In the vast twilight, our armored vehicle passed through deserted fields and groves, and on both sides of the road, in addition to large and small craters, you could see burned villages and trees whose treetops had been cut off by shrapnel. There is not a single civilian to be seen, except for the troops we are marching.

Seeing this, Kravchenko asked curiously: "Strange, why is it that all the villages along the way have been burned down, and no one in the village can see them?" ”

"Needless to say, my comrade commander." I looked out from the lookout and said with a wry smile: "The village outside must have been burned by the Germans, and the villagers were also looted by them." Manstein's hand is very poisonous, he left us a scorched earth with no human population, just to prevent us from getting troops and material supplies from these places, and can only rely on Moscow or Kursk for supplies. Our army on several fronts has more than one million people, and the massive amount of materials needed is enough to overwhelm the logistics troops, so that they can buy time to deploy defenses. ”

As soon as I said this, Kravchenko immediately understood: "I understand that the reason why the Front Command ordered us to force the Dnieper River in the shortest possible time was probably to prevent the Germans from building strong fortifications on the other side of the river. If we really have to let them build fortifications, we will have to pay great sacrifices if we want to force them through. ”

I looked outside again, and when I saw that it was a strange place, I casually asked, "Comrade Commander, where are we now?" ”

Kravchenko heard me ask, and hurriedly looked out through the lookout. I guessed from his frowning brow that he probably didn't know what this place was. After a while, I heard him ask the driver, "Hey, I said comrade driver, where are we here?" ”

"Report to Comrade Commander," the driver of the armored car turned his head and said loudly, "we are now in Khorol, fifteen kilometers from Lubne. ”

"Give me the map." After hearing the position of the driver, I hurriedly stretched out my hand to Kravchenko, "I'll see where Horol is." ”

When Kravchenko laid out the map in front of me, he was afraid that I would not know where Khorol was, and he pointed out with his finger: "Comrade commander, you see, here it is, southwest of the ruble. Then he moved his finger to the left along the route on the map, "If we go all the way west, about thirty kilometers forward, we will reach Zolotonosha, which is only two or three kilometers from Cherkasy. ”

Kravchenko's words moved my heart, and I then instructed him: "Comrade commander, order the troops to change the direction of the march and advance towards Zolotonosha. ”

My order made Kravchenko a little puzzled, and he asked with a blank face: "Why, comrade commander, are we not going to rubles?" ”

"Let someone send a telegram to the deputy commander asking him to send a division into the ruble, while the rest of the troops immediately advance towards Zolotonosha." In order not to be confused, I also explained to him: "Comrade commander, come and see, this Zolotonosa is located in a good geographical location, right between Cherkasy and Kanivo. Did you see that the Dnieper, which was once wide, became narrow and turbulent here. I reckon the Germans have not yet had time to build fortifications in this area, so we need to cross the river from this section as quickly as possible and build a landing ground on the opposite bank. ”

Hearing that I had said this, Kravchenko knew that it was useless to object, so he reluctantly agreed, and ordered the signal corps to inform the troops to change the direction of the march and advance towards Zolotonosa. In addition, a telegram was sent to Chistyakov, informing them of my decision.

An hour later, our convoy arrived in Zolotonosha. In the city, as we saw along the way, all the residents were gone, the factories and stations were blown up, and all the buildings were burned. Kravchenko gave the commander of the motorized regiment an order to set up a command post in the city, and then our armored car, surrounded by seven or eight motorcycles, drove through the city towards the river.

