As we know, the soviet January Offensive of 1942 was not the tide changing victory Stalin expected it to be. Too many objectives and too little forces to accomplish them with, while the Wehrmacht was still very much kicking. So, how can the objectives (particularly encircling AGC) be accomplished better?
I thought of calling off the Kerch landings in December, and using the army transported there to support the Rzhev-Vyazma offensive. Let's say someone realizes how insane it is, that they're landing an entire army on a narrow peninsula with only 1 way out. So, they're sent to attack Vyazma. That's 3 armies (21 divisions) that can be used in support of the offensive, and that won't just be annihilated trying to break out against superior German tanks and infantry.
Also, the 2nd Shock Army can be used to support the Demyansk offensive instead of the Lyuban offensive, which, sure, was initially successful but was stretched out and encircled after taking too much land to defend well against AGN in the Leningrad region. So, they can instead defend the Ramushevo corridor to Demyansk and collapse the pocket - 100,000 men bagged and wiped from the Wehrmacht Order of Battle, and proceed to act as the northern pincer for encircling AGC later. The shock armies in this area won't have to be tied down trying to destroy the pocket.
Are there any other force concentrations that can be made to increase the chance of success and try to encircle the 9th Army in the Rzhev-Vyazma salient?
I thought of calling off the Kerch landings in December, and using the army transported there to support the Rzhev-Vyazma offensive. Let's say someone realizes how insane it is, that they're landing an entire army on a narrow peninsula with only 1 way out. So, they're sent to attack Vyazma. That's 3 armies (21 divisions) that can be used in support of the offensive, and that won't just be annihilated trying to break out against superior German tanks and infantry.
Also, the 2nd Shock Army can be used to support the Demyansk offensive instead of the Lyuban offensive, which, sure, was initially successful but was stretched out and encircled after taking too much land to defend well against AGN in the Leningrad region. So, they can instead defend the Ramushevo corridor to Demyansk and collapse the pocket - 100,000 men bagged and wiped from the Wehrmacht Order of Battle, and proceed to act as the northern pincer for encircling AGC later. The shock armies in this area won't have to be tied down trying to destroy the pocket.
Are there any other force concentrations that can be made to increase the chance of success and try to encircle the 9th Army in the Rzhev-Vyazma salient?