At seven o'clock in the morning on November 3, thousands of artillery pieces of the 1st Ukrainian Front simultaneously fired at German positions north of Kyiv. The heavy artillery fire caused those German officers and men who had not had time to withdraw to the second line of defense and could only stay in the shelter as if they were sitting on a sampan on a turbulent sea.

After two hours of artillery preparation, the artillery fire began to extend to suppress the German defensive targets in depth. The Germans thought that the Soviets would start an infantry charge as soon as the shelling was over, as they had done in the past, and the officers drove their soldiers out of their hideouts and let them into positions to prepare to resist the Soviet attack.

But they never dreamed that the bombers of the five air divisions flew over the defensive positions at this moment and rained tons of aerial bombs on the ground to destroy those targets that had survived the shelling. The bombs exploded loudly on the German positions, and countless explosion points exploded, and the German positions instantly turned into erupting volcanoes, which were tightly wrapped in the billowing smoke of gunpowder, and the explosions in the smoke were continuous, and there were explosions and fires everywhere. The terrified and desperate German soldiers scurried around like headless flies, some curled up on the ground holding their heads and howling desperately, while others hurriedly fled towards the hideout they had just left.

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Rokossovsky and his colleagues have been following the fighting in the Kyiv direction. When the heavy shelling began, in the headquarters of the Belorussian Front, hundreds of kilometers away, there was a heated discussion about the attack of friendly forces. Malinin was the first to ask: "Comrade commander, do you also think that General Vatutin, they are correct in choosing the direction of breakthrough to the north of Kiev?" ”

"Yes, I think so." Although Rokossovsky does not remember the details of the liberation of Kyiv, he remembers very well that after the attack of Vatutin's troops from the north of Kiev, they fought fiercely for four days and succeeded in liberating Kyiv on November 6, so he said in an affirmative tone: "The offensive launched by the First Ukrainian Front from the south failed because the enemy had strong fortifications in that direction and also gathered heavy forces to defend it. In order to seize Kyiv, the south can only do coordinated auxiliary assaults to attract the enemy's attention and cover the main forces to carry out a fierce attack in the direction of Kyiv from the north. ”

After Rokossovsky's words, everyone present fell into deep thought. After a while, Orel asked: "Comrade commander, the 60th Army once carried out a surprise attack from the north, but it did not achieve any results. If you hadn't sent air force and artillery to support in time, they would have been driven into the Dnieper by the Germans. Now that the direction of the breakthrough is chosen to the north of Kyiv, will it really succeed? ”

"Yes, I think they'll make it." Hearing Orel say this, Rokossovsky hurriedly explained to him: "General Orel, the situation is different now, when Vatutin's troops were still far from the Dnieper River, and our troops attacking from the north were only the 60th Army, which was too weak, and the Germans could calmly transfer heavy troops from Kiev to meet Chernyakhovsky and them. And now? Vatutin's auxiliary attack from the south with the 40th and 27th armies had already attracted the attention of the Germans and pinned down the main forces of the German army in Kiev in that direction. Vatutin, for his part, led the main forces of the Front, quietly crossed the Dnieper to the north of Kiev and launched a surprise attack on the enemy from the Lyudezh landing ground. ”

"Comrade commander," Terekin waited for Rokossovsky to finish speaking, and couldn't help but interject and ask: "Even if Vatutin and they choose the right direction of attack, but the time given to them by their superiors is too short, can they really liberate Kyiv from the Germans before November 7?" ”

"I think it's fine." To Terekin's question, Rokossovsky confidently replied: "Now the main forces of the German army are concentrated in the south of Kiev, pinned down by the 40th and 27th armies, and there are only five divisions in the north, except for two incomplete armored divisions belonging to the 4th Panzer Army, the rest are infantry divisions. As long as Vatutin does not make strategic mistakes and takes Kyiv in four days, there should be no problem. ”

"Comrade commander, if you are in command," Kazakov, who had been sitting next to him without speaking, suddenly asked: "How many days will it take you to take Kyiv?" ”

Rokossovsky frowned and thought for a moment, then stretched out two fingers and confidently replied: "If I were in command, it would only take two days." One day was spent clearing the German positions on the periphery, and one day was spent recovering Kiev. ”

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During the shelling and bombardment of the two German panzer divisions, the Soviet troops suffered heavy losses, and almost all the tanks were destroyed. Because of this, the Soviet 38th Army encountered far weaker resistance than imagined when it launched its charge.

