positions along the Siegfried Line. Poland was not notified of this decision. Instead, Gamelin informed Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigły that half of his divisions were in contact with the enemy, and that French advances had forced the Wehrmacht to withdraw at least six divisions from Poland. The following day, the commander of the French Military Mission to Poland, General Louis Faury, informed the Polish chief of staff, General Wacław Stachiewicz, that the planned major offensive on the western front had to be postponed from 17 to 20 September. From 16 to 17 October, the German army, now reinforced with troops returning from the Polish campaign, conducted a counteroffensive that retook the remainder of the lost territory, still held by French covering forces, which withdrew as planned. German reports acknowledged the loss of 196 soldiers, plus 114 missing and 356 wounded. They also claimed that 11 of their aircraft had been shot down as far as 17 October. The French suffered around 2,000 casualties. By then, all French divisions had been ordered to retreat to their barracks along the Maginot Line. The Phoney War had begun. At the Nuremberg Trials, German military commander Alfred Jodl said that "if we did not collapse already in the year 1939 that was due only to the fact that during the Polish campaign, the approximately 110 French and British divisions in the West were held completely inactive against the 23 German divisions." General Siegfried Westphal stated that if the French had attacked in full force in September 1939 the German army "could only have held out for one or two weeks." See also List of French military equipment of World War II List of German military equipment of World War II References Further reading World War II sites in Germany Battle of France Battles and operations of World War II Battles in Saarland Western European theatre of World War II 1939 in Germany 1939 in France Conflicts in 1939 World War II invasions Invasions by France Invasions of Germany