French join Belgians--Details of the Battles--German Spy System--Raids
by Uhlans
French outposts effected a junction with the Belgians on the 7th.
Before they could offer effective assistance, however, the first
battle had already taken place. The Germans, profiting from their
previous experience of the Belgian forces, had this time taken greater
precautions and brought up more men. A _Daily Telegraph_ correspondent
said that he could clearly see from the hill the Germans in little
boats and others building a pontoon over the Meuse south of Visé. The
horses were swum across. The crossing was carried out in half a dozen
places with great regularity. The Germans did not seem much concerned
at the fire of the Belgian forts. The Belgian troops were spread out
over the rising ground. Fire from a German mitrailleuse kept the
Belgians at a distance, and slowly the whole hillside became covered
with German soldiers, who drove the Belgians before them.
Near Visé an automobile arrived with five Belgian civilian guards. They
alighted from the car and advanced on foot. A German patrol called on
them to halt, and instantly the Belgians fled. Four escaped; one fell
wounded. As they passed him the Germans said that when they came back
they would kill him.
By five o'clock a large force of Germans had crossed the Meuse and
commenced to march south on Liège. The Belgians tried to harass the
Germans by firing into the progressing columns. At last the Belgians
ceased firing and retired. From the houses along the road the people
took to flight in despair.
In the village of Eben people were calm, looking with astonishment at
the tremendous body of troops passing along the route. They were not
molested at all as the Germans progressed towards Liège along both
banks of the Meuse.
With characteristic optimism Germans said: "In two days we will have
Liège, and within a week we will be before Paris." The Germans did not
seem to have any idea, in fact, that in front of Liège they might have
an encounter with the French Army.
An incident was reported which showed how little the German soldier
knew about the war in which he was engaged. Amongst the wounded in
Maastricht was a young German of eighteen who believed that he had been
fighting the French. Great was his surprise when he was told he had
been fighting the Belgians. "The Belgians!" he said, "but we have no
quarrel with the Belgians!" He was under the impression that he had a
French bullet in him.
Already the advance guard was fighting near Liège, and the Germans
agreed that they had lost heavily. They said, "Cost what it may, we
will take Liège." Fort Pontisse, near Liège, was heavily attacked.
Some of the wounded Germans received bullets in the back in the
encounter at Visé. It was believed that, by mistake, one body of
Germans fired into another. Twenty-six were killed and wounded. Small
wonder that the feelings of the people were filled with anguish at
Maastricht, as at all hours of the day motor ambulances came in from
the battlefield. The seriously wounded were brought to Maastricht,
where there were surgeons. The less seriously wounded were taken to
Eysden.
A Dutch lady with two children took to flight from Visé on hearing
that the Germans were approaching. She was stopped by a body of
Germans, who compelled her to go with them to Visé and afterwards
show where they could get provisions. Finally she was escorted to the
frontier.
In a later telegram the same correspondent said:
I have just returned from the frontier village of Mesch, where I saw
the most magnificent and impressive sight of a vast German army. From
the hill on which I was standing I could see the German troops come
up before me, artillery, cavalry, infantry, and all, while behind the
hill I could hear the boom of gun fire.
As the Holsteiner Dragoons passed I could see on their colour the
date 1871. Then I saw fifteen farmers with bent heads led forth as
prisoners. Their crime was that they had defended their homes.
Then an aeroplane flies overhead. Is it German or Belgian? Will it
drop bombs? It passes on. And then I am approached by German soldiers,
who point revolvers at me, and order me to retire, for in my eagerness
I had stepped beyond the Dutch frontier post.
In a still later message he writes:
The Belgians have destroyed several bridges on the light railway from
Tongeren to Bilsen.
Several important despatches appeared on Monday, August 10th, giving
particulars of the movements of troops during Saturday and Sunday.
There were no movements by the Germans for three days. Beyond the range
of the forts' fire they rested, recovering strength. The threatened
attack along the river Ourthe was suspended. These facts, in the view
of the Belgian General Staff, denoted insufficient preparations and
showed that the German concentration had not been fully carried out.
