"No, it can't be!" The instructor objected: "If we break through to the south, it means that we will have to capture at least two places, the central fortress and the fortress of Terespil or Volyn!" And that's almost impossible to do! ”

"There is no forest to the south, soldier!" Venyakov reminded Shulka: "There is a swamp, and we will be uncoveredly exposed to the sight of the German fighters!" ”

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 one of the reasons why the strategic position of the Brest Fortress is so important...... The Brest Fortress was surrounded by a large area of primeval forest to the north and an endless swamp to the south, and the German tanks, automobiles and other mobile units in the center could only enter the territory of the Soviet Union through this gap in Brest.

"Soldier!" An officer scoffed: "I think you can't tell the direction, instead of breaking through to the south, we should attack the Germans west!" ”

There was laughter from the command.

Compared with Shulka as a private, the officers will inevitably have a sense of superiority psychologically, after all, they think that Shulka has not undergone systematic study of military theory, and this suggestion is just nonsense.

But they soon discovered that this was not the case.

In the midst of their laughter, Shulka replied word for word: "Yes, you are right. It is almost impossible to break through to the south, so ...... The Germans think so too! ”

"That's not enough, Shulka!" The instructor replied with a cigarette in his mouth: "Although it is true that this may be unexpected by the Germans, there are many difficulties waiting for us!" ”

"For example?" Shulka asked.

"For example, there is a problem with synergy!" The instructor said: "How do we inform the center fortress? How can you be sure that the battle plan will definitely be sent to the central fortress and supported by them? If they don't support it, how do you notify us? ”

Although the instructor was disgusting, he had a point.

The central fortress and the Kobrin fortress had already been divided by the Germans, and the last time the central fortress sent a dozen messengers to contact Major Gavrilov in the Kobrin fortress, but except for the child of the military platoon, the others were unsuccessful.

Well, in this case, how can the unity of the two fortresses in the offensive plan be guaranteed?

Keep sending correspondents?

came and went, but I was afraid that the time for the attack had come and the two sides had not been able to get in touch.

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

Before he could finish speaking, there was another burst of laughter around him.

"Damn it!" One officer said, "He may not even know what synergy is!" ”

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

"Why?" The major asked solemnly: "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 through to the north at the same time, and after changing the plan...... I mean to break out to the south, and we're going to do the same thing, attack north with a part of our forces, which will make the Germans think they're right! ”

A hint of strangeness flashed on Captain Venyakov's face: "And then they will focus their attention on the north?" ”

"Yes!" Shulka continued: "They will mobilize a major garrison in the north to prevent us from entering the forest, and they will even set a trap in the north. At the same time, the central fortress will attack the Bright Bridge as originally planned, and if we attack the bridge further south, it will form a flanking attack on the German troops stationed at the bridge......"

At this point, the look of disdain on the faces of the officers was all gone, replaced by surprise and solemnity.

The Brett Bridge is a bridge that connects the Kobrin Fortress with the Central Fortress across the Bug River, and the first thing to break through to the south is to capture the bridge, and the original plan is to attack the bridge as well as to break through the Central Fortress to the north.

Therefore, even if the two do not succeed in getting in touch, the unilateral change of the battle plan of the Kobrin fortress will also lead to a coordinated operation.

"You mean to say......" Major Gavrilov concluded, "we can tell the commissar of Fumin about the change of plans in person?" ”

"Yes!" Shulka replied: "With the capture of the Bright Bridge and the successful meeting of the two armies, there is no question of not being able to contact the plan and not being unified!" ”

"Well......" Captain Venyakov asked, "what if the Germans perceive this?" As long as they make up for the defenses of the southern fortress in time, we will be trapped in the central fortress and unable to move! ”

Shulka understood what Captain Venyakov meant.

The Brest Fortress is made up of four separate islands, and the central fortress in the middle is connected to the three surrounding islands by bridges, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack for both sides, because the bridge is the chokepoint, and it does not take too many troops 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!" ”

Then the officers were silent.

Shulka refers to the place of crossing the river to the east of the central fortress, from where it is possible to cross the river directly out of the encirclement of the Brest fortress without crossing bridges.

This was a treacherous but promising success in the dark of night and with the Germans' attention drawn to the east.

There was silence in the command for a long time before Captain Venyakov nodded and said, "I think we can try this suggestion!" As long as our feints to the north are in place, the Germans will always think that we are trying to break through to the north, and by this time we have crossed the Bug River from the central fortress from a position they did not expect, and then go south into the swamp! ”

"Comrade Venyakov!" The instructor objected, "What if we go into the swamp?" Like you said, there is nothing in the swamp that can be our cover, we will be a target for the Germans......! ”

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

"And what about airplanes?" The instructor said: "The Germans have a large number of planes!" ”

"Their planes don't have time to take care of us!" Major Gavrilov replied: "I don't know if you have noticed that the Germans are attacking us mainly with artillery, and there are not many tanks and planes!" ”

After a pause, Major Gavrilov continued: "This is because their main forces are attacking the heart of the Soviet Union, if it is true...... That is, our troops are retreating, and then the enemy's planes have too many targets, and they will not waste bullets and bombs on our handful of people, or waste time searching! ”

As he spoke, Gavrilov glanced at Shulka and said secretly: If this private had thought about this a long time ago, it would have been terrible!