After the stubborn fighting of the commanders and fighters of the 75th Guards Division, the 60th Army took the lead in establishing a landing ground on the right bank of the Dnieper. In order to consolidate the position, Chernyakhovsky immediately issued an urgent order to transfer the main forces of the army group to this area in order to deal with a possible counterattack by the Germans.

Knowing that the 60th Army had established a landing ground on the opposite bank, Pukhov, commander of the 13th Army, kept calling the division commanders who were directing operations at the three crossings as if he had been beaten with blood, and asked loudly about the progress of the battle.

The division commander of the division that was crossing the river at Chernobyl was worried about the stubborn defense of the enemy on the other side of the river, which had caused heavy casualties to the troops who carried out the forced crossing. Hearing Pukhov urging himself to speed up the attack without saying anything, he couldn't help but complain a few words.

When Pukhov heard this, he immediately widened his eyes and said in a rough voice: "Comrade division commander, let me tell you, the troops of the 60th Army have already established a landing ground on the right bank of the Dnieper, and our performance must not be worse than theirs. If you think that your unit will not be able to complete the task assigned to you by the army group command, then I will replace you with a unit that can complete the task. ”

When the division commander heard Pukhov say this, he was immediately frightened and hurriedly replied: "Please rest assured, Comrade Commander, I will organize my forces and carry out a new round of forced crossing, and I must break through the German defenses on the opposite bank." Please wait for our good news at the headquarters. ”

As soon as the division commander put down the phone, he yelled at the chief of staff: "Call the regimental commanders and ask them to come to the division headquarters for a meeting immediately." ”

After the three infantry regiment commanders and an artillery regiment commander came to the headquarters, the division commander asked them with a serious expression: "Comrades regiment commanders, tell me, how long will it take to cross the Dnieper?" ”

"Comrade division commander," said the commander of the main assault regiment with a sad face, as soon as his words fell, "I have just reported to you that my river-crossing unit was in the river, and was subjected to heavy casualties by German machine-gun fire and artillery fire, and had to temporarily withdraw to regroup. ”

"Colonel," said the division commander, who looked at his regimental commander, "I will give you half an hour to immediately organize the troops to launch another forced crossing, and it is necessary to successfully cross the Dnieper." Then he said to the artillery commander, "Your artillery should provide artillery support for the troops crossing the river, and use a combination of direct and long-range fire to suppress the German fire on the opposite bank." Do you understand? ”

"Understood, Comrade Division Commander." The artillery commander hurriedly replied.

"And what about you, Comrade Colonel?" The division commander turned his gaze to the commander of the main attack regiment: "Can you attack again in half an hour?" ”

"Comrade division commander," the regiment commander raised his head and said stubbornly: "You should know that I became a party member in 31 years, and I am definitely not a person who is greedy for life and afraid of death, and I still have more than a dozen scars left to me by the Germans on my body. But I tell you responsibly, if we let the troops rest for three or four hours before launching a forced crossing, by then it will be dark, and the threat of German artillery to our river-crossing troops will be greatly reduced, and in this way our chances of success will be increased. If you were to give us an attack in half an hour, we wouldn't be able to do that. ”

After hearing this, the division commander did not get angry at the regiment commander, but turned his head to look at the other two regiment commanders, and asked with a solemn expression: "Which of the two of you can only launch a forced crossing after half an hour?" ”

The two heads of the regiment glanced at each other, and they both saw helplessness in each other's eyes. One of the regiment commanders said: "Comrade division commander, I think it is better to wait until it gets dark before launching an attack."

