The commander of the fortress never dreamed that the Soviet army would break through his peripheral defenses and rush into the fortress in such a short period of time.
According to his assumptions, the artillery possessed by the Soviet army was simply unable to blast through the reinforced fortress walls. His men could hide in the fortifications and use artillery and machine gun fire to block the Soviet attack path.
When the first attack commanded by Ponejelin failed, the German commander felt that his defensive deployment could render the attacking Soviet army helpless, so he deployed all his troops in the fortifications of the city wall.
But the battle that followed was far beyond his expectation. The Soviet army actually used large-caliber artillery, easily destroying the solid city walls and opening up a path for the infantry to charge. His subordinates who stayed in these fortifications were either blown to death or shocked to death by Soviet heavy artillery shells, or were stunned and temporarily lost their combat effectiveness.
Nowadays, the fortress's troops are distributed in the fortifications of various city walls. Even if they want to mobilize them back to strengthen the defense within the fortress, it is already too late. He stood in the bell tower above the church in the central castle. When he saw the Soviet troops pouring in through the gap in the city wall and the entrance of Kobrin Fortress, he knew that the situation was over, so he made a decisive decision: "Retreat immediately. retreat!"
"Your Excellency, Commander," the Chief of Staff heard his order and carefully reminded him: "We still have more than 2,000 people in the fortress, and we can continue to fight. If we withdraw now, we will give up the fortress. Gave it to the Russians.”
"Yes, we have more than 2,000 troops in name." The fortress commander gritted his teeth and said, "But they are all distributed in the city wall fortifications everywhere. The number of troops that can be mobilized in the fortress now does not exceed 500. How can people fight against tens of thousands of Russians?”
He paused for a moment and ordered his chief of staff: "Contact all available troops and withdraw from the fortress immediately."
After giving this order, he quickly went down from the bell tower, called his guards, took a barrel truck and left the fortress where the battle was about to break out, crossed the Bug River, and returned to the German defense area.
Sokov didn't know everything that happened in the fortress. He felt that the German army spent a lot of time and troops to capture the fortress back then. So if he captures the fortress today, I am afraid that the battle he will fight will be more protracted. Therefore, he said to the other commanders who came to ask for a battle: " Comrade commanders, I understand how you feel at the moment. Seeing friendly comrades fighting bloody battles in the fortress, but you staying outside doing nothing, you feel uneasy, right?"
"That's right, Comrade Commander." Hearing what Sokov said, several commanders all said at once: "We saw our comrades fighting bloody battles with the enemy in the fortress, while we stayed outside and did nothing. If you don’t do it, you will really feel uneasy, so why don’t you hurry up and assign us combat missions?”
"Comrade Commander, I have a question." Just as everyone was complaining, Victor suddenly said: "With our military strength, we can completely surround the fortress first and then launch an attack. In this way, the fortress will be destroyed. Not a single German inside can escape."
"Lieutenant Colonel Victor, you are right. With our current strength, we can indeed surround the fortress." Sokov knew that Victor was not the only one to have such doubts. I am afraid that several other people present were A commander had the same question in his mind, so he simply explained to everyone: "If we surround the entire fortress, the troops used to attack the fortress will become weak, resulting in a delay 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 the entire army being annihilated, they will definitely rely on strong fortifications to carry out tenacious resistance, thereby causing huge casualties to our army."
Sokov said with a straight face: "I don't want to lose the combat effectiveness of my entire army just to capture a fortress."
"Comrade Commander is right." Ponejelin added on the side: "If we only launch an attack from one direction, when the Germans see that they cannot support it, they will retreat from a place they feel is safe instead of staying. Fight hard with us to reduce the casualties of the troops in capturing the fortress."
As soon as Ponijelin finished speaking, the phone on the table rang.
Under the curious eyes of everyone, Sidorin picked up the microphone and put it to his ear and said: "I am Chief of Staff Sidorin, where are you?"
Sokov didn't know who made the call or what was going on, so he stared at Sidorin's face closely. First he saw an expression of surprise on the other party's face, and then the shock turned into surprise, so he asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, who called, is there anything important?"
"Comrade Commander, good news, good news!" Sidorin moved the microphone away from his ear and said excitedly to Sokov: "General Onupryenko reported that his troops have successfully captured They reached the central castle, and the German troops who stood there had laid down their weapons and surrendered to them."
"What, the German troops in the central castle surrendered?" Sokov heard what Sidorin said, with a look of astonishment on his face: "Is this true?"
"Of course it's true." Sidorin raised the microphone in his hand and said to Sokov: "If you don't believe it, you can ask General Onupryenko personally."
Although Sokov felt that the possibility of Sidorin lying was zero, for the sake of safety, he walked over and took the microphone and asked directly: "General Onuplienko, the enemies in the central castle have really laid down their weapons." Surrendered to you?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander." Onupryenko said in a positive tone: "Colonel Yinvanov, the commander of the 10th Guards Regiment, reported to me that there were more than 300 German officers and soldiers guarding the central castle. Stop resisting, lay down your weapons and surrender to them."
"Strange, how could this happen?" Sokov couldn't help but frowned when he heard what Onupriyenko said. As far as he knew, the central castle had a large number of defenses. Even if the 6th Guards Division got tanks With the support of the troops, there was no reason to capture it so quickly. He continued to ask with doubts: "General Onupriyenko, do you know the real reason why the Germans surrendered?"
