The commanders and fighters of the motorized regiment came very quickly, and rushed to the river half an hour after receiving the notice. After listening to Kravchenko's order, the deputy commander of the regiment led the troops into the grove and began to cut down trees in preparation for making a raft to cross the river.

Hearing the sound of felling from the direction of the grove, Kravchenko asked with some concern: "Comrade commander, our existing forces are limited, and even if the commanders and fighters cut down with all their might, it is estimated that it will be necessary to wait until dawn to make a raft that can transport these two battalions to the opposite bank. ”

"No, Comrade Commander." As soon as I heard him say this, I waved my hand and refuted his claim: "We are now in a race against the Germans, and if they find out that we are about to cross the river here, and have set up a defensive force on the opposite cliff, it will not be as easy for us to cross to the other side." ”

"However, Comrade Commander, cutting down trees is a very time-consuming thing, and the cut trees have to be made into rafts, which takes time." Kravchenko said with a worried face: "I think the troops will not be able to cross the river until after dawn at the earliest." ”

Kravchenko's ability to understand made me speechless, and I couldn't help but look up and sigh. After a moment of silence, I said to him: "Comrade Commander, when the rafts can be made for all the troops to cross the river, it is estimated that the enemy has already arranged the firing points on the opposite cliff. Then, as if shooting a moving target, we wiped out our river-crossing troops in the river little by little. Therefore, we must now be as fast as possible, and before the Germans can react, we will cross the river, even if it is only one squad, as long as they can occupy the cliff opposite, and our next crossing will be much smoother. ”

"If you only go to one class, will the number of people be too small?" Kravchenko asked stupidly, "If there were really enemies, they would be eliminated quickly." ”

Hearing him say this, I wanted to kick him twice, I really don't know how he, the commander of the tank corps, became the commander of the tank corps, and reacted so slowly, I mean at least one squad of fighters was sent over to seize the position, and I didn't say that only one squad was sent. I said angrily: "Comrade commander, the troops sent to seize the high ground on the opposite bank can serve as both a guard and a cover mission. If they find that the enemy is appearing, they can immediately launch a local blockade, and they only need to hold out for ten minutes, and our follow-up troops will arrive. ”

As soon as I said this, Kravchenko nodded and said reluctantly: "Okay, I'll tell the deputy commander of the team later, after making two or three rafts, I will cross part of the troops across the river, go to seize the high ground on the opposite side, and cover the river crossing of the follow-up troops." ”

After more than an hour, just as I was in a hurry, the deputy regimental commander who was in charge of directing the troops to cut down trees ran over and excitedly reported to us: "Commander, commander, we have made ten rafts, do we need to launch them immediately?" ”

When I heard his report, although I felt a burst of ecstasy, I still calmly asked on the surface: "Comrade Deputy Regiment Commander, how many people can you carry on one raft?" ”

The deputy regiment commander thought for a moment and replied: "Report to Comrade Commander, one raft can carry six people." ”

Six people on a raft, sixty people on ten rafts, so many people used to occupy the cliffs on the opposite bank, even if the enemy attacked, there should be no problem in holding on for half an hour to an hour. Thinking of this, I immediately instructed the deputy regiment commander: "Comrade deputy regiment commander, let your men carry the raft to the river first." ”

The deputy head of the regiment took out a flashlight from his briefcase, lit it, and turned around and shook it a few times in the direction of the woods. When a flickering flashlight came from the direction of the woods, he nodded with satisfaction, extinguished the flashlight, and turned back to me, "Comrade Commander, the raft will be brought over soon." ”

A few minutes later, there was a neat sound of trumpets accompanied by the sound of hurried footsteps, and I looked in the direction from which the sound came, and saw a group of commanders and fighters running towards us with rafts. I asked the deputy regiment commander: "Are the troops ready to cross the river?" ”

"Ready!" The deputy commander replied respectfully: "We can cross fifty people at a time with five warriors and their weapons on each raft. ”

"Wait, Comrade Deputy Commander." I interrupted the excited-looking deputy head of the regiment and asked curiously, "Didn't you just report that there can be six people on each raft?" How did it take only a moment to become five people. ”

"That's right, Comrade Commander. Listen to me," the deputy head of the regiment hastened to explain when he saw my unhappy look, "and I said that each raft could carry six people, referring to the situation where they were empty-handed. Nowadays, they also need to carry the weapons they carry to cross the river, so the number of people on the raft is reduced. ”

I wanted to witness the troops crossing the river with my own eyes, so I followed the troops carrying the raft to the river. After the deputy regiment commander had chosen the location for the raft to be launched, I specifically told him: "Comrade deputy regiment commander, tell the commanders and fighters who cross the river that when they reach the river, they must not be reluctant to paddle and cross the river as soon as possible." Having reached the opposite bank, having carefully passed through the enemy's minefield, quickly occupied the cliff and established a defensive position on it. ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander," replied the deputy regimental commander with a serious expression, "I will convey your order to the commander who crosses the river, so that as soon as he reaches the opposite bank, he will immediately establish a defensive position on the cliff. ”

Then, with the order of the deputy commander, the soldiers carried the raft down to the knee-deep river. With the command of the deputy head of the regiment, everyone put the raft in the water. But an amazing scene happened, the raft did not float on the surface as I had imagined, but sank directly to the bottom.

