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Troops from five fronts began a coordinated offensive from Smolensk to the Sea of Azov on a broad new front 1400 km in length. In an attempt to slow down the advance of the Soviet troops, the German Command blew up bridges over big and small rivers and carried out a scorched earth policy in the occupied territories. General Vatutin, commander of the Voronezh Front, was unsuccessfully trying to break through from the Liutezh and Burkin bridgeheads. The winter was coming and the frontline looked frozen along the Dnepr.