The situation, in their opinion, gave every assurance that merited
punishment would follow the invasion.
Liège was invested by the Germans on Sunday night, but this was
expected, and was regarded as unimportant. The forts were known to be
ready for further and prolonged resistance, while the foe's stock of
projectiles was evidently short. The Belgian field forces, apart from
the Liège garrison, were massing in the right directions. The portion
of Belgian Luxemburg invaded by the Germans was being cleared of them
by the advancing French troops, who marched forward with the greatest
speed and energy and got good assistance from a division of Belgian
cavalry.
Many trains conveyed more French troops to the front via Brussels.
King Albert reviewed and congratulated the triumphant Third Division,
which had been keeping the foe at bay at Liège.
Liège city possessed an old disused fortress, which the Belgians blew
up to prevent the Germans from availing themselves of it.
It was reported, and afterwards confirmed, that many Bavarians were
deserting or refusing service, the idea of fighting peaceful Belgium,
whose Queen is a beloved Bavarian princess, being very unpopular.
A Belgian who passed through Rotterdam on Saturday evening said: "I
left Liège on Saturday morning, and then the town was still defending
itself valiantly. Not one of the forts was then in the hands of the
Germans. An armistice of three hours was agreed upon to bury the dead,
who lay all around."
The man, who was evidently highly wrought up after the terrible
experience of the siege, declined to say more. The German prisoners
captured had very few cartridges, from which it was assumed that the
Germans had some difficulty in bringing up ammunition and supplies.
How deadly a task the Germans had undertaken in rebuilding the bridge
over the Meuse was illustrated by the following telegram sent by the
_Rotterdamsche Courant's_ correspondent at Maastricht on Saturday
afternoon:
The pontoon bridge built by the Germans was shot away, so that further
troops cannot cross. The 90th and 25th German Regiments, which
supported the bridge-builders, were mown down by the quick-firing
guns. A wounded Belgian was asked how the Germans had fared. He
replied in one word, "Annihilated." Those of the wounded who can be
transported by rail are to be brought from the hospitals at Maastricht
to Alkmaar.
The gallant defence offered by the Belgian garrison was not to pass
without suitable recognition. On August 7th, the French President, M.
Poincaré, despatched the following telegram from the Elysée to the King
of the Belgians:
I am happy to announce to your Majesty that the Government of the
Republic has just decorated with the Legion of Honour the gallant town
of Liège. It wishes thus to honour the courageous defenders of the
place and the whole Belgian army, with which since this morning the
French army has been shedding its blood on the battlefield.
In the view of a very high military authority, the severe check
inflicted by the Belgian garrison of Liège on the German VII. Army
Corps was of cardinal importance. The German General Staff made no
secret of the fact that they looked forward to an easy task in marching
through Belgium. An officer in the German War Office recently stated
that they counted on the benevolent neutrality of Belgium at worst;
and, more probably, the King of the Belgians would range himself on the
German side.
Some time ago a military mission, at the Kaiser's invitation, attended
manoeuvres of special importance near Berlin. In conversation with the
senior British officer present the Kaiser said: "I shall sweep through
Belgium thus"--and waved his arm in the air.
The authority alluded to expressed the opinion that the line of the
Meuse could now be held, but that the crucial trial of strength would
occur when the main bodies of the two field armies met in the open.
What was of no less interest, as showing the elaborate methods adopted
by the Germans for years beforehand, was Dr. E.J. Dillon's account of
the Germans in Belgium before and after the outbreak of war. Dr. Dillon
telegraphed from Brussels on Sunday, August 9th:
It is a noteworthy fact that during the fierce fighting of the past
few days a disproportionately large number of officers as compared
with privates were disabled owing to their distinctive uniforms, and
among the officers were a disproportionately large percentage of
surgeons, whose uniform is still more conspicuous. The War Minister's
attention is being drawn to the advisability of rendering the outward
marks of rank differences less noticeable at a distance.
The Belgian Government has decided not to proceed to the expulsion
of Germans en masse, although the country is infested by spies and
agents, who make desperate efforts to reveal and frustrate the plans
of the military authorities. In the German Consulate and the German
school wireless telegraphy apparatus were discovered. At Antwerp,
where the Germans had for years wielded paramount influence, many of
them repaid the hospitality shown them with perfidious hostility.