"Hell, what the hell is going on?" I saw this scene not only for me, but also for Kravchenko, the deputy commander and all the commanders and fighters standing around. Without waiting for me to speak, Kravchenko grabbed the deputy head by the collar and asked loudly: "What the hell is going on, why did the raft sink?" ”

The deputy regiment commander suddenly panicked, shook his head like a rattle, and said in a loud voice: "Comrade commander, I don't know. Maybe this wood is not suitable for making a raft, or the raft is too small, so it sinks as soon as it gets out of the water. ”

Although I couldn't figure out why the raft sank, I knew that now was not the time to hold him accountable, so I instructed the deputy regiment commander: "Okay, comrade deputy regiment commander, first scoop up the raft and make a bigger one again." ”

Just as the deputy regiment commander was directing the soldiers to fish for the raft, the roar of the car motor was heard in the distance. In the bright moonlight, I could see clearly that there was a long convoy coming. Seeing the sudden appearance of the convoy, Chistyakov immediately asked vigilantly: "Comrade commander, who is coming, could it be the German troops preparing to withdraw to Cherkasy?" ”

"No, Comrade Commander." Although the convoy was still a few kilometers away, I could almost conclude that it was not the Germans, but ours, "If the Germans had such a large convoy, I don't think they would have marched at night again." ”

After a few minutes, a jeep drove up quickly and stopped a dozen meters away from us. As soon as the car stopped, someone pushed the door and jumped out of it, and then asked loudly: "Where is Comrade Commander?" ”

I heard the voice of Major General Baksov, the commander of the 67th Guards Division, and hurriedly replied with a smile: "I'm here, Comrade General, your 67th Guards Division has arrived?" ”

Baksov walked up to me quickly, did not salute but straightened up and reported: "Comrade commander, the 67th Guards Infantry Division arrived on your orders, please instruct!" ”

I pointed to the cliff on the other side of the river and said, "Major General Baksov, do you see the cliff on the other side?" The task I gave your division is to cross the river as quickly as possible, and to build a strong defensive operation on it, covering the crossing of the main force of the group army, is there a problem? ”

Baksov raised the telescope hanging around his neck, looked at the opposite bank for a long time, then turned to me and said: "Don't worry, comrade commander, my troops will be able to occupy the opposite cliff and build fortifications in half an hour at most. ”

Although Baksov agreed very happily, I was still a little unsure, and pointed to the stakes pulling the barbed wire fence and said: "Do you see those barbed wire? If I'm not mistaken, it should have been a minefield laid by the Germans. The first troops to cross the river must have engineering units to carve out passages in the minefields. Do you understand? ”

"Understood, Comrade Commander." "In the first batch of troops crossing the river, I will arrange a platoon of sappers, who should be able to open a road in the minefield in the shortest possible time," Baksov said confidently. ”

As we spoke, the deputy commander commanded a group of fighters, carrying dripping rafts, and passed us in disarray. I glanced at the raft that was sinking when it entered the water, and asked Baksov with some concern: "Comrade division commander, does your division have enough equipment to cross the river?" ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." The embarrassment of the deputy regiment commander was also seen by Baksov, so he understood very well what I was talking about, "We have more than seventy kayaks in the whole division, and we can carry eight fighters at a time. It only takes five or six hours at most, and the entire division commanders and fighters can be crossed to the other side of the river. ”

"Since that's the case, Comrade Division Commander, let's act quickly." When I heard that the 67th Guards Division had so much equipment for crossing the river, my hanging heart finally fell to the ground, and I hurriedly urged: "You must seize the opposite cliff and build fortifications on it before the Germans discover us." ”

The next river crossing operation was carried out very smoothly. At the command of Baksov, dozens of kayaks parked on the banks of the Dnieper moved at the same time. As the paddlers paddled desperately, the kayaks made their way fast on the dark river. When Baksov saw this scene, he said to me with a somewhat smug expression: "Comrade commander, did you see it? At this rate, in five minutes at most, our first echelon will be able to cross the river entirely. ”

With no German resistance on the opposite bank, our first troops crossing the river were soon landed. After disembarking, the first to rush forward were the sappers sent by Baksov, who were responsible for going to the minefield to open a passage for the follow-up troops. And the troops that remained on the shore also continued to be on alert. The machine gunners even set up machine gun positions one after another, and even if the Germans counterattacked at this moment, it was estimated that they would be crushed by our dense firepower.

Before the ships could return to our side of the shore, the troops on the other side of the river, already in battle formation, bent down and quickly rushed towards the cliff in front of them, following the passage carved out by the sappers. The machine gunners remained on the spot, on alert.

I vaguely saw in the telescope that there were a few agile warriors climbing up the cliff, and then hanging down ropes from top of it, so that the commanders and fighters who remained at the bottom of the cliff could climb up along the ropes.

After some unknown time, as there were more and more figures on the top of the cliff, Captain Baksov breathed a sigh of relief, turned to me and said: "Comrade commander, at least one company of troops has reached the top of the cliff, and I am sure that they will soon be able to establish a defensive position and cover the crossing of the river calmly by our main forces. (To be continued.) )