The roar of Gustav's train guns was only the beginning of the nightmare for the Soviet army, and the six Karl self-propelled mortars also turned their muzzles and smashed two-ton concrete armor-piercing shells into the central fortress.

Chen Dao heard the sound of thunderous cannons behind him, and the smoke and dust billowed from the central fortress, and the entire fortress had turned into purgatory, and there was fire from the explosion of cannonballs everywhere.

Although he was in the air, Chen Dao still felt the earth tremble.

The Gustav train cannon poured three armor-piercing shells on the central fortress, the 833rd heavy mortar battalion fired six salvos, and the 150 howitzer, 210 howitzer and 105-mm cannon battalion dropped countless shells, and the central fortress was almost razed to the ground, leaving only the outline of a round of outer walls on the ground, surrounding the mountain of rubble.

Although he was not a Soviet soldier inside the fortress, Chen Dao, as an expert in the aesthetics of violence, clearly knew that no one would survive the blow of this kind of power, and even if there were survivors, they would be stunned by the violent shock wave.

The attack of the 45th Infantry Division proved everything, and the infantry encountered little resistance, and easily rushed into the rubble of the central fortress and searched for the survivors inside.

Chen Dao's helicopter hovered over the central fortress and saw that the German soldiers were not so much searching and suppressing as rescuing Soviet soldiers.

In the cracks of the rubble, the wounded Soviet soldiers who were buried alive or half-buried alive were dug up by the Germans, and then thrown on stretchers and carried out of the central fortress, most of these wounded were ragged, covered with dust and blood, and their mouths were full of pain.

The rescue operation continued until about 5 p.m., when the Soviet troops, buried deeper in the rubble, were judged to have no saving value, and the German soldiers immediately gave up their useless work and turned their attention to the Kobrin fortress in the north and the Volyn fortress in the south.

Two barrel wagons, with dazzling white flags at their heads, gracefully bypassed the central fortress and stopped in front of the Kobrin Fortress and the Volyn Fortress respectively.

In front of the closed steel gates of the Kobrin Fortress. A German captain jumped out of the barrel car and looked cautiously at a gun emplacement above the gate.

In the gun emplacement, a Soviet second lieutenant shouted in unfamiliar German: "Don't get close, stop." ”

"I am a Nobel Captain of the German Army, and I have come to persuade you to surrender on the orders of General Schroeder, and I ask you to inform your Supreme Commander. I hope to meet him. Said the German captain.

A few minutes later, the steel door was opened through a gap, and three Soviet soldiers walked up to Captain Nobel.

After the body search, they tied a strip of black cloth to Captain Nobel's eyes, and then led Captain Nobel into the steel door, which slammed shut behind them.

In the dark, Captain Nobel walked for an unknown distance, turning at least four turns and going down a flight of stairs. That's when we stopped.

"Comrade commissar, the emissary of the Germans has arrived, please instruct."

"Let him in." A hoarse voice said.

A large hand pushed Nobel on the back, and Captain Nobel stumbled a few steps, and the black cloth on his eyes was removed.

Quickly sweeping the room, Captain Nobel saw a slightly messy conference room, with four or five wine bottles and a pile of glasses lying around on the table, and mottled wine stains on the table.

There were three people standing at the conference table. At the head was a tall, thin, unshaven officer.

See Captain Nobel looking at himself. The officer at the head said: "I am the political commissar of Fuming, Captain Nobel, if you have anything to say, please say it as soon as possible, remember to be simple and direct, and don't talk nonsense." ”

Captain Nobel saw that Foming's eyes were bloodshot and his voice was hoarse. There are still blood blisters on his lips, knowing that the battle in the past few days has brought him great psychological pressure, and his temper is also very short-tempered.

"Mr. Commissar, I have come on the orders of Admiral Schroeder to advise you to surrender. I think you have already seen what happened to the Terespil fortress and the central fortress, if you don't want the Kobrin fortress to be blown into ruins. You and your men are buried here, and hopefully you will soon lay down your arms and surrender to General Schroeder. General Schröder swears by the honor of the German Army, and we will treat you according to your rank. ”

Fuming sneered contemptuously, and was about to speak, when he suddenly remembered something.

