"General Voronov," Zhukov said into the microphone: "Our troops will soon launch an attack on the Brest Fortress. If there are no large-caliber heavy artillery, it may be difficult to seize the fortress from the enemy. There will be huge sacrifices. So I implore you to provide them with some large-caliber heavy artillery."
Voronov was silent for a long time, and finally said: "Comrade Marshal, I have deployed two special heavy artillery battalions in Belarus, the 203rd Battalion with six 203mm howitzers, and the 280th Battalion with three 280mm heavy artillery. If If there are no mistakes on the way, they will arrive in Minsk tomorrow, and I can hand over these two special heavy artillery battalions to the 48th Army for them to use to attack the Brest Fortress."
"Great, this is really great." Zhukov originally thought that it would be good to get two 203mm howitzers for Sokov. Unexpectedly, Voronov was so generous and actually gave two special heavy artillery battalions at once. In addition to six 203mm howitzers, there are also three 280mm heavy artillery, which is enough to attack the Brest Fortress.
After ending the call with Voronov, Zhukov originally wanted to tell Sokov the good news. His hand touched the phone, but he changed his mind temporarily. According to his idea, if he rushes to tell Sokov about this, if something unexpected happens and the two heavy artillery battalions fail to arrive in Minsk on time, it will not affect Sokov's battle plan.
Sokov did not know that Zhukov had asked for two special heavy artillery battalions for him, so he still relied on the original artillery units to provide the necessary artillery cover for the attacking troops.
In the battle to capture the city of Brest, the enemy did not put up any decent resistance. They fought for less than two hours and retreated into the Brest Fortress. Sokov's troops easily captured City.
After liberating the city of Brest, Ponedelin asked Sokov for instructions: "Comrade Commander, the enemy has completely lost their fighting spirit. We should continue to attack the fortress. As long as we capture the fortress, we can get ahead of the friendly forces." Ahead, the first to enter Poland."
Although Sokov also wanted the 48th Army to be the first unit to enter Polish territory, he still kept a clear mind at the moment. The Brest Fortress in front of him was not so easy to capture. You know, the German army suddenly launched a war and caught the defenders by surprise, but it still took almost a month to completely occupy the entire fortress. Now that the enemy in the fortress is waiting for work, sending troops to attack at this moment is tantamount to hitting an egg against a stone.
"No, Comrade Deputy Commander." Sokov shook his head and said: "I feel that the time to attack the Brest Fortress is not mature yet. If we launch an attack rashly, I am afraid that the troops will suffer huge losses."
"Comrade Commander," Ponedelin became a little anxious when he saw that Sokov did not agree to immediately launch an attack on the Brest Fortress: "The enemy has just been driven away from the city by us, and their morale should be at its lowest at this moment. "If we don't launch an attack now and wait until they have calmed down before attacking again, the troops will inevitably suffer huge casualties."
"The fortifications of the fortress are strong, and our artillery is not enough to destroy the German fortifications." Sokov said briefly: "If we cannot destroy the enemy's fortifications, we will not be able to rush into the fort at all."
"We now have seven or eight artillery regiments with more than 300 artillery pieces of various calibers," Ponejelin said. "We can extend the preparation time for artillery fire, so that we can destroy the enemy's defenses."
"Comrade Commander, the Deputy Commander is right." Sidorin also came to join in the fun and said: "I think this is the best time to attack. You must not be indecisive and miss the opportunity."
No matter what the two men said, Sokov was firmly opposed to an immediate attack. The reason he gave was simple: "The fortifications of the Brest Fortress are strong, and with the existing artillery size of our army group, it is simply impossible to blast a gap out of the fortress."
Although Sokov insisted not to attack immediately, someone urged him to attack. While he was in a stalemate with Ponejelin and Sidorin, Rokossovsky called and asked directly: "Misha, what's the matter with you? Since we captured the city of Brest , why not take advantage of the victory and seize the Brest Fortress from the enemy's hands?"
"Comrade General," Seeing that Rokossovsky also urged him to attack, Sokov couldn't help but feel a little irritable, but he still patiently explained to Rokossovsky: "It's not that I don't want to attack, but that Today's fighter planes are immature. We do not have a sufficient number of large-caliber artillery to blast away the fortifications occupied by the enemy. If we do not destroy the fortifications and order the troops to attack, I am worried that we will pay a very painful lesson."
