Although the order was received to force the crossing of the Dnieper, it turned out to be an unsustainable task for us. The 67th Guards Division, stationed in the city of Karlovka, southeast of Poltava, was the closest unit to the Dnieper. Although they were only one hundred and fifty kilometers from the river, three divisions of the Southwestern Front stood in front of them.

As the Germans suddenly retreated in great strides, friendly forces that had received the information also took active action and launched a trailing pursuit. Immediately following the enemy, they rushed to the Dnieper, and they estimated that they had received the same order as we did, and that it would be best to destroy the enemy on the eastern bank of the Dnieper; If it cannot be destroyed, then immediately force the Dnieper to cross, seize some landing grounds on the other side of the river, and open up a channel for the follow-up troops to cross the river.

After receiving a phone call from Baksov, I immediately held a meeting with commanders at and above the army level to discuss the matter. After glancing at the commanders present, I asked: "Comrades commanders, judging from the current situation, our troops are too far away from the river, and there is no way to complete the task of crossing the Dnieper River in one or two days. What do we do next, you all say what you think? ”

"Comrade Commander," Kravchenko, commander of the 5th Guards Tank Army, stood up, looked at me and said, "Otherwise, let my 6th Guards Motorized Regiment take the lead and follow the retreating German troops to the Dnieper......"

"Retreating German troops, where else can we see retreating German troops?" When Bezikov heard him say this, he immediately complained, "The west and south sides of our army group are the troops of the Southwestern Front. We will pursue, they will pursue, and by the time we reach the river, we will probably have all the prisoners we should have captured, and at the same time the friendly forces have established enough landing grounds on the other side of the river, and we will just run with them in full armor. ”

"Comrade Chief of Staff, what do you say we should do?" Although Kravchenko was not satisfied that Bezikov interrupted him, out of politeness, he still said patiently: "Since we have received the order from our superiors to attack, we can't stay here and stand still, right?" ”

I listened to the dispute between Bezzikov and Kravchenko, stared at the map on the table, and felt that Bezzikov had a point, according to the original plan, we should have been stationed in the Priluki area at least half a month ago, but who knew that Vatutin said that the German army with its back to the Dnieper River was ready to move, and if we moved at such a time, it would be easy for the Germans to take advantage of it. As a result, the Germans not only did not attack, but retreated in great stride, and at once disrupted our plans.

I was thinking about where to cross the river with my troops, when I suddenly heard Chistyakov calling me. I looked up and saw that the argument between Bezikov and Kravchenko, I don't know when it stopped, I looked at Chistyakov and asked curiously: "Comrade Deputy Commander, do you have something?" ”

Chistyakov said briefly: "Comrade Commander, I think we should think carefully about the next course of our actions. ”

"If there is anything to discuss, just follow the orders of the superiors." I said with a blank face: "The troops of the army group should be immediately ready to go!" ”

"Go?" Chistyakov asked with some confusion: "Where should we go?" You must know that the order given to us by the head of the front army is to force the Dnieper River, but if you look at the map, Zaporosh, Dnepropetrovsk, Komsomolsk, Kremenchug, the areas where landing fields can be established are all defense areas of friendly forces, and we must not follow others to cross the river. ”

Hearing him say this, I just smiled, looked around, and then beckoned to Akhromeyev, who was sitting by the wall, and motioned for him to come in front of me. When he came to my side and stood still, I smiled and asked him: "Comrade Major, do you remember when we fought guerrillas in the rear of Manstein at the beginning of the year?" ”

Hearing my question, Akhromeyev was visibly stunned, but he immediately nodded and replied affirmatively: "Yes, Comrade Commander, I remember it very well. ”

The commander in the room did not know why I had suddenly asked Akhromeyev this question, but no one spoke, just looked at me strangely.

Then I asked him, "Major, since you remember this." So, surely you remember where on the Dnieper River we planned to break through before the long march to Kyiv? ”

As soon as I finished speaking, a smile appeared on Akhromeyev's face. He said with some pride: "Comrade commander, have you forgotten that in the battle to seize the Canifu bridge across the river, you used the regiment under my command. ”

Except for Kirillov, the rest of the commanders listened to our conversation in a confused voice. Bezikov asked a little anxiously: "I said, Comrade Commander, what are you two talking about, why can't I understand it at all?" ”

"Major, since all the commanders here want to know what's going on, it's up to you to tell everyone." I saw that everyone was curious, so I handed over the mystery to Akhromeyev to uncover.

