Suppose they swing round the two bodiesa, b, as in Figure 1 (p.217) to meetG H I, what happens? The German line is weakened. Instead of having six bodies to meet six bodies, they have now only four to oppose the six of the attacking force. ImmediatelyE Fwill try to takefin flank, and soon the line will assume the position shown in Figure 2 (p.217). You can easily see that the line of the enemy's communications is now in danger, and that if the movement continues the whole force will be surrounded. You will remember that the Germans managed to surround a large French army at Sedan and force it to surrender.[183]When ageneral finds himself being outflanked by a superior force, he is bound to retreat and straighten out his line again, if he is to save himself from disaster.
In reading war news you will often meet with the wordstrategy, which means the art of generalship, of moving and arranging great bodies oftroops in order to put the enemy at a disadvantage, and so overcome him. I have given you some examples of strategy above.
Do you play draughts? When you do so, you and your opponent resemble the generals of two opposing armies. You think out every move of the game, and your object in making the move is to capture all your opponent's men, or to hem them in so that they cannot move without being taken. This isstrategy, but the strategy of war is a far more puzzling business. In the game of draughts all the men are of the same value at the beginning, and you can only move them along certain fixed paths laid down by the rules. All the moves are open and above board, and if you and your opponent are equally skilful at the game, neither of you ought to be taken by surprise. The better strategist will win, or, if you are equally good, the game will end in a draw.
In the great game of war the opposing generals have to deal with men of flesh and blood, and not with wooden pieces. These men are bodies of infantry, cavalry, and artillery, which do different kinds of work on the battlefield, and move at different speeds. Before the general can make his first move—which may be the successful move or the fatal move—he must study the map of the country in which he is to operate, and must choose the line or lines of his advance, always taking care to have good and well-protected communications in his rear. Though he may fix on his plan of campaign beforehand, he must always be ready with another, to suit altered circumstances. Then he must calculate carefully the time which each "arm" will take to come into its required position, and in order to do this he must know the kinds of roads over which the men are to march, and the state they are in. And at the same time he must get all the information possible about the strength and movements of his enemy. He must form an idea of what the opposing general is aiming at, and must make arrangements to thwart him. He must make his moves as silently and secretly as possible, and whenever he can he must put his enemy on a false scent, so that he may fall upon him unawares. You can easily understand from this very imperfect account of a general's duty that he must be a man of great powers of mind and of much experience in war.
The commander-in-chief along with his staff settles the strategy, but the commanders of divisions, and battalions, and squadrons, andbatteries must carry his plans into effect. The art of doing this is known astactics. The way in which the battle line is formed at a particular place, the manner in which cavalry or artillery are used for a particular purpose, and generally the methods by which marches are conducted, camps are laid out, fortifications are made, and the actual fighting is done, come under the head oftactics. It has been well said that the art of strategy consists in getting two men to a place where only one man is ready to oppose them. The arrangements by which the two men would best attack the one man when they meet him, or by which the one man could resist the two, belong to the art of tactics.
You already know that the Germans thought it a matter of life and death to get into France and strike a decisive blow as speedily as possible. For this reason they meant to make their way through Belgium. We know that they had long intended to take this route when they went to war with France. Along that part of their frontier which marches with Belgium they had built many railways, so that troops might be brought rapidly to the border. At all the stations, even those of small towns, long platforms, often five or six hundred yards long, and special sidings, had been made, so that men and guns could be rapidly detrained within a few miles of Belgian soil. Ever since the time of Frederick the Great, German soldiers have believed that the worst place to make war is their own country, and the best the enemy's.
On Sunday evening, 2nd August, the German Government sent a long message to the Belgian Government, declaring that the French were going to march through Belgium to attack Germany, and that it feared the Belgians would be unable to resist them. It had, therefore, decided to enter Belgium, so as to anticipate the attack of the enemy. This statement, as you know, was quite untrue. The French had never intended to do anything of the kind.
