German machine guns on the opposite bank blocked the bridge deck, and the commanders and fighters who rushed to the bridge had to hide behind the steel frames, or the destroyed tanks, and fired back.

After more than two years of fighting, there were many veterans in the Soviet troops, who used various structures on the bridge to find hiding places and curled up to hide behind as much as possible. Then quickly check the condition of the gun and ammunition, while vigilantly scanning the surroundings to determine where you are. By feeling, listening to the sound of bullets slicing through the air, he judged the enemy's position, leaned in as fast as he could, fired a shot, and then retreated back to his hiding place.

Seeing that the attacking troops were again suppressed on the bridgehead and unable to advance, Chernyakhovsky was a little anxious, he put down his binoculars and asked Gorishny: "Comrade division commander, can you contact the headquarters of the army group here?" ”

As the division commander, how did Goryshny know whether the telephone of one of his regimental observation posts could directly communicate with the headquarters of the group army. Seeing his embarrassed look, Chernyakhovsky turned his gaze to the officer next to him again, and pointed at the other party with his hand: "Your division commander doesn't know, do you know?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." The officer nodded hurriedly and replied affirmatively: "The phone here can talk to the reconnaissance department of the army group headquarters." ”

Hearing that he could not speak directly to the command, Chernyakhovsky was slightly disappointed, but he still instructed the officer: "Connect the phone to me immediately." ”

The phone was quickly connected, and it was a deputy director of the reconnaissance department who answered the phone, and when he heard that the person who called him was actually the commander of the group army himself, he was taken aback, and hurriedly said in a somewhat panicked manner: "Hello, comrade commander, may I ask what instructions do you have?" ”

"You immediately go and tell the chief of staff," Chernyakhovsky said bluntly, "let him transfer an artillery regiment and two rocket artillery battalions to the defense area of the 212th Guards Regiment to provide artillery support to the attacking troops." ”

"Understood, Comrade Commander." The deputy director hurriedly agreed: "I will immediately convey your order to the chief of staff." ”

Hearing the call from Chernyakhovsky reminded Gorishny that in his hands there was also an artillery regiment that could be used. As soon as he put down the phone, he called the chief of staff of the division and said to him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the attack of the 212th Guards Regiment was suppressed by the enemy, and the regiment commander was wounded. I now order you, immediately transfer the artillery regiment over and cover the infantry attack with artillery fire. ”

When Gorishny put down the phone, he saw Chernyakhovsky staring at him with displeasure on his face, and asked a little hairily in his heart: "Comrade commander, do you have any instructions?" ”

"Since you still have an artillery regiment, why didn't you use it sooner?" Chernyakhovsky saw that the 212th Guards Regiment did not receive enough artillery support during the attack, and thought that the artillery of the 75th Guards Division had been lost in the early battle, but he didn't expect Gorishny to hide the artillery, so his tone of voice was extraordinarily heavy: "...... You left these artillery pieces behind, are you preparing to lay the cubs? Don't you see what a price our infantry commanders and fighters have paid for not being supported by artillery fire......"

After being scolded by Chernyakhovsky, Gorishny lowered his head and said ashamedly: "Comrade commander, I was wrong, I will order the artillery regiment to fire on the opposite bank to suppress the enemy's firepower." ”

Rokossovsky was also very concerned about whether the troops of the 60th Army had successfully taken this valuable bridge from the hands of the Germans, so he made a special call to the army headquarters to find out about the situation in the battle. The chief of staff who answered the phone said in a respectful manner: "Comrade commander, General Chernyakhovsky has gone to the front to command the bridge capture operation. ”

"What, he ran to the front?" When Rokossovsky heard the chief of staff say this, he immediately sank his face and ordered: "Immediately let him return to his command, and please tell him that he is a commander of an army group, not a division commander, and has no right to throw away his headquarters and take risks to the front." Do you understand? ”

"Understood, Comrade Commander." The chief of staff hurriedly replied: "I will definitely convey your order to him." ”

After the end of the call, Rokossovsky held the microphone and thought for a while, thinking that since Chernyakhovsky had personally gone to the front, if they seized the bridge from the Germans, they would not fail to report to him. In this way, there is only one explanation, the offensive of the 75th Guards Division was very unsuccessful, and the bridge is now in the hands of the Germans.

