Combat Casey #24
Black Land
In 1945, Combat Casey and Penny Pennington are part of Able Company fighting Imperial Japanese forces on the island of Kuroi Riku, and island that was once an active volcano. They capture a commanding officer of the Japanese and take him prisoner. However during a Banzai attack, the prisoner manages to knock out Penny and escape. Fighting forward the American troops soon find themselves penned in the bottom of a ridge of volcanic rock. Digging in they hold off the Japanese and keep them at bay. When the Japanese commander tells them to surrender the Americans refuse.
Penny begins digging a fox hole and suddenly breaks through the ground revealing an underground tunnel. Finding that the tunnels lead out of the trap they have found themselves in, Combat and the others leave their uniforms as decoys. As morning rises the Japanese believe that the Americans have surrendered and go down into the ridge only to find empty uniforms. They are suddenly surrounded by the Americans, but just like their enemy before them the Japanese refuse to surrender. This changes when Penny comes up with an idea and using the tunnels underneath makes it appear that the volcano is becoming active again. Fearing death, the Japanese soldiers surrender, ending the battle.
Recurring Characters
Combat Casey
Penny Pennington
The Red Major's Secret
Sent behind enemy lines to spy, Combat Casey and Penny Pennington are spotted by Chinese soldiers who toss a boulder at them. The pair survive when Penny places a smaller rock in the boulder's path and the pair suspend themselves over a cliff, when the boulder then hit the smaller rock it bounded over them and fell harmlessly to the ground below. With the enemy charging at them, Combat and Penny are forced to dive down into the river below, but their pursuers follow after them.
They make a break to where their carrier pigeon is hidden so they can send off the secret they learned about the red major, but when the bird is released it is shot out of the sky by one of the enemy troops and the pair of Americans soon find themselves captured. They are brought to Major Wing who is unimpressed that the artillery cannons he has placed are secretly fakes to keep the Americans at bay until the real weapons arrive. While most of Major Wing's minions go out to find the rest of the stashed carrier pigeons, Combat suddenly keels over apparently from lack of water. When Penny asks if he can fill his canteen in the river so he can give some to his friend, Major Wing instead kicks it off a cliff into the river below.
Soon, the Chinese soldiers return with a carrier pigeon and send off a false message, however soon American soldiers ambush them and capture Major Wing and his minions. When Major Wing expresses shock as to how the Americans found out about his plot, he is shown Penny's canteen which had a message warning his fellow soldiers written along its side.
Recurring Characters
Combat Casey
Penny Pennington