Therefore, at mid-day, General von Kummer decided to confine himself to the local defence of Bapaume. At the cost of serious loss, the artillery covered the drawing in thither of the infantry. The 1st Heavy Battery, which was the last to withdraw, lost 2 officers, 17 men, and 36 horses; its guns could only be brought out of action with the help of the infantry. In Bapaume the 29th Brigade now prepared for an obstinate defence of the old city wall, and the 30th assembled behind the place. The French advanced leisurely as far as the suburb. Then ensued a long pause in the fighting. General Faidherbe hoped to take the town by further encompassing it, without exposing it to a bombardment followed by a storm. A brigade of the Division Derroja endeavoured to advance through Tilloy, but met there with stubborn resistance from the Rifle Battalion and two batteries which had come up from Peronne. At the same time twenty-four guns of the batteries which had retired behind Bapaume opened fire on the advancing columns, which then withdrew, at half-past three, across the road to Albert. They soon resumed the attack, and succeeded in entering Tilloy. All the neighbouring batteries now opened fire upon this village. General von Mirus, who on the advance of the 3rd Cavalry Division had been left behind in Miraumont, saw no enemy in his front there, but heard the fighting at Bapaume, and advanced from the west, as did General von Strubberg from the town, to renew the attack. The French did not await their arrival, and were driven back out of the suburb and also Avesnes. The French Divisions spent the night at Grevillers, Bihucourt, Favreuil, and Beugnatre, thus surrounding Bapaume on three sides. The day had cost the Germans 52 officers and 698 men, and the French 53 officers and 2066 men. But only by exerting the whole available strength of the VIIIth Corps had it been possible to withstand the preponderating attack of the enemy. It had not yet been possible to replenish the Corps' supply of ammunition, and General von Goeben decided to immediately move back the fighting ground to behind the Somme. This movement was actually in process when the patrols brought information that the enemy was also evacuating the neighbouring villages.