To the west, the French army on the northern route, which had been massed in Metz, was similarly unsuccessful. Biquge.infoOn August 2, the main force of the French Rhine Army attacked Saarbrücken on the east bank of the Rhine, without even pre-war reconnaissance, and the Prussian defenders retreated after resisting for a while, and the French newspapers boasted that "the heroic French soldiers smashed the three divisions of the Prussian army"! Originally, Prussia's plan was for the 1st and 2nd armies to resist the main French forces and let the 3rd Army outflank the French army from the south. Hearing of the battle at Saarbrücken, the commander of the 1st Army, General Steinmetz, could not hold back and immediately waved his troops to meet the attack, so the Prussian 2nd Army also dispatched from Kaiserslautern to respond.

On August 4, the vanguard of the 1st Prussian Army encountered the French retreating from Saarbrücken, and the 14th Division of the Prussian Army took the lead in the battle without waiting for the orders of the superiors, and attacked the existing positions of the French army, suffering heavy casualties, but the troops near the Prussian army heard the sound of artillery according to tradition and immediately came to help, and although the French army was in a superior position, due to the surprise of the Prussian army and the lack of assistance from friendly neighbors, the commander of the 3rd Army, General Frossad, was worried that his position was too prominent, and decided to retreat at night. The Prussian army lost 4,500 men and the French lost 2,000 in this engagement. In terms of losses, the Prussian army was relatively large, but strategically, due to this engagement and the Battle of Wools in the south, the main force of the French Rhine Army was isolated and prominent, so that the French army's morale began to waver.

In the two battles of Saarbrücken and Wools, the Prussian army did not pursue, they had figured out the situation of the French army, and prepared to find the Rhine corps in Metz, France according to the established plan: the frontal 1st and 2nd armies drove back the French troops in front of them, so that the French retreated to the base in Metz. After the Southern 3rd Army defeated the French Strasbourg Corps, it was outflanking from the right flank of the French army, and a large army was gathered. The 180,000-strong army of the Rhine Army was the main force of the French field army, and now it is cowering in Metz and does not know where to go. Napoleon III realized at this time that the French army was too prominent and decisively ordered a retreat. At this time, the Prussian army was preparing to cross the Moselle River on both sides of Metz, detouring the two flanks of the French army, and the French high command was still in the dark, but it was only aware of the lack of food in Metz, and suggested retreating, but at this time Napoleon III had already made up his mind to retreat westward, and his intention was to retreat to Verdun 40 miles west, and then 50 miles west to join Chalon's MacMahon corps.

Unlike the single-minded attack at the beginning of the war, Napoleon III's determination to retreat was so strong that he seemed to have changed a person, much to the surprise of his generals.

British war correspondent Francis Antony attributed Napoleon III's performance to the fact that the heavy Prussian artillery fire inflicted on the French army affected the emperor's will to war:

“…… It took the commanders two weeks to each move their troops to the border, and now the Emperor firmly ordered them to retreat. …… It was a Sunday. At half past five in the evening, His Majesty the Emperor, accompanied by his attendants, walked down the steps. He wore a military uniform: thigh-length leather boots, a military coat that would inevitably feel hot on a summer evening, and a beautiful bowler hat. For two weeks, all he received was good news. The French army defeated the Prussian army and advanced into the hinterland. He had previously written to Empress Eugenie that he believed that 'this war would be over, as long as God did not show any clear favour for Prussia, and I am sure it would not happen'. However, it was precisely on this night that he experienced the first desperate moment of his life. He had just settled in a small house when news of the defeat at the front came. On this day, near where he had landed, two cavalry brigades engaged in a fierce battle with the Prussian army, resulting in many casualties. A little later the Emperor received a second piece of bad news: General Albert, commander of the Guards Cavalry Brigade, was seriously wounded. So the emperor immediately got into the carriage (his health condition did not allow him to ride a horse) and went to the makeshift field hospital near the battlefield. Two hours later, he found Awaibe in a farmer's house, still alive, but had been shot in the thigh. Soon after, he met another brigade commander, General Benoit; Benoit also experienced a tough battle, but was not injured. The Emperor breathed a sigh of relief, and when he returned, he was furious at the generals' desperate attempt to throw their cavalry into a massacre that was not yet tactically capable of producing a major victory. He accused them of 'ineffective command, abusing the bravery of our officers and men who regard death as home, using only fists and no brain......s.'"

