Dnieper battle. Lesson on the topic “The Great Patriotic War. Preparation of the German defense

Having passed four years of war trials, the Red Army approached the territory of the German Oder River, whose destiny it had to decide. It was here, on the banks of the river that was fateful for German soldiers, that it was planned to inflict the most decisive blow on the enemy, carrying out thorough preparation for him (accumulation of equipment, weapons and fuel).

The Vistula-Oder operation, which began on January 12, 1945, deservedly entered military history under the status of the most impetuous. The main objectives of the operation:

• the defeat of the enemy army group "A";
• the liberation of Poland from the fascist occupation;
• preparation for the capture of Berlin.

The cardinal directions of this military campaign were the cities: Breslau (in the south), Konigsberg (in the north), Frankfurt an der Oder (in the middle of the offensive territory). To achieve success in hostilities at such a distance is to master the real art of warfare.

Military situation on the eve of the operation

The Warsaw-Berlin direction posed a rather significant threat to Germany, for the defense of which the German command prepared seven defensive zones to a depth of six hundred kilometers. On the territory between the Vistula and the Oder, Army Group A was concentrated, numbering 4 tank, 2 motorized and 30 infantry divisions (numbering 560 thousand people). For the conduct of long-term defensive operations were intended: 1220 tanks and assault guns, more than 5000 guns and mortars, 600 aircraft, fortified areas were created (Warsaw, Poznan, Radom, Breslau, Krakow, Modlin, Schneidemühl).

The state of the German troops at that time was marked by a critical level. The loss of the Ploiesti oil region of Romania as a result of the Jassy-Kishinev operation, the destruction of military aviation, the destruction of industry as a result of the bombing of the allied forces, protracted battles in East Prussia and Hungary, where it was necessary to transfer forces, weakening the front positions in Poland, exacerbated the situation.

Meanwhile, the presence of Anglo-American troops in Europe gave the Germans additional difficulties. They had to carry out the distribution of their forces. With the aim of destroying the weaker link (the British and the Americans) and subsequently inflicting a crushing blow on the Red Army forces, the enemy on December 16, 1944, carried out Operation Watch on the Rhine. The plans of the Germans included: the capture of bridges on the Meuse River, the capture of the main supply point for the allies of Antwerp, then the capital of Belgium. However, the counter-offensive of the allied forces disrupted their plans, only on January 1 the enemy managed to unleash a new offensive in Alsace.

On January 6, 1945, Stalin received a request from Churchill (Prime Minister of Great Britain) about the need to start an offensive operation of Soviet troops against Warsaw due to the failure of the Anglo-American forces in the Ardennes. In order to assist the allies, the preparation time for the Vistula-Oder operation was reduced, the start of the offensive was changed from 20 to 12 January.

The leading role in crossing the Oder was assigned to the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front (under the command of G. Zhukov) and the 1st Ukrainian Front, led by I. Konev, who had at their disposal 5,047 aircraft, 37,033 guns and mortars, 7,042 tanks and self-propelled guns. The number of personnel reached 2 million military personnel.

Vistula-Oder offensive operation

The date January 12, 1945 was marked in history as the beginning of a major offensive of the Red Army on the Vistula. The troops raised their weapons at about 4.35 am.

The main components of this offensive of the troops:

• Warsaw-Poznan operation (1st Belorussian Front);
• Sandomierz-Silesian operation (1st Ukrainian Front).

On January 12, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front struck at the enemy from the Sandomierz bridgehead. Two days later, on January 14, the forces of the 1st Belorussian Front launched an offensive from the Pulovsky and Mangushevsky bridgeheads. Already on January 17, the enemy's defense was broken to a depth of 100-160 km, in a strip of up to 500 kilometers, 2,400 settlements received the long-awaited freedom, among them - Warsaw. On January 19, the city of Lodz was liberated. Since January 22, the battles for Poznan took place. On February 3, bridgeheads were captured in the area of ​​Frankfurt and Kustrin, the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front reached the Oder, the Vistula-Oder operation was successfully completed.

Factors contributing to the success of this operation:

• high level of effectiveness of artillery fire;
• the power of attacks by tanks and infantry in combination with close interaction of troops;
• good mobility of forces and equipment (average daily rate of advance - 25-30 km per day, for tank armies - 70 km).

Results of the operation

The offensive from the Vistula to the Oder is characterized as an important strategic military operation, as a result of which most of Poland received the long-awaited freedom. In addition, the transfer of hostilities to the territory of Germany was carried out, which indicated the impending defeat of the enemy troops and the near end of the war.

During the operation, 147,000 soldiers were captured, 70 German divisions were destroyed. The loss of a huge amount of weapons (14 thousand mortars and guns, 1.4 thousand tanks and assault guns), the loss of large industrial areas became the main reasons for weakening the enemy and creating conditions for conducting hostilities in the Berlin direction, closer and closer to the enemy's lair.

More than 600 thousand Soviet soldiers gave freedom to Poland at the cost of their lives. In June 1945, the medal "For the Liberation of Warsaw" was instituted.

It is noteworthy that the list of 18 commemorative coins worth 5 rubles dedicated to the battles and operations of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 includes the 5 rubles 2014 Vistula-Oder operation. This underlines the importance of the brilliant victory of the Soviet troops during the crossing of the Oder.

Young nurse when attacking him. planes, before she did not fight, now she began to be afraid ...

German lamps, which were without glass, burned lice out of clothes, annealed sleeves, everything "unnecessary", leaving only one "shirt front" from the shirt ...

Astafiev volunteered for the army, although he had a reservation. He ended up in a reserve regiment, where future soldiers lived for several months in inhuman conditions, in winter they lived in unheated barracks, they were almost not fed, the sick were not treated, the fathers-commanders treated them worse than cattle.

Some young guys could not stand it and began to lose their human appearance, they rummaged in garbage dumps to find at least something edible. They turned into goners and died.

From a rifle they were given a shot at least a couple of times.

When they were sent to the front, no one was waiting for them, they were not even dressed in new uniforms. Their "army" looked like a bunch of ragged vagrants. The young guys were like emaciated, tired old men with dull eyes.

From a lack of strength and skill, most of them died in the very first battle or were captured. - No wonder, because the so-called. Marshal Zhukov treated other people's lives with contempt and complete indifference.

They never did what they wanted and could do.

Autumn 1943, completely unprepared crossing of the Dnieper, the so-called. development of the success of the victory at the Kursk Bulge.

Who, how and what can, without special watercraft, most of the soldiers did not even know how to swim. There could be no question of the delivery of heavy equipment, tanks to the other side.

Out of 25,000 in the section where Astafyev was ferried, they got to the other side

3 600! (only saved 14,4%, perished85,6 % ) But there were other areas, there were. When the soldiers began to drown over the Dnieper stood - shouted: "Mom or God ..."

After the crossing, everything was littered with blackened bloated corpses, which the crows pecked out their eyes with ...

Battle of the Dnieper - losses of about 300 000 soldier. Astafyev experienced firsthand what the Soviet command and the Soviet offensive were.

Dneprovsky bridgehead - "only those who are completely on someone else's human life could force us to cross and fight like this. We threw corpses on Germany, drenched it with our blood ..."

Victory by any sacrifice ...

One of the main killers of owls. the soldier in this sector of the front was the so-called. Marshal Konev, as well as the so-called. Marshals Zhukov, Rokossovsky and Vatutin.

The Soviet version of forcing the Dnieper is isolated and embellished. Losses are significantly underestimated (20-30% are indicated), in fact, they are immeasurably higher.

Petty scoundrels and falsifiers from the communist political departments on staged and clearly fake photographs of allegedly crossing the Dnieper repeatedly poke a cheap and vulgar slogan in your eyes: "GIVE KIEV!" and written by themselves.

