Zhukov's Greatest Defeat: The Red Army's Epic Disaster in Operation Mars, 1942 (Modern War Studies)
by David M. Glantz
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Book Summary Information
Author: David M. GlantzEdition: Paperback
Published: 2005-09-19
ISBN: 0700614176
Number of pages: 421
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
Book Reviews of Zhukov's Greatest Defeat: The Red Army's Epic Disaster in Operation Mars, 1942 (Modern War Studies)
Book Review: Demolishes Zhukov's reputation as a Soviet military hero
Summary: 4 Stars
Colonel Glantz has furnished us an excellent account of MARS ,codeword which stood for Red Army operation to annihilate Rhzhev salient in the winter of 1942.The salient held by General Walter Model's 9th Army pointed like a dagger at the heart of Soviet capital. As author explains , the offensive conceived, planned ,executed by Marshal Zhukov was complex multi front operation involving several armies. Attacks launched by Kalinin and Western fronts from multiple axes delivered converging blows, one aimed at the apex of the salient and others at base. Defending Germans would be enveloped in a wall of fire and perish .
Unfortunately for the Soviets the operation did not unfold in this manner. Why was that so ? Firstly, German defences in the approach axes of Red Army were anchored in depth. They erected complex web of defences involving pillboxes,bunkers,barbed wire entanglements several of which had interlocking fields of fire.To exacerbate matters, poor weather[ area blanketed by thick fog] prevented adequate reconnaissance. Consequently, several German dug-in strong points which remained obscured escaped destruction from preparatory Soviet artillery fire. Further no air support could be given as fog grounded all ground-attack aircraft.
Soviets launched massed frontal assaults into the teeth of German defences and the result was horrible carnage. Despite staggering losses ,Russians kept on pressing attacks relentlessly. Here and there they made minor tactical gains gradually fighting degenerated into a brutal slugfest. From the nature of fighting , it could be seen that Soviet resources appeared virtually infinite. They could take any amount of losses and still keep on attacking . Such a tactic appears crude by all means .To the contrary, Germans displayed superior fighting skills. For weeks they kept superior Red Army forces at bay. Wehrmacht formed combat detachments which served as shock troops.
German commanders dexterously manoeuvred armor along flaming cauldron parrying Soviet thrusts.Only gain Soviets gained from this botched offensive ,as author explains, they managed to exhaust their enemy. General Model realised he had no chance of withstanding a fresh Soviet assault and decided to vacate the Rhzhev salient. Fuehrer always averse to abandoning any territory grudgingly gave his approval.
Marshal Zhukov grudgingly admitted defeat Author dubs it as Zhukov's greatest defeat. Latter conveniently suppressed this fact in his memoirs. Zhukov has projected it as an operation to pin down Wehrmact in the central front while great Soviet counter-offensive unrolled in the south. However Glantz after digging deep into the Soviet archives, scrupulously researching recently de classified documents offers a fresh interpretation. Far from being a minor operation ,MARS was a large-scale offensive which opened in conjunction with Stalingrad counter-offensive: URANUS,SATURN. Author's research shows, Zhukov lavished extraordinary armor,artillery,engineer support for the offensive. Stavka thought crumbling German defence around Stalingrad would force Wehrmact to send armored reserves south thereby denuding Rhzhev salient . This will pave the way for huge success along the Moscow-Berlin axis in the critical central sector.
Closing chapter of the book contains some startling revelations. Glantz says .Red Army after Stalingrad has potrayed its combat record as an unbroken succession of triumphs leading towards final destructuion of Nazi Germany. Such an argument is at best disingenuous and a blatant lie. Author's research shows Red Army successes has often been punctuated by defeats. Among the list of failures include first Kursk offensive February- March 1943, Byelorussian operation on the fall of 1943 and winter of 1944, East Prussian operation October 1944. More study needs to be done to uncover the full extent of these defeats and its implications on the execution of Soviet war effort.
To sum up, Glantz has done an excellent job by exposing MARS as a military fiasco of unprecedented proportions which radically revises our understanding of eastern front in World War II.
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Summary of Zhukov's Greatest Defeat: The Red Army's Epic Disaster in Operation Mars, 1942 (Modern War Studies)
One of the least-known stories of World War II, Operation Mars was an epic military disaster. Designed to dislodge the German Army from its position west of Moscow, Mars cost the Soviets an estimated 335,000 dead, missing, and wounded men and over 1,600 tanks. But in Russian history books, it was a battle that never happened--a historical debacle sacrificed to Stalin's postwar censorship.
David Glantz now offers the first definitive account of this forgotten catastrophe, revealing the key players and detailing the major events of Operation Mars. Using neglected sources in both German and Russian archives, he reconstructs the historical context of Mars and reviews the entire operation from High Command to platoon level.
Orchestrated and led by Marshal Georgi Kostantinovich Zhukov, one of the Soviet Union's great military heroes, the twin operations Mars and Uranus formed the centerpiece of Soviet strategic efforts in the fall of 1942. Launched in tandem with Operation Uranus, the successful counteroffensive at Stalingrad, Mars proved a monumental setback. Fought in bad weather and on impossible terrain, the ambitious offensive faltered despite spectacular initial success in some sectors: Zhukov kept sending in more troops and tanks only to see them decimated by the entrenched Germans.
Illuminating the painful progress of Operation Mars with vivid battle scenes and numerous maps and illustrations, Glantz presents Mars as a major failure of Zhukov's renowned command. Yet, both during and after the war, that failure was masked from public view by the successful Stalingrad operation, thus eliminating any stain from Zhukov's public image as a hero of the Great Patriotic War.
For three grueling weeks, Operation Mars was one of the most tragic and agonizing episodes in Soviet military history. Glantz's reconstruction of that failed offensive fills a major gap in our knowledge of World War II, even as it raises important questions about the reputations of national military heroes.
This book is part of the Modern War Studies series.
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