"No, resolutely not. We can't afford to wait that long. After the division commander said these two sentences, he saw that several of his subordinates were staring at him intently, so he added: "Just now, Comrade Commander called and said that the troops of the 60th Army have succeeded in establishing a wide landing ground on the right bank of the Dnieper River. He said he didn't want us to be worse than our allies, so he ordered us to speed up the attack. ”

As soon as the division commander said this, several regiment commanders immediately understood why the division commander would urge his troops to attack immediately as if they had eaten gunpowder. The commander of the main attack regiment hurriedly stepped forward and said a little embarrassedly: "I'm sorry, comrade division commander, I was wrong. I will go back to the troops, quickly assemble my troops, and strive to attack the Germans again within half an hour. ”

Seeing that the division commander nodded his head for approval, he walked up to the artillery commander again, lightly punched the opponent's chest with his fist, and said: "Old man, order your artillery to be on point later, you can eliminate one more firepower point, and we will be able to reduce the casualties of a few soldiers." ”

The artillery commander nodded, "Don't worry, my old friend, I will order the soldiers to destroy as much as possible the exposed fortifications on the opposite side and cover the successful crossing of the Dnieper by our infantry brethren." ”

According to the experience of the Germans, it was usually five or six hours after repelling the Soviet attack in one direction, and then the Soviets would attack again. Therefore, after crushing the Soviet army's forced crossing attempt, their defenses became lax, and some even left the trenches and went back to their respective shelters to rest.

As soon as the artillery on the left bank of the Dnieper opened fire, hundreds of commanders and fighters boarded the boats, rafts, kayaks, and rafts set up on several empty oil drums parked on the shore, and with an order, everyone began to paddle desperately with all the tools they could find, only to reach the opposite bank as quickly as possible.

The Germans did not expect that the Soviet army would launch a new offensive again in such a short period of time, and it immediately became a mess. The officers shouted hoarsely in the trenches, desperately urging the whistles, hoping that the soldiers who were resting in the shelters would return to their combat posts as soon as possible.

The machine guns in the firing point fired desperately at the river-crossing equipment floating on the water surface of the Dnieper, hoping to sink these things loaded with Soviet commanders and fighters as soon as possible. However, the artillery on the opposite bank had already locked on their positions, and some machine guns fired only a dozen rounds before they were blown to pieces by shells flying from the opposite bank.

With the cover of artillery, the German firepower on the opposite bank became thin. Although there were still wooden boats and platoons that were blown to pieces by shells, and commanders and fighters were swept into the water by enemy machine guns, as time went on, some Soviet wooden boats approached the opposite bank. Before the ship could reach the shore, the commanders and fighters on the boat jumped into the water and bravely rushed ashore in the cold, knee-high water.

As soon as the Soviet heavy machine gunners set foot on the ground, they immediately found a suitable position to set up heavy machine guns and fired fiercely at the German fire points that were exposed and had not yet been destroyed by artillery fire, so as to suppress their firepower and cover the forward charge of their comrades.

Encouraged by the news that the 60th Army had successfully landed on the right bank of the Dnieper and established a landing ground, the commanders and fighters of the 13th Army also fought extremely bravely. With the support of artillery, and at a considerable cost, they finally succeeded in forcing their way through the Mnevo, Chernobyl, and Stashev regions, establishing their own landing grounds on the right bank of the Dnieper.

After two days of fierce fighting, the troops of the 13th Army established a landing ground on the right bank of the Dnieper with a width of 30 kilometers and a depth of 35 kilometers.

……

……

Having gained a foothold on the right bank of the Dnieper, the troops of the 60th Army crossed the Dnieper through the captured bridge, along with a steady stream of follow-up troops, along with various technical equipment.

Having learned that the two armies had built a strong defense on the right bank, Rokossovsky first called Chernyakhovsky and gave him a new order: "General Chernyakhovsky, I now give you a new combat mission: you should continue to expand the existing landing fields and actively push forward, attacking in the west and southwest directions in order to achieve the goal of detouring Kiev. ”

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Chernyakhovsky stared at the place in front of him and said with a strange expression: "We will carry out your order." ”

After Chernyakhovsky put down the phone, he said to his chief of staff: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the higher authorities ordered us to expand the landing field, and in order to achieve this goal, I intend to send two divisions of troops south along the banks of the Dnieper River to attack Kiev first and liberate the city." ”