Thinking of this, he put down the microphone, called Ma Linin over, and said to him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the battle of the 75th Guards Division to seize the bridge has been going on for a long time, but we have not received any battle reports so far, tell me, what kind of situation will it be now?" ”

Malinin listened to Rokossovsky's question and replied without hesitation: "It seems that our attacking forces have been stubbornly defended by the Germans, so they have not been able to seize the bridge from the enemy's hands until now." Comrade Commander, is there anything I can do to help them? ”

"Call General Rudenko immediately," Rokossovsky, seeing that Malinin and his views coincided, instructed him: "Let him immediately dispatch a formation of bombers and fighters to the place where the 60th Army crossed the river and provide air cover for the assault troops." ”

"Understood," Malinin replied briskly, "I'll call General Rudenko." ”

Just as Rokossovsky was mobilizing his air force to support the 75th Guards Division, which was crossing the river, the chief of staff of the 60th Army also received an order from Chernyakhovsky, and he decisively complied with the order and sent an artillery regiment and two rocket artillery battalions. After giving the order, he felt that such forces were not enough to build a strong landing ground on the opposite bank, so he called the commanders of the other two divisions and ordered them to immediately move closer to the Talasovichi area.

……

……

At this moment, the battle for the bridge in the Tarasovich area continued, and the dense German fire blocked the bridge deck, making it impossible for the Soviet commanders and fighters to continue to advance. However, the commanders and fighters of the 212th Guards Regiment, knowing that their division commander and commander were supervising the battle a few hundred meters from the rear, no longer retreated when they saw that the attack was not going well, as they had done on the previous occasions, but continued to stay on the bridge, relying on various bunkers to return fire.

The wounded regiment commander had already been dragged behind a wrecked tank. A female hygienist tore open the regimental commander's uniform and found him bleeding profusely with a bullet in the abdomen and left shoulder. After wrapping gauze around his abdomen, the hygienist used a ball of gauze to plug the wound on his shoulder, and shouted at the top of his voice: "Comrades, the regiment commander is seriously injured and needs to be immediately carried down for rescue." ”

Immediately after her shout, two fighters bent over, lifted their stretchers and ran back. The Germans found the stretcher moving on the bridge, immediately turned the muzzle of the gun and hit it, and the soldier behind him was unfortunately shot and fell on his back in a pool of blood. No sooner had he fallen than another soldier rushed up to take his place, carrying the regimental commander's stretcher and running back.

By the time they reached the ridge, seven or eight soldiers had fallen under the guns of the Germans in order to carry the regimental commander's stretcher. Seeing this scene, Chernyakhovsky's eyes moistened, and he said with some excitement: "See, comrade division commander, what a good soldier, in order to save their regiment commander, seven or eight fighters unfortunately died." ”

Goryshny glanced outside, then gritted his teeth and said: "Comrade commander, sooner or later we will have to pay off this blood debt from the Germans." ”

As soon as he finished speaking, the roar of an airplane engine was heard in the air, and he listened attentively and exclaimed in surprise: "Comrade commander, it's our plane." It seems that it was sent by the Front Command, so that our troops could seize the bridge. ”

The bomber formation flew over the Dnieper, came over the German defensive positions, and after reducing the altitude, began to drop bombs on the ground. The battle that fell in pieces suddenly enveloped the German positions in flames and gunsmoke, and their firepower to block the bridge deck became thin.

How could the Soviet commanders and fighters, who had been suppressed by German firepower on the bridge, let go of such a good opportunity, they immediately came out of their hiding place, bent over and quickly rushed to the opposite bank with their weapons in their hands.

The bombardment of the Soviet Air Force had just ended, and the artillery of the army group was rushed to carry out another shelling of the enemy's positions. In order to ensure the accuracy of the shelling and avoid accidentally injuring their own troops, the artillery spotters risked their lives to the right bank of the river, where they set up observation positions and provided firing parameters for the artillery that stayed on the left bank.