Two sons of the principal German firm in Antwerp, which has been
established for over twenty years there, have been arrested on a
charge of treason. Even the School of Aviation had trusted a caretaker
of German nationality, who has occupied this and similar posts for
eighteen years, and was discovered on Friday working the wireless
telegraph apparatus. He was arrested, tried, and condemned.
Nowhere in Belgium were the Germans more at home than in Antwerp;
nowhere have they proved such relentless enemies to their hosts. When
quitting the city on Friday some of them exclaimed, "We are going now,
but we will return shortly escorted by troops." The bitterness against
Germany in Antwerp is intense, but there and throughout Belgium the
German prisoners and wounded are treated with the utmost consideration.
The Germans, who were hospitably received in Holland, fed, and sent
home, were not, as the Belgian Press believed, soldiers, but fugitive
civilians. Holland has scrupulously discharged her duties as a neutral
State.
The Flemish population of Belgium is making heroic sacrifices for the
struggle, which has only been begun. The smiling suburbs of Antwerp,
with their gardens, lawns, thickets, and luxurious villas, are being
disfigured beyond recognition in order to meet the requirements of the
military strategists, and the owners look on with grim approval at the
destruction of their cherished property.
The narrative of how the neutrality of Luxemburg was violated is
interesting. On Sunday morning while I was painfully travelling through
Bavaria towards the Rhine the population of Luxemburg awakened to find
all the ways of communication in German hands. Everywhere detachments
of German soldiers were stationed, but what most astonished the
simple-minded citizens was this--that the detachments were commanded
by the employés of commercial and industrial firms established in
Luxemburg who two days previously had been at their offices as usual.
Now, attired in military uniform, they were at the head of bodies of
German troops, leading them through the streets, directing them to
places where perquisitions might be made or arrests effected, and
giving them the benefit of their admirable knowledge of the town and
people.
This they did with noteworthy results. Thus they denounced some 200
Alsatians who had not served in the German army, and who naturally
reckoned on a safe asylum in neutral Luxemburg. These unfortunate
men were roused from their sleep and spirited away, their appeal for
humanitarian treatment being answered by violence or threats.
A German major who was first to cross the Adolf Bridge found his way
barred by the Cabinet Minister M. Eyschen, who, having arrived in a
motor, turned the car lengthwise across the bridge. Taking out a copy
of the Berlin Treaty, he showed it to the German officer, who remarked,
"I am acquainted with it, but have orders which I must execute."
Immediately afterwards the Grand Duchess Marie Adelaide drove up in an
automobile, which she also turned lengthwise across the bridge, saying
that the neutrality of Luxemburg must be respected, and that she would
telegraph to the Kaiser, whereupon the major curtly answered, "You had
better go home quietly."
The commander of the Luxemburg army, Vandyck, came up just then and
remonstrated with the German officer, who retorted, "If these are not
your methods they are ours," and, putting a revolver to his head,
cried, "Clear out!"
Soon afterwards the work of military destruction began, villas and
farmhouses being demolished, and thickets cut down for strategic
purposes. Terror reigns throughout Luxemburg since then. A farmer
with provisions, being stopped and his wagons seized, grumbled. He
was arrested, taken before a Court-martial, and has not been heard of
since. From Luxemburg to Rodange the fields are devastated, houses
razed to the ground, trenches dug, and whoever casts a glance at these
is arrested as a spy. In a word, the population of the Grand Duchy is
learning the meaning of the words "reign of terror."
Military experts here hold that some days must elapse before important
aggressive operations are resumed by the German army. They explain the
miscalculation of the invaders as follows:
Germany secretly moved forward about 900,000 men towards the
Franco-Belgian and Russian frontiers during the week ending August
2nd, with the object of being able to surprise and overpower the
resisting forces at the very outset of the war.