"Misha, you haven't launched an attack on the fortress for so long. Is it because your existing artillery firepower cannot destroy the fortress's defenses?"
"Yes, Comrade General." Sokov gave Rokossovsky an affirmative answer: "This is an extremely strong fortress. If there is no powerful artillery fire to destroy the fortifications, even if I fill the entire army group, maybe There’s no way to take it down.”
"General Sokov," Rokossovsky waited for Sokov to finish speaking, but said in a stern tone: "I now order you to launch an attack on the fortress in one hour, otherwise you will Severe punishment will be meted out.”
Now that Rokossovsky had directly threatened him, Sokov realized that it was obviously inappropriate not to launch an attack on the fortress, so he recruited the commanders of each division and brigade to his temporary headquarters and asked them Arrange the combat mission to attack the Brest Fortress.
After everyone arrived, Sidorin introduced the situation of the Brest Fortress to everyone: "Comrade commanders, the Brest Fortress we attacked was first built in 1833. After many expansions and constructions, it formed a A huge fortified fortification, it consists of four independent islands separated by the Bug River and artificial canals. The central castle is located in the center of the entire fortified area. To the southwest of the central fort is the Terespol Fortress, and directly to the south is the Volyn Fortress. , and in the north there is the Kobrin Fortress as a barrier. Each fortress is surrounded by rivers, and the fortresses are connected by bridges.
Volyn Fortress and Terespil Fortress are the main barriers of the Brest Fortress. Terespol Fortress was built on the bank of the Bug River and contains many churches and monasteries from the old Tsarist Russia era. Buildings are an important part of the entire fortress defense.
The Kobrin Fortress in the north is the original old city of Brest, with dense streets and many early solid buildings built of stone.
The most important defenses of the fortress are built in the central fortress. On the outside of the central island fortress, there is a solid ring-shaped barracks of about two kilometers. The walls of the fortress are two meters thick and contain about 500 turrets. Provide necessary food and ammunition supplies for 12,000 people. The walls of the fortress are densely covered with artillery firing ports and rifle shooting holes. In the center of the central fortress stands the St. Nicholas Cathedral designed by the famous architect Gurimi. The construction of the church began in 1856 and took 23 years. Completed in 2001, it is not only the tallest building in the central fortress, but also an extremely strong fire support point.
The central fortress is connected to the other three auxiliary fortresses through city gates and bridges, including the Kobrin Fortress in the north through the Brett Bridge, and the Telespol Gate and a huge rope bridge to the Czech Republic on the west bank of the Bug River. Lespol Fortress; connected to Warren Fortress in the south through the Holm Gate and an openable and closable drawbridge.
Kobrin, Terespol and Volyn fortresses surround the central fortress and provide protection for the central fortress. Each fortress is surrounded by solid walls on the outside. Many forts are built on the walls, and many auxiliary ridges are also built. Each fortress is surrounded by canals or rivers and can only be connected to the outside world through bridges. "
After Sidorin finished introducing the situation, Tolstikov asked with some urgency: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I wonder which division the commander plans to assign as the main offensive task? And from which direction will the attack be launched?"
"After our research, we feel that the direction of breakthrough should be chosen here in Kobrin." Sidorin said: "As for which unit will be responsible for the main attack, the comrade commander needs to have the final say."
Sokov stood up and said with a straight face: "This attack is under the charge of the deputy commander who was in charge of the former enemy. He will command the 109th and 118th Infantry Brigades to launch an attack on the Brest Fortress."
When they heard Sokov announcing that his troops were the vanguard of the attack on the fortress, the two brigade commanders showed happy smiles on their faces. Everyone knew in their hearts that as long as they captured the Brest Fortress and crossed the Bug River, they could enter Poland. But while other friendly forces were still fighting the Germans in other areas, if his own troops were the first to enter Poland, that would be a major event worthy of being recorded in history.