They already knew well that for every step forward with the owls. The offensive was paid for by hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of lives of soldiers, whose lives were valued cheaper than a snuff of tobacco, for which no one asked the military commanders Zhukov, Konev, Rokossovsky and Vatutin.

Victory by any sacrifice, at any cost ... Viktor Astafyev said correctly: “We won the war with Germany because we filled them up with our corpses, covered them with our blood.”

Sov. the soldiers were a draft, dumb beast, having no needs or wants, obediently going to slaughter.

Nowhere is there a single photo of Soviet corpses that densely covered the Dnieper after the attempt to cross. Crows sat astride these corpses, pecking out their eyes.

The commissars from the political departments do not like this truth. They are used to bawling about mass heroism, self-sacrifice ... - No, these dead soldiers did not sacrifice themselves, they were irresponsibly sacrificed by beetles and horses. There is a well-known saying so-called. Marshal Zhukov: "Don't spare the soldier!" "Soldiers are consumables!"

Comrade Dzhugashvili, in turn, was interested in ONLY German losses, he did not pay any attention to our losses ... Russians and also all other nationalities, he, the Georgian, were not sorry!

THE GREAT SHIT COMMANDER ...

Astafyev was seriously wounded in the head.

On the other side of the Dnieper, hunger and cold awaited them. There were no cartridges, no grenades, no shovels, no tobacco - the soldiers were dying, being eaten by lice and rats, who didn’t know where the masses poured into the trenches.

You must eat like a beast, sleep like a beast - a complete dehumanization ...

On the road, when retreating from Zhitomir for many kilometers, the corpses of owls. soldiers rolled to the thickness of a plywood sheet. Tanks and armored personnel carriers, ordinary vehicles are moving along these remains.

Bones and teeth rarely turn white ... This made a depressing impression on Viktor Astafiev.

There is eyewitness testimony that the bodies of owls. soldiers after the battle were sometimes simply burned, doused with diesel fuel ...

In this monstrous war, the official statistics registered about 5,000,000 missing Soviet servicemen. - How can this be?

For comparison - the population of the European state of Switzerland in 1940 was 4,247,000 people, and in 1950, 4,694,000 people.

How could 5,000,000 people disappear or get lost defies human perception.

The corpses have not been removed, they are not removed even now in Chechnya ...

The Russians did not think about the betrayal of the bodies to the earth, they buried them selectively, from time to time, most of the Russian mass graves are unnamed to this day.

The Germans buried their killed soldiers, no matter what happened. In the German army, numbered metal tokens existed, one part of the token remained on the body of the buried person, and the other part with the same number was in the hands of those who buried the bodies, so that the subsequent identification of the body of the buried person was possible.

Soviet funeral teams, according to Astafiev, were jackals on the fields of former battles: they pulled out gold teeth and crowns from the dead with forceps, cut off fingers with wedding rings with sapper shovels, and turned out pockets. They stripped the corpses naked.

They also took off the German uniforms from the dead in order to put them on themselves, since the Soviet uniform was badly worn. On some of the soldiers, everything, except for the cap, was German. Therefore, owls. the soldiers were often mistaken by civilians for German prisoners of war.

The stars on the cap were cut out by the soldiers from cans, owls. officers also cut stars from tin cans for their shoulder straps. The need is erratic ... The need for inventions is cunning!

Wartime Soldier Song:

Don't cry, don't groan, you're not small

You are not injured, you are simply killed!

Let me take off your boots as a keepsake,

We still have to advance ...

The Battle of the Dnieper is a complex of interconnected military operations conducted by Soviet troops on the banks of the Dnieper during the Great Patriotic War.

The battle for the Dnieper took place in the second half of 1943 and lasted almost four months. During the operation, the front line stretched for 750 kilometers, and the number of people who took part in it from both sides reached 4 million. As a result of the operation, Left-Bank Ukraine was almost completely liberated from the German invaders - several strategic bridgeheads were created along the river bank, Kiev was liberated. The battle for the Dnieper became one of the largest operations in the second half of the Great Patriotic War, and one of the most notable achievements of the Red Army.

Prehistory of the battle. Position of the parties

After the German army lost in the Battle of the Kursk Bulge, the German military command had already lost all hopes of victory over the USSR, in addition, the army, which entered the war prepared and well-equipped, has now significantly thinned out, while the Soviet army, on the contrary gained strength and improved her technical position. Despite this, the German command still periodically issued orders for an offensive in different directions, and sometimes these operations were crowned with success, but Hitler did not succeed in significantly changing the state of affairs in the war.

The Soviet army launched a counteroffensive and gradually pushed the German army farther and farther to the country's borders. By mid-August 1943, Hitler finally realized that it would not be possible to break the offensive of the Red Army, so Germany's tactics changed - it was decided to build a large number of fortifications along the Dnieper river in order to hold back the Soviet offensive and in no case allow the Russians to enter the Dnieper.

At the same time, for the USSR, the Dnieper and the regions located there were extremely important strategic territories - coal mines were located there - therefore Stalin ordered to speed up the return of the territories captured by the Germans and made this direction one of the main ones.

Stages of the battle for the Dnieper

The battle for the Dnieper lasted from August 26 to December 23, 1943 and included several stages and battles:

• First stage. Chernihiv-Poltava operation. (August 26 - September 30, 1943);
• Second phase. Lower Dnieper operation (September 26 - December 20, 1943).

Also, several separate operations can be attributed to the battle for the Dnieper, which historians do not attribute to one of the stages, but consider an important component of this period of the war:

• Dnieper airborne operation (September 1943);
• Kiev offensive operation (1943) (November 3-13, 1943);
• Kiev defensive operation (November 13 - December 23, 1943).

The course of the battle for the Dnieper

At the first stage, the Soviet army managed to liberate Donbass, the Left Bank of Ukraine and force the Dnieper, seizing a number of bridgeheads on the right bank of the river. Troops of the Central, Voronezh and Steppe fronts took part in the battle for the Dnieper.

The first to enter the battle were the troops of the Central Front, which managed to break through the German defenses in the southern sector of the Dnieper. By August 31, Soviet troops were able to advance 60 kilometers deep into the German defense and 100 kilometers wide. This breakthrough gave the Soviet troops a serious advantage, which only intensified when Voronezh and Stepnoy joined the Central Front.

By the beginning of September, the offensive of the Soviet army was deployed practically over the entire territory of the Left-Bank Ukraine, which completely deprived the Germans of the opportunity to perform major maneuvers and use reserve divisions. The Soviet army continued to advance and by the end of September 20 bridgeheads on the Dnieper had already been captured, which finally broke Germany's plans for a long-term defense of its fortifications on the river.

In October, the second stage of the battle began, which consisted in holding the captured bridgeheads and expanding them. At the same time, the Soviet troops continued to build up their forces, pulling more and more reserves to the battle line. The main operations of this period can be considered Nizhnedneprovskaya and Kievskaya. During the first, Northern Tavria was liberated, Crimea was blockaded, and a large bridgehead was captured in the territory from Cherkassy to Zaporozhye. Unfortunately, it was not possible to break through further, since the Germans put up fierce resistance and just during this period pulled up several reserve divisions. During the Kiev operation, Soviet troops launched an offensive against the German fortifications around the capital of Ukraine from the north, and by November 6, Kiev was completely liberated from the Nazis. Germany made an attempt to recapture Kiev, but it was unsuccessful and the German troops were forced to leave this territory.

By the end of the battle for the Dnieper, Soviet troops were able to capture almost all of the largest bridgeheads, which gave them the opportunity to control the entire territory of the Dnieper, which finally destroyed all the plans of the German command for a short respite before a major counteroffensive.

Results and significance of the battle for the Dnieper

The battle for the Dnieper was one of the rare examples of such a large-scale and rapid crossing of such a huge territory, captured and well-guarded by the enemy. Even the German command was forced to admit that the hundred Soviet army in this operation showed its best qualities and great courage.