With his eyelids drooping, Commissar Fuming thought for a few seconds before he said to Captain Nobel: "Captain Nobel, please go to another room to rest for a while, my comrades and I need to discuss before making a decision." ”

Captain Nobel smiled and said, "Of course, but please hurry, General Schroeder gave me an order to go back before seven o'clock." ”

Commissar Fomin nodded in understanding, and Captain Nobel was then taken out of the room.

As soon as Captain Nobel walked out of the conference room, the major standing behind him shouted: "Comrade commissar, what do you want to do?" Are you going to surrender to the Germans? ”

The one who shouted was the commander of the 44th regiment of the defenders of the fortress, Major Gavrilov.

Fumin glanced gloomily at Gavrilov, shook his head, and said in a deep voice: "Of course I will not surrender to the Germans, I am thinking about something else." At noon, you all saw what the Germans were doing with the central fortress, and the defense of the Kobrin fortress was completely incomparable to that of the central fortress. If we insist on resisting, as long as the enemy bombards us with those huge cannons, we can completely destroy the fortress with zero casualties, and we will either be buried alive by the rubble of the fortress, or we will be directly blown to pieces, and we will not be able to cause any more damage to the enemy. ”

"So what should we do? In addition to surrender. Major Gavrilov asked anxiously.

"It is the duty of a soldier to die for his country, but we have more than 400 civilians here, and we cannot afford to watch them die in this winless battle, and this is my plan," Fuming said.

More than half an hour later, Captain Nobel was taken back to the conference room.

"Mr. Commissar, can you tell me your decision now?" Captain Nobel asked.

"Comrade Captain, after our discussion, we can only give you a contradictory answer."

"What do you mean?" Captain Nobel asked.

"There were some disputes between us, some of us wanted to surrender, and some of us refused to surrender and wanted to live and die with the fortress. So our answer is that the part of the people who decided to surrender left the fortress and became your prisoners. ”

Captain Nobel and Commissar Fuming looked at each other for a while, and then suddenly asked, "Mr. Commissar." I think you must be one of the people who decided to live and die with the fortress. ”

"That's right, I'll stay and fight you until the very end." Fuming said.

"In all the legends of the Soviet Red Army in the German Army, the commissar was a group of militants who encouraged your soldiers to die, neither taking their lives seriously nor cherishing your own. Your actions now confirm the truth of these legends. Captain Nobel said.

"No amount of what I say can change your prejudice against the commissar, so I decided not to talk nonsense with you. We have more than 400 people to surrender, when will you send men to receive their surrender? Better hurry, it's getting dark. Fuming asked.

"If only some of the people want to surrender, I need to ask my superiors for instructions before I can reply to you."

"Please bring me a reply as soon as possible, and I'll send you back now." Fuming said.

Soon, Captain Nobel was blindfolded and sent out of the Kobrin fortress.

About twenty minutes later. Chen Dao walked into the military headquarters of the Twelfth Army, saluted General Schroeder, and looked at Captain Nobel.

"More than 400 people will surrender to the defenders of the Kobrin fortress, the others will decide to resist to the end, and the defenders of the Volyn fortress will decide to surrender all." Captain Nobel said.

Admiral Schroeder continued: "In general, it is good news, it will at least reduce the time it will take us to occupy the fortress, and it will also open the supply lines of the 2nd Panzer Army as soon as possible." I decided to stop shelling for the time being, accept the surrender of the Russians overnight, and wait until I had accepted the surrender of the Russians. Early tomorrow morning, we will launch a general offensive. Capture of the Kobrin fortress. ”

"Very well, this is the safest way, while it is not dark yet, we will act as soon as possible." Chen Dao said.

Soon, the barrel cart with the white flag drove towards the two fortresses again, and when the two messengers left the fortress again. The two fortresses quickly walked out of the mighty long queue.

As the two long lines rounded the central fortress, the crowd looked at them with horror, the fortified central fortress and the tall Basilica of St. Nicholas were gone, only the outer walls of the fortress and the piles of rubble inside showed that they once existed.

Piles of rubble and the ruined façade of the fortress, in which the German infantry hid. And set up machine guns and mortars, and watched with great eye as the two long columns approached.

The Soviet soldiers got closer and closer, saw the coldness and eagerness in the eyes of the German soldiers, and hurriedly waved the white shirts or white handkerchiefs in their hands to indicate the identity of their prisoners.

Two groups of German soldiers quickly rushed to the front of the two long columns and guided them around the central fortress to the road arranged for them.

