Operation Mars

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Operation Mars
Part of the Eastern Front of World War II
Date 25 November – 20 December 1942 Location Rzhev and Velikie Luki salients, Russian SFSR Result German victory Soviet operational failure
Belligerents
Soviet Union	Germany
Commanders and leaders
Georgy Zhukov Ivan Konev Maksim Purkayev	Walter Model Günther von Kluge
Strength
702,923 personnel, 1,718 tanks[1]	3 combined corps (with 13 infantry divisions and 2 paratrooper divisions) 2 panzer corps (5 panzer divisions, 3 motorized divisions) 1,615 tanks[clarification needed][1] Total forces: ~350,000 troops
Casualties and losses
Isayev: 70,373 irrecoverable 145,301 wounded or sick[2] Glantz: 100,000 killed 235,000 wounded 1,600 tanks[3]	Grossmann: 40,000 combat casualties[4] Buttar:[5] 40,000-45,000 in total

Operation Mars (Russian: Операция «Марс»), also known as the Second Rzhev-Sychevka Offensive Operation (Russian: Вторая Ржевско-Сычёвская наступательная операция), was the codename for an offensive launched by Soviet forces against German forces during World War II. It took place between 25 November and 20 December 1942 around the Rzhev salient in the vicinity of Moscow.

The offensive was a joint operation of the Soviet Western Front and Kalinin Front co-ordinated by Georgy Zhukov. The offensive was one in a series of particularly bloody engagements that are collectively known in Soviet and Russian histories as the Battles of Rzhev, which occurred near Rzhev, Sychevka and Vyazma between January 1942 and March 1943. The battles became known as the "Rzhev meat grinder" ("Ржевская мясорубка") for their huge losses, particularly on the Soviet side. For many years, they were relegated to a footnote in Soviet military history.