Gamelin grew increasingly suspicious of the continuing German inactivity. Misinterpreting the lack of response, the French general directed his commanders to maintain their distance from the Siegfried Line and plan for a quick withdrawal to the dominating Spicheren Heights in France. Politically it was also the safest course. Further advance into Germany meant abandoning the expensive Maginot Line.

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By September 12 the sluggish French offensive reached its peak–a 5-mile penetration into Germany. It was increasingly apparent that the closer lead French elements got to the Westwall, the more cautiously they advanced. In one village, a single German machine gun held up the French advance for more than a day. With such delays the Saar foray dwindled into a confused demonstration.

Events in the east prompted the eventual French withdrawal. On September 17 the Soviet army invaded Poland. Clearly, this European war was fast becoming a world war. The Saar was no longer a focal point, and the French hatched new schemes to defeat the Germans and Russians on battlefields far from France. The German and Soviet governments launched separate peace campaigns. Outright rejection of these peace initiatives and an escalation of hostilities by the French would seemingly invite world war. There was also the danger that the Italians would join the conflict.

Gamelin commented that the whole Saar operation was no more than a “little test.” With 35 Polish divisions shattered just one week after the German invasion, the French military concluded that it was only a matter of time before resources would be diverted to the west. Gamelin issued secret Personal Instruction No. 4, ordering his forces to discontinue their advance.

On September 21 Gamelin renounced any prospect of continuing the offensive and ordered that the French army should withdraw to the Maginot Line in the event of a German counterattack. Not all of the French commanders agreed with this assessment. General Henri Giraud, commander of the Seventh Army, saw an almost unbelievable opportunity for French forces in the Saar. He believed a corps could have seized the area between Saarbrücken and Trier. Such a move not only would prove an embarrassment to Germany but also would secure the Metz Corridor into France and open avenues to further operations toward the Rhine in the direction of Koblenz or Mannheim. In either case, it seemed possible that French forces would be able to reach the Rhine.

The German high command sheepishly conceded Hitler’s assessment of French reluctance. When Poland’s fate was sealed, German troops were able to shuttle to the west. General von Hammerstein was relieved of his impotent command without ceremony, and the Westwall garrisons relaxed.

German General Siegfried Westphal agreed that the situation in the west was perilous and estimated that the French could have reached the Rhine in two weeks if they had tried. The French command feared otherwise. German artillery now had the range of forward elements of the Maginot Line, and Luftwaffe fighter planes were returning to the western skies. French commanders, with their backs to the Maginot Line, obligingly withdrew.

On September 30 the French army was secretly ordered to retreat to its homeland, the movement to be conducted at night. The withdrawal was as sluggish as the advance had been. It was not until October 17 that the last French screening forces departed German territory.

Witzleben’s German First Army, reinforced by an infantry division, launched a general attack on October 16 that did little more than roll up a few French rear-guard units. The counteroffensive lasted until October 24. The First Army crossed into France and thus became the first German military force do to so since August 1914. The Germans continued their uncontested advance and occupied a sliver of French territory a full five months before the May 10, 1940, blitzkrieg that hammered the country. A French communiqué announced a German attack in strength, with later reports that the enemy had suffered severe losses. The Germans, in fact, listed a total of only 198 killed in that action.

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