The four divisions that served as the first wave of the offensive all adopted a two-echelon battle formation, that is, two regiments in front and one regiment followed, and the division's offensive front was 3 kilometers, while the regiment's offensive front was only 1.5 kilometers.

Hearing that Moskalenko was attacking in a two-echelon battle formation, Vatutin also called him and asked worriedly: "General Moskalenko, is your offensive formation too dense." I would have thought that you would adopt a three-echelon battle formation, i.e. only one regiment per echelon, to reduce casualties. ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander," said Moskalenko with a big grin, "according to the regulations, an infantry division of about 8,000 men should attack with a frontal width of 1,500 meters, and this is done to prevent the fighters from being killed and wounded in large numbers during the attack because the formation is too dense. ”

Seeing that Moskalenko had taken these issues into account, Vatutin did not say anything more, but said: "Good luck to you!" He hung up.

Moskalenko's infantry charged ahead, and Rybalko's tank units followed, covering them to break through the German lines and helping them tear the gap even wider.

By the second day of fierce fighting, the units of the 38th Army managed to break through all the German lines and rushed into the streets of Kiev on Rybalko's tanks.

Seeing that the Soviet troops had rushed into Kiev, Manstein, who was commanding the operation in the rear, was a little panicked, and he hurriedly called Hitler, reported to him the difficulties that Kiev was currently facing, and asked him to send the 40th and 48th Panzer Corps to help Kyiv. But after consulting with the Chief of the General Staff, Hitler felt that it was enough to send the 48th Panzer Army to support Kyiv. Hitler then made a decision that surprised Manstein by decisively ending Hoth's post and appointing Panzer General Erhard Rolls to replace the commander of the 4th Panzer Army.

The battle in the city of Kyiv was very fierce, and the German army, unwilling to accept defeat, used every barricade and every building to carry out the last stubborn resistance. In particular, the well-fortified church and government center became the point of support for their fire, and in this building, they gathered heavy troops in an attempt to turn it into a fortress that the Soviets could not overcome.

When the Soviet 381st Infantry Division advanced to the vicinity of Freedom Square, the Germans, hiding in the parliament building, were suppressed by fire in the nearby ruins and could not continue to advance.

Moskalenko, who was staying at the forward observation post, saw that the troops were suppressed by enemy fire, and he couldn't help but start a fire, and he asked the chief of staff next to him in a loud voice: "Which unit is this, why don't you move on?" ”

"Comrade commander," said the chief of staff cautiously, "it was the 381st Infantry Division of Colonel Glemov who was fighting in this area, and the enemy's fire was too heavy for our troops to advance......"

Before the chief of staff's words were finished, Moskalenko said in a stressful tone: "Chief of staff, you immediately go and call and ask Glemov if you can continue to attack?" If he can't, I'll find someone else to take his place. ”

Without waiting for the chief of staff to call, Moskalenko saw a commander in a colonel's overcoat rushing out of the rubble, rushing to a bombed-out bus, brandishing the submachine gun in his hand, and shouting at his subordinates who were still hidden in the ruins: "Come, brothers, follow me!" Come on~! ”

After the colonel finished shouting, he took the submachine gun and rushed towards the parliament building a few hundred meters away. Seeing the commander taking the lead in the charge, the soldiers naturally did not lie still on their stomachs, and they also stood up one after another, shouting and rushing forward.