In order to accomplish this stroke, which would have had an immense
effect upon the morale of the troops, the men were despatched without
adequate provisions or ammunition, on the assumption that they would
find the former in the conquered districts, and could await the
latter from their own trains of supplies, which would follow shortly
afterwards. The reception at Liège upset this reckoning, and explains
why the prisoners complained of hunger.
These unexpected reverses, which have given time for the junction of
the French and Belgian forces, will now necessitate the definitive
concentration of the German army, which includes the second line of
another million men, and this operation is at present in full swing.
It involves the mobilisation of the Landsturm, or Territorial army,
and according to trustworthy private advices received here, the
officer commanding the Cologne military district has already called
all the men of the Landsturm to arms.
In other words, a tremendous effort will shortly be put forth to burst
through the Franco-Belgian barriers of the forts and men, and inundate
France with German soldiers.
In view of this mighty tide of armed men and the relatively narrow
area through which they must force a passage, it is nowise impossible
that they may at the last moment choose a route northwards of Visé,
and violate Dutch territory. This eventuality should be borne well in
mind by those interested in preparing for it.
One of the curious methods of warfare employed by the Germans is the
despatch of Uhlans in groups of six and eight, who ride for miles in
advance of the army, enter undefended towns and villages, announce the
arrival of the bulk of the troops, and return. It is amazing how far
ahead of the army they advance.
On Friday evening they entered Arlon, and were received in silence,
but when leaving they heard the report of a revolver in the principal
café. Then, turning sharply, they discharged their firearms at the
house, and one rushed with pointed lance against a woman sitting at a
window. She was wounded mortally.
The municipal authorities, fearing further reprisals, drove out in a
motor, with a white flag, found the commanding officer, and tendered
their excuses, promising to punish the person guilty of firing.
The organisation of the German espionage was elaborate beyond belief.
Large German commercial firms established for many years in Belgium
prospered under conditions which rendered competition by Belgians
hopeless. They entertained intimate relations with all classes of the
population, subscribed handsomely to local charities, wielded great
influence in municipal affairs, and were conversant with everything
which the German Government was concerned to know.
The secret of their prosperity was a munificent State subvention from
the Berlin Government. Each German subject who was in the secret
service of the Government had his own work to execute. At Cambria, it
is affirmed, a German firm was charged with the work of having the
bridge blown up. A Belgian servant discovered and denounced the plot.
The authorities shadowed a German merchant day and night, and when
at last he drew near the bridge with the requisite explosives the
sentinel rushed upon him with the bayonet.
The German military captain Erchard was arrested at Ostend on
suspicion. On his person was found a sum of 4,000 francs and a written
order, "Remain Ostend observant," also the key to a cipher with which
he corresponded with the German staff. After his arrest a letter to
him was intercepted from a Belgian offering him important information
concerning the plans of national defence. The writer of the letter has
also been apprehended. In the ancient synagogue of Antwerp, now used
only as a magazine, 3,000 German rifles, carefully wrapped and packed
in cases, have been discovered.
For a day or two the main interest shifted from Liège to Alsace, as on
Sunday, August 9th, a French force advanced into Alsace and occupied
Mülhausen. The men were greeted with unbounded enthusiasm by the
inhabitants; but strategic considerations necessitated the evacuation
of the town shortly afterwards. Another wing of the French army,
however, advanced at the same time into Belgium, and there were several
cavalry encounters, of minor importance, on the banks of the Meuse.
Mr. Granville Fortescue, who, as the special representative of _The
Daily Telegraph_, had spent the first two days of the siege in the city
of Liège, caught the last train from the besieged city and sent his
telegram dated Liège, August 6th, from Brussels. He said:
Last night and early this morning the Germans attacked this city in
force. About 11.30 p.m., on hearing heavy cannonading, I crossed the
river by the bridge Fragnée, and took position on the heights to the
south of the city. It was full moon.
The German attack was directed against the forts at Fléron, Embourg,
and Boncelles. The artillery practice was perfect. Shell after shell
was exploded fairly on the ramparts of the forts. The return fire of
the Belgians I could not judge for effectiveness, as the German gun
positions were admirably concealed. The rough nature of the country
and the darkness favoured the attackers. In my opinion no siege guns
were in action. The Germans used a high explosive shell that burst
with extraordinary vividness.
