It feels as if the entire area is blown up. A long rumbling explosion shakes the German position. Then an infernal scream sounds. Through flashes of fire, they see Tiny's huge silhouette with the light grey bowler on his head. He is standing by the end of the enemy trench with his machine gun resting on his hip. The tracer streak projectiles shoot out of the muzzle. Bewildered shapes flee in panic. - What a bunch of devils, the Russian lieutenant exclaims in admiration.

We hear the crawlers closing in. A T-34. They must have seen us, Tiny whispers. - Stay low until it is right here, then we run! The horrible clattering of the crawler comes closer and closer. I know this fear, creeping up the spine. It will mean certain death if they run just one second too soon. How we get up, I don't know, the legs move automatically. The tank wiggles over the hole and crushes everything in it. Then it rumbles on.

Soldaterna i det 27:e straffregementet befinner sig på den ryska fronten. Utrustade med pansarfordon ska de utföra den omöjliga uppgiften att upprätthålla den tyska offensiven mot den Röda armén. Egentligen borde Sven, Porta, Lillebror och de andra soldaterna i det 27:e regementet varit döda för länge sedan, men de kämpar varje dag för sin överlevnad, snarare än för att bringa ära till Tyskland. Sven Hassel-serien. ”Döden på larvfötter” är den andra delen i serien om Sven Hassel och de andra soldaterna i det 27:e straffregementet.

Convicted of deserting the German army, Sven Hassel is sent to a penal regiment on the Russian Front. He and his comrades are regarded as expendable, cannon fodder in the battle against the implacable Red Army. Outnumbered and outgunned, they fight their way across the frozen steppe.... This iconic anti-war novel is a testament to the atrocities suffered by the lone soldier in the fight for survival. Sven Hassel's unflinching narrative is based on his own experiences in the German Army.

Stationed on the Russian Front and now equipped with armoured vehicles, Sven Hassel and his comrades from the 27th Penal Regiment fight on remorselessly... All of them should be dead: Life expectancy on the Russian Front is measured in weeks. But Sven, Porta, Tiny and The Legionnaire fight to the end, not for Germany, not for Hitler, but for survival. Wheels of Terror is a sobering depiction of war's brutalities, and the violence and inhumanity that the history books leave out.