カンプグルッペZbv

by Motofumi Kobayashi, 小林 源文

"Durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial, el Ejército de Defensa alemán disponía de tres batallones 'de castigo', cuyo objetivo era reprender a aquellos soldados insubordinados que violentaban el orden castrense. Estos grupos estaban encargados básicamente de la limpieza de los campos de guerra (ya fuere eliminar las minas enterradas o recoger cadáveres). La famosa 'división de condicionales' (infantería ligera), era la responsable de la formación y ampliación de este tipo de batallones. Combatió con éxito en el frente del Norte de África. Kampfgruppe Zbv, toma a ésta como ejemplo y narra las peripecias de un 'batallón de castigo blindado'. La trama en sí, no obstante, ha sido completamente elaborada por mí."

170 pages, Comic

First published July 1, 1993

About the author

Motofumi Kobayashi (小林 源文) is a japanese mangaka.

Reviews

[Marquise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Four stars for the black-and-white realistic Manga artwork, and three for the story, averaging 3.5 stars for the entire novel.

This was a surprisingly good story considering what I had been expecting to find because of certain comments about author Motofumi Kobayashi in the vein that he supposedly showed concerning Nazi sympathies. That had misled me into expecting some sort of glorification, but instead I found a very action-packed wartime tale dealing with a penal battalion, the Kampfgruppe ZBV, composed of Wehrmacht soldiers court-martialled and convicted for a variety of reasons ranging from mere indiscipline to serious offences to petty mistakes by superior officers, and who are led by Oberstleutnant Steiner from one of the Panzer divisions that had gotten a steadfast order by the Führer to not budge an inch at Stalingrad but that had disobeyed such orders.

Kobayashi, like he did with THE BLACK KNIGHT, has written a plot that is perhaps typical of an action film more than a novel, so relentless in its depiction of combat after combat after more combat in the Eastern Front, which doesn't allow for much characterisation. But that's the point, because this isn't meant to be a character-driven or intimate kind of story, although it doesn't necessarily mean there's no character progression curve, for there is definitely some of that, namely in the case of Steiner (whom I found fascinating and would've loved he'd been more fleshed-out), the commander who appeared to everyone like a cold bastard perpetually half-covered to the nose by his uniform's collar flaps turned upwards and who everyone assumes won't hesitate to sacrifice his men in suicide missions, but who in the end is the one making the sacrifice so his soldiers will survive to flee a desperate envelopment manoeuvre by the Red Army, in a very bloody and tragic ending.

I figure this might be why Kobayashi was criticised, for that he shows "the other side" also had its share of humanity and heroic sacrifices for the comrades despite their cause being so crappy. And then, Kobayashi hasn't shied away from showing the dark side of the Wehrmacht either, because in this graphic novel he depicts the men of the Kampfgruppe executing Russian POWs with a shot to the head in cold blood, which isn't exactly what someone trying to make them appear sympathetic would do as it doesn't fit in with the usual Waffen-SS = bad, Wehrmacht = good discourse often resorted to in these cases.

Would I recommend this? Depends. If you want a well fleshed-out story with a plot beyond battles, then perhaps this wouldn't be for you. But if you're familiar with WWII history, particularly the Östfront, and/or enjoy action and want to see things from the other side's perspective without much pretensions to delving too deep into the politics and the philosophical, just the soldier's eyeview of combat, then yes, this might be to your taste. Plus, Kobayashi's brand of Manga is one I really love a lot, because it's not your typical big-eyed, multicolour-haired, doll-like kind.

[MIL]

小林源文的軍事漫畫算的上是國際知名了
但在台灣來說市場似乎不怎麼好
讓我找書找的好累，只在台南一家咖啡管看過幾乎全套的漫畫
中正圖書管理也只買了幾本而已
還是漫畫好讀的多
雖然是正經八百的戰史，變成漫畫就讀得快了
這本書講的是二戰末期，德軍東線戰場一支特殊部隊：Zbv戰鬥群的故事
(小林源文似乎很愛東線，好幾本書都畫東線有關的部隊)
這個戰鬥群因為其長官在莫斯科攻防戰臨陣脫逃
受到高層降級改編之後，專門負責做類似日本神風特攻隊的事情
在完全沒有後援的情況下，為西撤的德軍各部扮演誘餌的角色
牽制追擊的蘇聯紅軍
該部對外號稱是懲戒營
但部隊成員有許多只是休假回營來不及趕上各式交通工具
而被視為逃兵丟進去
或是軍團散失餘部
反正只要稍微遲一點沒有歸營
一另視為逃兵丟到這支號稱只有死才會解編的部隊
軍方也不正式承認這支部隊的存在
各式裝備都是別人的中古故障品
就用這些裝備，在冷血的指揮官驅策下不計代價的迎擊敵軍
使Zbv在東線成了一支令紅軍感到棘手的部隊
雖然如此在蘇聯的巨大優勢下他們也只能節節敗退
沒想到德軍也會做這種事情
為了彌補在莫斯科的退縮，指揮官就讓他的部下不顧生死用劣勢的兵力面對螞蟻般的紅軍
東線高層為了一支部隊臨陣脫逃，就用如此殘忍的方法懲罰
果然是到了山窮水盡時啥都做的出來
戰爭果然殘酷
但是後世的我，卻讀戰史讀的津津有味
若沒有這些殘酷的事實，就沒有這些精采的作品了
那還是不要有這些事情比較好啊