Sumeschel, a small town fifty kilometers south of Volkhov. At present, it is the headquarters of the Soviet Army's Front Army's Beloye Lake District. Chu Sinan and his combat staff gather here now.

To be honest, Chu Sinan was extremely dissatisfied with the arrangement of the command center in this place. For him, the location here is too far from the front line. He believes that he cannot effectively grasp the dynamics of his troops, and at the same time, he cannot learn about the progress of the war in a timely manner. If he follows his ideas, the command center should be located on the front line and in a relatively prominent position. He feels that only in this way can he adjust his strategy in a timely manner according to the development of the war.

However, Chu Sinan's idea was not approved by other staff officers at the command center, and his guard Comrade Lukoonki also had a firm position on this issue. Just when he returned to Moscow last time, Lukoonki, as Chu Sinan's personal bodyguard, was seriously criticized by Bulucher, Konev and others, and naturally, his immediate boss, Gilnilova. The arguments of these people were almost consistent, that is, Chu Sinan was too risky in the previous stage of battle command and too unwilling to pay attention to his own safety. The reason for this situation was that he, the personal bodyguard, naturally had to take responsibility.

Because of this, after leaving Moscow and rushing to Volkhov's front line, Lukoonki firmly opposed Chu Sinan's setting up his command center at the front line. Compared with the past, Lukoonki seemed to be determined this time. No matter how Chu Sinan blew his beard and glared, he would not give in. Lukoonki's method was very simple. He turned it over and dropped it in just a few words, "I am carrying out my responsibilities," "Either you remove me, or just listen to me." In the end, the struggle between a general and a guard was finally declared to be over.

In addition to being dissatisfied with the position of the command center, Chu Sinan is also even more dissatisfied with the current progress of the war on Volkhov's front line. Compared with the previous two days, the current situation has obviously worsened.

According to the news from Suslov from Lodgeinoyebole, the fourth German tank cluster that advanced to the front line of the Svery River in the previous stage quickly escaped the entanglement of the Soviet army along the Svery River through an assault battle directing east and west, and then withdrew from the battle on its own. It is obvious that due to the current situation, the fourth German tank cluster has returned to defense on its entire line.

If it was just a 56th Armored Army, Chu Sinan was sure to intercept Volkhov on the line with the troops he had in his hands. But if it was a fourth tank cluster, then let alone a certainty, he would probably have no hope. For now, the best and only way is to seize the area east of Volkhov before the German armored forces, destroy the Volkhov Bridge, and completely block the road for the fourth tank cluster to retreat.

However, it is definitely not so easy to achieve this combat goal. On this line, the German army's resistance was extremely stubborn, and near the Volkhov Bridge, there were originally solid fortifications established by the Soviet army. Now, the Germans have used them well and become a trench that the Soviet army cannot cross.

Nowadays, the best way to attack is to mobilize artillery troops, first carry out artillery fire strikes on the German positions in the area, and then use a considerable number of armored troops to cover the infantry to carry out assaults. This kind of military combat method is most conducive to tearing open the enemy's defensive front and implementing deep assault tactics.

Today, Chu Sinan may not have realized that his own ideas in commanding operations were largely influenced by Zhukov, which is the cruel and cold-blooded artillery strategy: before every war, he always tried to mobilize large-scale superior artillery forces and implement dense artillery fire to open the way for enemy positions. His tactics are undoubtedly the most in line with the actual situation of the Soviet Union. The strength of the Soviet artillery has always been recognized by the world, and the strong artillery strength allows them to mobilize artillery units with a large scale in a relatively short period of time.

However, this time Chu Sinan seems to have a greater advantage. In addition to the huge artillery force, his troops under him also have a very high-end armored force. However, the latter has not yet moved to a position where he can directly enter the battle, so Chu Sinan still needs to wait.

"Report!" Just as Chu Sinan was working with the command staff to study the next combat plan, a voice came from the door.

"Come in," Chu Sinan turned his head and looked at it, but found a communications soldier standing at the door, holding a telegraph in his hand.

"Comrade Chu Sinan, the emergency battle report just sent back from the front line." The correspondent rushed in and handed the telegram in his hand to Chu Sinan.

