Here we have Ammunition Up, the fifth volume about the adventures of Jimmie Cordie and his fellow crew of soldiers of fortune.
Written by Wirt Winchester Young (1876-1950), who was credited as just W. Wirt with all his stories and was active only in the 1920s and ’30s in the pulps for about 10 years. This series started in other magazines before moving to Argosy for almost the rest of its run.
It’s another series that may be an inspiration for Doc Savage‘s adventures. In reading these stories, I saw the interaction with the main characters as a possible inspiration. You have a group of experienced soldiers, all wanting action, who often bicker among themselves. But when the chips are down, they come together as a tough, fighting force, their individual strengths working together. Similar to how you see Doc’s aides interact.
Jimmie and his friends, Red Dolan and George Grisby, are all former soldiers, former Legionnaires, former American Expeditionary Forces, and the like. Arthur Putney, who was also part of the group, was killed in the second volume. They were soon joined by English fighter pilot John Cecil Carewe.
As usual, they are joined by two other soldiers of fortune: The Boston Bean (John Cabot Winthrop) and The Fighting Yid (Abraham Cohen), who appear in all of the stories in this volume.
In Steeger Books‘ Ammunition Up: The Complete Adventures of Cordie, Soldier of Fortune, Vol. 5, we get the next three stories, including the title story. All three stories were cover featured, and the artwork for the second story was used on the cover.
These stories have the men fighting in China against the invading Japanese. This continues the loose storyline from the prior volume with them working for the “Big Swords” group in Manchuria, but also over in Northwest China in Turkestan (which I find hard to accept, as I think that’s too far west for the Japanese to have reached). It’s helped that Jimmie is well respected by the Chinese T’aip’ing Society as well as being the blood brother of Sahet Khan, a Uryankes Tartar leader (from the previous volume).
These stories ran from 1933-34, and it’s important to understand what ws going on in that part of the world. The Chinese Civil War was going on between the Communists and the Nationalists, and many areas of China were actually under the rule of local warlords. This was also when Japan occupied parts of China, particularly Manchuria, which they renamed Manchukuo.
We start off with “Ammunition Up” (Sept. 16, 1933), which has Jimmy and Carewe working to supply the rest of the Big Swords forces with ammo under the noses of the Japanese. Carewe is somehow wounded, and a spy has informed the Japanese. At the same time, the rest of the guys are leading a force to fortify an island to protect their forces and awaiting the ammo supplies from Jimmy et al. Will they be able to outwit the Japanese or be defeated?
Then, in “The White War Lords” (Dec. 9, 1933), the action shifts farther inland as Jimmy and company move. When Jimmy and the Yid take a detour to visit a warlord that Jimmy had befriended (I think in a prior story, just not sure which), they are spotted by Japanese spies who work for the Japanese colonel from the previous story. They escape the attack on them, but can they elude the trap set for them as they head farther in to support a local warlord allied to the head of the Big Swords? After attempts at getting the word out fail, and their situation grows grimmer, the Boston Bean makes a daring move that involves a couple of “tame” bears. Will it succeed or be the end of him? Sahet Khan and his Uryankes Tartars will also be appearing again.
Finally, in “The Mad Monks” (July 7, 1934), the action moves west to Turkestan. Jimmy comes across a group of Soviets who had been killed in an attack by the Japanese, but one officer is still alive. Before he dies he tells of Chinese railroad plans that the Japanese have. This will be the goal for everyone to get, the MacGuffin of the story.
Adding to the mix of Tartars, Big Swords, and T’aip’ing, there is a new character who shows up here, an English woman, Elizabeth Montague, who is an agent for warlords. I will be interested to see if she returns, but I somehow doubt it. Montague gets the plans, but then her party runs afoul of the titular “mad monks” and are captured, taken to their hidden city in the desert. Can Jimmy and his friends affect a rescue, and will all survive?
We have three more to go, and one is a three-part serial, so I think it should all fit in one more volume. I look forward to it. Or, if you can’t wait, get the two-volume complete collection in hardback, which includes the related Capt. John Norcross series, as well as an article filling you in on who W. Wirt really was.
Interestingly, the next story was again in Argosy (and cover featured), then the stories shifted to Short Stories. I have no idea why. Will Jimmie and the boys still be fighting the Japanese?