"Comrade Commander," Tolstikov became anxious when he heard that Sokov had assigned the task of attacking the fortress to the 109th and 118th Infantry Brigades: "Our division is the Guards Division, so glorious and The difficult task should be given to our division.”
"General Tolstikov, why should we give the task to your 1st Guards Division?" Onupryenko on the side was not happy: "If Comrade Commander gives the task to our 6th Guards Division, , we can also complete the task satisfactorily.”
"Okay, stop arguing." Seeing the two starting to argue again, Sokov stopped them in time: "The task of this attack will be handed over to the two infantry brigades. If they can't capture the fortress, you It’s not too late.”
"Comrade Director of Artillery," Sokov called the Director of Artillery who had just taken office and told him: "Before the infantry brigade's attack begins, you must carry out powerful artillery preparations in the direction of the breakthrough and try to destroy the fortifications in the fortress. , to ensure that our troops will not be intercepted by enemy fire when crossing the river."
"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." The artillery director vowed: "Our artillery fire is enough to destroy the defenses in the fortress and open up a safer passage for our infantry on offensive missions."
An hour later, the attack on the Brest Fortress began.
The Brest Fortress was a steel barrier standing in front of the 48th Army. During the hour-long artillery preparation, it withstood tens of thousands of artillery shells.
Before the smoke cleared, the Soviet commanders and soldiers waiting by the river put the rubber boat into the river and scrambled to start crossing the river. For a time, the one-kilometer-wide river was densely packed with Soviet rubber boats.
But as soon as the ship reached the middle of the river, the German troops hidden in the un-destroyed fortifications opened fire on the troops crossing the river. Amidst the roar and gunpowder smoke, the wildly firing NG42 general-purpose machine gun exerted a huge lethality, harvesting the life in the river like wheat. A long burst of fire can kill more than a dozen Soviet commanders and fighters on a rubber boat. People took boats and broke them into broken sacks.
Machine guns were firing, and the Germans moved mortars out of their bunkers and fired continuously in the direction of the river. Columns of water rose into the sky. From time to time, unlucky rubber boats were hit by artillery shells, and the people and the boat were blown to pieces. Even if there was no direct hit, the water columns raised from the side of the boat still pushed some unlucky commanders and soldiers into the river. .
Ponejelin, who was commanding the operation in the observation post, did not expect that the offensive operation would be so tragic. The two infantry brigades that entered the battle did not even touch the edge of the other side, and they suffered at least one-third casualties.
Seeing this situation, the two brigade commanders standing next to Ponejelin couldn't help but feel scared. One of them said to Ponejelin: "Comrade Deputy Commander, the enemy's firepower is too strong. If we attack blindly like this, we are letting the commanders and soldiers die. I think it is better to withdraw the troops first, regroup, and then It’s not too late to attack the enemy on the other side.”
"That's right, Comrade Deputy Commander." Another brigade commander also said: "Look, our commanders and soldiers did not even touch the other side of the shore, and they lost one-third of their troops. If we continue to fight If we go down, we may be in danger of being annihilated."
Ponejelin was not a stubborn person. He couldn't bear to see the attacking troops being killed in the river like targets by the German mortars or machine gun fire. He hesitated for a moment, but agreed to the proposal of the two brigade commanders: "Okay, two comrades, brigade commanders, immediately send a signal to your troops, asking them to stop crossing the river and immediately withdraw to the original starting position."
Upon hearing Ponejelin's order, the two brigade commanders breathed a sigh of relief. I thought that being the vanguard of the attack on Brest Fortress was something worthy of showing off. But once the battle started, I realized that I had thought too simplistically. The fortress was stronger than I imagined, and the German resistance in the fortress was also extremely tenacious. If we fight head-on, all of our men may be killed, and we may not be able to reach the other side.
The two brigade commanders each quickly picked up a phone and issued a retreat order to their commanders, asking them to return to their original starting positions as soon as possible to avoid becoming targets of the German army.
After Ponejelin waited for the two brigade commanders to finish the phone call, he said apologetically to them: "Comrades, two brigade commanders, I was wrong about this. When I proposed to attack the Brest Fortress, Comrade Commander He once stopped me and said it was not the right time. As a result, I was stubborn and caused so many casualties in the army. This is all my fault."