The liberation of the Dnieper, Kiev and Ukraine as a whole had enormous political and moral significance for the Soviet Union. Firstly, it was possible to return the previously seized territories with all their resources; secondly, Ukraine gave the Soviet Union access to the borders of Romania and Poland, and later on to Germany itself.

The battle for the Dnieper was one of the bloodiest in the entire history of wars. According to various sources, losses on both sides, including killed and wounded, ranged from 1.7 to 2.7 million people. This battle was a series of strategic operations carried out by Soviet troops in 1943. Among them was the crossing of the Dnieper.

Great river

The Dnieper is the third largest river in Europe after the Danube and Volga. Its width in the lower reaches is about 3 km. I must say that the right bank is much higher and steeper than the left. This feature significantly complicated the crossing of troops. In addition, in accordance with the directives of the Wehrmacht, German soldiers reinforced the opposite bank with a large number of obstacles and

Forcing options

Faced with such a situation, the command thought about how to transport troops and equipment across the river. Two plans were developed according to which the crossing of the Dnieper could take place. The first option included stopping the troops on the river bank and pulling additional units to the places of the proposed crossings. Such a plan made it possible to detect the flaws in the enemy's defensive line, as well as to correctly determine the places where subsequent attacks would take place.

Further, a massive breakthrough was supposed, which was supposed to end with the encirclement of the lines of defense of the Germans and the pushing back of their troops to positions that were unfavorable for them. In this position, the soldiers of the Wehrmacht will be completely incapable of offering any resistance to overcome their defensive lines. In reality, these tactics were very similar to those used by the Germans themselves to cross the Maginot Line at the beginning of the war.

But this option had a number of significant drawbacks. He gave the German command time to pull in additional forces, as well as regroup troops and strengthen the defenses to more effectively repel the growing onslaught of the Soviet Army in the appropriate places. In addition, such a plan exposed our troops to great danger of being attacked by mechanized units of German formations, and this, it should be noted, was almost the most effective weapon of the Wehrmacht since the beginning of the war on the territory of the USSR.

The second option is the crossing of the Dnieper by Soviet troops by delivering a powerful strike without any preparation at once along the entire front line. Such a plan did not give the Germans time to equip the so-called Eastern Wall, as well as to prepare the defense of their bridgeheads on the Dnieper. But this option could lead to huge losses in the ranks of the Soviet Army.

Training

As you know, the German positions were located on the right bank of the Dnieper. And on the opposite side, Soviet troops occupied a section, the length of which was about 300 km. Huge forces were drawn here, so there was a sorely lack of regular watercraft for such a large number of soldiers. The main units were forced to force the crossing of the Dnieper with literally improvised means. They swam across the river on accidentally found fishing boats, homemade rafts made from logs, planks, tree trunks, and even on barrels.

A no less problem was the question of how to transport heavy equipment to the opposite bank. The fact is that on many bridgeheads they did not have time to deliver it in the required quantities, which is why the main burden of crossing the Dnieper fell on the shoulders of the soldiers of rifle units. This state of affairs led to protracted battles and a significant increase in losses on the part of the Soviet troops.

Forcing

Finally, the day came when the military power went on the offensive. The crossing of the Dnieper began. The date of the first crossing of the river is September 22, 1943. Then the bridgehead was taken, located on the right bank. It was the area of ​​the confluence of two rivers - the Pripyat and the Dnieper, which was located on the northern side of the front. The Fortieth, which was part of the Voronezh Front, and the Third Panzer Army almost simultaneously managed to achieve the same success in the sector south of Kiev.

After 2 days, the next position, located on the western bank, was captured. This time it happened not far from Dneprodzerzhinsk. After another 4 days, Soviet troops successfully crossed the river in the Kremenchug area. Thus, by the end of the month, 23 bridgeheads were formed on the opposite bank of the Dnieper River. Some were so small that they were 10 km wide and only 1–2 km deep.

The crossing of the Dnieper itself was carried out by the 12th Soviet armies. In order to somehow disperse the powerful fire produced by the German artillery, many false bridgeheads were created. Their goal was to imitate the massive nature of the crossing.

The crossing of the Dnieper by Soviet troops is the clearest example of heroism. I must say that the soldiers used even the slightest opportunity to cross to the other side. They swam across the river on any available floating craft that could somehow stay on the water. The troops suffered heavy losses, constantly being under heavy enemy fire. They managed to firmly gain a foothold on the already conquered bridgeheads, literally burrowing into the ground from the shelling of German artillery. In addition, the Soviet units covered with their fire the new forces that came to their aid.

Bridgehead protection

German forces fiercely defended their positions, using powerful counterattacks at each of the crossings. Their primary goal was to destroy the enemy troops before the heavy armored vehicles reached the right bank of the river.

The crossings were subjected to massive air attacks. German bombers fired at people on the water, as well as those located on the shore. At the beginning, the actions of the Soviet aviation were disorganized. But when it was synchronized with the rest of the ground forces, the defense of the crossings improved.

The actions of the Soviet Army were crowned with success. The crossing of the Dnieper in 1943 led to the capture of bridgeheads on the enemy bank. Fierce battles continued throughout October, but all the territories recaptured from the Germans were held, and some were even expanded. The Soviet troops were accumulating strength for the next offensive.

Mass heroism

So the crossing of the Dnieper ended. Heroes of the Soviet Union - this most honorable title was immediately awarded to 2,438 soldiers who participated in those battles. The Battle of the Dnieper is an example of extraordinary courage and self-sacrifice displayed by Soviet soldiers and officers. Such a truly massive award was the only one for the entire time of the Great Patriotic War.

An excerpt from the book "There is a people's war ..."

You saw the battle, Dnieper is the father of the river,
We were attacking under the mountain.
Who died for the Dnieper will live for centuries
Kohl fought like a hero.
Evgeny Dolmatovsky.

After the defeat at the Kursk Bulge and the failure of Operation Citadel in the summer of 1943, the Wehrmacht lost all hope of a decisive victory over the USSR.
The losses were significant.
And worse, the army as a whole was much less experienced than before. Because many of her best fighters have died in previous battles.
As a result, despite significant forces, the Wehrmacht could really hope only for tactical success in the long-term defense of its positions from Soviet troops.
The German offensives from time to time brought significant results, but the Germans could not translate them into a strategic victory.

By mid-August, Hitler realized that the Soviet offensive could not be stopped. By that time, the allies no longer believed in the invincibility of the fascists and turned their backs on them.
Therefore, the Fuhrer and the High Command of the Wehrmacht decided to go over to the defensive on the entire Eastern Front. Defense, which should stop the advance of the Red Army for many years ...
The German troops were ordered:
- firmly hold the occupied lines,
- stop the advance of Soviet troops at any cost and
- to retain the most important economic regions.
At the same time, the German command developed a defense plan.
It provided for the creation of a well-fortified frontier from the Baltic to the Black Sea - the "Eastern Wall".

"VOSTOCHNY VAL" (OSTWALL) is a strategic defensive line of German troops on the Soviet-German front, created by the fall of 1943.
It passed north of Lake Peipsi, along the Narva River, east of Pskov, Nevel, Vitebsk, Orsha, then through Gomel, along the Sozh and Dnieper rivers in its middle reaches and along the Molochnaya River.

In September 1943, it was divided into the PANTHER and VOTAN lines.

- "WOTAN" (WOTAN) - a defensive line of German troops, created in the fall of 1943 on the southern front in the zone of action of Army Groups "South" and "A".
Odin, he is Wotan - in ancient Germanic mythology, the god of thunder and lightning, the supreme god, the king of the Aesir, the master of Valhala, where the Aesir feast and where the warriors who died on the battlefield end up.