"Two days later, there was a big battle between the villages of Gravlotta and Saint-Priva, on the side of the road from Verdun to Metz. The French troops withdrew their positions before dawn, and Prussia and its allies emerged victorious. The morale of the French became very low. The Emperor and Marshal Bazin, who stood beside him, saw for themselves how the French infantry fled in a hurry when they were met with heavy enemy fire in this battle. The French army suffered 22,000 casualties in this battle, and Prussia and its allies also suffered more than 10,000 casualties on this day. The Emperor was horrified by this terrible massacre. ”

On 10 August, the crown prince saw his father again in Lovat. They hadn't seen each other for two weeks, and the crown prince found his father depressed by the heavy casualties of his troops. But no one doubts victory. …… The emperor lost his usual composure, and he watched the battle anxiously, agitated. He ordered Marshal Bazin's army to retreat as soon as possible, and for him it was safe to retreat only to Chalon......"

"In the early morning of the 11th, fog filled the air, indicating that there would be sunny weather. As soon as the fog cleared, hundreds of Prussian artillery opened fire on the French positions on the east bank of the river and on the meadows. The Emperor's position overlooks the entire battlefield. He and Marshal Bazin stood on a small knoll, but this time much closer to the main battlefield. On the slopes above, he could use his telescope to look all the way up to about three kilometers away. A mighty battle unfolded at his feet, like a miniature three-dimensional picture of a human figure in a museum. ”

"Throughout the battlefield, artillery flickered and smoked everywhere. The hail of cannonballs and shrapnel shells, especially the latter, with a small amount of white smoke, looked like balloons, which would remain in the air for some time after exploding, as a response to the French army's war-like greetings. The cacophony of machine guns could be heard from the chaos, which drowned out all the noise of the battle......"

"The French soldiers were still fighting very bravely, but they could not withstand such terrible artillery fire, and hordes of infantry, cavalry and artillery were crowded into positions, some of them crowded towards the front line, others retreated as the range of the guns was shortened, suppressed by enemy fire, wounded and unwounded, orderly infantry and unordered infantry were surging in opposite directions, stirring together, The echo of shells exploding in the forest or treetops mingled with the whistling of bullets flying overhead, clouds of dust eclipsing the sun. ”

"By extending its line and making a detour to the French right flank, Bazin ordered the French to retreat to a safe place and disengage from the Prussian army. This battle once again demonstrated the tactical power of defense. When the French Guard, an elite unit of nearly 30,000 infantrymen, lined up in battle formation to attack, more than 8,000 people were killed and wounded under Prussian artillery fire in just over 20 minutes before the soldiers of this army returned fire in a lying position, and they refused to advance to the front line of the Prussian army. The Prussian army repelled the attack at a very small cost, and most of the casualties inflicted on the French Emperor's Guard were due to the Prussian army's use of its perfect breech-loading artillery. ”

The battle cost the Prussian army 20,000 men and the French 32,000, with both sides accounting for a little more than 10 percent of their combatants. Bazin was determined to retreat to safety. The vast majority of the Prussian army was deployed east of the Moselle, which made it easy for Bazin to withdraw from Metz and advance southeast; But by that time, he did not have a plan for retreat, he only mechanically carried out the emperor's order to retreat, and he asked his troops to rest for a few days before retreating in a southeastern direction. ”

By this time, Bazin had lost half of his French troops. This illustrates Bazin's complete cringe as he assumed the command role. He has become what the French call a 'soft egg'. Overcome by duty and adversity, he lost the ability to make decisions and simply relied on the familiar terrain and fortress and the temporary shelter it could provide. ”

The French had already decided to retreat, but the execution dragged on, delaying for three hours in the confusion, but they were able to retreat safely to the other side before the flood washed away the bridge over the Moselle. The Prussian army did not detect the French movement at first, but planned to cross the Moselle and continue westward to make a far-reaching encirclement. However, the brigade of Major General Golz of the Prussian 7th Army found that the French army had the intention of retreating, so it took the initiative to catch up and open fire, and then, General Mandolfel's 1st Army also entered the battle, and after an encounter, the Prussian army lost 8,000 men, and the French army lost another 6,500 men, although this time the French losses were smaller, but the process of French retreat was almost stopped by the Prussian army.

In Paris, the regent Empress Eugenie, enraged upon learning of the crushing defeat at the front and the retreat of the French army, repeatedly asked the high command for orders to stop the French retreat, and sent a telegram to Napoleon III asking her husband to halt the retreat, but Napoleon III simply ignored her angry accusations.

――――Dividing Line――――

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