THE GERMANS IN BELGIUM.
Now we must return to Belgium, and see what was happening there. The
heroic manner in which Fort Loncin had held out had delayed the Germans
for a whole week. Until the last of the forts fell they had no command
of the railways, and therefore could not push forward great masses of
men across the plains to the north of the Meuse. But they could push
forward cavalry with emergency rations,[201] and bid them take food
wherever they could find it. Some artillery, a few machine guns, and
infantry accompanied them.
The object of sending forward this cavalry screen was to prepare the way
for the slower advance of infantry when Liége should be in German hands.
The cavalry advanced westwards to Tongres,[202] which was occupied on
Sunday, 9th August. Though this little town was within hearing of the
guns of Liége, the appearance of the enemy came as a great surprise to
the inhabitants. They were streaming out of their churches when there
was a sudden cry, "The Germans are coming!" and almost immediately a
squadron of the 35th Uhlans[203] trotted into the main street. They told
the people that they had come from Danzig,[204] at the other end of
Germany. Riding up to the town hall, they ordered the mayor to give up
his money chest, and to pull down the flag floating above the building.
He refused to strike his flag, so the Germans pulled it down for him.
They seized the town's money and all that they could find in the post
office; then they ordered food, for which they paid, and the troops
camped in the market-place. Later on a cavalry division made the town
its headquarters.
The behaviour of these men was good. The Germans did not yet believe
that the Belgians were going to hold out. They thought that when the
last of the Liége forts fell, the Belgians would consider that they had
done enough to protest against the invasion of their country, and that
they would then permit the Germans to pass through unmolested. They
were soon to be undeceived.
Westwards from Tongres the German cavalry, in small detached bodies,
spread over the country, and soon came in touch with detachments of the
Belgian army. It was not the business of these bands of horsemen to
fight battles but to skirmish, so that when they met Belgian riflemen
they usually withdrew. Now and then one of them would miss his way, and
would be captured in a starving condition. Rumours began to spread that
the Germans were without food. A Belgian scout said, "One does not want
a rifle to catch these Germans. They will surrender if you hold out a
piece of bread."
On Wednesday, the 12th, German cavalry had pushed forward to a line
extending from Hasselt, through St. Trond, to Huy, a town on the Meuse,
about sixteen miles south-west of Liége. Huy is a picturesque old town,
with a citadel standing on a rock high above the river, but it has long
ceased to be a fortress. At the foot of the citadel-rock close by the
river is a fine old church, and in the neighbourhood is a monastery, in
which Peter the Hermit, the preacher of the First Crusade,[205] lies
buried. The German cavalry were at first beaten back at Huy by the Civic
Guard, but they afterwards seized the town and held the bridge. The
capture of the town gave the Germans possession of an important railway
connecting Luxemburg with the Belgian plain.
On the same day the Belgians won a real victory over the invaders. Look
at the map on page 226, and find the town of Diest, which stands about
twelve or thirteen miles to the north-west of Hasselt. A few miles east
of Diest is the village of Haelen, at the junction of the two rivers
Gethe and Velpe. News reached the Belgian headquarters at Louvain that a
strong force of German cavalry was trying to pass between Hasselt and
Haelen, in order to turn the flank of the Belgian army, which, you will
remember, was lying along the river Dyle. The Belgians determined to
meet the Germans at Haelen. They hurriedly threw up barricades, dug
trenches, placed guns in position, and waited for the appearance of the
enemy.
About eleven o'clock in the morning the Germans drew near to the Belgian
position. They were allowed to come quite close before the Belgian guns
began to speak. At once the Germans unlimbered, and an artillery duel
began. The Belgians had previously found their ranges, and they were
able to burst their shrapnel amongst the German cavalry with great
effect. The fighting grew very fierce, and both sides showed great
courage. The Belgian Lancers forded the Gethe and tried to charge the
Uhlans, but were foiled by the broken ground. In turn, the German
cavalry charged down on the Belgian barricades, but were met by a
withering fire from rifles and concealed machine guns that swept large
numbers of them down. Again and again they tried to break through the
barricades, but every time they were repulsed, and about six in the
evening they withdrew, having lost three-fifths of their fighting
strength.
[Illustration: The Huns marching through a Belgian village.
_Photo, Record Press_.]