Chu Sinan took the telegram and took a quick look. The content on the telegram was very simple. Its general meaning was that the Soviet front-line troops responsible for advancing toward Volkhov had made new progress. They broke through the German defensive position in the area of ​​the Second Workers' New Village of the Red Flag, less than ten kilometers away from the Volkhov Bridge, and pushed the offensive front forward for nearly five kilometers again.

Although it was only a few kilometers of front line to advance, it was already a great progress for Chu Sinan. If some progress could be made after this, the next battle would be easier. At least, his artillery troops could directly threaten the German armored troops crossing the bridge from this line.

However, in this telegram, Chu Sinan also received a bad news, that is, the attacking Soviet troops, the area near the Second Workers' Village of Hongqi, was discovered. Judging from the tank number, this tank unit belongs to the 56th Armored Army of the German Army. According to the speculation of the Frontline Operations Command, this small tank unit should be the vanguard of the 56th Armored Army.

Since the vanguard of the 56th Panzer Army had crossed the Volkhov Bridge, it means that the Soviet army's progress was behind. Chu Sinan now had to consider the worst direction and change the combat deployment.

"Comrades," Chu Sinan frowned and said worriedly after handing over the telegram to the staff members around him. "What do you think about the current situation of the war?"

All the staff members were worried and everyone knew what impact it would have on the battle situation on this line once the German huge armored cluster crossed the river. Indeed, the German fourth tank cluster troops were exhausted during the previous stage of the attack, and the long-distance movements in the past two days may make them unsuitable for large-scale advance operations in all aspects. In addition, the main combat idea of ​​the German Northern Command is to shrink the front line rather than expand the results. Therefore, in this case, the German retreating tank troops should be unlikely to launch an offensive to the area south of Volkhov.

But the direction south of Volkhov does not mean that the Soviet army is as stable as Mount Tai. If this German tank unit successfully breaks through Volkhov's front line and advances westward, then nothing else, Lieutenant General Popov and the 52nd Army led by him will encounter a catastrophe. At the same time, the battles Chu Sinan has vigorously arranged at this stage will also be vain. At least, there will be very few results.

Including Chu Sinan, a group of people in the command center surrounded the war zone map, studying and planning with one word. Sometimes Chu Sinan had to admit that gathering the thoughts and wisdom of the people is much simpler than considering problems by himself. Although most of the time, other people's opinions may not necessarily conform to their own opinions, perhaps in a certain unintentional statement, you can be reminded like enlightenment.

After nearly an hour of deduction and calculation, Chu Sinan and his staff finally made a new battle arrangement under formal force. In this new battle arrangement, Chu Sinan will order his troops to implement two other combat plans while trying to seize the Volkhov Bridge: seizing the Volkhov Bridge, which is the most important issue. If this traffic route can be successfully captured, everything will go smoothly. While carrying out this battle, in order to prevent it.

In case, Chu Sinan will also order his troops to carry out centripetal assault on the October Farm west of the Volkhov Bridge. This is the only way to lead from the Volkhov Bridge to the city. The task of the Soviet combat troops is to seize control of the area before the large-scale German tank troops arrive, and quickly build anti-tank positions. In line with this, the third wave of assaults against the Volkhov railway trunk line. Chu Sinan hopes to cut off the German logistics transportation supply line through this offensive.

Through the October Farm blocking battle, the German tank troops were delayed and their logistics supplies were cut off through the assault on the Volkhov Railway trunk line. If these two combined battles were successful, the future battle situation would still be very powerful for the Soviet army.

"Comrades, send the new combat plan to all front-line troops," Chu Sinan said after breathing a deep breath, "I hope that this time, our troops will not disappoint the command."

The staff nodded silently. It was obvious that what they were going to carry out next would be a life-and-death battle. When the two cooperated with each other, if there was any problem with either side, the entire battle plan would be vain. Therefore, no one could be careless in this matter.

"Report," Just as everyone was about to disperse, a voice that made Chu Sinan feel vaguely familiar to him came from the door of the command center.

"Colin Sokolov, the 109th Brigade of the 19th Armored Division, was ordered to come to the command center to report!" Before Chu Sinan could turn to look, the voice at the door continued.
Chapter completed!