- "PANTHER" (PANTHER) - the defensive line of the German troops in the fall of 1943 in the zone of the army groups "North" and "Center".

It must be said that the construction of the "Vostochny Val" began in the winter of 1941-1942. That is, when, due to the failure of Operation Typhoon and the Red Army's transition to the offensive, German troops were driven back from Moscow by an average of 250 kilometers. And when the threat of total annihilation loomed over the Army Group Center.
At the headquarters of OHV, Hitler and his field marshals considered measures that were supposed to stop the advance of Soviet troops.
And the solution was found.
On December 8, 1941, Hitler signed Directive No. 39 on the widespread transition of German troops to the defensive and demanded that the soldiers "defend their positions with fanatical stubbornness."
It was from this moment that the "Eastern Wall" began to be erected ...

And in the spring of 1943, preparing for an offensive near Kursk, the Nazis, just in case, were preparing strong defensive lines on the Dnieper.

After the failure of the summer offensive, the work began to boil with trebled energy.
The order to build a complex of fortifications near the Dnieper, known as the "Vostochny Val", was issued by the German headquarters on August 11, 1943 and began to be executed immediately.

The "Eastern Wall" along the banks of the Dnieper played a huge role for the Nazis.

Hitler's General Otto Knobelsdorff noted:

“The Dnieper was planned as a line of resistance even after the fall of Stalingrad ... in the spring of 1943; its great width, low eastern bank and high steep western one, it seemed, should have become an insurmountable barrier for the Russians. "

The fascists were interested in the Dnieper not only as a convenient line of defense.

The West German historian K. Riker is very blunt about this:

"Possessing fertile regions of Western Ukraine, iron ore of Kryvyi Rih, manganese and non-ferrous metals from Zaporozhye and Nikopol, Romanian ... Hungarian and Austrian oil, Germany could continue the war for a long time."

That is why the fascist command made desperate attempts to keep the "Eastern Wall" in their hands.

For the construction of defensive structures, the Nazis drove not only the local population and prisoners of war. But special construction units were also transferred from Western Europe and from the northern section of the Soviet-German front. We have replenished them with fresh personnel from Italy.

The Dnieper itself is a river, the third largest in Europe after the Volga and Danube - this is already a serious natural obstacle for the troops.
Its current speed reaches 2 meters per second, width - up to 3.5 kilometers, and depth - up to 12 meters.
The high steep right bank dominates for a long distance over the low left bank.
Therefore, the Nazis considered the Dnieper River as the last line of defense. It was on the Dnieper that the Wehrmacht command hoped to delay the rapid advance of the Soviet troops, which had begun in the Battle of Kursk.
Hitler's strategists hoped that such a mighty water barrier like the Dnieper would become "an insurmountable barrier for the Russians."
And they pinned very high hopes on this river ...

A well-developed defense, rich in anti-tank and anti-personnel means, was created.
In places where, in the opinion of the German command, the Soviet troops could outline a crossing, the most durable multi-lane defense was prepared.

The defensive line consisted of:
- anti-tank ditches,
- barbed wire in 4 - 6 rows,
- deep trenches and communication trenches, dugouts,
- minefields,
- bunkers and bunkers,
- reinforced concrete shelters and command posts.
For each kilometer of defense, there were an average of 8 armored caps and 12 bunkers.

Long-term firing point (DOT) is a term for a capital (usually reinforced concrete) fortification armed structure for long-term defense.
This structure can be either single or one of many in the fortified area system.
Like other types of permanent fortifications, the bunker protects servicemen from being hit by enemy fire and, in addition to protection, provides its garrison with the ability to fire at the enemy through embrasures, sponsons or tower installations.

Wood-earthen firing point (DZOT) is a term for a defensive field fortification armed structure, both single and one of many in the fortified area system.
Several types are envisaged:
- "A structure with a trench armor closure for firing from a machine gun."
- "A structure with a frame of a pipe-free structure for firing from a machine gun."
- "Construction with a special installation for a machine gun."

As a result, the right bank bristled with chains of bunkers, machine-gun points. Multi-row lines of trenches cut through it.
The Germans not only fortified the right bank of the Dnieper.
But they also created strong bridgeheads of resistance on the left bank.
The most serious, especially powerful fortifications were concentrated in the places where Soviet troops were most likely to cross: near Kremenchug and Nikopol, as well as in Zaporozhye.
All this was supposed to exclude the possibility of crossing the river.

In addition to defensive measures, on September 7, 1943, SS and Wehrmacht forces were ordered to completely devastate territories from which they had to retreat. Devastate in order to slow down the advance of the Red Army and try to complicate the supply of its formations.
This order on the "scorched earth" tactics was carried out unswervingly, accompanied by the mass extermination of the civilian population ...

The "Eastern Wall" - this well-fortified line - was supposed, according to the plan of the German leadership, to stop the advance of Soviet troops to the west. And the command of the Wehrmacht made a decisive stake in advance on him ...

Hitler had high hopes for this "Eastern Wall".
And propaganda in every possible way praised his power and inaccessibility.

Confirming that the fate of Germany was being decided on the banks of the Dnieper, Hitler self-confidently declared:

"Rather, the Dnieper will flow backward than the Russians will overcome it, this powerful water barrier, the right bank of which is a chain of continuous pillboxes, a natural impregnable fortress."

The possessed Fuhrer decided that the Dnieper, and only it, would become that impregnable shaft against which the Soviets' offensive would be smashed.
And he ordered his generals to stand to death, to hold their position along the Dnieper "to the last man."
Hitler hoped from the border of this river to launch a new offensive against the Red Army, whose forces, in his opinion, should have been exhausted in the fruitless attacks of the Wehrmacht positions on the Dnieper.

But the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Stalin, also perfectly understood the significance of the Dnieper.
Therefore, back in September 9, 1943, he pointed out the need to force it on the move and capture bridgeheads on the right bank.

An unstoppable avalanche of Soviet troops rushed to storm the Dnieper ...

The crossing of the Dnieper by Soviet troops has no analogues in military history. Because no one has yet managed to overcome such a significant water barrier with the forces of millions of people on a large section of the front.
In addition, it should not be forgotten that one of the largest rivers in Europe was only the front line of defense in depth.

This defense was carried out by powerful, excellently technically equipped troops, consisting of:

2nd Army of Army Group Center under the command of Field Marshal Kluge.

4th Panzer Army, 8th Army, 1st Panzer Army and 6th Army of Army Group South under the command of Field Marshal E. von Manstein.

The Germans pulled to the Dnieper:
- over 1.2 million soldiers and officers,
- 12 600 guns and mortars,
- 2100 tanks and
- 2100 aircraft.

The troops of 5 Soviet fronts were supposed to break down their defenses:

Central (commander - General of the Army K. K. Rokossovsky).
Voronezh (commander - General of the Army N.F. Vatutin).
Stepnogo (commander - General of the Army I.S.Konev).
South-West (commander - General of the Army R. Ya. Malinovsky).
Yuzhny (commander - General of the Army F.I.Tolbukhin).

The attacking forces consisted of:
- over 2.6 million people,
- 51,200 guns and mortars,
- 2,400 tanks and
- 2850 aircraft.

Since it was necessary to get ahead of the enemy, the Soviet soldiers had to cross the river without preliminary preparation of the operation.

Historian Konstantin Zalessky:

“According to the canons of the art of war, Soviet troops had to stop on the left bank, pull up reserves and the necessary watercraft. But this meant that the German troops, for their part, could also pull up reserves and artillery and still get time to strengthen the right bank of the Dnieper. Therefore, the Soviet command decided to force the Dnieper in fact on the move. And this led to great losses. "

Under continuous artillery fire and enemy aircraft fire, without proper means of overcoming water obstacles, special skills, without tanks and heavy artillery, with improvised means. That is, on anything that could keep them on the water.
On fishing boats, homemade log rafts, planks, empty barrels, on car tires, logs, tents stuffed with hay, the warriors sailed in cold water to the right bank.
Moreover - under continuous fierce fire from the air and earth.