Hearing Chernyakhovsky so whimsical, the chief of staff said with some embarrassment: "Comrade commander, this is not very good, the order given to us by the higher authorities is to continue to advance to the west and expand the existing landing grounds. Moreover, the task of attacking Kyiv is to be carried out by the Voronezh Front of General Vatutin, and if we cross the border again, I fear that the High Command will punish us. ”

"Chief of Staff, what's so scary about this." Chernyakhovsky said with a big grin: "If the higher authorities hold it down, I will bear all the responsibility." Moreover, as long as we take Kyiv, then even if it is a cross-border operation, the Supreme Command will not pursue the matter. ”

Chernyakhovsky's words irritated the chief of staff, and he was not willing to hand over the honor of liberating Kiev to Vatutin's troops so easily. Therefore, he said decisively: "Our troops left in Priluki should complete the task of handing over defense to friendly forces." Then move them to the banks of the Dnieper to strengthen the defense of the landing field, and we order the existing main forces of the landing field to advance south along the Dnieper and attack Kyiv ahead of the Voronezh Front. ”

"Well, Comrade Commander," seeing that Chernyakhovsky was so insistent and that the chief of staff was not ready to go against him, he had always been angry about the loss of the opportunity to liberate Kyiv by his troops, and at this moment seeing that Chernyakhovsky was willing to take full responsibility, he said decisively: "I immediately called the landing site and ordered them to leave a part of their forces for defense, and the remaining main forces immediately turned south and advanced along the Dnieper River towards Kyiv." ”

"Very well, that's what I said to the division commanders on the phone," Chernyakhovsky said, nodding his head, "and tell them that if they act quickly and decisively, then the honor of liberating Kyiv will fall on our 60th Army." ”

As soon as Chernyakhovsky's order was conveyed below, several division commanders immediately blew up the nest. No one was willing to pass by such an honor as the liberation of Kyiv, so they called the command one after another and asked Chernyakhovsky to fight.

In particular, the commander of the 75th Guards Division, Goryshny, because he received an order to hold his position at the landing site, called Chernyakhovsky with great emotion: "Comrade commander, you should know very well what sacrifices our division made when seizing this bridge across the Dnieper. Now that there is such an important task, how can we leave aside the 75th Guards Division? ”

"Comrade Gorishny," Chernyakhovsky said to reassure the other side, "the reason why I did not arrange for you to participate in the southward operation is because your division has suffered too many casualties in the recent battles, and the commanders and fighters are also tired and need to rest well; The second point is also because the location of the landing ground is important, you are the first unit to build the landing field, and you are the most familiar with the terrain, and I am the most relieved that you will hold the landing site.

Don't look at your division as only for defense, but the responsibility is very heavy. Because we have to take into account that the Germans may launch a counterattack on our landing ground at any time, and if there is no strong force defense, once the landing ground is lost, then our entire army group is in danger of falling into the encirclement of the German army. ……”

After Chernyakhovsky's words, Gorishny's mood finally calmed down, and he said helplessly: "Well, Comrade Commander, since you say so, then I will convey your words to the fighters, so that they can understand the importance of our stay and hold on to the landing site." ”

As soon as I hung up the phone in Gorishny, Rokossovsky's phone came in. When he heard that the troops of the 60th Army had changed the direction of their advance without authorization, and were actually preparing to move south along the Dnieper River and attack Kiev directly from the north, he immediately called to stop Chernyakhovsky.

Rokossovsky said in a stern tone on the phone: "General Chernyakhovsky, you explain to me, what are you doing?" The order given to you by the command of the Front was to expand the landing ground and attack in the western and south-western directions in order to make a detour back to the west of Kiev and cooperate with the offensive of the Voronezh Front on Kiev. Who told you to go south along the Dnieper River without permission and go directly to attack Kyiv? Do you think that one of your armies will be able to compete with the German army in the Kiev region? ”

After waiting for Rokossovsky to finish speaking, Chernyakhovsky said eloquently: "Comrade commander, the actions I am taking now are also aimed at fulfilling the order of the command of the Front, expanding the landing ground, and making a detour to Kiev from the side. It's just that I think it's more advantageous for our army to attack from the north than from the west. ”