In the eyes of many, another classic battle after the Defense of Moscow was the Battle of Stalingrad. But this is not the case. Almost on the back and forth of the Battle of Moscow was the mysterious Battle of Lezhev. The scale of this battle was no less than that of the Battle of Stalingrad, and the Soviet and German casualties alone exceeded 2 million troops.
In the eyes of the Germans, the Battle of Lezhev was also a battle of Fame for Modell, while on the Soviet side, the Report of the Battle of Lezhev was almost unheard of. It was a scar in Marshal Zhukov's heart, and no one wanted to mention it lightly. The Battle of Lezhev was the largest meat grinder battle of the Soviet-German war.
When the Germans were defeated from Moscow, the Soviets were highly motivated to continue to attack forward and eliminate the invaders, and the Germans appointed Modell as the commander of the Ninth Army, and Modell set up camp in the Lezhev region, 150 kilometers west of Moscow, as a bridgehead for the Germans to attack Moscow again. Lezhev was the arch guard of Moscow, and as long as this transportation hub was in German hands, there was still a chance to attack Moscow.
The Soviets were also very bitter about the loss of Lezhev, so the Soviets launched at least four major battles in a row, and the small battles were numerous. This gave rise to the nickname Lezhev meat grinder. Zhukov led primarily the Third Battle of Lezhev, the so-called "Operation Mars."
The operation was not under Zhukov's direct command, he was also the commander of the Western Front at the time, and at the time of the Third Battle of Lezhev, Zhukov was personally commanding the Battle of Stalingrad, so Operation Mars was actually carried out in conjunction with the Battle of Stalingrad. Although Zhukov made a plan for Operation Mars, Konev, who was actually in charge of the command, modified the plan when it was implemented, and Zhukov's roundabout plan was turned into a direct attack on Lezhev by Konev, which allowed Modell to find an opportunity.
Konev was directly responsible for the failure of operation Mars, zhukov was only secondary. But then again, without Operation Mars holding back the main German forces, the Battle of Stalingrad would not have been a major victory. What do you think?