There was great joy amongst the Belgians when the battle was over. The
whole nation felt proud of the success of its little army. You must
remember that few of the men who so bravely met the Germans were regular
soldiers. Most of them were reservists called hurriedly from the
factory, the shop, and the field to the work of war. All these men
showed the highest courage. Their hearts beat high because they were
fighting in a holy war; they were defending their native land against a
greedy and grasping foe.
* * * * *
Many notable deeds of bravery were done that day. A farrier sergeant at
the head of eight men charged a whole squadron of Uhlans, who scattered
in all directions and fled, leaving many dead and wounded. He and his
brave comrades were able to return to Haelen in safety, leading with
them a dozen German horses as the spoils of victory.
During the afternoon a lieutenant, who was told off to defend Diest, was
asked to send reinforcements to a neighbouring village which was
threatened with attack. He had no men to spare, so he called together
the Fire Brigade, and picking from them as many soldiers as he needed,
sent them forward to the village, where they pumped lead on the Germans
as skilfully as they had pumped water on burning houses in days of
peace.
* * * * *
Numerous other small fights took place, and in all of them the Belgians
fought like heroes. One such skirmish took place at Eghezee, a village
about ten miles north of Namur. A party of 350 Uhlans and about sixty
cyclists rode into this place, and put up in it for the night. Early in
the morning a Belgian airman flew over the cornfield where they had
encamped their horses. He was fired at, and thus the position of the
Germans was revealed. Hearing the rattle of rifle fire, a number of
Belgian scouts rode towards the place, and took the Germans completely
by surprise. Most of them were sitting quietly in cafés when the alarm
was sounded. Instantly they took to their heels, leaving horses, rifles,
machine guns, and three motor cars behind them.
Seeing their comrades decamp, the few Germans who were guarding the
horses set them loose, and a bugler who was with the men who were
running away sounded a call. The horses trotted towards the sound of the
bugle, and just as the Belgian scouts, who were only thirty in number,
came into view, the Uhlans flung themselves on their horses and began to
gallop off. About five hundred yards away there was a trench in a field
of beetroot, and to this the Belgians dashed. They opened fire on the
Uhlans, and shot down many of them.
* * * * *
By this time the Germans knew that the Belgians would fight to the last
for their hearths and homes. Their pretended friendship now turned to
bitter hate, and they went from village to village killing and looting.
Goaded to frenzy by their terrible treatment, the Civic Guards and the
peasants lay in wait for the Germans, and killed them whenever they
could. About four miles north of Liége is the village of Herstal, the
Belgian Woolwich, in which there is a great national factory for the
manufacture of small arms. Most of the men engaged in this factory were
with the army, so the women and children made up their minds to defend
the factory. They armed themselves with revolvers and other weapons, and
several times beat back the attacks of the Uhlans. When their ammunition
was all gone they kept the Germans out by pouring boiling water on them
from the windows. For two days they kept their flag flying. At last the
Germans burst in and took a terrible vengeance on the women and children
who had defied them so long.
* * * * *
With the fall of Fort Loncin the great German advance into Belgium
began. Wave after wave of troops rolled over the frontier and surged
across the open country towards Brussels. King Albert knew that his
little army would be wiped out if it attempted to fight this vast array.
His only hope was that the French would come to his assistance; but, as
you know, they were not ready to take the field.
On the 14th of August the Belgians withdrew from the river Gethe, where,
as you will recollect, they had beaten the advance guard of the Germans.
They now strove manfully to stem the torrent of the invaders near the
town of Aerschot, a few miles north of Louvain. All their efforts,
however, were in vain.
[Illustration: Belgians defending a Barricade.
_Photo, Sport and General._]
[Footnote 201: On active service soldiers are supplied with compressed
food which they may only eat when they cannot otherwise obtain supplies.
In the British army the emergency ration is kept in a small sealed tin
cylinder about five inches long. It consists of a cake of beef and a
tablet of cocoa paste.]
[Footnote 202: _Ton´gr_. For this and other Belgian names, see map on
page 226.]
[Footnote 203: German Lancers. The name comes from a Polish word derived
from the Turkish.]
[Footnote 204: Seaport and first-class fortress, capital of province of
West Prussia, 3 miles from the Baltic Sea and 285 miles by rail
north-east of Berlin.]
[Footnote 205: So called from the cross which the Crusaders wore when
they set out to free the Holy Land from the infidel. The First Crusade
was preached in 1095, and lasted from 1096 to 1099.]