And suddenly: "Get ready! .." - instantly on the cord
By fire
The team ran to the Dnieper!
And I got up! .. and instantly was at my feet
Water, and suddenly touched the boots,
And I burned my hands with icy silver ...

Before the throw, I wash my face with the Dnieper!
Like healing water, I drink I will not get drunk
And in my mind I swear by this water
Reach, fall, overtake the enemy
And again, the Dnieper River will make the banks related!
Rather! .. that shore is already not far away ...
"I wish I could swim!" - anxiously knocking on the temple.
It is excruciatingly difficult for me to hide the alarm -
Can't I swim there?
"No, you're lying! .. I'll swim! .." - I want to scream,
I want to scream
But I float and keep quiet.
I am silent, gritting my teeth, I am silent, clenching the butt,
I am silent, fixing my gaze on the other side.
And every boiling inch next to it
I try to subconsciously take it into my memory!
It may seem to me - I never
I did not see the water suddenly turn red.
She seemed to me so scarlet,
It’s as if I’m floating in human blood ...
A minute has passed, or a year, or an hour?
David Kugultinov.

The gray-haired Dnieper saw a lot of people's courage and heroism.
But if the Cossacks of the Zaporizhzhya Sich, and Bogdan Khmelnitsky, and Ivan Sirko, and Nikolai Shchors, and Vasily Bozhenko could see how their grandchildren and great-grandchildren fought with the Nazis during the Great Patriotic War, they would bow down to their descendants ...

The crossing of the Dnieper began simultaneously in many areas.

A) In the strip from the mouth of the Sozh to the mouth of the Pripyat.

Here, at the junction of two fraternal republics - Ukraine and Belarus, the Dnieper was forced by formations of the 65th, 61st and 13th armies of the Central Front.

On September 21, 1943, the forward detachments of the 13th Army of the Central Front were the first to cross the water barrier under fierce enemy fire.

General N.P. Pukhov recalled:

“The crossing of the Dnieper began on the night of September 22. The picture of this crossing is truly unforgettable. People, guns, machine guns, ammunition were transported on boats, ferries and rafts. Everything rushed uncontrollably to the west coast. The first to reach that coveted shore were the scouts - Sergeant Sukharev and Junior Sergeant Lysanov. They found places convenient for the landing of troops, obtained valuable information about the enemy's defense, and returned back. When the crossing of the forward detachments began, Sukharyov and Lysanov felt themselves to be true masters on the Dnieper. Brave scouts worked for thirty-six hours without sleep or rest, quickly and silently ferrying people to the right bank.

The soldiers of the 29th rifle regiment of the 8th rifle division especially distinguished themselves here.
Many of them died a heroic death.
The deputy battalion commanders, senior lieutenants I.N. Rumyantsev and L. S. Sibagatullin, who were leading the fighters into hand-to-hand combat, were seriously wounded.
The Komsomol organizer of the regiment was wounded, senior lieutenant N. Ya. Kazakov.
As a result of fierce battles, the very next day the 1st bridgehead behind the Dnieper was recaptured from the enemy.

Marshal Rokossovsky wrote about the heroic actions of the soldiers of the 13th Army of General N.P. Pukhov:

“The advanced infantry units, having quickly crossed to the opposite bank, caught on to it, repelling the attacks of the enemy, who was trying to throw them into the river. Together with the infantrymen, the artillery officers crossed the Dnieper. Now they were adjusting battery fire from the bridgehead. More and more people were being transported to the right bank under the cover of the forward detachments. The accumulation of our troops on the bridgehead proceeded quickly. The enemy taken by surprise did not have time to transfer forces here sufficient to resist the crossing. "

Alexei Gordienko, a former employee of the 13th Army newspaper "Son of the Motherland", wrote about one of the heroes of this crossing - about the artilleryman Fyodor Popkov:

“At dawn the battery went to the area of ​​the crossing. They launched a ferry on inflatable boats. Popkov's gun, front end, boxes with shells were loaded onto the ferry. The crewmen - gunner Romanov, Naumov, Polyakov - took up the oars and pressed together.
- Forward! Forward! - commanded the sergeant and rowed as best he could. And the Nazis beat and beat. The shells exploded right at the crossing. The shrapnel whined overhead with a howl.
It was not possible to sail far. Damaged by shrapnel, inflatable boats deflated, and the ferry began to quickly sink to the bottom. But the weapon must not be allowed to die. Popkov and his subordinates dived into the water, took out cargo and where they were swimming, where they were ford to the shore. The battery commander allocated good swimmers to help the crew.
And the enemy intensified the shelling. The killed and wounded fell. The Soviet artillerymen answered in unison. Popkov was driven by another ferry, and now he again, with his calculation, pressed on the oars. Fountains from breaks rose all around. When we reached the middle of the river, a strong current carried the ferry to the side. And from the right bank they impatiently called:
- Faster! Tanks! The tanks are here!
- Do you guys hear? The sergeant asked. - Tanks! Well, let's press. At once! At once!
And again came:
- Tanks! Gunners, hurry!
Now everyone could clearly distinguish how the engines roared, the iron clattered on the small Dnieper bridgehead, where a handful of scouts were fighting. Pressed to the very shore, the daredevils desperately repulsed the attacks of the submachine gunners. But they are unarmed against tanks. And the coast is still far away. The ferry seemed to be standing still. And then Popkov ordered:
- In water!
He himself was the first to throw himself into the river and began to push the steam with his hands. I wish I could win at least a few minutes! Maybe the lives of all those who are fighting on the beachhead now depended on them, the lives of many others who will have to re-conquer the bridgehead if it is lost.
Finally the ferry hit the shore. The sergeant and his subordinates, standing waist-deep in water, made inhuman efforts to remove the gun from the ferry and roll it out onto the dry shore. Several scouts ran up. They literally carried a weapon in their hands. Ivan Romanov loaded it on the move. The tanks are no more than five hundred meters away. There are nine of them. They moved in line with the front, pouring artillery and machine-gun fire on everything around. You can't stick your head out of the trench. But there was no time to dig in either. Popkov looked back and froze. The entire Dnieper was strewn with boats, rafts, barrels, tubs and just logs on which gunners, infantrymen, and mortars sailed. The sergeant imagined what would happen if this group of German tanks broke through to the Dnieper.
- Comrades! My friends! - Anxiously, Popkov turned to his subordinates. - We will swear that we will fight to the last breath. We must hold out, otherwise everything will perish, everything will go to the bottom.
- We swear! - the soldiers answered unanimously. - We will die, but we will not falter!
At this moment, the gunner Junior Sergeant Romanov fired the first shot. One of the tanks spun on the spot and began to scribble even harder from the cannon and machine gun. With the second shot, Romanov sewed his side, and he burst into flames. Others speeded up the movement. The distance was rapidly closing. The third round stopped the second German tank. He also threw out a cloud of black smoke and burst into flames. The third car hit the front of the car, it first stopped, and then began to move back. One of the daredevils got up next to her and finished off with a grenade.
The distance between the tanks and the gun was inevitably reduced: 100, 80 meters. The gun was rolled back closer to the water, installed behind the shore to save it from a direct hit. And shells and bullets rained down thickly. Three tanks were on fire. But there were six left. They did not stop their attacks. Here are two of them to the left.
"They are going to go into the flank," thought Popkov. "It's rubbish."
Suddenly he saw how both tanks, going to the left, caught fire. "What's happened? Who are they? " Then he heard the muffled sounds of gunfire. Regimental guns from the Avramenko battery fired from the rafts.
- Ur-ra-a! Shouted Popkov.
The fight was won. The bridgehead remained behind us.
Only two tanks managed to escape, the rest were burning among the rusty grass.
- Forward! - Popkov commanded.
The soldiers picked up the gun, quickly rolled it into an open position and began to send round after round to chase the tanks. They fired several shots and advanced again. Now they were hitting with fragmentation shells, and they made the right impression: the fascist submachine gunners could not stand it, jumped off their seats and fled.
The infantrymen pursued them.
- Dig in! The sergeant ordered.

