6th Panzer Army gets a different commander in the Ardennes

I guess this is a roundabout way of saying "How much of the 6th Panzer Army's inability to seize and push past Elsenborn Ridge was Dietrich's fault?"

While it's unlikely to affect the battle (unless the supply hub of Liege falls) and of course has no affect on the war given the impending collapse of the Eastern Front, could a different commander of the 6th [SS] Panzer Army in the Bulge do better?

(PS: How likely is Liege to fall? Bergstrom's Ardennes mentions, citing contemporary army reports, that Allied logistics would be thrown for a pretty big loop if it was taken or destroyed, but is this a "Yes, but that wouldn't happen" type of deal?)
 

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I guess this is a roundabout way of saying "How much of the 6th Panzer Army's inability to seize and push past Elsenborn Ridge was Dietrich's fault?"

While it's unlikely to affect the battle (unless the supply hub of Liege falls) and of course has no affect on the war given the impending collapse of the Eastern Front, could a different commander of the 6th [SS] Panzer Army in the Bulge do better?

(PS: How likely is Liege to fall? Bergstrom's Ardennes mentions, citing contemporary army reports, that Allied logistics would be thrown for a pretty big loop if it was taken or destroyed, but is this a "Yes, but that wouldn't happen" type of deal?)
A big part of the problem was using the SS to actually do such an important job. The regular army professionals performed much more effectively during the Ardennes. Put the regular army in charge of all armies and you'll probably get better performance in general, which IIRC Bergstrom made the case for in his book.

That said Liege probably wasn't going to be possible given the resistance and terrain they had to fight through to get there; the SS stopped well short of being able to take it:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/Wacht_am_Rhein_map_(Opaque).svg
They couldn't even get to Spa, part of the way there, where 1st Army HQ was.

According to this Pieper might be more to blame:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Bulge#Kampfgruppe_Peiper_deflected_southeast
Peiper then advanced north-west towards Büllingen, keeping to the plan to move west, unaware that if he had turned north he had an opportunity to flank and trap the entire 2nd and 99th Divisions.[66] Instead, intent on driving west, Peiper turned south to detour around Hünningen, choosing a route designated Rollbahn D as he had been given latitude to choose the best route west.[67]
 
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