In general, the Allied advance into Western Europe in 1944 tended to bypass the Maginot fortifications. The fact that the Allied advance tended to approach the Maginot fortifications from the rear meant that many German commanders preferred to occupy their own Westwall fortifications, which were orientated the correct way and often quite proximate to the Maginot Line. The one major exception was in September-November 1944 when the Third Army encountered both the Maginot Line and Westwall fortifications in Lorraine as well as preexisting fortifications that dated back to Imperial Germany's fortification of the Metz area. Hitler had decreed the Metz area a Festung to be defended at all costs, so retreating to the Westwall was a less viable option. The German Army in Lorraine tried to turn these three disparate fortress systems into a coherent defensive network and were partially successful. The geographic barrier of the Moselle River and Allied logistical difficulties aided the German defenses as well. The Third Army's attempt to take Metz was a protracted and bloody affair. The advance after Patton;s troops had taken the city ran into the Maginot Line, which further added to American casualties. Although the Lorraine campaign was ultimately an Allied victory, the fortifications, including the repurposed Maginot Line, meant that a numerically inferior German force was able to extract a heavy price for Lorraine.