An intense battle lasted four hours. Our infantry and artillery are gathering more and more on the bridgehead. Next to Popkov's gun, other gun crews occupied positions. The fire platoon was commanded by a very brave young lieutenant Inyashkin. Our mortars flew overhead fire at closed targets.
The enemy did not pass. The rifle regiment, with the support of an artillery division commanded by Captain Andreyev, crossed completely and began to develop the offensive. The enemy rushed to counterattack more and more. He groped the firing positions of the battery of Senior Lieutenant Avramenko and concentrated powerful artillery and mortar fire on them. Lieutenant Inyashkin bravely led the ensuing duel and died a hero's death in front of the soldiers. Sergeant Popkov took over command of the platoon.
During a brief lull, the sergeant was summoned by senior lieutenant Avramenko:
- Well done! - he said. - You act well.
- I'm trying, Comrade Commander.
- What about otitis media?
“It's okay, it's gone, I'm surprised myself,” Popkov replied. - Only I can hear badly.
- Here it is, the Dnieper font, - Avramenko joked. - Immediately cured. Otherwise I would still be lying on the bed. Well nothing. You will command a platoon. And we will appoint Romanov as the gun commander. I agree?
Popkov returned to the platoon, but did not even have time to talk to Junior Sergeant Romanov. The Germans again launched a counterattack. This time over 20 tanks appeared in front of the battery. The battle immediately took on a fierce character. The gunners bravely repulsed the onslaught of the enemy. Over a dozen tanks and armored personnel carriers were already blazing in front of the position of the brave fighters. But the battery also suffered losses. Romanov was out of order. Popkov himself stood up to the gun and, drenched in sweat, fired. How long the battle lasted, who won, he no longer remembered. The heroic weapon, which had served our soldiers so gloriously, was shattered by a direct hit of a shell. The sergeant was badly wounded and thrown aside. He lost consciousness and came to himself already in the Chernihiv hospital. After a difficult operation, he was sent to the deep rear - to Tula. "

South of the 13th Army, the 60th Army of Chernyakhovsky and the 7th Guards Mechanized Corps successfully crossed the Dnieper.

And further north, near Loyev, is the 61st Army of General P. A. Belov.

B) On the Kiev direction, from the mouth of the Pripyat to the Bukrinskaya bend inclusive, the 38th, 40th and 3rd Guards Tank Armies of the Voronezh Front, as well as the 60th Army of the Chernyakhovsky Central Front, crossed the Dnieper.

In the offensive zone of the Voronezh Front, units of the 3rd Guards Tank Army of General PS Rybalko distinguished themselves.
They crossed to the right bank in the Velikiy Bukrin area, south of Kiev.

The first to set foot on the right bank of the river were four machine gunners - Komsomol members of the motorized rifle battalion of the 51st Guards Tank Brigade of the Guard, privates V. N. Ivanov, N. Ye. Petukhov, V. A. Sysolyatin, and the squad leader Sergeant I. D. Semyonov.

A. Bezymensky wrote this about them:

In the face of the advancing Soviet troops
The mountain blazed with fire
And they seethed menacingly with bullets and shells
Mighty waters of the Dnieper.

Having straightened the bandages of the bloody dressing,
The combat commander asked:
- Who is the first to rush to the shore, to the right,
Through the thickness of the wall of fire?

And, militantly touching the steel of the machine gun,
Sysolyatin stepped forward,
Dashing Komsomol people.

Under the roar and whistle of fiery weather
To the heights of a captive land
Nondescript boat Dnieper waters
They carried it with a wide chest.

The high sun hid behind the cloud,
So that the nemchura could not know,
That four Komsomol eagles came out
On the right bank of the Dnieper.

Hiding four ambushes under the greenery,
The fighters lay down outside the village,
And the fire of machine guns poured on the Germans
Slanting cross rain.

Four heroes on the right bank
The enemy was distracted by shooting.
And our regiments set up a crossing
And they rushed into a fierce battle.

On fierce enemies, sparing no ammunition,
Sysolyatin flew forward
And with him Ivanov, Petukhov and Semyonov -
Dashing Komsomol people.

Their path was lit by the cheerful sun,
They were carried by the tight winds.
And they sang about the feat of their Komsomol friends
Mighty waters of the Dnieper.

They distracted the enemy's attention and ensured the crossing of the river by other brigade units.
With the help of the arriving reinforcements of 120 people, a small bridgehead was conquered in the Grigorovka area, which is not far from Pereyaslav-Khmelnitsky.

The crossing of the Dnieper was complicated by the fact that the forward detachments of the tank army did not have service means of crossing.
Therefore, I had to overcome the wide river with improvised means ...

On September 26, the first tank of the 183rd Tank Brigade was transferred to the Bukrin bridgehead on two pontoons.
It was a thirty-four, the crew of which was commanded by Lieutenant Yu. M. Sagaidachny.
Skillfully maneuvering, his tank supported the advancing infantry.
On September 30, the Sagaidachny crew destroyed an enemy tank and gun.
The Nazis threw several planes against the Soviet tank. But the heroic crew continued to fight. Being seriously wounded, the commander remained in the ranks ...

Next to Rybalko's guards, north of the Bukrin bend, the following units were crossing the Dnieper:
- 40th Army of General K. S. Moskalenko.
- North of Kiev, in the Lyutezh area, the 38th Army of General N.E. Chibisov crossed the river.
By the end of September 29, they seized a bridgehead up to 8 kilometers along the front and up to 1 kilometer in depth.
Among the first, 25 fighters under the command of senior sergeant P.P. Nefedov crossed to the right bank here.
They immediately entered into a heavy, unequal battle with the superior forces of the enemy, which lasted 20 hours.
With the approach of the new forces, the bridgehead was expanded.

C) To the south, in the Cherkasy region, the 47th and 52nd armies of the Voronezh Front crossed the Dnieper.

D) From the mouth of the Tyasmin to Verkhnedneprovsk, in the zone of the Steppe Front, - the 37th, 53rd, 57th and 4th, 5th, 7th Guards armies.

Between Kremenchug and Zaporozhye, the Dnieper is especially wide and deep-water.
In this sector, it was to be forced by the troops of the Steppe and Southwestern Fronts. The enemy offered fierce resistance. But he still could not hold back our onslaught.
The soldiers of the 7th Guards, 37th Army were one of the first to break through to the right bank.

The 5th Guards Corps of General G.B.Safiullin and the 6th Guards Division of Colonel I.N.Moshlyak distinguished themselves with great swiftness and courage.

