EC Archives: Two-Fisted Tales #2

In "Bug Out!!," a lone soldier named Valentine survives a brutal ambush that wipes out his entire patrol, only to spiral into psychological unraveling as he's rescued from a bombed Korean village and brought to a hospital. Now trapped in a cycle of haunting memories, he relives the war's horrors with no escape—each moment a fresh fracture in his mind.

In "Weak Link!", a tense wartime ambush unfolds when American soldiers, misled by intelligence, prepare to strike a German advance along a narrow road. As two men spot the hidden logs in the river—evidence that the enemy has already planned their crossing—they realize too late that they’ve walked into a trap.

In "Bunker Hill!", colonial troops from Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut stand firm atop Breed's Hill, facing down the advancing British Redcoats in a desperate bid to hold their ground. Though outnumbered and outgunned, the American fighters make the enemy pay dearly—each American life lost matched by the death of two British soldiers.

In "Corpse On the Imjin!", a lone American soldier reflects on the lifeless bodies drifting past him along the river’s edge, each a silent question of how they met their end—until the stillness shatters with a sudden, violent attack. The line between survivor and victim blurs in the brutal quiet of the front lines, where every shadow could be the next to claim a life.

In "Buzz Bomb!", a lone German paratrooper finds himself caught between two fronts as Nazi buzz bombs rain down from the sky—first aimed at advancing American forces, then, to his horror, veering toward his own side. As the bombs’ deadly path defies expectation, the weight of sudden, inescapable fate drives him to the edge of madness, leaving him broken when the Americans finally arrive.

In "The Trap!", US marines push toward the Changjin Reservoir when they’re ambushed by entrenched enemy forces. With sharp tactics and quiet precision, the sergeant leads a daring maneuver to outflank the enemy, but the victory is short-lived—orders come to retreat, leaving grunt Salisbury bewildered in the chaos. As he struggles to grasp the full picture, he realizes the grim truth: their entire unit is surrounded by 100,000 Chinese soldiers, with no way out.

In "Hagaru-Ri!", a squad of U.S. Marines and soldiers from the 7th Army Division pushes into a heavily fortified enemy position, facing overwhelming odds as they navigate a deadly battlefield where every Chinese soldier is ordered to kill a U.N. combatant. With air support raining down to clear the way, the ground troops fight to link up and hold their ground in a relentless, high-stakes advance.

In "Link-Up!", the fate of the 1st Marine Division hangs in the balance as the Chinese Army advances toward South Korea, determined to crush the United Nations troops before they can unite with Allied forces. With the enemy pressing hard and morale fraying, the front lines brace for a brutal confrontation that will test the limits of courage and resolve.

In "Hungnam!", a multinational force of U.N. troops holds the last line in the frozen port city of Hungnam, their only refuge in a war-torn North Korea. As Christmas approaches, the relentless artillery barrage on the docks turns the already desperate retreat into a harrowing fight for survival, where every moment brings closer the brink of total collapse.

In "Luck!", a lone American lieutenant relies on sheer fortune to survive a deadly stand against North Korean snipers, his improbable escapes turning the tide for his men—until a final, unexpected threat emerges from the rubble.

"Custer's Last Stand" unfolds through the eyes of a lone soldier in the 7th Cavalry, recounting the fateful clash at the Little Big Horn with raw, unflinching detail. Told with stark realism and emotional weight, the story captures the chaos and desperation of a doomed charge, seen through the eyes of a man who lived to tell it.

In "D-Day!", a squad of American Rangers pushes toward Pointe Du Hoe in a tense landing craft, counting on the element of surprise to breach the steep cliffs. With odds stacked against them and the mission hanging in the balance, the sergeant’s quick thinking proves vital as they face the unpredictable chaos of war.

In "Jeep!", newly assigned to a combat unit, Fisher is handed the keys to a brand new Willys Jeep he affectionately names Katherine. What begins as a practical bond quickly deepens into something more personal, as the vehicle becomes a quiet companion through the chaos of war—its presence a strange, unspoken anchor in the midst of uncertainty.

In "Checkers!", two tank commanders, Straus and Kilpatrick, find their casual game of checkers interrupted by a sudden emergency: their unit’s patrol has been ambushed on the Kumhwa Road, and they’re called to lead a rescue mission. With nerves tight and stakes high, they draw on the strategic mindset of their game to outmaneuver enemy forces and turn the tide in a tense, real-time battle.

In October 1776, British and Hessian forces land at Pell's Point, aiming to outmaneuver George Washington’s American troops. As the clash unfolds across the field, both armies push forward with grim resolve—only to pull back, leaving behind the cost of war in silence and smoke.

In the heart of the Alamo’s final stand, 150 defenders hold the line against 4,000 Mexican troops led by Santa Anna, who has vowed there will be no mercy. Amid the chaos, Private Morelos—a reluctant soldier caught in the tide of war—finds himself chosen to finish off the last five surviving Americans, a task that tests his conscience as much as his courage.

In "Saipan!", a machine gun company braces for a relentless banzai charge after a lone U.S. soldier bursts from a cane field screaming the warning—only to find no enemy in sight. With the wounded Leinoff at their side and silence hanging thick over the field, the tension builds as the men wait for the next move in a battle where the real danger may be not the enemy, but the dread of what comes next.

In "Korea!", a wounded soldier driven by rage tracks down the North Korean snipers who killed his comrades and stole their Jeep. As he closes in, he confronts the last surviving enemy, who begs for mercy—only to be torn between vengeance and the desperate plea of his own comrade, who tries to stop him.

In "Red Knight!", the legendary Red Baron, a fearsome German flying ace, meticulously records his 80th kill with cold precision, his reputation built on the skies above the Western Front. But when his plane is forced down in a slow, silent descent, the world he’s known collapses—only to end in silence as Allied soldiers discover him, still at the controls, his legend cut short.

In "Washington!", General Washington stands on Manhattan Island in September 1776, facing relentless British bombardment with an army on the brink of collapse. As his men abandon him, torn between fear and duty, the general remains resolute—his resolve tested not by the enemy, but by the desertion of his own troops. The war is far from over, and one man’s courage may yet turn the tide.

In "Fire Mission!", a nervous new recruit to a mortar crew during the Korean War grapples with the chaos of battle, questioning the constant rifle fire around them—only to quickly discover the harsh realities of war in a way no training could prepare him for.