Battle for the Dnepr

   Dnipro - the third largest river in Europe after the Volga and the Danube. In the lower reaches of the river width can reach 3 kilometers, and the fact that the river was blocked in some places, only increases the possibility of a spill. Right bank - a much higher and steeper than the left, which made the crossing only harder. In addition to the opposite coast was turned into soldiers of the German army in a huge range of obstacles and fortifications, according to the directives of the Wehrmacht.

   Faced with this situation, the Soviet command had two options for solving the problem of crossing the Dnieper. The first option was a dumping rate of troop movements and the contraction of the additional forces to the site of the ferry, which gave time for the detection of naislabeyshego place in the defensive line of the Germans and the subsequent attack in the wrong place (not necessarily in the lower reaches of the Dnieper), to begin a massive breakthrough and encirclement of the German defense lines, squeezing German troops to the positions in which they will be unable to overcome the resistance of the protective boundaries (action, very similar to the tactics of the Wehrmacht in overcoming the Maginot Line in 1940). This variant, respectively, gave the Germans time to restrict the additional defense forces and regroup their forces to repel the onslaught of Soviet forces in the appropriate locations. Moreover, it is subject to the Soviets the possibility of being attacked by German mechanized units - is, in fact, was the most effective weapon of the German forces in 1941

   The second scenario is the application of a massive strike without the slightest delay, and force the Dnieper across the front. This option does not leave time for that reflection of the impact the German side, but it led to much larger losses on the part of Soviet troops. There is a version not confirmed by documents, that for political reasons (the anniversary of the October Revolution of 1917), Stalin wanted to Kiev was taken precisely to that date.

   Soviet troops occupied the opposite bank of the German troops for nearly 300 kilometers. All of the existing boats were used troops, including improvised rafts of logs, tree trunks and boards (see one of the photos). The major topic of discussion was the support of heavy equipment - without forcing itself would not exist.