Just watched a battelfield DVD on the Crimea opeations in WW2 and I was even more convinced of Mansteinīs capability watching how the operation "Bustard hunt" went :
Manstein called the first phase OPERATION BUSTARD HUNT, a "bustard" being a well-known European game bird. The peninsula was linked to the rest of the Crimea by a isthmus 18 kilometers (11 miles) wide, and the Red Army had heavily fortified the line, with a wide water-filled antitank ditch backed up by minefields, barbed wire, and pillboxes. OPERATION BUSTARD HUNT went forward on the morning of 8 May 1942, with German artillery and Luftwaffe Stuka dive-bombers trying to soften up the Soviet defenses while sappers cut paths through the obstacles.
The initial German attacks were driven back, but Manstein was undisturbed, since they were only meant as diversions anyway and were not being pressed hard. While the Soviets were distracted, German assault teams in boats landed behind Red Army lines on the south shore and promptly unhinged the defense. Soviet troops took panic and fled eastward, pursued by German panzers. Many managed to escape over the straits to the mainland, but by 17 May Manstein could report the capture of 170,000 prisoners and large amounts of equipment. All that was left was mopping up.
http://www.vectorsite.net/twsnow_06.html
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All this might seem pretty simple in writing but once you see the troop movements on map you can see how clever a trap it all became for the Red Army troops. So if you can buy the Battlefield version of the battle for the Crimea if you donīt have it!