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The Battle of Rzhev in the Summer of 1942 was part of a series of battles that lasted 15 months in the center of the Eastern Front. It is known in Soviet history of World War II as the First Rzhev–Sychyovka Offensive Operation, which was defined as spanning from 30 July to 23 August 1942. However, it is widely documented that the fighting continued undiminished into September and did not finally cease until the beginning of October 1942. Rzhev lies west of Moscow and was captured by the German Wehrmacht in Operation Typhoon in the autumn of 1941, which took them to the gates of Moscow. When the Soviet counteroffensive drove them back, Rzhev became a cornerstone of the Germans' defense. By the summer of 1942, the city stood at the apogee of a salient that protruded from the front lines, pointing in the general direction of Moscow. In July and August 1942, Stalin tasked two of his front commanders, General Georgy Zhukov (commanding Western Front) and General Ivan Konev (commanding Kalinin Front), to conduct an offensive to recapture Rzhev and strike a blow against Army Group Center that would push them away from Moscow. The attack would fall upon one of their main opponents of the winter battles, General Walter Model's 9th Army, which occupied the majority of the Rzhev salient. The two-month struggle left a lasting impression on the Soviet soldiers who took part. The Red Army suffered massive casualties for little gain during the fighting, earning the battle the sobriquet ''Rzhev meat grinder''. Nevertheless, by October, the strategic balance in the centre of the Eastern Front remained essentially unchanged; the German army had suffered grievous losses,〔Glantz, Zhukov's greatest defeat, p. 12.〕 and whilst their defence had been tactically successful, they had achieved little more than maintaining the status quo. Although the offensive failed, Zhukov was given another chance to crush the Rzhev salient soon afterwards.〔Glantz, Zhukov's greatest defeat, p. 18.〕 ==Background== The closing stages of the Battle of Moscow saw the formation of the Rzhev salient. The Soviet counter-offensive had driven the Wehrmacht from the outskirts of Moscow back more than , and had penetrated Army Group Centre's front in numerous places.〔Ziemke, Earl; Bauer III, Moscow to Stalingrad, Chapter VII Hitler And Stalin (Kindle Location 2764). Kindle Edition.〕 Rzhev, a strategic crossroads and vital rail junction straddling the Volga, became the northern corner post of Army Group Centre's left wing. It was the only town of note for many miles and gave the 9th Army something to hang on to, in what otherwise seemed a wilderness of forest and swamp in all directions. The salient's existence was threatened at the very moment of its creation, when the Kalinin Front's 39th and 29th Armies opened a gap just west of Rzhev and thrust southwards into the German rear.〔 Just managing to keep the encroaching Soviet armies away from the vital rail link into Rzhev, the 9th Army, now commanded by General Model, managed to close the Rzhev gap, thereby cutting the Soviet supply lines and reducing their ability to deal a crippling blow to the whole army group.〔Ziemke, Earl; Bauer III, Moscow to Stalingrad, Model Closes the Rzhev Gap, (Kindle Location 3733). Kindle Edition.〕 The Soviet counter-attack had run out of steam and the Germans recovered enough to mount several operations to clear up their rear area. In July 1942, Operation Seydlitz was mounted to trap and destroy the two Soviet armies and succeeded in little over a week in doing so, making the army group once more an almost credible threat to Moscow.〔Ziemke, Earl; Bauer III, Moscow to Stalingrad, Chapter XX Summer On The Static Fronts, (Kindle Location 3733). Kindle Edition.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Rzhev, Summer 1942」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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