Stoessi's Heroes has been expanding on their collection of World War II heroes with two more this week, one for the Germans and another for the Soviets. The first of these is Hauptsturmführer Fritz Klingenberg.

If you don't know, Fritz is best known for his capture of the Yugoslavian capital, Belgrade for which he was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross. He was a German officer in the Waffen-SS who served with the SS Division Das Reich and was a commander of the SS Division Götzvon Berlichingen and was anxious to take the capital and claim it for the German forces.

Not able to directly assault the city he took a handful of soldiers with him across the Danube and infiltrated the city. He came across a group of twenty Yugoslavian soldiers and without firing a shot was able to make them surrender. He then captured a clutch of armoured vehicles and made his way to the Yugoslavian War Ministry which was empty, so he promptly claimed it for the Axis forces.

Taking up a position in the German Embassy in the city he was soon visited by the mayor of Belgrade who gave over control of the city to Fritz and his men. Quite the feat!

Deadliest Warrior: Panzer Tank Vs Ukrainian With Axe!

Next up we're embracing the crazy with Soviet Cook Ivan Pavlovich, 91st Tank Regiment who turned from lowly servant to platoon commander of the 4th Infantry Regiment, 46th Infantry Division of the 1st Shock Army after a serious of daring attacks on the enemy.

His first wild encounter with the Germans happened whilst he was preparing food for the rest of his unit who were out on manoeuvres. A tank rolled into the clearing they had set up in and at first, Ivan was worried that he wouldn't have enough food to feed these extra soldiers. Then, he noticed it wasn't a Soviet tank but a German one.

Ivan hid behind his tent and waited for the Germans to get out of the tank and start exploring. Then, when they least expected it he lunged from cover with his axe and rifle and started howling at the top of his voice. The Germans, thinking they were being ambushed rushed back to the tank with Ivan chasing them with an axe! They clambered into the tank and started firing the machine gun but Ivan so already on top of the vehicle, smashing the barrel of the gun with his axe.

Even as they started to drive away and escape Ivan then stuffed the peepholes so they were completely blind and shouted for his comrades (who weren't there) to bring their tank grenades. Eventually, the crew surrendered and Ivan made them come out of their tank one by one, tying each other up as they did. For this, he was awarded the position of Scout.

His wild exploits didn't stop there either. Two weeks later he found a German tank and troops chasing a band of Soviet soldiers. When the tank stopped to get its bearings he clambered on top of it and threw a grenade inside, killing the crew. Before anyone else could react he clambered inside and fired the main gun, killing about a dozen Germans and forcing the others to surrender.

He was then elevated to the position we mentioned above and went on to fight in the Siege of Leningrad. So, quite the hero!

As we always say, sometimes the truth is stranger and more exciting than fiction!