Then the message went on to say that the German Government would keenly regret if Belgium should consider the proposed invasion as an unfriendly act. If Belgium would agree to let the Germans pass through unopposed, they would promise neither to take away the independence of Belgium nor to deprive her of any of her territory, and would pledge themselves toleave the country as soon as peace was made. They would pay ready cash for any provisions that their troops might need, and would make good any damage that they might do. If, however, the Belgians should oppose the German soldiers in any way, especially by firing on them from the forts on the Meuse, or by destroying roads, railways, or tunnels, they would be compelled to consider Belgium an enemy, and when the country was conquered they would hold it as their own. The message ended by hoping that Belgium would do as Germany wished, and that the friendly relations which united the two neighbouring nations would become closer and more lasting. Belgium was given only twelve hours in which to reply—that is, until 7 a.m. the next day.
Can you imagine a more anxious twelve hours for the Belgian King and Government? Here was a little unoffending state of seven and a half millions of people, with a little army of about 263,000 men, threatened by a state of 67,000,000 of people, with the most powerful, the best organized, and the best prepared army the world has ever seen. The Belgians knew full well that, if they resisted, they could not hope to overcome the vast hordes that would be hurled against them. They knew that they would be at the mercy of a ruthless conqueror; that thousands of their people would be slain; that their fair fields would be trodden down, their industries destroyed, their homes rendered desolate, and perhaps the name of Belgium blotted out of the book of nations. Had they bowed the head and cried, "We are weak and you are terribly strong; pass on, we dare not resist you," no one could have blamed them. But to their eternal honour they did no such thing. The Belgian ministers met during the night, and about four in the morning returned the noble reply that they were ready to fight to the death to maintain their independence; that they were prepared to perish as a nation rather than sell their freedom. Never before has a nation made such a heroic choice. At one bound little Belgium rose to grandeur. She threw aside all thought of self, and prepared to suffer for the right. And she has already reaped her reward. All the nations of the world, outside Germany and Austria, have united to do her honour. She has written her name high on the scroll of history in letters of gold that can never fade.
"Wherever men are staunch and free,There shall she keep her fearless state,And, homeless, to great nations beThe home of all that makes them great."
"Wherever men are staunch and free,There shall she keep her fearless state,And, homeless, to great nations beThe home of all that makes them great."
In times of peace Belgium is much divided by political strife. In the face of the great danger which now threatened her, all parties united as one man and prepared for the terrible struggle. The head and front of the nation in this desperate endeavour was the "hero king," Albert, nephew of Leopold II. "A country that defends itself," he said, "cannot perish."
When he ascended the throne, in December 1909, he was almost a stranger to his people. They knew little more of him than that he was a tall man, a student, very intelligent, shy, and simple in manner and tastes, and that he had travelled widely, and had striven hard to make himself acquainted with the daily life of the Belgian people. One day the Press would tell of the Prince going down a coal-mine; another day of his driving a railway engine; again another day of his mountaineering exploits in the Tyrol.[184]His wife was a Bavarian princess, who had qualified as an oculist.
When he became king he soon won the favour, and indeed the admiration, of his people. So divided were the Flemings of the northern provinces and the Walloons of the southern provinces that it seemed likely they would set up separate governments. The king, however, acted as umpire and peace-maker, and by his wisdom and tact saved Belgium from this misfortune. Then there was trouble with regard to Belgium's great African possession, the Congo Free State.[185]In this matter, too, King Albert was able to bring peace out of discord. So popular did he become that the Belgian Socialists said, "When Belgium becomes a republic, Albert will be its first president."
He also threw himself whole-heartedly into the work of army reform. His father had clearly seen that, sooner or later, a war cloud would burst over Europe, and he had persuaded Parliament to agree to two importantmilitary measures. One was the building of forts along the Meuse; the other was the reform and increase of the army, which was then small in numbers and far from good in quality. At that time all men of military age were liable to serve in the army; but as only a certain number was needed, the men drew lots, and those on whom the lots fell were obliged to serve. But any man so chosen by lot could buy a substitute to take his place, and in this way the well-to-do men escaped service. King Leopold put an end to this system, and, just before his death, signed a law which made Belgian gentlemen and farmers serve their country in their own person. The army, which was soon to be at death grips with the Germans, was recruited partly under the old system and partly under the new. The new contingents, however, were not properly supplied with weapons and equipment, nor was the artillery well prepared for the terrible task which awaited it.
On the next page you will see a map of Belgium. I want you to examine it carefully. You will notice that Belgium's real line of defence on the south and east is the river Meuse. After the war of 1870-71 the great military engineer, Brialmont,[186]was called upon to fortify the Meuse valley in such a way that an enemy advancing from the south or east might at least be delayed until other nations could come to the help of Belgium. He had already made Antwerp the chief citadel of the country.
