Battle for the Dnepr

   August 24, 1943 Soviet divisions began to move around the 1400-kilometer front stretching from Smolensk to the Sea of Azov. It was a large-scale operation, which involved 2 650 000 people, 51 000 guns, 2,400 tanks and 2,850 aircraft, divided into five fronts:

         Central Front (October 20, renamed the 1 st Belorussian Front)

         Voronezh Front 0 (October 20, renamed the 1 st Ukrainian Front)

         The Steppe Front 00000 (October 20, renamed the 2-th Ukrainian Front)

         South-Western Front (October 20, renamed the 3rd Ukrainian Front)

         Southern Front (October 20, renamed the 4-th Ukrainian Front)

   A total of 36 operations were involved in combined arms, 4 and 5, air tank armies.

   Despite the considerable numerical superiority, the offensive was extremely difficult. The German resistance was fierce - fierce battles were fought for every town and every village. Wehrmacht made extensive use rearguards: even after the departure of the main German forces in each city and at each height remained a garrison inhibitory advance of Soviet troops.

   Three weeks after the start of the offensive, despite the huge losses the Soviet army, it became clear - the Wehrmacht could not deter Soviet attacks on the flat, open spaces of the steppes, where the numerical superiority of the Red Army easily ensured her victory. Manstein requested to assist 12 new divisions in the last hope to stop the offensive, but reserves the Germans and so were dangerously depleted. Years later, Manstein wrote in his memoirs:

   As a result, 15 September 1943 Hitler ordered the Army Group "South" to retreat to the fortifications on the Dnieper.

   Battle of Poltava was particularly bloody. The city was heavily fortified, and its defense garrison well prepared. After several unsuccessful attacks, which have seriously slowed the Soviet advance, General Konev decided to bypass the city and go straight to the Dnieper. After another two days of fierce street battles Poltava garrison was destroyed.

   Toward the end of September 1943, Soviet troops finally reached the lower reaches of the Dnieper. However, the heaviest fighting was still ahead.