Boris Polevoy was here at that time. In his notes to the war correspondent, These Four Years, he wrote:

“On the Dnieper.
I saw photographs of reconnaissance taken from an airplane. The high steep bank, already in itself a strong cover of the water barrier, is pitted with patterns of trenches, at the corners of which camouflaged hillocks are noticeable. The same patterns are used for coastal hills further from the coast. Yes, and from the defectors from the other side, of which there are more and more lately, we have to hear that starting from spring the parties of workers were driven to the Dnieper from the deep regions of the coastal Ukraine. For several months they dug something, built something, but what exactly was kept in the strictest confidence. Locals, residents were resettled, and workers were generally forbidden to talk to the population. Now the workers were taken away somewhere under strict escort.
What is this "Eastern Wall"? How strong is he? Can he delay our advance? We asked these questions today to the front commander who received us, war correspondents. He got even more tanned. His nose is peeling, it is felt that the general spends a lot of time in the units. In his sharp blue eyes, some mischievous light burns all the time.
“There are no fortifications in the world that a brave and intelligent soldier could not take. I hope you know this? - answered I.S. Konev. - The Maginot Line, which cost the French many billions, whole underground concrete cities that they built there over many years and which have already become considered impregnable, as you know, did not detain the German army. Powerfully fortified areas turned into traps for the French. They were blocked, and the mobile units continued the offensive, leaving them in the rear.
“It's all about careful preparation, skill and fighting spirit,” he stresses sharply. - Fighting spirit we have now not to take, and skills ... Let's see. It seems that in the coming days our troops will be able to answer you this question.
I was the last to leave the light that replaced the commander's office. He detained me ...
- It seems to me that the enemy does not really rely on this notorious "Vostochny Val". Something too much now they rattle about him. But when they are so frightened, this is a sign that they themselves are very scared. Do you know "Dog, what are you barking for?" - "I'm scaring the wolves." - "Why did the tail between his legs?" - “I'm afraid of wolves” ... After all, here, on the Dnieper, the success of our offensive is being decided ...
And the Dnieper is nearby. Our advanced units are already approaching Kremenchug ...
Near the "East Wall".
I will try to sketch a picture of the kind that formed in my head there, on the banks of the Dnieper, from the stories of the participants in the crossing.
Oh, Dnipro, Dnipro!
You are wide, powerful.
Cranes are flying over you.
We sang this song, harsh as a hymn, is still remembered at Kharkov, in our hut, after Alexander Dovzhenko disturbed our souls with his new play. And what do you think? When we stood over the Dnieper at dawn, the cranes really flew. Kurlykaya, they stretched in a large jamb over the roads of the offensive, over burnt villages, over crumpled, trampled fields and over the beautiful smooth surface of the Dnieper.
I understand Major Pleshakov, an experienced, cautious warrior who, as at least a dozen people told us, last night, having broken through with his soldiers to this low sandy shore, rushed to the river, scooped up the Dnieper water with a helmet and in front of the enemy artillerymen , who beat from the other side, slowly and greedily drank it.
Of course, picturesque. Someday this, perhaps, will be depicted on a poster, everything will turn into a beautiful invention. But it was! And I understand the movement of the soul of this man, who had already fought so much, retreated, attacked, wounded twice, lost many comrades, when here, near the Dnieper, where his regiment had broken through, he suddenly felt like an ancient knight.
Or maybe he didn't. It was just hot, thirsty, and my hands were dirty, and how soon would you quench your thirst from a handful. But be that as it may, he clearly did not count on history, and when our stormy, fiery leaders of the lens began to beg him to repeat this "just for history," he sent them in their hearts where they clearly did not want to go.
I understand the sacred impatience of the sappers from the battalion of the military engineer Gildulin, who, having walked forty-five kilometers on this sultry day, tired, in knocked down boots, seeing the Dnieper, without resting, rushed to the canoes and boats standing in the broom, led this nimble flotilla into the main channel and began to ferry the infantry to a wooded island lying on the right bank.
However, on this significant day, everyone must have surpassed himself and easily accomplished what would have seemed incredible to him yesterday.
Old fishermen, gray-bearded "Didy" wept with joy when they again saw the Red Army men on their native shore. They, who knew every spit, every shallow on the river, confirmed that the "nasty" (as they used to call the fascists in the old way) have strong fortifications where the places are especially convenient for crossings, where ferries went from time immemorial, and here, in a wide, a place teeming with scythes and shoals, the enemy does not expect an attack, and they have only batteries and barriers on the island on the other side. The fishermen promised at dusk, quietly, unnoticed, to lead the boats with the landing to the island. They swore, threw their caps on the ground, proving in every possible way that it was possible to cross here without loss. "

D) On the Dnepropetrovsk and Zaporozhye directions - the 6th, 12th, 46th and 1st, 8th Guards armies of the Southwestern Front.

E) In the lower reaches of the Dnieper, already in February - March, the 3rd Guards, 3rd Shock and 28th Armies of the Southern Front were advancing.

Here is what Vladimir Karpov writes in his book "Generalissimo" about the crossing of the Dnieper:

“The Dnieper itself is a very wide water barrier. Groups of scouts, small subunits, which, ahead of their own and the enemy, rushed forward, were the first to come ashore. There were few of them. They did not wait for reinforcements, they did not have regular ferry facilities. They crossed over to the other side on what: they removed fences in villages, made bundles of logs, boards, barrels, found fishing boats. And on these so-called improvised means they tried to cross the widest river. I say they tried, because very, very many did not reach the opposite shore. The Nazis were preparing a strong defensive line on the banks of the Dnieper, they called it the Eastern Wall. They intended to gain a foothold here for a long time, to stand for many months to put their battered parts in order. The Dnieper as a natural border, and even reinforced by engineering structures, made it possible to fulfill this great strategic task.
But Stalin, also realizing the importance of the Dnieper, with a swift exit to the river just did not allow the Nazis to complete the construction of this Eastern Wall.
Stalin's plan was carried out by those who crossed the Dnieper first with improvised means, knocking down the enemy from defensive positions with small forces (and there could not be large forces). Tired, drenched, lacking enough ammunition, they did the impossible. Many such daredevils died. The enemy understood that it was impossible to allow the consolidation of those who crossed, took all measures to throw those who had captured small bridgeheads from the coast. But there were many resourceful, courageous fighters and junior officers who overpowered the enemy and, seizing the edge of the opposite bank, held it back, repelling the fierce counterattacks of the Germans until their troops approached.
Now imagine how incredibly difficult it is for a small handful of brave men to keep a piece of land on the opposite bank for several hours, or even days! Wounded, sometimes turned into a bloody mess, they held out until their last breath, realizing how important this piece of the coast is for those who will soon come to the Dnieper after them. So the Dnieper Heroes are real heroes: they accomplished a real feat, and the Golden Stars adorn their breasts deservedly. Each of them and all of them together performed such a great deed, which saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of their military comrades-in-arms. If the Dnieper had not been forced on the move, if immediately, instantly, we had not used these bridgeheads and expanded them, did not throw the Germans away from the Dnieper, how many lives would have to be lost, overcoming such a water barrier, as they say, in a planned manner. If the Germans were entrenched on this Eastern Wall, it would take more than one month to prepare and carry out a large-scale strategic offensive operation to force a wide water barrier. And it remains to be seen whether it would have been successful - the Dnieper and the defense on the western bank are perhaps no less an obstacle than the English Channel, which the allies did not dare to cross for several years! And our troops would also need thorough and lengthy training.
The rapid exit to the river, the capture of 23 bridgeheads on the opposite bank on the move, on a front with a length of more than 750 kilometers, cannot be overestimated. Here one can only marvel at Stalin's resourcefulness and energy. Together with the front commanders and other leaders and, of course, with the fighters-executors who directly captured and held these bridgeheads, he carried out an operation brilliant in art, very weighty in terms of strategic importance. "

So, the "Eastern Wall" collapsed ...
At the end of September, the Dnieper was simultaneously forced by units of the Central and Voronezh fronts to the north and south of Kiev (Bukrinsky and Lyutezhsky bridgeheads), the Steppe and Southwestern fronts in the area between Kremenchug and Dnepropetrovsk.
In total, 12 Soviet armies crossed the Dnieper by September 30.
23 bridgeheads were captured and fortified on the opposite bank of the Dnieper, some of them 10 kilometers wide and 1-2 kilometers deep.
Also, many false bridgeheads were organized, the purpose of which was to simulate a massive crossing and to disperse the firepower of German artillery.
After that, the Soviet troops practically created a new fortified area on the conquered bridgeheads, actually dug in the ground from enemy fire, and covering the approach of the new forces with their fire.

