On the morning of February 16, the observation post of the 1st Company of the 393rd Anti-aircraft Artillery Battalion of the Central Fortress of the Brest Fortress. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

The officer on duty, Second Lieutenant Rodion Semenyok, as usual, got up early in the morning to inspect the situation of the 12 anti-aircraft guns of the whole company in the position, and after concluding that everything was in order, he entered the circle of the fort and ascended to the company-to-air observation post set up on the shoulder of the roof of the church.

The command post has an excellent view, where you can see most of the fortress clearly, the situation in the distance is also clear, and the most important thing is that there is an unobstructed field of view close to 360 degrees, which is the best place to observe the sky. In the entire central fortress area, only the observation post on the bell tower above his head on his left side can have a better view, and the only thing that can block his view is the surprisingly high bell tower.

Corporal Snovich arrived before himself, "Comrade Second Lieutenant, everything is normal. He handed the notebook on the table to Simon York.

Glancing at last night's record, there was no problem, and Semenyok answered the phone from the large-caliber anti-aircraft artillery position below: "Can you hear me?" I'm Semen York. ”

"The voice is thump, Comrade Ensign."

Hanging up the phone, I saw a person on the front line walk out of the security phone hut, wave to himself, and then walk back.

The first company is a large-caliber antiaircraft artillery company of the 393rd antiaircraft artillery battalion, which is equipped with new 85-mm antiaircraft guns that were only reequipped last year, while the second and third companies are equipped with 37-mm antiaircraft guns, and the fourth company is equipped with 14.5-mm large-caliber machine guns. The two battalions of the anti-aircraft artillery unit of the Brest Fortress were different from their counterparts in the field troops, and the equipment was mixed in company units, which was probably more effective. These 85-mm guys have a long range, a high firing height, and a fast rate of fire, but their recoil is also terrifying, and they cannot be attached to the city wall like the "little brothers" of several other companies.

In order to obtain enough shooting range, the headquarters placed the position of the second company on a large open ground outside the defensive circle of the central fortress and in the breastwork wall on the inner side of the moat. This arrangement allowed those anti-aircraft guns to have a wide enough firing range, and in conjunction with the 85-mm anti-aircraft artillery positions of the 392nd Battalion, they could defend the entire medium-altitude airspace of the fortress.

"Snowwich, those giants of the Eastern Fortress are training again." After looking around with his telescope, Semenyok said to the corporal who was observing the western airspace with a rangefinder.

"Oh." Taking the binoculars handed by the second lieutenant and pointing them at the eastern fortress, he saw a group of people busy on the tracks, and a huge cannon was crouching there.

"I don't know when I'll hear the roars of those Big Macs, I haven't heard the big guys fire since I got here." Snowwich was accustomed to this scene, put down the binoculars, and there was a hint of ridicule in his tone.

"Probably for secrecy."

The corporal nodded, and returned to the rangefinder.

Discipline is strict here, and the people in the central fortress, except for officers of a certain rank, generally do not know about the existence of those terrifying cannons of large calibers, and it is estimated that people in other fortresses do not know the "little secrets" of the eastern fortress.

The "high-up" observation post could see it, but was explicitly told not to tell anyone else in the unit about the situation there, otherwise the disciplinary committee would have come to him for a "talk".

At this time, the phone rang, and Semenyok picked up the microphone, "Church to air observation post, I am the headquarters." The fishing net informs that there are German planes approaching in the direction of the fortress, the height is very high, pay attention to the observation, and keep a close watch! Feel free to report the situation. ”

"Yes, Command, the observation post understands!"

Semenyork, who had put down the phone, was no longer in the mood to chat with the corporal, took over the work of observing with a rangefinder, and kept a close eye on the high altitude in the west.

After a while, a small dot appeared in the distance in the air, and after 20 times the magnification of the rangefinder, Semenyok determined that it was a high-altitude reconnaissance plane, approaching him.

I calculated in my heart, and before I could speak, I heard Snowwich's nagging: "There should be a ten thousand twelve, how can this ghost thing fly so high?!" ”

Like himself, the veteran has roughly measured the height of the target with his eyes.

"Our anti-aircraft artillery can't threaten it."

The big 85 mm guy could hit the shells to that height, but there was no real threat.

The people who had good eyes and were on the city wall could already see the plane with the naked eye, and the target was still flying straight to their side.

Semenyok sent an alert to the headquarters, and for a time the whole fortress was busy, and a well-trained "concealed battle" was launched at high speed -- the 380-mm mortar that had been pulled out of the building by the eastern fortress was immediately dragged back to the concealed department, and the several artillery positions on the flanks of the fortress were not busy, and the camouflage nets were still hidden there.