Akhromeyev turned to the commander sitting at the table and said: "Comrade commander, at the beginning of the year, when Comrade Commander was the commander of the 79th Infantry Corps, she commanded the troops to cross the Dnieper River from Zaporosh, and turned the rear of the German army, which was empty. Later, in order to get rid of more and more German troops, we went north along the Dnieper River and chose two places to cross the river, one was Cherkasy and the other was Kanivo......"

Hearing the two place names, the several commanders gathered around the table, except for Kirillov, the rest of the people all squeezed their heads together, carefully looking for the two place names they had just heard. And Akhromeyev, in order not to affect their ability to look at the map, stopped telling.

Chistyakov was familiar with the map, and with just a casual glance, he found the two cities. Seeing that Akhromeyev had stopped talking, he urged him: "Comrade Chief of Operations, keep talking, please continue." ”

Akhromeyev agreed, and continued: "At that time, after choosing these two places to cross the river, Comrade Commander personally went to the field to investigate, and found that the Cherkasy River was too wide and there was no sufficient number of boats to cross the river in a short time, so he chose the relatively narrow Kanivo ......."

After Akhromeyev finished speaking, Chistyakov said thoughtfully: "Comrade commander, I generally understand what you mean. You are planning to take our river crossing to Cherkasy and Kanivo. Am I understanding correctly? ”

"That's right, Comrade Deputy Commander." Seeing that Chistyakov had guessed his intentions, I did not hide my point of view and said truthfully: "I just plan to cross the Dnieper River from two crossings in two ways. After the troops have gained a foothold on the other side of the river, they will go up the river to attack Kyiv. ”

"This is a bold plan, my comrade commander." Chistyakov said with some surprise: "You must know that our new defense area is in Priluki, which is one hundred and fifteen to two hundred kilometers away from the two ferry ports you mentioned. ”

"I've decided that the troops won't go to Priluki." As I spoke, I walked to the perimeter, pointed with my hand southwest of Priluki, and said: "The whole army immediately marched towards Lubne, the distance of this city from the two crossings is not more than a hundred kilometers, so as to facilitate the movement of troops. ”

As soon as I said this, the whole room was thrown into chaos. Although there were no more than 10 people attending the meeting, everyone was really talking about it. Chistyakov slapped his hand twice on the table, "Quiet, please be quiet!" ”

When the room was quiet again, Chistyakov looked at me and asked with some concern: "Comrade commander, is it appropriate that the new station arranged for us by our superiors is Priluki, but now we have run to the ruble?" ”

"Comrade Deputy Commander, the current enemy situation has changed, and we must also make corresponding adjustments." After I said this, I thought for a moment, and then added: "You should report the matter of changing the garrison to the front headquarters!" ”

An hour later, I set off with Kravchenko's 6th Guards Motorized Regiment. For security reasons, Kravchenko invited me to get into his armored car.

On the way, Kravchenko asked me: "Comrade commander, after our troops have crossed the river, will they stay at the landing site to provide cover for the troops, or will they continue to advance in the opposite direction?" ”

"After all your troops have crossed the river, stay at the landing ground to provide the necessary cover for the infantry." I thought of the fact that the Germans had withdrawn across the Dnieper in an organized manner before they had been dealt a devastating blow by us, not to mention a tank corps in Kravchenko, and even if one of my army groups had been pulled over, they would be at an absolute disadvantage in terms of strength and equipment. Under such circumstances, to rashly attack the German army is not to hit a stone with an egg? That's why I told Kravchenko: "Before a friendly army launches an attack on the Germans, remember to stand still, and never attack lightly, otherwise the troops will suffer huge losses." ”

Kravchenko probably didn't expect me to answer like this, but after listening to my words, he was stunned for a long time before he spoke: "Comrade commander, even if a suitable fighter appears, won't we take the initiative to attack?" ”

"Comrade General," I was deeply afraid that he would disobey my orders, so I put on a straight face and said solemnly, "Don't you know that the Germans are withdrawing on a large scale to the other side of the Dnieper, and as long as they complete the retreat, then they will be in an absolute position of superiority in forces and equipment on the other side." If we do not have the cooperation of friendly forces, we rashly attack the enemy, which will attract German troops from several directions to our side, and at that time, let alone attack Kyiv, even if we can keep the landing site, it is a question. (To be continued.) )