Partisans provided significant assistance to the Soviet troops during the crossing of the Dnieper.
In total, 17,332 Ukrainian Soviet partisans took part in the Battle of the Dnieper.
They carried out attacks on units of German troops, conducted reconnaissance, served as guides for the units of Soviet troops that had crossed.
Soviet partisans carried out Operation Concert (from September 19 to October 1943).
They derailed trains, destroyed bridges, railway stations, destroyed track facilities. This significantly complicated the supply of German troops, forced the enemy to divert significant forces from the front to protect and support their rear communications.

The crossing of the Dnieper by Soviet troops, the seizure of bridgeheads on the right bank of the river and the struggle to hold them were accompanied by heavy losses.
By the beginning of October, many divisions that took part in the battles for the Dnieper bridgeheads had only 25-30% of the regular strength of the personnel.

Writer Viktor Astafiev, a participant in the crossing of the Dnieper, recalled:

“Twenty-five thousand goes into the water, and comes out on the other side, three thousand, maximum five. After five or six days, it all comes up. Can you imagine? "

He described these events in the second part of the novel "The Damned and the Slain" ("Bridgehead"):
“On the island across the river, people who had already swallowed water, almost completely drowned weapons and ammunition, who knew how to swim, withstood a battle in the water more terrible than the battle itself with those who could not swim and grabbed onto everything and everyone. Having reached at least some land, support under their feet, the people who survived the panic clung to the ground and no words, no force could move them. Above the shore, the commander's mat was ringing, bushes were burning on the island, drenched with a combustible mixture from planes ahead of time, people rushing in the flames were shot from machine guns, muffled with mines, the river was getting thicker and thicker from the black porridge of people ... "

Another participant in the crossing of the Dnieper, Vasily Mikhailovich Astafiev (then he was a guard captain, deputy commander of the 104th Guards Separate Sapper Battalion, led the crossing of rifle units) said:

"The bodies of the dead floated along the Dnieper like logs when the forest is being floated."
“We planted mines, fought tanks. The sapper lies on the ground, a tank rushes directly at him. The sapper is trying to throw a mine under him. Got hit like that - good. Didn't hit - the tank slipped past you. Or for you. "
A direct participant in those events, an officer of the German General Staff F. Mellenthin, wrote in his book The Armored Fist of the Wehrmacht:

“In the days that followed, Russian attacks were repeated with unrelenting force. The divisions that had suffered from our fire were withdrawn, and fresh formations were thrown into battle. And again, wave after wave, the Russian infantry stubbornly rushed into the attack, but each time they rolled back, suffering huge losses. "

Especially a lot of mobilized residents of the newly liberated cities and villages of the Left Bank were killed.
After all, they had to “wash away the shame of being in the occupied territory” ...

Grigory Klimov writes in his autobiographical Song of the Winner:

“When the Red Army retreated from Ukraine, many soldiers from local residents, passing by their native villages, simply threw their rifles into the ditch and walked to the dodoma. "Damn it this power!" - they spat after the retreating units. When the Red Army began to expel the Germans from Ukraine, the "couch potatoes" were quickly collected, - not even the military registration and enlistment offices, but the commanders of the advanced units themselves, shoved rifles into their hands again and, without even changing into greatcoats, what they were wearing was the first battle line! They were called so - "jackets". The banks of the Dnieper, like spring flowers, were full of corpses in multicolored civilian clothes. "

They were also called "gray jackets".
Among them were:
- those whom the Germans simply freed from captivity in the fall of 1941 - 277 thousand Ukrainian Red Army soldiers,
- those who deserted from the Red Army,
- young people who, at the beginning of the war, were not yet subject to conscription.
Unprepared and poorly armed, they were thrown into battle, in fact, as fighters of penal battalions. Usually they weren't even registered for military service.

Ukrainian writers Nikolai Bazhan, Andrey Malyshko and Alexander Dovzhenko were correspondents at the front and saw the massacre over the Dnieper in the fall of 1943.
Allegedly, the first two incited Dovzhenko, who communicated with Stalin, to tell him about everything.
But it is not known for sure whether Dovzhenko said anything.

Although in his diary in November 1943 he wrote that:

“Many freed citizens mobilized in Ukraine are dying in the battles. They fight in home clothes, without any preparation, like free kicks. They are viewed as guilty. "

Front-line writer Oles Gonchar remembered about the Dnieper massacre of 1943 in his novel "Cathedral":

“Soon, in the cleanup, young lieutenants were building their fathers, mobilized a second time, still dressed in their home, non-soldier clothes. Some called them “jackets” jokingly, but for some reason it was insulting. From morning until evening, Virunka sat with her peers near the cleanup, watching as a clever young lieutenant with a medal "For Stalingrad" teaches their fathers to march, turn their right shoulder forward and take a step in place. I was worried all the time with my soul for daddy, looking at how ineptly, although diligently, he performs these exercises ...
Some of the commanders treated the newly mobilized with disdain, urged them on with rude shouts, called them black shirts, and that all of you, they say, are like that in Ukraine, did not want to fight in 1941, sat on the stoves ...

And then one morning Virunka and her friends ran out to clean up at their fathers to look at their fathers, and those were already gone ... The children stood confused, the aunts who came from close and distant villages, who did not find anyone, were shocked. Although they were told that they would change their clothes on that day, and that the homework should be taken home. But it turned out that they did not even wait for the army, so, in jackets, in their home, and they were thrown, black shirts, on the Dnieper, the lieutenants led them there at night. And from the Dnieper it was buzzing, there the sky trembled all the time ...
On the same day, the little ones, Virunka with them, having agreed, secretly from their mothers, went after their fathers to the Dnieper ... The rumble of the battle was no longer heard. And no one is visible. There were only mute Zadneprovsky humps, gentle slopes that turned green with winter, and on the slopes, along this green, everywhere there were dark specks, specks, specks ... The children stood tired, hiding, dumbfounded, looking at the other side of the Dnieper, everyone could not understand: what is it for specks on green? Funnels, traces of mines, traces of explosions, or ... And suddenly they were just numb from a terrible guess: yes, it's them! In jackets! Our fathers !!! "

Despite the fierce resistance of the Nazis, the efforts of the Red Army were crowned with success.
During the fierce fighting that lasted all October, the bridgeheads on the Dnieper were held.
Most of them are expanded.
On the bridgeheads, powerful forces were accumulating for the renewal of the offensive and the liberation of Kiev and the entire Right-Bank Ukraine.

The crossing of the Dnieper is one of the brightest pages of the Great Patriotic War.
Our soldiers and partisans have accomplished an unparalleled feat, miracles of collective heroism.

Subsequently, Marshal G.K. Zhukov wrote:

“The troops crossing the Dnieper showed the greatest perseverance, courage and courage. As a rule, having approached the river, they rushed forward on the move. Without waiting for the approach of pontoon and heavy vehicles, building bridges, the units crossed the Dnieper on anything - on log rafts, homemade ferries, in fishing boats and boats. Everything that did not come to hand went into business. It was not easy on the opposite bank, where fierce battles for the bridgehead broke out. Not having time to gain a foothold, the troops entered into battle with the enemy, who was striving, by all means, to throw them into the river "...

It is indicative that 2,438 soldiers were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for crossing the Dnieper. This is more than the total number of awarded in the entire previous history of the award.

Noting this massive heroism, Pravda wrote in October 1943:

“The battle for the Dnieper took on truly epic proportions. Never before stood out from the multitude of brave Soviet soldiers so many super-brave. The Red Army, which has already given the world so many examples of military courage, seems to surpass itself. "

Having crushed the defenses of the Hitlerite forces on the Dnieper and seized large strategic bridgeheads on its western (right) bank, the Soviet troops finally thwarted the Nazis' plans to stabilize the line of the Eastern Front.