHICH HAD HEARD THE FIRING AND HURRIED IN TO INVESTIGATE. THAT’S IT, KEEP IT COMING!
YEAH, I’LL SETTLE ‘EM!
7 THE AMERICAN’S HURLED GRENADE DETONATED JUST YARDS FROM THE GERMANS.
THE FIGHTING OVER, THE SQUAD HURRIED OVER TO LEVKA’S POSITION. THEIR CORPORAL — BEN DELANEY — DIDN’T KNOW A WORD OF RUSSIAN, BUT THAT WASN’T A PROBLEM.
THANK YOU, AMERICANS. I THOUGHT I WAS DEAD MAN THERE.
TEUFEL… AAARGH! HNGH!
HEY, HOW COMES YOU CAN SPEAK ENGLISH?
AS THE BLAST DIED AWAY THE LAST TWO S.S MEN WERE KILLED BY RIFLE SHOTS. THE RUSSIAN EXPLAINED THAT HE HAD LEARNED FROM HIS FATHER, WHO WORKED AS A GOVERNMENT TRANSLATOR, THEN POINTED OUT THE MAIN S.S. POSITIONS. HECK, THEY’RE GONNA TAKE SOME SHIFTING.
DA, AND THAT’S MY JOB. WATCH THIS, CORPORAL.
8 LEVKA GOT ON THE RADIO TO HIS BATTERY AND CALLED IN THE CO-ORDINATES. THERE WAS A SHORT WAIT, THEN A WAVE OF KATYUSHKAS CAME HOWLING IN ON THE ENEMY.
STAY DOWN… NGH!
THE S.S. WERE COMPLETELY WIPED OUT, WHICH SAVED THE AMERICANS HAVING TO CALL IN REINFORCEMENTS. YEAH, THAT WAS SOME ACCURACY, FELLA. RIGHT ON THE BUTTON.
IT WAS SIMPLE MATHEMATICS, CORPORAL. BUT IT DID FEEL GOOD.
AAARGH!
WITH THAT, LEVKA PACKED UP HIS RADIO FOR THE TREK BACK TO THE BATTERY. AS HE SET OFF ALL THE AMERICANS WISHED HIM WELL. TAKE CARE, BUDDY. AND IF YOU’RE EVER IN THE STATES, LOOK US UP. THAT IS UNLIKELY. BUT STILL, IT’S BEEN GOOD TO MEET YOU, AMERICAN COMRADES.
9 THE WAR FINALLY ENDED THAT AUGUST. HOWEVER, NEW TENSIONS SOON DEVELOPED, CAUSING FURTHER GLOBAL DIVISIONS. IN 1950 COMMUNIST NORTH KOREA INVADED THE SOUTH, SPARKING OFF ANOTHER BITTER CONFLICT.
AMERICAN-LED U.N. FORCES WERE IMMEDIATELY RUSHED TO THE REGION AND, AFTER A SERIES OF DEFEATS, MANAGED TO TURN THE TIDE AND ADVANCE TO WITHIN MILES OF RED CHINA. SOVIET RUSSIA WAS SUPPLYING THE NORTH WITH MATERIEL AND AID. IN SEPTEMBER 1950, LEVKA KOSILEV FOUND HIMSELF STATIONED JUST SOUTH OF THE SINO-KOREAN BORDER, HAVING BEEN SENT IN AS AN OBSERVER AND TECHNICAL ADVISOR. COMRADE LIEUTENANT, YOU ARE NEEDED AT THE BATTERY.
DA, THANK YOU, CORPORAL.
10 LEVKA WAS PART OF A SMALL GROUP OF OBSERVERS AND TECHNICAL STAFF WHICH WAS NOW SCATTERED ALL ACROSS THE SECTOR. THE BATTERY IN QUESTION USED AN IMPROVED VARIANT OF THE KATYUSHA ROCKET BUT WAS MANNED BY THE CHINESE RED ARMY.
THIS IS A STRANGE SITUATION. RUSSIA AND CHINA ARE POLITICAL ALLIES. BUT THE TRUTH IS NEITHER ONE TRUSTS THE OTHER.
THE RUSSIAN WAS MUCH MORE CYNICAL THESE DAYS. THE SOVIET REGIME’S PARANOIA AFFECTED EVERYONE. EVEN WAR VETERANS HAD TO WATCH THEIR STEP.
DA, WE WERE TOLD WE WERE FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM. BUT THERE’S PRECIOUS LITTLE OF THAT GOING ROUND, THANKS TO STALIN AND HIS GANG.
LEVKA HATED THE FACT THAT FORMER ALLIES WERE NOW AT WAR, EVEN THOUGH THE SOVIETS HAD ONLY A COVERT ROLE. BUT HE HADN’T DARED REFUSE THE ASSIGNMENT FOR FEAR OF THE RETRIBUTION THAT WOULD HAVE FOLLOWED.
MY FAMILY WOULD HAVE SUFFERED BADLY, FOR SURE. AND I’D HAVE BEEN SHOT OR SENT TO A GULAG CAMP TO ROT.