About three a.m. infantry fire broke out in the woods west of the
River Ourthe, between Embourg and Boncelles. It was impossible to
distinguish anything except the flashes of the rifles. About this time
I heard infantry fire in the west. The country in the vicinity of the
forts has not been cleared, and evidently only hastily fortified.
The Belgian infantry, 9th and 14th Line Regiments, held the country
between the forts Fléron, Embourg, and Boncelles. The 9th Regiment
bore the brunt of the attack, which was repulsed along the line.
With the first rays of daylight, about four a.m., I was able to make
out the troops of the German line of battle.
They were fighting in close order. I could not believe I was watching
the first line, as this seemed to me to be a return to old-fashioned
tactics. But there could be no doubt as to their formation. The
engagement attained its fiercest stage about five a.m. About this
time the fort at Fléron was silenced. I was afterwards told that the
German fire had smashed much of the machinery of the disappearing gun
carriages.
Small parties of German cavalry could be seen in the intervals between
the infantry battalions. But there was no attempt at a cavalry attack.
Towards eight o'clock there was a lull in the attack. The accidental
nature of the country to the south favoured the concealment of the
Germans. I would not attempt to estimate closely their force at
this point. It might have been a division. They were occupying the
intervals between the fortresses, and had as their objective the
bridges south of the city.
The attack was checked all along the line. Battalion after battalion
was thrown back by the Belgians, whose 9th Regiment of the Line fought
like demons.
My own adventures were many and varied. The most stirring was when I
was held up by a lancer, who kept his revolver pointed at the pit of
my stomach while I explained that I was not a German. Four times I was
arrested and brought before the authorities. When I got back into the
town the crowd that swarmed on the streets would one minute surround
me and threaten me as a German, and the next loudly acclaim me as the
first of the arriving English.
That was the question in every mouth. "When would the English come?"
The whereabouts of the French was another topic eagerly discussed by
the mob.
Panic-stricken refugees came hurrying in during the morning, and
continued throughout the day to flood the city. Wherever they could
find listeners, which was easy, they would tell the story of their
night's experiences. One woman with her two daughters had spent the
whole night in the cellar of their home. A shell had exploded in the
kitchen. Had any of her family been injured? someone asked.
"Yes, monsieur, the poor cat was dead." A stout gentleman, with a
pointed grey beard was inconsolable because his "collection of little
birds" had been left behind at the mercy of the Germans.
This influx of frightened outsiders had a very baleful effect on the
people of Liège itself. Naturally the discussion of the number of
killed and wounded on both sides was the principal topic.
Motors carrying wounded soon began to arrive. These stopped before
the hotels or establishments which had been turned into improvised
hospitals. "Fifteen beds ready," "Ten beds for wounded here," were
signs posted on the doors of many houses.
The news was soon current in the city that the fighting had ceased for
the moment. There was to be a conference with the Germans.
The Palace of Liège was now the centre of attraction. "The Germans
demanded the immediate surrender of the forts and the city." "The
Belgians had asked for twenty-four hours in which to consider this
proposal." "The Germans refused, and threatened to bombard the city at
once." These and a dozen other rumours ran through the crowds.
Suddenly a loud explosion set every heart thumping. "Had the
bombardment commenced?" "No, the Belgian engineers had blown up the
arches of the bridge."
But as the afternoon wore on it became known that the Belgian
commanders had refused to give up the city. The bombardment was to
begin at six p.m. That was the last word I got.
The last train out of the city was crowded with refugees fleeing with
such little property as they could gather together. The scenes were
pitiful in the extreme when the train pulled out. Never can one forget
the expression of those left behind.
And the scenes in the train!
I carried a woman who must have been between eighty-five and ninety
years old up the step of the vehicle and to a rude bench in a
third-class carriage. A Sister of Mercy was her only attendant. Before
we were half-way to Brussels a priest had given her extreme unction.
Opposite me sits a man with four five-week old puppies and the mother
in his lap. In the next car are herded a score of German prisoners.
The helmets covered with cloth. The insignia gone.
