Fortress of Heroes and Stalinist Being Calculated
Brest fortress was originally only a small part of Barbarossa's plan, but it was remembered by later generations because of the desperate resistance of the isolated Soviet army. Because the Germans lost too much in this battle, they shocked the top management and asked the frontline officers to write a detailed report.
▲ German armored forces in Barbarossa's attack
It was not until the next year that the Soviet army discovered this information from the captured German documents, thus revealing the details of history. For many years, the defense of Brest fortress is a symbol of the unyielding spirit of the Soviet Union, and it was awarded the title of 1965 "Hero Fortress" by the Soviet government.
However, there is a disgraceful history behind Brest's brilliant patriotism: this is actually the second time that Germany raided Brest in World War II. The Soviet Union and Germany plotted against Poland for the first time here. This fortress is the result of Stalin's division, and it is also a witness to the "friendship" between the Soviet Union and Germany.
Brest fortress is located on the east bank of the Bug River at the junction of Belarus and Poland, and on the main traffic routes of Warsaw-Moscow and Lithuania-Ukraine.
▲ Brest fortress sketch
The fortress can accommodate 12000 people and consists of four independent islands, separated by the Buge River and the artificial canal. The central castle is located in the southwest of Tespor fortress, with Warren fortress in the south and Kablin fortress in the north. Each fortress has a river as a natural barrier, and there are bridges between them. The position marked 13 in the middle of the above picture is the Holm Gate.
Brest was captured by Russia and Poland in history. 19 17 Russia and Germany signed the famous Brest Treaty here. Polish troops occupied Brest.
1939, Stalin and Hitler secretly signed an agreement, the Soviet Union attacked Poland, and the Red Army and the German Army joined forces in Brest to hold a get-together and victory ceremony. Guderian, who occupied the fortress, retreated and handed it over to the Soviet Union. At this point, the Soviet Union took the Buge River as the boundary, and Brest fortress became the first barrier for the Soviet Union to face the west.
▲ 1939 Polish soldiers in the Polish campaign
Who would have thought that only two years later, Hitler declared war on his old friend. Now, guderian wants to take back the fortress he personally gave to the Red Army. When Brest's little friend betrayed himself, Stalin was shocked and didn't know how to react. Then, the largest bloody killing in the last century broke out between "comrades and brothers".
The defenders went from near collapse to desperate resistance.
Stalin, who was thousands of miles away, was surprised to lose his mind, not to mention the Brest garrison who was suddenly involved in a fierce battle. In just a few days, the soldiers experienced a painful course of shock, panic, disappointment, despair and even death. This is probably the baptism of war.
I have imagined war, but I have never imagined such a war. It seems that everyone is waiting, but no one expected it to be so soon. -The movie Fort brest, 20 10.
▲ Poster of the movie "Brest Fortress"
On June 22nd, it was Sunday, and many senior Soviet officers went out on holiday. There are about 8,000 troops stationed in various fortresses, two infantry divisions, border guards, building communication and housekeeping personnel, and about 300 dependents, which is very complicated. They are about to face the 20,000-strong German Defence Force.
In fact, a few days before the war broke out, the atmosphere was already tense and residents began to flee. Stalin and the Soviet authorities deliberately ignored dangerous information and were obsessed with maintaining their alliance. In contrast, ordinary people have their own intuition to judge the situation.
A few hours before the war broke out, things became more and more strange. In fact, the Soviet high command issued an order for the frontline troops to enter the combat state, but the soldiers at the fortress border post did not receive the order. They only noticed that the border post opposite was surprisingly quiet that night.
▲ Stalin
The sound of guns in the early morning broke everyone's dream. Under the double attack of German heavy artillery and bombers, the fortress fell into chaos, the munitions warehouse was destroyed, and the water supply system was also destroyed. The German tactics were to attack the fortress head-on with heavy weapons and infantry, and the armored forces detoured from the road outside the fortress to the north of the fortress.
The Germans quickly passed through the weakly guarded Fort Lesport and Wollenburg and headed for the central fortress.
The strong walls of the central fortress resisted the attack of heavy artillery. Soviet soldiers began to look for weapons. According to the regulations, you are not allowed to enter the armory without orders, but they put down the guards guarding the armory, found out all the weapons that can be used, and began to resist spontaneously.
