Red Moscow

  Chapter 2040 Recovering the Fortress

  The commander of the fortress never dreamed that the Soviet army would break through his outer defenses and rush into the fortress in such a short period of time.

  According to his vision, the artillery possessed by the Soviet army could not blast through the reinforced fortress walls at all. And his subordinates can hide in the fortifications and use artillery and machine gun fire to block the Soviet army's offensive path.

  When the first offensive commanded by Ponegelin failed, the German commander felt that his defensive deployment could make the Soviet army helpless as the offensive side, so he deployed all his troops in the fortifications of the city wall.

  But the ensuing battle was far beyond his expectations. The Soviet army actually used large-caliber artillery to easily smash down the solid city wall, opening up a path for the infantry to charge. And his subordinates who stayed in these fortifications were either killed or killed by heavy Soviet artillery shells, or were stunned and temporarily lost their combat effectiveness.

  Now the strength of the fortress is distributed in the fortifications of the city walls. Even if they want to be transferred back to strengthen the defense in the fortress, it is already too late. Standing in the bell tower above the church in the central castle, he saw the Soviet troops pouring in from the gap in the city wall and the gate of the Kobrin Fortress like a tide. He knew that the situation was over, so he made a decisive decision: "Retreat, immediately retreat!"

"Your Excellency, Commander," the chief of staff carefully reminded him when he heard his order: "We still have more than 2,000 people in the fortress, and we can continue to fight. If we withdraw now, it will be tantamount to surrendering the fortress." sent to the Russians."

"That's right, our troops still have more than 2,000 people in name." The commander of the fortress said through gritted teeth, "But they are all scattered in the fortifications of the city walls, and the number of troops that can be mobilized in the fortress now does not exceed five hundred." People, how do you fight against tens of thousands of Russians?"

  He paused for a moment, and ordered his chief of staff: "Contact all the troops that can be contacted, and withdraw from the fortress immediately."

   After giving this order, he quickly went down from the bell tower, greeted his guards, left the fortress where the battle was about to break out in a barrel cart, crossed the Bug River, and returned to the German defense zone.

   And what happened in the fortress, Sokov didn't know. He felt that the German army had spent a lot of time and manpower in order to capture the fortress. If he captured the fortress today, I am afraid that the battle he fought would be even more protracted. Therefore, he said to the other commanders who came to invite the battle: " Comrades commanders, I understand your feelings at the moment, seeing comrades from the friendly army fighting **** battles in the fortress, while you stay outside doing nothing, you feel uneasy, right?"

"That's right, Comrade Commander." Hearing what Sokov said, several commanders said in one voice: "Seeing our comrades fighting **** battles with the enemy in the fortress, we stayed outside and didn't care about anything." If you don’t do it, you really feel very uneasy, why don’t you hurry up and assign us combat missions?”

"Comrade Commander, I have a question." Just when everyone was complaining, Victor suddenly said, "With our strength, it is absolutely possible to surround the fort first and then attack. In this way, the fortress Not one of the Germans here will escape."

"Lieutenant Colonel Victor, you are right. With our current strength, we can indeed encircle the fortress." Sokov knew that Victor was not the only one who had such doubts. A commander also had the same question in his heart, so he simply explained to everyone: "If we surround the entire fortress, the troops used to attack the fortress will become weak, which will cause delays in breaking through the enemy's defense. Another point is that if the Germans in the fortress find themselves in a desperate situation, in order to avoid the end of annihilation of the whole army, they will definitely rely on solid fortifications and carry out tenacious resistance, thus causing huge casualties to our army."

  Sokov said with a straight face: "I don't want to lose my entire army in order to capture a fortress."

"Comrade Commander is right." Pornegelin added from the side: "If we only attack from one direction, the Germans will retreat from places they feel safe when they see that they cannot hold on, instead of staying. Fight hard with us, so as to reduce the casualties of the troops in the capture of the fortress."

   As soon as Pornejelin finished speaking, the phone on the desk rang.

  Under the curious eyes of everyone, Sidolin picked up the microphone and put it close to his ear and said, "I am Chief of Staff Sidolin, where are you?"

