War of the Rats

On the forty-second page of “War of the Rats” author David L. Robbins wrote (emphasis & hyperlinks added):

Zaitsev returned the sheet to Lebedev. "Thank you, comrade commissar. It takes courage to be so direct."

Lebedev patted Zaitsev again on the shoulder. "Yes, it does. I'll see you on the other side, Comrade Chief Master Sergeant."

Well past midnight, the Siberians lay on the beach, watching and listening to Stalingrad screm to them. A flotilla of battered fishing boats, barges, steamers, and tugs appeared. A barge dropped anchor in the shallows in front of them. Zaitsev saw the holes in the ship's timbers. Two men forward and four aft bailed buckets of water over the gunwales as fast as they could. Supplies were loaded quickly into the barge's hold. Wooden crates of ammo were shouldered up the plank and lowered below-decks. Several dozen cardboard boxes were stored; from them came the friendly sound of clanging, ringing vodka bottles. Crates of canned ham from America were carried up the gangway. The Red Army soldiers jokingly called this ham the "second front." For a year Stalin had begged England and the United States to attack the Germans in the west to ease the pressure on Russia. The Allies always responded with their many reasons for being slow and considered in their actions. For the Russian foot soldier, these tins of sweet, wet, red ham from places such as Georgia and Virginia were to be the only help they would get from the States. The ham alone would have to suffice as the second front.

The boats chugged onto the Volga. Flares split the glittering night sky. The men stared overhead, trying to picture the coils of smoke and search for the first hint of a diving Luftwaffe warplane. The dancing light from the city scorched like a fever across their brows, making them blank and sweat.

Halfway across the river a Stuka whistled past. The men braced, but no bombs or bullets fell. The fighter banked hard and climbed to avoid flying over the flames

More information about “War of the Rats” (and the book itself) is available from:

• Powell's Books
• Barnes & Noble
• Amazon.com

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[new jordans]

A friend is, as it were, a second self.