▲ Structure diagram of Brest fortress
However, most soldiers are still in extreme fear and panic at this time. Someone escaped, but was knocked down by German machine guns. Some officers rushed into the basement with their families, loudly cursing the treachery of the Germans and calling on the soldiers to fight back, but they didn't know how to do it themselves.
Fu Ming, the political commissar of the regiment, and other officers realized that at this moment, they must bear the greatest responsibility, restore the command system as soon as possible and revive morale. On the evening of 22nd, in the central fortress, officers held a meeting to elect the unified supreme commander of all units in the central fortress-Fu Ming, political commissar of the 6th Infantry Division, and Zubachev, captain.
The first order of this temporary headquarters was that all officers and men of the central fortress resolutely defend the fortress and fight bravely (the manuscript of this order was miraculously preserved and found after the war).
Fuming has been trying to contact the big troops, but he doesn't know that the headquarters of the Fourth Army has retreated 200 kilometers eastward. The team that sent the contact died on the road, and no one answered the clear message. During the whole battle of the fortress, they didn't get any instructions from the headquarters.
▲ Soviet Red Army in World War II
The reserves of water and ammunition are about to run out, and the contact with the outside world is completely cut off. Powerful enemy troops are besieged, shelled and persuaded to surrender like cats and mice ..... Unprepared soldiers have experienced painful torture, some officers and men are on the verge of collapse, and people, especially recruits, are constantly coming out of the fortress to surrender.
By June 24, the Red Army soldiers finally realized that the Germans were attacking on the whole border and had to slow down the enemy's attack. The Germans had occupied part of the central fortress that day. In fact, at this moment, the Germans who suffered a lot have decided to bypass the fortress, so the fortress has lost its strategic significance and the siege of soldiers in the fortress has become a siege. The people in the fortress chose to stick to it and choose their own destiny.
June 26th is the last day for the officers and men of the Central Fortress. The breakthrough of the northern Kablin fortress failed, and the Germans rushed into the central castle. After fighting from house to house, Fu Ming and Zubar Chev, who were seriously injured, were dug out of the ruins by the Germans and captured. A young Red Army soldier shouted "Goodbye, Mom", then put a pistol in his mouth and shot himself.
▲ Datuk Zubar Chev commemorative stamps.
After the fall of the central fortress, the Soviet troops in the northern Kablin fortress are still fighting. On June 29th, the Germans dropped a two-ton aerial bomb. After experiencing a huge impact, the Soviet army realized that the last battle was coming. After the German army issued an ultimatum to surrender, the officers decided to let women and children leave the fort and surrender to the German army. The soldiers said they would all stay.
The ultimatum time has passed. The Germans fired heavy high-explosive bombs at the fortress, then rushed into the fortress and threw explosive charges at every window that was still shooting. According to the memories of the Germans who participated in the war, screams and groans could be heard after each explosion, but then the dying Soviet soldiers would stretch out their guns and continue fighting.
▲ Germans who broke into the fortress
On June 30, the last 300 Soviet troops in Kablin fortress were captured. Some almost humanoid prisoners were covered in blood bandages and wiped their tears, so weak that they could hardly stand up. In order to show respect for these brave soldiers, German soldiers took off their helmets.
The Germans couldn't find a flag of the garrison troops in the fortress, because all the flags of the troops had already been collected and hidden in ruins, and they were not excavated again until 15. Now these military flags are displayed in the Brest fortress memorial hall.
After the Germans occupied the castle, there was sporadic resistance in the fortress until July 23. A Red Army soldier who didn't leave his name was still hiding inside after the fall of Cabrinburg. He carved these words on the wall with a bayonet:
▲ I am dying, but I will not surrender. Goodbye, my motherland.
Blitzkrieg meets brest nemesis, which is just the beginning!
The Germans originally planned to take the fortress in 12 hour, but it took more than 8 days, using all kinds of heavy guns and flame throwers. On 1 attack day, 28 1 people were killed. By the end of the fighting on June 30, the report of the 45th Division said: "482 soldiers of our army were killed, including 32 officers. The Soviets killed 2,500 people and captured 6,000 people. "
In sharp contrast, Barbarossa's plan started smoothly. Except for the Brest fortress, the Soviet troops on the border basically collapsed as the Fuehrer wished. But the victory of the fortress was so difficult that it shocked the German high-level.
Barbarossa's success depends on a blitzkrieg that destroys the enemy's will. Even if it is only a local battle, it does not bode well for the Germans.