"Comrade Commander, Colonel Yinvanov interrogated the prisoners and learned that the German fortress commander had escaped. Now the enemies in the fortress have lost their unified command and are fighting independently. The defenders of the central castle are commanding The officer felt that there was no point in continuing the fight, so 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 here. I want to have a good chat with him." After explaining the matter, Sokov continued to ask : "Where are General Tolstikov's troops?"
"They just passed the central castle and launched an attack on the Terespol Fortress in the southwest." Onupriyenko reported: "I plan to order Lieutenant Colonel Mada Qiang's 4th Guards Regiment to attack due south. Attack on Warren Fortress."
"General Onupryenko, I am waiting for your good news. I wish you good luck!"
After putting down the phone, Sokov said to the commanders standing in front of him: "Comrade commanders, let me tell you good news. The troops of the 6th Guards Division have successfully captured the central castle and are now heading due south. Launch an attack on Volyn Fortress. General Tolstikov’s 1st Guards Division is also attacking Terespol Fortress at this moment.”
Hearing what Sokov said, the commanders who had not received the mission became even more unable to sit still and said repeatedly: "Comrade Commander, assign us missions. After all, the Brest Fortress is so big, just with the guards It is very difficult for the 1st and 6th Divisions to capture it in the shortest possible time.”
"Comrade Commander," before Sokov could finish speaking, Ponedelin reminded him: "The attack on the fortress is a time-consuming and labor-intensive matter. If all the troops are put into the fortress, once other The direction requires troops to fight, and I'm worried that we won't be able to mobilize them at all."
"Comrade Deputy Commander, you can rest assured on this." After listening to Onupryenko's report, Sokov felt somewhat confident. He explained to Ponedelin: "According to the interrogation of the prisoners, it was learned that the German army The fortress commander has fled. Now the defenders in the fortress have lost their unified command and are in various war situations. If we invest heavily in troops at this moment, we may be able to recapture this heroic fortress in a short time. "
Then Sokov faced several commanders and said: "I am now announcing a combat order: the 3rd and 109th Infantry Divisions will serve as reserves to stay in the city of Brest. The remaining 211th and 284th Infantry Divisions, the 109th and 109th Infantry Divisions will serve as reserves. The 118th and 122nd brigades entered the Brest Fortress in batches and assisted the two Guards Divisions in eliminating the enemies in the fortress."
After 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 reserves had sad faces, 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 fortress ended in failure. Not only were they not punished, they even had the opportunity to participate in a new round of attacks again.
Sokov saw the dissatisfaction in the hearts of the two men and said to them: "Comrade division commanders, although you did not have the opportunity to participate in the attack on the fortress this time, we still have a lot to do to end this great Patriotic War. The battle is about to be fought, and there will be plenty of opportunities for you to serve as the main attacker."
After 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 battle left, Sidorin asked Sokov curiously: "How do you put the main force into the fortress? What if the German army comes from other directions at this moment and attacks us? If we launch an attack, we have limited troops, so we may suffer a loss."
"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 German commander had fled, and the remaining officers and soldiers were fighting independently and had great combat effectiveness. discount. There is another main reason. There are friendly forces on both the left and right wings. The right wing is Batov's 65th Army, and the left wing has five or six armies including the 8th Guards Army. The German army cannot 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 if we capture the fortress as early as possible, we will not have to fear a possible counterattack by the Germans. ”
Seeing that the fortress would soon be taken, Ponejelin became a little excited: "Comrade Commander, a few months ago, the combat group under my command was the first to enter Romania and obtained the approval of the Supreme Command. Reward. Now as long as we capture the Brest Fortress, our troops can become the first troops to enter Polish territory. It is an exciting thing to think about."
"Yes, Comrade Deputy Commander is right." When Sidorin was still serving as the Chief of Staff of the 41st Guards Division, he became the first commander to enter the enemy's territory as a subordinate under the command of Ponedelin. , now seeing that after taking the Brest Fortress, he could get the honor of being the first to enter Poland, he was naturally not calm: "I believe that in a few hours, our troops will successfully capture the entire fortress. Then crossed the Bug River and became the first force to enter Polish territory.”
The next battle went smoother than expected.
In less than two hours, 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 Soviet fortress was officially recaptured by the Soviet army.
After confirming that the troops had occupied the fortress, Sidorin 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 be anxious yet, Comrade Chief of Staff." Although Sokov wanted to enter this heroic fortress as soon as possible and see the battle traces left by the defenders of the fortress, out of caution, he felt that he should still Wait for a while before entering to avoid being attacked by German troops who have slipped through the net.
Sokov was unwilling to enter the Brest Fortress immediately, which made Ponedelin and Sidorin somewhat disappointed. But since he had given such an order, he naturally had no choice but to obey.
A piece of news soon came, which made Ponedelin and Sidorin understand that Sokov was very prescient. At the same time, they were secretly glad that Sokov did not listen to their own persuasion and hastily move the headquarters into the fortress, otherwise the consequences would be really disastrous.
It turned out that after the fortress was recaptured, two brigade commanders from the 109th and 118th brigades, with more than 20 soldiers, came to patrol near the walls of the Kobrin Fortress and lamented the sacrifices their troops had made in order to cross the river. What a price.
Unexpectedly, there was a wounded German soldier lying nearby. When he saw two Soviet officers walking over with a group of soldiers, he struggled to sit up, picked up the submachine gun in his hand, pulled the trigger at the two men, and shot the two men in one breath. 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 with unwillingness on their faces.
The soldiers following them saw their brigade commander shot and fell to the ground. They immediately rushed over with guns in hand and stabbed the wounded German soldier sitting on the ground with a bayonet to avenge their brigade commander.
