War Story #1 is an issue of the series War Story (Volume 1) with a cover date of November, 2001.
Synopsis for "Johann's Tiger"
It is April, 1945, the last days of World War II in Europe as Panzer Commander Johann Kleist tries to keep his tank crew alive. Two days ago, Kleist and his men were overwhelmed by Soviet armor and infantry, and were forced to retreat. This event combined with Germany's defeat in hindsight, convinced Kleist and his crew to desert and retreating westward on their Tiger Tank "Max" to surrender to the Americans while trying to avoid German patrols and any encounters with the Russians. Kleist, however, never intend on saving himself as it is reveal through flashbacks he had committed many atrocities in the Eastern Front which made him guiltily realize what he had become and plan to have himself killed in action rather than simple suicide after bringing his men to safety.
The tank crew arrives at a deserted farm house and settled there for the night. There they discover three hanged corpses committed by the FEPOs (Field Polices) for desertion. The next day Kleist's men are founded by the FEPOs and were about to be hang before being save by their commander, who has been alone by himself, and killed the FEPOs.
Kleist's crew continues to drive their way to the west, but unfortunately encounter a large Soviet armor division. They and their tank fight back while retreating, but are hopelessly outnumbered and inevitably taking severe hits. Kleist immediately saw the futility and his chance to die, but unexpectedly his crew push him out of the tank to save himself much to his horror as Max is finally destroyed. Kleist blacks out before waking up to find himself alone in the remains of the carnage and find what remain of his comrades. He then wanders wearily through the forest to find his own deathbed and find a group of Allied soldiers. He runs toward them down a hill while goading them to kill him before tripping himself on the ground. He looks up and is generously offer a carton of cigarettes and to his shock realize that they are Americans; a fate that his men had unwittingly doomed him to live throughout his life with guilt.
Appearing in "Johann's Tiger"
Featured Characters:
- Johann Kleist
Supporting Characters:
- Fat Bob (Dies)
- Dolfo (Dies)
- Siegbert (Dies)
- Nicolas (Dies)
Villains:
- Russian army
Other Characters:
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
- Tiger I tank ("Max")
- T-34 tanks
- T-34/35 tanks
See Also