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Originally Posted by Gotthard Heinrici  Manstein was in favor of a “Backslap” offensive, drawing the Russians into the Don bass and attacking southwards towards what would be an overextended Russian front and entrap any Russian divisions contained there. |
Backslap my backside. You are referring to the Kharkov offensive May '42. Von Manstein's victory here was facilitated by deficient strategic cooperation, where Southwstern Front in the direction of Kharkov became isolated and was left without the active support of adjacent fronts. This enabled the enemy to deliver strong attacks at the flanks of the attack group of SW Front, wich resulted in the defeat of its offensive forces. That mistake was studied and hardly repeated.