At the end of July, the Soviets launched the Battle of Lezhev-Serchovka. Official Soviet sources explain the campaign as an attempt to prevent the Germans of Army Group Center from reinforcing the Southern Front, but they also make no secret of the attempt to remove Lezhev, the German salient that threatened Moscow.
The campaign began on July 30. In August, the 31st and 20th Armies of the Soviet Front advanced to the Lezhev-Vyazma road and engaged in fierce fighting with the German armored forces that had come to stop them. The Kalinin Front was also able to approach Lezhev. Under the two-way strong attack of the Soviet Army, the German 9th Army fell into a bitter battle, and one regiment lost 8 commanders in one week. The losses on the Soviet side were also quite severe. The damp air in the battlefield forest was filled with the stench of corpses.
Due to the strong Offensive of the Soviet Army, Kluge, commander of Army Group Center, demanded the cancellation of Operation Whirlwind and the use of armored units (500 tanks) intended for use in this campaign to aid the 9th Army, but Hitler refused. On August 11, Operation Whirlwind began.
The German 2nd Panzer Army launched an offensive against the Soviets near Sushinich. However, due to the lack of troops, coupled with the strong positions of the Soviet army and the minefields, the Germans paid a huge price. On 22 August, the offensive was halted. The defeat was so devastating to Hitler that it was declared the greatest mistake of 1942.