two o'clock
`` The first shot of the war was fired this morning at ten o'clock . At that hour the French opened on Saarbrück with twenty-three pieces of artillery . The bombardment continued until twelve . At two o'clock the Germans , having evacuated Saarbrück , retreated across the Saar to Saint-Johann . The latter village is also now being evacuated ; the French are pushing across the Saar by means of pontoons ; the three bridges are also being rapidly repaired . `` Reports vary , but it is probable that the losses on the German side will number four officers and seventy-nine men killed -- wounded unknown . The French lost six officers and eighty men killed ; wounded list not completed .