How did the battle of waterloo contribute to napoleon’s downfall? a. his troops suffered a massive defeat after holding the enemy for nearly 40 days, forcing napoleon to surrender. b. after retreating for 1,000 miles from moscow, napoleon was killed by his own soldiers. c. after losing nearly 30,000 men, napoleon’s wife left him—a crushing blow from which he never recovered. d. his troops were crushed in a day-long battle, and napoleon was forced to abdicate and to go into exile.