USSR 1941

"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 Marsh, 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. This gap enters the territory of the Soviet Union.

"Soldier!" An officer sneered, "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 with the private soldier Shulka, the officers will inevitably have a sense of psychological superiority. After all, they believe 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.

Amidst 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!" said the instructor: "How do we notify the central fortress? How do we ensure that the battle plan will be sent to the central fortress and get their support? If they don't support it, how will we be notified?"

Although the instructor is disgusting, there is a truth to what he said.

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 attack plan of the two fortresses?

Continue to send correspondents?

After coming and going, I'm afraid that the attack time is up and the two sides still haven't been able to contact each other.

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

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

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

Major Gavrilov did not 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 seven 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 , use a part of the force to attack north, which will make the Germans think they have 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..."

Having said that, the disdainful expressions on the faces of the officers disappeared, replaced by surprise and solemnity.

The Bright Bridge is a bridge connecting the Kobrin Fortress and the central fortress across the Bug River.

If you break out to the south, you must first capture the bridge, and in the original plan, the central fortress to break through to the north also needs to attack the bridge.

Therefore, 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 inform Commissar Fumin of the change of plan in person?"

"Yes!" Shulka replied: "After capturing the Bright Bridge, the two armies successfully joined forces, and 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 said, pointing to a spot on the map, "Because we cross the river from here!"

Then the officers were all silent.

Shulka refers to the river crossing point in the east of the central fortress, from where crossing the river can directly jump out of the encirclement of the Brest Fortress without crossing the bridge.

Although dangerous, it did have a good chance of success in the dark and when it drew 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 well, 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 serve as our cover, and we will become a target for 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."

"What about the planes?" said the instructor, "the Germans have a lot 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, 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 there are too many enemy planes. target, they won't even waste bullets and bombs or time searching for our little group!"

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