USSR 1941

  Chapter 25 Program

"No, it's impossible!" the instructor objected: "If we break through to the south, it means that we have to capture at least two places, the central fortress and the Terespol Fortress or the Warren Fortress! And this is almost impossible Made it!"

   "There is no forest in the south, soldier!" Venyakov reminded Shulka: "There is a swamp there, and we will be exposed to the sight of German fighter jets without any cover!"

  Venyakov is talking about the Pripyat swamp, which is 600 kilometers long from east to west and 200 kilometers wide from north to south.

This is also one of the reasons why the strategic position of the Brest Fortress is so important... The north of the Brest Fortress is a large virgin forest, and the south is an endless swamp. Special this gap into the territory of the Soviet Union.

   "Soldier!" An officer laughed and said, "I think you can't tell the direction. Instead of breaking out to the south, we might as well attack the Germans to the west!"

   There was laughter in the headquarters.

  Compared to Shulka, the private, the officers will inevitably have a sense of psychological superiority. After all, they think that Shulka has not studied systematically in military theory, and the suggestion he made is just nonsense.

   But they soon discovered that was not the case.

  Among their laughter, Shulka replied word by word: "Yes, you are right. It is almost impossible to break through to the south, so... the Germans think so too!"

   "Only this is not enough, Shulka!" The instructor responded with a cigarette in his mouth: "Although this may indeed surprise the Germans, there are many difficulties waiting for us!"

   "Like?" Shulka asked.

   "For example, coordination issues!" The instructor said: "How do we notify the central bastion? How to ensure that the combat plan will be sent to the central bastion and get their support? If they don't support it, how will we be notified?"

  Although the instructor is disgusting, what he said makes sense.

The central fortress and the Kobrin fortress have been divided by the German army. The last time the central fortress sent more than a dozen correspondents to contact Major Gavrilov in the Kobrin fortress, but except for the child in the military music platoon, no one else could success.

  So, in this case, how can we ensure the unity of the two fortresses in their attack plan?

  Continue to send correspondents?

   Come and go, I am afraid that the attack time is up and the two sides have not been able to contact.

   "We don't need to solve the problem of synergy!" Shulka replied.

   Before the words fell, there was another laughing sound from around.

   "Damn!" said one officer, "He probably doesn't even know what synergy is!"

  Major Gavrilov didn't laugh. He had heard Shulka analyze the battlefield situation before, so he knew that this soldier was not as simple as others thought.

   "Why?" The major asked seriously: "Tell me the reason!"

Shulka pointed to the map and said: "According to the original plan, after 7 o'clock, the central fortress and the Kobrin fortress broke out to the north at the same time, but after changing the plan...I mean to choose to break out to the south, we have to do the same thing, Attacking north with a portion of the force will make the Germans think they've got the right news!"

  A strange look flashed across Lieutenant Venyakov's face: "Then they will focus on the north?"

"Yes!" Shulka continued: "They will mobilize and garrison the north to prevent us from entering the forest, and even set traps in the north. At the same time, the central fortress will attack the Bright Bridge as originally planned. If we go further south Attacking the bridge will form a pincer attack on the German troops stationed on the bridge..."

   Speaking of this, the disdainful expressions on the officers' faces disappeared, replaced by surprise and solemnity.

  Bright Bridge is a bridge across the Bug River connecting the Kobrin Fortress and the central fortress. If you break out to the south, you must first capture this bridge. In the original plan, the central fortress will also attack this bridge when you break through to the north.

  So, even if the two do not succeed in getting in touch, the Kobrin Fortress unilaterally changes the combat plan and will also form a coordinated operation.

   "You mean..." Major Gavrilov concluded: "We can tell Commissar Fumin about the change of plan in person?"

   "Yes!" Shulka replied: "After capturing the Bright Bridge, the two armies successfully joined forces, so there will be no problem of inconsistency in communication plans!"

   "So..." Lieutenant Venyakov asked: "What if the Germans realize this? They just need to replenish the defense of the southern fort in time, and we will be trapped in the central fort and cannot move!"

   Shulka understood what Captain Venyakov meant.

The Brest Fortress is composed of four independent islands. The central fortress in the middle is connected to the three surrounding islands by bridges. This terrain is easy to defend and difficult to attack for both the enemy and us, because the bridge is the throat. It doesn't take much force to seal it off.

   "They won't notice!" Shulka pointed to a location on the map and said, "Because we cross the river from here!"

   All the officers fell silent.

  Shuerka refers to the river crossing site in the east of the central fortress, from where the river crossing can directly jump out of the encirclement of the Brest Fortress without passing through the bridge.

  Although this is dangerous, it is indeed possible to succeed in the dark and attract the attention of the German army to the east.

After a long silence in the headquarters, Captain Venyakov nodded and said: "I think we can try this suggestion! As long as our feint attack in the north is done properly, the Germans will always think that we are trying to break out to the north. And by this time we have crossed the Bug River from the central bastion from a position they did not expect, and then went south into the swamp!"

   "Comrade Venyakov!" The instructor objected: "What if we enter the swamp? As you said, there is nothing in the swamp that can be our cover, and we will become the target of the Germans...!"

   "No, we won't!" Major Gavrilov interrupted the instructor: "Entering the swamp means that the Germans cannot pursue, because tanks, cars, and even their motorcycles cannot advance in the swamp."

   "So what about the planes?" The instructor said: "The Germans have a large number of planes!"

   "Their planes have no time to take care of us!" Major Gavrilov replied: "I don't know if you have noticed that the Germans' attack on us is mainly artillery, and there are not many tanks and planes!"

After a pause, Major Gavrilov continued: "This is because their main force is attacking the hinterland of the Soviet Union. If it is true...that is, our troops are retreating, then the enemy's planes have too many targets. , they won't even waste bullets and bombs or time searching for our little group!"

   As he spoke, Gavrilov glanced at Shulka and thought to himself: If this private had thought about this early on, it would be terrible!

  (end of this chapter)