In order to understand the attack which the Belgians so gallantly
repulsed during the early hours of the morning it is necessary to have
some idea of the country south of Liège.
The most remarkable feature of the terrain is the sharp rise of the
hills south of the River Meuse. From the flat banks of the stream the
land rises at an angle of fifteen degrees until it reaches 300 feet.
These figures are my estimation. The country is wooded and rough.
From a military point of view the section to the south and west of
where the River Ourthe joins the Meuse is extremely important. In the
first place, the Meuse is crossed here by two bridges, one railway
and the other a splendid masonry road bridge built to commemorate the
Liège Exposition. This latter is called sometimes the Pont de Fragnée
and sometimes the Exposition Bridge. The Pont du Val-Benoit is the
name of the railway bridge. The Exposition Bridge has been mined ready
for destruction. I could not get a chance to examine the railway
bridge. The railways from Hervé and Verviers enter the city over this
crossing. As it is certain that the main German force is coming over
these lines of communication, the capture of the bridges must be their
first object.
The angle between the Rivers Ourthe and Meuse is a flat plain. Besides
the railway junction, the angle is occupied by the electric lighting
plant, a smelting works, and a gun and small arms factory. These were
all in full blast during the day. A coal mine was also being operated.
In addition to these plants, whose value to an invading army is beyond
estimation, a force holding the hills to the south would have the city
at its mercy. Again, there is another railway running to Namur. So if
the Germans are to get anywhere near their second objective this line
of communication must be taken.
Nothing could be superior to the resistance put up by the Belgian
army to the attacks made between Embourg and Boncelles. The 9th and
14th Regiments of the Line not only checked the advancing Germans,
but actually threw them back. The Belgians were greatly helped by the
fact that the enemy advanced in close order. Battalion after battalion
of Germans were thrown into the fight in solid formation. It is small
wonder that they were decimated. However, the estimated number of
killed and wounded on their side is certainly exaggerated. Rumour puts
it at 25,000. At the assault of Port Arthur where I saw the Japanese
swarm up the forts at Ban Ju San, and where there were 400 pieces of
artillery in action, the losses from August 16th to the 21st totalled
16,000 on the Japanese side. While the Belgians have inflicted the
severest kind of repulse, yet I cannot believe that the enemy's
casualties reach the figures given. Still, they have been heavy enough
to make them ask for an armistice of twenty-four hours.
The Belgian troops engaged are the 3rd Division and 15th Mixed
Brigade. The Germans are reported as the 7th, 9th, and 10th Corps
under General von Emmich. The detachments of Germans captured which
I have seen have all been cavalry. They are mostly boys of from
eighteen to twenty-four years old. Their grey uniforms are stripped of
all insignia, and they have covered their helmets with grey drill.
In justice to the attacking force, I must say that their artillery
practice was excellent. This fact only adds to the credit of the
Belgian defence.
In all honour to the work done by the army, the spirit of the citizens
of Liège also merits the highest praise. It takes courage to sit
still under a bombardment. And this is what the civilians have had
to do. Their courage was also tested to the utmost by the stories of
murder and rapine told by the panic-stricken refugees coming in from
the outlying towns. Fortunately, so far, the German shells have done
little harm to the city proper. Yet it seems contrary to the spirit
of our boasted civilisation that the rules of war permit an enemy to
drop projectiles among women and children. Liège is a fortified town,
and under this classification it is liable to artillery attack without
notice.
In a subsequent despatch Mr. Fortescue emphasised the fact that the
dogged resistance of the Belgians had been of the highest military
importance for two reasons: in the first place, it had given France
time to complete her mobilisation; and, in the second, it had given the
British army time to mobilise and to begin its landing on the Continent.
At noon on August 11th, the Press Bureau issued a statement showing,
_inter alia_, the disposition of the German forces at Liège, so far
as they were known. The statement said that about two German cavalry
divisions were reported in the neighbourhood of Tongres; three German
corps were still opposite Liège; other German troops were reported to
be entrenching the line of the River Aisne.
The large German force was moving through Luxemburg, and the advanced
troops were now on the Belgian frontier.