Most of the small-caliber anti-aircraft guns on the city walls were covered with camouflage, and there was no way to make a mistake.

Since the end of last year, the German reconnaissance planes have often flown along the western side of the Bug River, and the defenders of the fortress have long practiced a good camouflage skill, that is, the planes cannot capture the real situation of Brest even at an oblique effective shooting distance, but they did not fly so high and not so close as this time!

The more Semenyok observed, the more he felt that something was wrong, judging from the movement of the target's course, it seemed that it had no intention of turning and changing course at all, and it was almost at the zenith - 12,000 meters altitude, and the plane had to be very close to the zenith position to indicate that it had crossed the border. The calculations followed: the Germans were going to cross the border.

At this time, the phone rang again, and it was still from the headquarters: "Continue to monitor, don't sound the air raid siren, repeat, don't sound the air raid siren." "To avoid unnecessary exposure, the airport has been notified that the plane will be dispatched."

"Yes, Headquarters!"

Why did the Fortress Command make such a decision? Because as soon as the air raid sirens are sounded, the air defense forces of the entire fortress will be mobilized, and then the Germans in the sky will see it clearly - since they can't be defeated, they will simply hide it.

The side effect of "non-resistance" was obvious, it would greatly affect morale, so the command, having received the news that fighters would be sent from the airfields in the rear, told a small second lieutenant about the situation, so that all the defenders of the fortress would understand that the airspace of the Soviets would not be allowed to be violated!

The commander of the Brest Fortress garrison, Colonel Peter Mikhailovich Zarillov, had already walked to the door of the headquarters and looked up through the binoculars at the German plane overhead. The entire fortress has been concealed, and even the reconnaissance plane going around in circles to take a car of photos will not know the true strength of the Brest Fortress.

At this time, a staff officer walked up to him: "Commander, the rear air force has informed us that they will definitely shoot down the Germans' reconnaissance planes, hoping that we will not expose our anti-aircraft fire." ”

"Yes."

Zarilov's decision just now was correct, and it seems that the comrades in the Air Force are still a little slower than their own thinking. For more than a year, the fortified area under his command has been built into an impregnable superfortress. Last year it was informed that the Germans had reconnaissance planes flying at extremely high altitudes, and it was possible that they would appear at the border this year, and today they are really here.

As soon as he came, he swaggered over his head and went around to the east, not paying any attention to the Soviet air defense. If it were an ordinary aircraft, as long as it crossed the border, the anti-aircraft fire of the fortress would be able to knock it down, and there was no chance of a low-altitude invasion: it was still peacetime, but the defense of the fortress was carried out according to a system close to wartime.

Zarilov firmly remembered the instructions of the Deputy People's Commissar of Defense Andrei, that the entire fortress was ready from the end of the French campaign, and that all posts were manned at all times: he understood that if the Germans attacked, the fortress would be subjected to an overwhelming attack!

"Wait, German, it's your life to let you in!"

This colonel himself is estimated to be the colonel with the most subordinates in the whole army, and the troops in the entire fortress area have exceeded 20,000! The entire 42nd Infantry Division and most of the 6th Infantry Division, together with a large number of specially equipped units and the 17th NKVD Border Guard Corps, were attached to the fortified area.

Zarylov clearly knew that the Central Committee attached great importance to the situation in Brest, and with the special care of Marshal Andrei, he would have such a strong strength.

The fortress is not a place that is only defended but not attacked, and there are so many troops in the garrison area that they should be put to good use, rather than blindly training how to defend. Since his own troops are sufficient and superior in firepower, after approval, Zarylov has deliberately reorganized the establishment of the fortress troops since last year, and formed a special detachment of 8,000 people on the basis of the 6th Infantry Division, which has a stronger assault capability than a mechanized brigade, and is stationed in the flank garrison area of the fortress.

To use Zarilov's analogy: the fortress is a porcupine covered in thorns, and the special detachment is a wolverine on the side of the porcupine, but this wolverine is in league with the porcupine - even if you German are a tiger, if you underestimate the "combination of porcupine and wolverine", you are waiting to suffer a big loss!

The German planes flew away, and it didn't take long for the fortress to receive an urgent notice: the garrison area was put into first-level combat readiness to guard against possible military actions by the Germans!

The fortress is ready to go! And when it came time after lunch, the command of the military district informed Zarilov that the alert level could be lowered by one level. The invading aircraft had been shot down, the captured German pilots were to be sent to the fortress for interrogation, and interrogation specialists from the Ministry of Internal Affairs would soon arrive.

In fact, when the military district issued the order for first-class combat readiness, Zarillov knew that the German reconnaissance plane must have been beaten down. (To be continued, if you want to know what will happen next, please log in to the www.qidian.com, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!) (To be continued.) )