The Sun.
London, England, 1870-08-29 00:00:00

A GERMAN COUNCIL OF WAR.

The present position of affairs is believed to be as fol-
lows : —On Wednesday last a solemn Council of War was
held somewhere in the neighbourhood of Verdun, at
which all the principal Generals of the German army
met King William and Count Bismarck with a view to
deliberation as to the next move of the invading host.
Without exception, the military pundits were of opinion,
and they expressed it forcibly, that an advance on Paris
was hazardous in the extreme, when the stubborn
resistance of the French under Bazaine on the 14th,
16th, and 18th of August was taken into consideration.
The losses sustained by the Prussians during the
week which elapsed between the 11th and 21st inst.
were mournfully recapitulated, and General Steinmetz
in particular
,is asserted to have said that if the
Prussians advanced on Paris they would fall back
from the Seine to the lihine in much the same
fashion as that which has made the French retreat
of 1812 from Moscow the most tragic episode of military
history. Upon this King William and Count Bismarck
cut short the Council of War by saying briefly that, what-
ever might be the military objections to the step, an ad-
vance upon Paris was a political necessity ; that Germany
would consider the entire war a failure if the tide
of invasion were arrested or rolled back,
and that, coute qu'ff coute, the hazardous at-
tempt to take Paris must be made. We are in-
formed here, in quarters which cannot be with-
out means of knowing something like the truth, that the
King and Crown Prince are at the head of 303,000 troops,
of whom no fewer than 150,000 are Saxons, led forward
personally by the Crown Prince of Saxony. I need hardly
say that this force advances in light marching order, and
is, of course, destitute of siege guns or mortars.
Returning for a moment to the investing force left
before Metz, which is, I believe, commanded by Prince
Frederick Charles, I have reason to estimate its numbers
at 150,000 men. They have strongly entrenched them-
selves in front and in rear—in front with a view to
resisting the agonised and desperate dash which Bazaine
and his half-starved army, supposed to number 70,000
men, will make on them from Metz —in rear,
wit-h a view to baffling the onslaught of MacMahon's
force, supposed to number 120,000 men, which is, I believe,
advancing from Vouziers to cut Bazaine and his gallant
companions out of the trap which encloses them at
Metz. It will be seen that if my estimate of the an-
tagonistic forces is anything like correct, the French
will fight the Germans at least on level terms as regards
numbers. Assuming that Bazaine cannot carry his
whole seventy thousand men wi h him to the attack,
and that some of MacMahon's 120,000 soldiers drop off
in their eastward march to succour their be-
leaguered friends, the strength of each combatant will
be about 150,000 men. But there is this advantage on
the side of the Germans : the army of Bazaine is noto-
riously destitute of provisions, and the belief here is that
it must either fight or surrender before to-morrow
(Monday) afternoon. It is also doubtful whether
Bazaine can be convinced that MacMahon is ad-
vancing to his relief, and he therefore may be less
disposed bo strain every nerve and to hold out until he
hears the guns of the rescuing force at work upon Prince
Frederick Charles's rear. If the army under Bazaine
should be compelled to capitulate, I do not like to con-
template the discouragement and depression which such an
event will produce upon the heart and courage of French-
men and Parisians. If, on the other hand, MacMahon
cuts out Bazaine's army, the position of the King and
Crown Prince ought to be so perilous that, instead of
Metz being hereafter identified by military students with
the associations of Ulm, Paris will more probable be
identified in the memories of Prussians with the warning
associations of heroic Moscow.—Paris Correspondent of the
Telegraph.