When the chief of staff saw clearly through the telescope that the leader of the charge was the commander of the 381st Division, Glemov, he couldn't help but exclaim in surprise: "Comrade commander, it is Colonel Glemov who is leading the charge." ”

"Hell, how did the division commander take the lead in the charge, like in 41." Although he said this in a reproachful tone, from the slightly upturned corners of his mouth, it was revealed that he was very appreciative of Glemov's approach in his heart.

When the chief of staff saw Moskalenko's expression, he also smiled and said: "Comrade commander, please rest assured, when the battle is over, I will punish him well." ”

Because Glemov took the lead and set an example, the commanders and fighters of the 381st Division fought extremely tenaciously in the following battles, regardless of sacrifice, they braved the German bullets one after another, and finally succeeded in storming the parliament building and engaged in a fierce battle with the German troops holding on inside.

As more and more Soviet units rushed into Kiev, the German resistance became somewhat overwhelming. Although they did not receive any orders to retreat, the German troops, unable to support them, began to retreat to the west of the city.

The battle went on the evening of the 5th, and most of Kiev had already fallen into the hands of the Soviet army. Zhukov, who stayed in the headquarters, looked at the map and said to Vatutin: "Comrade Vatutin, judging from the street fighting in the past two days, the sporadic resistance in the city has been destroyed by us, and the main forces of the German army have retreated into the church in the city. ”

"Comrade Marshal, you are quite right." Vatutin pointed to several major churches on the map of Kyiv and said: "According to the information we have, the remnants of the German army are holding on to the Cathedral of St. Sophia, the Church of St. Andrew, the Golden-Dome Monastery of St. Michael, the Cave Monastery, and the Cathedral of St. Vladimir. Since these buildings are valuable cultural relics, our artillery did not dare to open fire casually, so for the time being they could not destroy the enemy inside. ”

"Damn the Germans." After scolding in his heart, Zhukov turned his head to look at Vatutin and said: "Comrade Vatutin, we want to ask you, is it the importance of people or the importance of these so-called cultural relics?" You know, even if these buildings are blown up, we will unfortunately repair them in the future, but once our commanders and fighters are sacrificed, they will not be able to come back to life. ”

When Vatutin heard Zhukov say this, he immediately understood his intentions, and hurriedly nodded and said: "Comrade Marshal, I understand, I immediately give an order to the commanders who attacked these churches, and if the enemy does not surrender, we will resolutely destroy them." Even if they were hiding in the church, we could still blow up the church with a cannon and bury them completely. ”

Seeing that Vatutin understood what he meant, a smile appeared on Zhukov's face: "That's right, Comrade Vatutin, that's what I meant. You immediately give orders to the troops to destroy the enemy hiding in the church as soon as possible, and there are only 30 hours left before the deadline given to us by the High Command. ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Marshal." Since Vatutin stepped on the soil of Kyiv, he has spoken with much confidence: "In less than 30 hours, we can destroy all the enemies in the city." ”

At 7 a.m. on November 6, the Red Flag of the Soviet Army was flying on the roof of the Parliament Building, the highest point in the city, and only sporadic gunfire remained in the city, as the enemy refused to lay down his arms and was still in his death throes. After 96 hours of fighting, Kiev, the capital of Ukraine and the economic, cultural and political center of Ukraine, has returned to the embrace of the Soviet Motherland, after two years of Nazi devastation.

The good news was transmitted back to Moscow via the airwaves as soon as possible.

Stalin was presiding over a meeting to discuss the celebration of the October Revolution Day the next day, when Boskrebeshev suddenly pushed the door and broke in, regardless of the anger on Stalin's face, he waved the telegram in his hand and shouted excitedly: "Good news, Kiev...... Kyiv is liberated! ”

"What, Kyiv was liberated?" Hearing what Pos Krebeshev said, the entire conference room suddenly boiled. Kalinin, Molotov, Beria, Voroshilov, Budyonny, Timoshenko and others, who were present at the scene, were so excited that they talked loudly when they heard this hour.

After reading the contents of the telegram quickly, Stalin casually handed it to Kalinin next to him, and then took advantage of the time to light a cigarette butt to quietly wipe away the tears that flowed from his excitement.