  Sokov didn't know who was calling or what was going on, so he stared closely at Sidolin's face. First, seeing the astonishment on the other party's face, then the astonishment turned into surprise, and asked, "Comrade Chief of Staff, who is calling, is there anything important?"

"Comrade Commander, good news, good news!" Sidolin moved the microphone away from his ear and said excitedly to Sokov: "General Onuprienko reports that his troops have successfully captured The central castle has been captured, and the German troops standing there have surrendered to them by laying down their arms."

   "What, the German army in the central castle surrendered?" Sokov heard Sidolin say this, and his face also showed a surprised expression: "Is this true?"

   "Of course it is true." Sidolin raised the microphone in his hand and said to Sokov, "If you don't believe it, you can ask General Onuprienko yourself."

Although Sokov felt that there was zero possibility of Sidolin lying, just to be on the safe side, he walked over to take the microphone and asked bluntly: "General Onu Priyanko, did the enemies in the central castle really lay down their weapons?" Surrender to you?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Onuprienko said in an affirmative tone: "Colonel Ivanov, the head of the 10th Guards Regiment, reported to me that more than 300 German officers and soldiers who stood firm in the central castle Stop resisting, lay down your arms and surrender to them."

"Strange, how could this be?" Sukov frowned when he heard Onuprienko say this. As far as he knew, the central castle had a large number of fortifications. Even if the 6th Guards Division got tanks There is no reason for the support of the troops to take it there so quickly. He continued to ask with doubts: "General Onupriyenko, do you know the real reason why the Germans surrendered?"

"Comrade Commander, Colonel Ivanov interrogated the prisoners and learned that the commander of the German fortress has escaped. Now the enemy in the fortress has lost a unified command and is fighting on their own. The defenders of the central castle command Officer, he felt that it was pointless to continue the fight, and in order to save more lives, he decisively chose to surrender."

"The German commander made the right decision, General Onuprienko, sent someone to send him over, I want to have a good chat with him." After explaining the matter, Sokov continued to ask : "Where are the troops of General Tolstikov?"

"They have just passed the central castle and launched an attack on the Terespol Fortress in the southwest direction." Onu Prienko reported: "I plan to order Lieutenant Colonel Madaqiang's 4th Guards Regiment to go due south. Attack on Fort Warren."

   "General Onupriyenko, I await good news from you. Good luck!"

After putting down the phone, Sokov said to the commanders standing in front of him: "Comrades, I want to tell you some good news. The troops of the 6th Guards Division have successfully captured the central castle, and are now heading due south. Attacking the Volyn Fortress. General Tolstikov's 1st Guards Division is also attacking the Terespol Fortress at this moment."

Hearing what Sokov said, the commanders who had not received the mission couldn't sit still, and said repeatedly: "Comrade Commander, assign us a mission. After all, the Brest Fortress is so big that only the guards It is very difficult for the 1st and 6th divisions to occupy it in the shortest possible time."

"Comrade Commander," Ponegerin reminded Sokov before he could finish speaking: "The assault on a fort is time-consuming and labor-intensive. If all the troops are put into the fort, once the other The direction requires troops to fight, and I am afraid that they will not be able to be dispatched at all.”

"Comrade Deputy Commander, you can rest assured about this." After listening to Onuprienko's report, Sokov felt a little bit more in his mind. He explained to Ponejielin: "According to the interrogation of prisoners, the German army The commander of the fortress has already escaped, and now the defenders in the fortress have lost their unified command and are in various situations of war. If we invest heavily at this moment, we may be able to recover this heroic fortress in a short time. "

Then Sokov turned to several commanders and said: "I am now announcing the combat order: the 3rd and 109th Infantry Divisions will stay in Brest as reserves. The rest of the 211th and 284th Infantry Divisions, the 109th, 109th and The 118th and 122nd Brigades entered the Brest Fortress in batches to assist the two Guards Divisions in clearing the fortress of enemies."

