Extract from Meat Grinder
Battles that drag on for long periods have a tendency to evolve far beyond their origins, in terms of scale and the objectives of the two sides. The Rzhev sector came under German control in the last thrusts towards Moscow, at a time when the Soviet capital seemed to be tantalisingly close; the subsequent Soviet counteroffensive tore huge holes in the German line, and when the front stabilised, the two exhausted armies warily faced each other on a front line that bent back on itself, creating a great salient that projected towards the north, just 70 miles (120km) to the west of Moscow