Seeing that the troops of the 212th Guards Regiment had successfully rushed across the bridge, establishing defensive positions on the river on the right bank. Chernyakhovsky hurriedly said to Gorishny: "Comrade division commander, immediately get in touch with the tank repair station and ask them to immediately send armored repair vehicles to tow away the destroyed tanks on the bridge and open the way for our follow-up armored forces." ”

Gorishny called the chief of staff of the division, ordered him to immediately contact the tank repair station and ask him to immediately send armored maintenance vehicles to clear the bridge, and at the same time ordered him to have the 213th Guards Regiment rush over to support.

The place where the 213th Guards Regiment was stationed was also in the Tarasovich area, only two or three kilometers from the bridge, and after receiving the order, it immediately rushed towards the bridge at the speed of a rapid march.

The German positions on the opposite bank, after being bombed by the air force and shelled by artillery, most of the fortifications were destroyed, and it was already difficult to pose any threat to the Soviet troops. The Soviet commanders and fighters had already rushed into the trenches and engaged in melee and hand-to-hand combat with the German officers and soldiers, taking advantage of the superiority in numbers and stabbing skills to eliminate the enemy bit by bit.

Seeing that his troops were gaining a foothold, Chernyakhovsky said to Gorishny: "Comrade division commander, the enemy is no longer able to resist, you must destroy or defeat them as soon as possible, and then build a solid landing ground in this area, so that the main forces of the army group can continuously avoid the Dnieper from here." ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Gorishny assured Chernyakhovsky: "I have ordered the chief of staff to get the 213th Guards Regiment over, and in a few minutes at most they will be able to reach the river." As he was talking, out of the corner of his eye, he saw that a troop had come to the bridge, and hurriedly pointed outside and said, "Comrade commander, you see, they have already arrived." ”

Seeing the troops that were constantly stepping on the bridge, Chernyakhovsky nodded and said with satisfaction: "Well done, comrade division commander, when our whole army has crossed the Dnieper, I will definitely ask the front army command for merit and let them award you the Order of the Red Banner of the Division." ”

Although the 75th Guards Division has won a lot of honors in recent battles. But as a Soviet man who loves honor, the more honor, the better, so when he heard Chernyashhovsky say this, Gorishny was overjoyed, and he hurriedly stood up and said loudly: "Serve the Soviet Motherland!" ”

Chernyakhovsky left the observation post and went to the nearby regimental command post, where he knew the phone and could speak directly to the command of the army group, and he needed to immediately let his chief of staff, report to the command of the front army with the good news that the bridge over the Tarasovich area had been successfully seized.

After the phone was answered, he said to the chief of staff with some excitement: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I have good news for you, after a fierce battle, the troops of the 75th Guards Division have succeeded in seizing the bridge in the area of Tarasovich and are building a landing ground on the opposite bank. I think that the main forces of the army group can pass through here and smoothly cross the Dnieper. ”

"What, the bridges in the Tarasovich territory were occupied by our troops?" Although he had been mentally prepared, when he really heard the good news, the chief of staff was in a very happy mood, and he immediately reported to Chernyakhovsky: "Comrade commander, when I had just mobilized artillery to rush to the Tarasovich area, I also sent two infantry divisions to prepare them to strengthen the defense of the right bank. However, I ask for your forgiveness for not having time to ask for your opinion in advance......"

Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Chernyakhovsky: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you are doing the right thing. If you wait for the troops of the 75th Guards Division to occupy the bridge, you will send troops to the Talasovichi area, it will be a little too late. The Germans were not willing to let us cross the Dnieper, and I think they would definitely carry out a counterattack, so the more troops on the right bank for defense, the better. ”

Hearing Chernyakhovsky's affirmation of himself, the boulder hanging in the heart of the chief of staff fell to the ground. After a long sigh, he asked the other party for instructions: "Comrade commander, since we have occupied the bridge in the Tarasovich area, should we immediately report this good news to the front command?" ”

"Does this need to be said, Comrade Chief of Staff?" The troops succeeded in seizing a bridge over the Dnieper, which put Chernyakhovsky in a particularly good mood, and he said very cheerfully: "I called you just to ask you to report the good news to Commander Rokossovsky immediately." Hurry up and call, don't keep him waiting. ”