By evening, with the exception of the 89th Guards Division, which was directly under the group army, which remained in Zolotonosa, the troops of the other two guards corps entered two cities respectively. For the sake of ease of management, I had General Sivakov's 22nd Guards Army hold on to Kanivo, while General Tavartkiradze's 23rd Guards Division was deployed in Cherkasy.

Since the Germans intended to hold on to the other side of the Dnieper, they had not yet destroyed the city, but they had moved all the inhabitants of the city so that we would not be replenished with soldiers.

As for the headquarters of the army group, I set up it in Cherkasy, first, because the city is large, and second, my next plan is to send troops to seize nearby Smilla. Along with the command, Kravchenko's Fifth Guards Tank Corps, as well as Povsky's two artillery regiments and three Guards rocket artillery battalions.

While the communications chief, Lopukhov, was arranging for men to lay out the communication lines, I called the commander of the reconnaissance battalion, Travkin, and instructed him: "Comrade Captain, we will soon launch an attack on Smilla. However, we do not know anything about the enemy's situation at the moment, so your reconnaissance battalion should send out manpower to reconnoiter the city as soon as possible and find out the enemy's strength and distribution. ”

After listening to my command, Travkin immediately straightened his back and replied: "Don't worry, comrade commander, if you give me two days, I will definitely be able to find out the strength and distribution of the German troops in the Smilla area." ”

"No, two days is too long, I can only give you 24 hours." After hearing Travkin's reply, Chistyakov, who was next to him, came over and said: "We are now in this German hurry, and we want to smash their defenses and liberate the city from their hands with lightning speed before they come to their senses." ”

When Travkin heard Chistyakov say this, an embarrassed expression appeared on his face, and he had no choice but to turn his gaze to me for help. I knew in my heart that he was worried that the time would be too short to complete the reconnaissance mission well, so I took the initiative to round up for him and said: "Comrade Deputy Commander, one day is too short, if the German army is well defended, the captain will not be able to approach the city, let alone reconnoiter the situation in the city." ”

"But two days is a bit too long." Chistyakov said worriedly: "The enemy at Smilla must have known that we had captured Cherkasy and Kanivo and were ready to defend themselves. If it drags on until two days later, I fear that the enemy will build more fortifications to improve their defenses. ”

"Comrade Deputy Commander, it is simply impossible for us to hide from the enemy in such a big move as we have seized two cities." I understand that haste is not enough, and if I rush to attack without waiting for the enemy's specific situation to be known, then I may suffer defeat, and I cannot take this risk, so I must conduct a thorough reconnaissance before I can launch an attack on Smilla. I continued: "Although the Germans withdrew their main forces across the Dnieper, judging from our battle today, the enemy lacks a unified command due to the confusion of the organization, and even if they are given two days, they may not be able to organize an effective defense. Therefore, I think it is absolutely necessary to give the reconnaissance battalion two days to conduct reconnaissance. ”

"I agree with Comrade Commander." At this time, Bezikov also chimed in: "If the reconnaissance is not meticulous enough because of the rush of time, our troops will suffer unnecessary losses when attacking." ”

Seeing that I had the same opinion as Bezkov, Chistyakov couldn't say anything more, he could only nod and say helplessly: "Well, Comrade Commander, since you and the chief of staff have the same opinion, then I will no longer insist on my own opinion." After saying that, he turned to look at Travkin and said, "Comrade Captain, I hope you will hurry up and complete the reconnaissance of the enemy in the Smilla area as soon as possible, understand?" ”

"Got it!" After answering loudly, Travkin raised his hand and saluted a few of us, then turned and walked out of the headquarters.

As soon as Lopukhov and the others had finished debugging the line, Vatutin's phone called my command: "Comrade Oshanina, I have already read the combat report that you asked Major Akhromeyev to send. You fought well today, not only crossing the Dnieper River, but also successfully capturing the port cities of Kanivo and Cherkasy. I would like to ask you, what are you going to do next? ”

When I heard Vatutin's question, I hurriedly made a gesture to Bezikov and motioned for him to bring the map. When Bezikov saw my gesture, he immediately understood, and he hurriedly walked over with a combat map and placed it in front of me. I looked down at the map and began to answer Vatutin's question: "Comrade General, I have arranged it like this: General Sivakov's 22nd Guards Army, which is to be deployed in Kanivo, is to build fortifications in the northwest and due west direction of the city, blocking the road to the south of the enemy in Kiev. And the 23rd Guards Army, deployed in Cherkasy, was building fortifications in the southeast and due south of the city to block the way of the Germans from Zaporosh to the north. At the same time, it is necessary to prepare for the capture of the city of Smilla. ”

After listening to my report, Vatutin was silent, presumably looking at the map with what I said, weighing whether my deployment was appropriate. After a long while, he spoke: "Comrade Oshanina, this deployment of yours is very good. As long as a well-developed defense system is built around the two cities, it is equivalent to cutting off the enemy's connection from Kyiv to Zaporosh, cutting off their defensive lines. In this way, the troops of our Front Army and the Southwestern Front Army will be able to divide and destroy the enemy. ”

I was worried that Vatutin's opinion on my deployment like this, so I was always nervous in my heart, but when I heard his praise, the big stone hanging in my heart finally fell to the ground. I waited for him to finish speaking, and then asked cautiously: "Comrade General, do you have any other instructions?" ”

"When will you be able to launch an assault on the Smilla area?" Vatutin said with some anxiety: "If you take this city, you can train Kanifu and Cherkasy as a whole, so that it will be very difficult for the Germans to eat you or drive you back from the other side of the river." ”

"Comrade General, we have sent reconnaissance personnel to reconnoiter the Smilla area." To his question, I cautiously replied: "At the same time, we also need time to adjust the defense of our troops. Therefore, the attack on Smilla will not be officially launched until two days later. (To be continued.) )