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How defensible is the Dneper line in 43 instead of Citadelle?

Citadelle is a very bad plan - even if your panzers manage to advance, they'll be engulfed in a sea of T-34's and you only have a few Panthers. The German player can't (or, at least, can't afford to) break through the Soviet line in July 1943; the most he can do is try to capture Leningrad, but even in this case it is debatable if the losses and risks are worth the prize.

I am for a gradual retreat towards the Dnepr line. It is very defensible and, more important, very short, especially with the impassable river sections south of Gomel. The retreat, I think, can and should be very slow, both to give your troops time to entrench and to prevent the Soviets from doing the same. The Luftwaffe should concentrate on hitting the Tank Armies.

Then, after the autumn rains, the surplus of troops you get after shortening the line might take their best shot at still winning the war, i.e. attempting a breakthrough in the Vitebsk sector. By this time you should also have enough Panthers to fight on more than equal terms with the Russian armored force. If it doesn't work - well, you should still have a strong position and excellent chances for a draw.

Always I retreat my infantry behind the river. I put 3 or 4 powerful panzer korps in the east side of the river, protected by strong CAP (usually 8 fighter groups ), and I strike any advancing soviet army retreating again to avoid a soviet counterattack.
You can surrender armies at this time.