How long did the Brest Fortress last? Hero City Brest Fortress

Despite the danger of attacking fascist Germany, the supreme leadership of the Soviet Union preferred to ignore any signals confirming the likelihood of war. Stalin relied on the non-aggression pact signed by Hitler and was confident that the leader of Germany, who fought with Anlghia, would not risk a war on two fronts. However, his assumptions turned out to be fatal for the country miscalculations. And one of the first who took the blow of the allegedly unexpected attack was the Brest Fortress (Belarus).

Bloody June morning

Whatever the general line of the Kremlin during Hitler's victorious march across Europe, of course, there were military border fortifications on the western borders of the Soviet Union. And they, of course, saw increased activity on the other side of the border. However, no one received the order to bring it to military readiness. Therefore, when on June 22 at 4.15 am the Wehrmacht artillery troops opened a hurricane fire, it was literally a thunder from the blue. The attack caused serious and irreparable damage to the garrison, destroying the warehouses of weapons, food, communications, water and so on. The Brest Fortress during the war took the first battle, which turned into monstrous losses and complete demoralization.

Military readiness

As follows from open sources, on the eve of the attack on the fortress there were eight shooting batolions and one reconnaissance, artillery divisions, as well as some units of rifle divisions, border detachments, engineering regiments, NKVD troops. The total number of personnel reached nine thousand soldiers and officers, plus about three hundred of their families. General Leonid Sandalov recalled that the location of the military on the western border of Belarus was determined by the technical possibilities of their deployment. This explains the high concentration of parts with their reserves at the very border.

In turn, from the invaders to the garrison moved forces totaling twenty thousand fighters, that is, more than double the number of Soviet defensive lines in Brest. However, we need to make a historical clarification. The Brest Fortress was not taken by German troops. The attack was carried out by the Austrians, who joined the ranks of the Hitlerite army after joining the Third Reich in 1938. How much the Brest Fortress held with such numerical superiority is not the most important issue. The hardest thing to understand is how they managed to do what they did.

Taking the Fortress

The assault began eight minutes after the first hurricane. Offensive attack was initially carried out to one and a half thousand infantrymen. The events developed swiftly, the garrison of the fortress failed to provide a single purposeful resistance because of the surprise of the strike. As a result, the units defending the fortress were divided into several islets isolated from each other. Having learned such a balance of forces, anyone would ask a question about how much the Brest Fortress held. Initially, it seemed that, indeed, the Germans were advancing deeper in defense easily and confidently, without encountering a serious rebuff. However, the Soviet units, already in the enemy's rear, were concentrated, were able to break off the whole offensive and destroy part of the enemy.

A group of fighters was able to leave the fortress and the city, retreating deep into Belorussia. But most of this was not done, and it was they who continued to defend their firing line to the last. According to the researchers, the fortress was able to leave six thousand, and left nine thousand soldiers. Within five hours the ring around the fortress was closed. Resistance at that time intensified, and the fascists had to use reserves, bringing the offensive forces to two regiments. One of the participants in the offensive later recalled that they had not encountered any special resistance, but the Russians did not give up. How much the Brest Fortress held and at the expense of which it succeeded, surprised the fascists.

Keep the lines to the last

By the end of the first day of the attack, the fascists began shelling the fortress. In the intervals they offered the Soviet soldiers to surrender. Nearly two thousand people listened to their exhortations. The strongest units of the Soviet divisions managed to meet at the Officers' House and plan a breakthrough operation. But it did not happen: the Nazis outstripped them, the Red Army soldiers were killed, and some were taken prisoner. How long did the Brest Fortress last? The last commander of the troops was captured on July 23 after the offensive. Although on June 30 the fascists managed to suppress the organized resistance almost completely. However, there were separate pockets, single soldiers, who united and again fled, someone managed to escape to the partisans in Belovezhskaya Pushcha.

No matter how the Wehrmacht planned, it was not that simple that the first step was the Brest Fortress. How long defense lasted, the question is ambiguous. According to various sources, even before August 1941, there was a single resistance. Eventually, in order to eliminate the last Soviet soldiers, the cellars of the Brest Fortress were flooded with water.