   Hearing Sokov's order, the commanders who were able to participate in the battle were all elated, but the two division commanders who served as the reserve team were full of sadness, feeling that they had missed the achievement of liberating the Brest Fortress. What puzzled them the most was the two infantry brigade commanders. Their first attack on the fort ended in failure. Not only were they not punished, they even had the opportunity to participate in a new round of attack.

Sokov saw the dissatisfaction in the hearts of the two, and said to them: "Two commanders, although you have no chance to participate in the attack on the fortress this time, we still have a lot to do to end this Great Patriotic War." There is a battle to be fought, and there will be plenty of opportunities for you to be the main attackers."

   Hearing what Sokov said, the two of them felt better again. Like other commanders, they saluted Sokov and others, then turned and left the headquarters.

"Comrade Commander." After all the commanders who asked for the battle left, Sidolin asked Sokov curiously: "How do you put the main force into the fortress? If we launch an attack, we have limited forces, and we may suffer losses."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, you don't have to worry about this." The reason why Sokov was able to safely and boldly put the main force into the fortress was because the commander of the German army had already fled, and the remaining officers and soldiers were fighting independently. discount. Another main reason is that I have friendly forces on both the left and right wings. The right wing is Batov's 65th Army, while the left wing has five or six armies including the 8th Guards Army. The Germans can't threaten them at all. Own flanks: "Our two flanks are protected by friendly forces. If the Germans want to launch a counterattack against us, they must pass through the Brest Fortress in front of us. So take the fortress as soon as possible, and we don't have to be afraid of possible German counterattacks. gone."

Seeing that the fortress would soon be taken down, Ponegerin became a little emotional: "Comrade Commander, a few months ago, the battle group I commanded was the first to enter Romania and received the approval from the Supreme Command. A commendation. Now as long as we take down the Brest Fortress, our army can also become the first army to enter Polish territory. It is an exciting thing to think about."

"That's right, Comrade Deputy Commander is right." When Sidolin was still the chief of staff of the 41st Guards Division, he was the first commander to enter the enemy's territory as a subordinate under the command of Ponegerin. Now, seeing that after taking the Brest Fortress, he can get the honor of being the first to enter Poland, he is naturally not calm: "I believe that in a few hours, our troops will be able to successfully capture the entire fortress, Then cross the Bug River and be the first troops to enter Polish territory."

  The next battle went smoother than expected.

  In less than two hours, the troops of the 48th Army occupied the entire Brest Fortress. As a red flag was raised over the church in the central castle, it was announced that this fortress belonging to the Soviet Union was officially recovered by the Soviet army.

   After confirming that the troops had occupied the fortress, Sidolin first reported the good news to the front army headquarters, and then asked Sokov: "Comrade commander, shall we move the headquarters to the fortress now?"

"Don't worry, Comrade Chief of Staff." Although Sokov wanted to enter this hero's fortress immediately to see the battle marks left by the defenders of the fortress, but out of caution, he felt that he should Wait for a while before entering, so as not to be attacked by the German army who slipped through the net.

  Sokov's reluctance to enter the Brest Fortress immediately disappointed both Ponejielin and Sidolin. But since he had issued such an order, he could only choose to obey.

  A piece of news came soon, which made Pornejelin and Sidolin understand that Sokov was very foresight. At the same time, they secretly rejoiced in their hearts. Fortunately, Sokov did not listen to his persuasion and hastily moved the headquarters into the fortress, otherwise the consequences would be really unimaginable.

It turned out that after the fortress was recovered, the two brigade commanders of the 109th and 118th brigades, with more than 20 soldiers, came to patrol near the wall of the Kobrin fortress. What a price.

Unexpectedly, there was a wounded German soldier lying nearby. Seeing two Soviet officers leading a group of soldiers walking past, he struggled to sit up, picked up the submachine gun in his hand, and pulled the trigger at the two of them. All the bullets in the magazine were fired. Due to the short distance, one-third of the bullets hit the target. The two brigade commanders covered their wounds and fell into a pool of blood unwillingly.

  The soldiers following them saw their brigade commander was shot and fell to the ground, and immediately rushed over with their guns in hand, stabbed the wounded German soldier sitting on the ground with a bayonet, and avenged their brigade commander.

  (end of this chapter)