▲ German soldiers are in Barbarossa.
In parallel with the heroic story, historians have always questioned Stalin's prior knowledge of the upcoming war, but he did not take any action to reduce casualties, even to delay the time for the German army to inform all the garrison generals. It is also mentioned in the movie "Brest Fortress" that the location of the fortress determines that it is far away from the big troops and cannot be kept at all. It could have evacuated most of the soldiers and civilians.
Even so, it does not mean that this sacrifice is worthless. Brest's persistence is of great significance. Thousands of soldiers and civilians, isolated and helpless, stood up from the collapse in a day or two and resisted to the end. This is simply the epitome of the Soviet Union's entire patriotic war and the earliest indication of the bad luck behind the Germans.
Although they never received orders from the top, the defenders of the fortress chose to fight until the last moment, and perhaps they also realized the significance of sticking to it.
Later facts have repeatedly proved that from Leningrad to Moscow and then to Stalingrad, the defenders repeatedly repeated Brest's story, showing more and more incredible tenacity and dragging the elite Germans into the quagmire of the war of attrition.
▲ Soviet soldiers in the Battle of Stalingrad
The heroes who made Brest.
Brest defenders can change their mental state in a short time, largely relying on Fu Ming and other ordinary officers to come forward, boost morale and organize battles.
Fu Ming, an orphan, political commissar, * * * party member, a Jew, was shot by the German army immediately after being captured. Fuming has never fought before, but because he didn't buy a ticket for the holiday, he mistakenly became the core figure in the security war. In the fierce battle in the central fortress, it was Fu Ming who proposed to hold a joint meeting of officers to unify command duties.
Fu Ming and others quickly restored the organizational order, and the will, calmness, courage and leadership shown in fighting side by side with the soldiers greatly infected the soldiers in fear, helped them to calm down and participate in collective actions, became an important spiritual support for them to take up arms and fight, and stopped the spread of fear in time.
▲ Political commissar Fu Ming, weak appearance and strong will.
When the soldiers saw their brothers fall one by one, even their own sacrifices were no longer so terrible.
The soldiers regarded Fu Ming as the representative and commander of the Party, believing that only he knew how to act. Fu Ming realized that he could no longer be an ordinary person, could no longer show any panic and hesitation, and was always calm in front of people.
Survivor Solozopov recalled that on the last day of the battle in the central fortress, Fuming stood against the wall, exhausted. He reported that there was nothing left for the wounded. Fu Ming calmly replied, "Sit down, make sure what else we have and make a list."
However, Fu Ming, who has always been cold and calm in front of outsiders, once confided to Matt Vosyan, an adjutant: "A person who has no worries is more likely to die if he knows that his death will not bring disaster to others."
▲ Legendary hero Matevosyan
Fu Ming died in front of the gate of Holm, which he had guarded. The legendary Matevosyan escaped from the concentration camp and joined the guerrillas after being captured for three months. A few years later, when the Red Army came back, he returned to the army and became a company commander. Finally, he followed the team all the way to Berlin and engraved his name and a sentence on the wall of the parliament building-I am from Brest.
From Brest to Berlin, this is the real audience!
▲ Fuming sacrifices to Fumen.
War can stimulate the great evil of human nature and the great good of human nature. The Soviet army voluntarily chose to let women and children walk out of the fortress and surrender. Another episode about German soldiers is also worth mentioning.
Alexander who survived the battle of the guards? 7? Popkov was just a child at that time. He witnessed the tragic death of his mother and sisters and hid himself in the body, but was found by a German soldier: "He shone a flashlight on me, picked me up and sent me to a field hospital. Finally, I didn't fully understand why the former German threw a Grenade at me and the latter came to save me. "
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1* * * 2.35 million Belarusians were killed in the Great Patriotic War, accounting for one-tenth of the total death toll in the Soviet Union. The battle of Brest fortress in Belarus has become a part of the history of the Great Patriotic War and a part of national memory.
Those brave soldiers and brave officers may be just ordinary people in peacetime, peaceful and even fragile, but the cruel war inspired their strength. This was probably unexpected by the Nazis. The Battle of Brest is not only a warning to the Germans, but also a spiritual model of the Great Patriotic War.
▲ Belarus Patriotic War Memorial Hall, flowers are always at the foot of lovers' statues.