After driving along the uneven road for more than ten minutes, the armored vehicle finally stopped. The driver turned to us and reported: "Commander, commander, we are at the river. ”

As soon as we got out of the armored car, the soldiers who followed jumped off their motorbikes and set up a ring around the two of us. I looked to the left and right, and when I saw a mountain bag not far away, I patted Kravchenko on the shoulder and said to him: "Comrade commander, let's go there." Looking at the enemy's positions there, you should see a little more clearly. ”

Standing on the dirt bag, I raised my binoculars and looked across the bank. I saw that the cliff on the west bank of the Dnieper was like a high wall blocking my view, and after my repeated observations, it had no slope at all, except for mountaineers who could climb it with tools, ordinary warriors could only climb it with the help of ladders. There was a distance of about forty or fifty meters from the river to the cliff, and in the middle were rows of wooden stakes with barbed wire, which were obviously minefields laid by the Germans.

I put down my binoculars, pointed to the cliffs and minefields on the opposite bank, and said to Kravchenko: "Comrade commander, do you see that? The cliff on the opposite bank is 30 meters high, and if the enemy establishes a few firing points on it, he can strike at our river-crossing troops from a high position. ”

Kravchenko looked at the cliffs and minefields on the opposite bank, then frowned and said: "Judging from the current situation, it seems that there are no Germans guarding the opposite side, but the current here is too fast, and I am worried that the troops will not be able to reach the opposite bank without the equipment to cross the river." ”

If it wasn't for the river crossing, I never cared if there was any river crossing equipment or anything like that. Hearing Kravchenko say this, my heart suddenly chuckled, and I said that if we could not get to the other side of the river as soon as possible, and wait for the enemy to react and establish a defense on the other bank, our operation to cross the river would become even more difficult than it is now.

Thinking of this, I ordered Kravchenko: "Comrade commander, immediately organize the fighters to cut down trees, make rafts, and cross the river overnight. ”

Kravchenko showed an embarrassed expression on his face for my order: "Comrade commander, it's too late, can you wait until after dawn tomorrow to act." You should know that the river is turbulent, the view at night is not good, and accidents are prone to occur. As he spoke, he pointed to the other side and added, "Look at the minefield on the other side, and if there were no sappers to clear the mines, our soldiers would have to squat by the river and not be able to move on." ”

"Comrade Commander," I said with some dissatisfaction with his pushback, "the Germans had no idea that our troops had reached the Dnieper, and it was a good time for us to cross the river. If it were dragged on until tomorrow, when the Germans discovered us and placed mortars and machine guns on the cliffs on the opposite bank to block the river, how much sacrifice would we have to pay to cross the river that could have been crossed without any problems? ”

Kravchenko, who had been taught a few words by me, nodded after a moment of silence, and then said: "Comrade commander, you are right. Although it is dangerous to cross the river at night, it is much safer than crossing the river under enemy shelling and machine-gun fire. After speaking, he turned around and ordered the signal soldier standing behind him with the radio on his back: "Comrade telegrapher, immediately send a telegram to the commander of the motorized regiment, and ask him to immediately send two battalions to the river with tree-cutting tools to assemble." ”

When the operator crouched aside to deliver the news, Kravchenko whispered to me: "Comrade commander, we have too few people, and it is still a little difficult to make a large raft that can cross the river in a short time. You see, did you ask the deputy commander to send a Guards Division over to cooperate with our river crossing? ”

"Comrade Commander, this proposal of yours is good, just do what you say! Let them transfer the 67th Guards Division first. I said this, thought for a moment, and then added, "I remember that they seem to have a lot of kayaks in their division, and they asked them to send all these river crossing equipment to the river." ”

"Understood," Kravchenko excitedly agreed, and ran over to give the operator a new order.

When Kravchenko re-approached the operator, he said to me with concern: "Comrade commander, it's cold outside, and the troops who have received the order will have to wait a long time to get here, so let's go back to the car." ”

Although I was located more than 400 meters from the opposite bank, I was always worried about being sniped by German snipers. Although I wanted to return to the armored car for a long time, I was embarrassed to bring it up when I saw that Kravchenko had just been seriously looking at the terrain opposite. At this moment, since he took the initiative to mention it, I also agreed to go back to the armored car with him and wait for the arrival of those troops crossing the river. (To be continued.) )