Leaving the gates of the outer walls of the Brest Fortress, and after a careful body search, the two groups of captives headed east.

After all the prisoners had left, the infantry detachments of the 45th Infantry Division quickly seized the Volyn fortress and took control of it.

For a time, the focus of the two sides of the battle fell on the last place of resistance of the Brest Fortress, the Kobrin Fortress.

Chen Dao looked at the Soviet prisoners passing by, and couldn't help but praise: "The defenders in the Kobrin fortress deserve supreme praise. ”

"Why?" Captain Nobel asked.

"What do you see the difference between these two groups of captives? The Volyn fortress was surrendered en masse, while the Kobrin fortress was surrendered by civilians. The defenders of the fortress decided to live and die with the fortress, but they remembered to leave the civilians a way to live, and did not drag them to hell together, which can be regarded as fulfilling the duty of soldiers, and must be praised. ”

Inside the Kobrin fortress, Commissar Fomin carried a bottle of vodka and confronted Major Gavrilov.

Raising his neck and pouring a few mouthfuls, Fuming's face was covered with fiery clouds, he stammered with his tongue wide and said, "Tonight is our last chance, life or death is all up to tonight." ”

Major Gavrilov, who was athletic, twisted his thick neck and made a stiff sound.

"We'll act when it's completely dark, and hopefully the Germans' heavy artillery will wait until then."

In the anxiety of Fuming and the others, more than an hour passed.

When the night completely covered the battlefield, there was a series of slight noises in the Kobrin fortress.

To the north of the fortress, a black shadow flashed from behind an artillery hole, and the black shadow probe looked around, found nothing suspicious, and threw down a rope.

A succession of figures slipped out of the fortress along the rope, and a moment later, the ropes were lowered behind two more artillery holes, and one after another Soviet soldiers slipped out of the Kobrin fortress.

Underneath the first artillery hole, Fuming looked warily into the northern night.

By this time, he had changed into a soldier's uniform, and his epaulettes and collar badges had been replaced with the rank of sergeant.

When all the more than five hundred soldiers left the fortress, Fomin raised his hand and stretched out his hand to Major Gavrilov.

Gavrilov hugged him fiercely.

"Take care, we'll see you in Minsk."

"Take care, Comrade Commissar."

After the hug, the two soldiers split into two paths, each leading a group of soldiers to the north and northeast of the fortress.

The Northern Route Army led by Political Commissar Fuming had not gone far before Fuming heard a strange sound in front of him, like the sound of an oilcloth being torn.

The soldiers who were walking in front fell in an instant, and the screams were mixed with the thick sound of gunfire.

The flares rose into the sky, illuminating the earth, and under the bright light, the Soviet soldiers who broke through had nothing to hide, revealing their figures.

Mortar shells fell one after another in the columns of the Soviet troops, and the flesh and blood of the Soviet soldiers were scattered.

The firing of the Deg Galev light machine gun, the Bobosha submachine gun and the Mosin Nagant rifle soon rang out, and the battlefield was filled with muzzle-beating flames.

The flares exposed the Soviet troops, but they also allowed the Soviet troops to see the German positions.

Fumin calmly observed the German positions on the opposite side, and soon realized that the number of German troops on the opposite side did not seem to be large.

With a Bobosha submachine gun in his hand, he mixed in the middle of a pile of infantry, and as he fired, he rushed to the German position.

The land in front of the German positions became a cemetery for Soviet infantry, and with every step forward, many Soviet soldiers fell to the ground with a wail.

But driven by the dual forces of Russian Rus' stubbornness and desire to break through, the Soviet infantry still rushed to the German positions in waves.

Picking up a shovel lying on the side of the road, Fuming shouted and rushed to the German position first.

"Ulla."

A loud shout instantly sounded on the battlefield.

Seeing the Soviet soldiers rushing in front of them, the German soldiers jumped out of their respective hiding places without flinching, and rushed towards the enemy with rifles inserted in bayonets.

Fuming rushed to the front of the line with a shovel, knocking down two German soldiers in a row, and a long wound was cut by a bayonet on his right rib, but he did not stop the charge.

Seeing that a German soldier had just stabbed a Soviet infantryman to death, Fomin did not hesitate to rush towards the German soldier, only to see a German officer rush out behind the German soldier, followed by a pistol pointed at him.

A "bang" of gunfire rang out, and Fuming fell to the ground and lost consciousness (to be continued......