In the neighbourhood of Liége the Meuse runs in a deep wide trench between masses of upland. On the north lies a tableland which extends for fifty miles to the neighbourhood of Louvain. On the east and south is the hill country of the Ardennes, a land of ridges and forests seamed by swiftly running streams, and sinking eastwards to the plains of the Rhine. The tableland to the north is flat, and is covered with fields of beetroot and cereals. An invader can cross it with ease. But the hill region to the east and south is too rough and broken for large armies to traverse without considerable difficulty. From the map you can readily see that the easy road from Germany into Belgium lies between the northern limit of the Ardennes and the Dutch frontier. Here stands Liége, and Brialmont naturally chose it as the site of a great fortress which should bar the way from Germany.
The sides of the wide valley in which the Meuse runs are sharply cut, and are clothed for the most part with scrub, oak, and beeches. Here we find the Black Country of Belgium, the chief coal-mining district of the country, where the smoke from many factory and colliery chimney-stacks darkens the sky. The chief centre of this Black Country is Liége, which stands in a strikingly picturesque situation on the lofty banks of the broad Meuse not far from its junction with the Ourthe. Most of the city stands on the left bank of the river, and here we find noble public buildings, stately churches, pretty parks, broad boulevards, and spacious streets. On the right bank is the industrial quarter, with many factories and the homes of the workers. There is an island in the river, by means of which several bridges unite the two portions of the city. Firearms are largely manufactured by the people in their own homes; and zinc foundries, engine shops, motor-cycle works, a gun factory, a cannon foundry, and flax-spinning mills give employment to thousands of other workmen. The inhabitants are Walloons, who have always been renowned for their independence and love of freedom.
Brialmont fortified Liége by building around it a series of twelve forts in a ring some ten miles across. From the little plan on page236you will see that these forts were at distances varying from 6,500 yards to 10,000 yards from the centre of the city. In the old days forts were strong castles, usually built on a high rock or hill; but when guns of great range and force came into use, engineers sank their forts into the earth as much as possible. To outward appearance a Liége fort seemed to be nothing but a low, grassy mound rising from a deep ditch. The mound was cased in with concrete and masonry, and its top was broken by a pit in which was fitted a "cupola," or gun-turret, which could be made to slide up and down by means of a piston. When the cupola was down, nothing was visible but the low mound; when it was up, the muzzles of the guns were seen sticking out of portholes. Inside this great molehill were the quarters for the garrison, the machinery for moving the guns and cupolas, the ammunition and supply stores, the electric-lighting arrangements, and the ventilating fans. The engineers and gunners entered and left the fort by means of a tunnel. You will see a diagram showing the structure of one of the most powerful of the Liége forts on page 229.
Brialmont meant the various forts which defended Liége to be joined to each other by means of trenches and gun-pits, so as to prevent the enemy from rushing in between them at night or in misty weather. Unfortunately these lines of trenches were never completed. Nevertheless the position was thought to be one of the strongest in Europe. Five years ago a German general reported that his army had no gun strong enough to destroy one of the Liége forts, and added that such a gun must be made. We shall soon see that his advice was taken.
Turn to the map on page226, and find the position of Aix-la-Chapelle,[187]which the Germans call Aachen. It is an important military centre of Germany, and is on the great railway route from Berlin to Paris. Follow the railway, and you will see that it curves round by way of Verviers, and then runs along the valley of the Vesdre to Liége. As the crow flies, Aix-la-Chapelle is only twenty-five miles from Liége. About the same distance south of Aix-la-Chapelle is Malmedy,[188]the German Aldershot, where several army corps are always in training. About three years ago the Germans persuaded the Belgian Government to let them make a branch line connecting Malmedy with the Belgian railway system at the little town of Stavelot.[189]
On the morning of Tuesday, 4th August, German advance guards suddenly seized Stavelot and began to march upon Liége from the south-eastward. At the same time, troops from Aix-la-Chapelle crossed the frontier and occupied Verviers.[190]Picked soldiers in motor cars were also hurried across the plain towards Visé.[191]The invasion of Belgium had begun. Before the vast armies of Germany could advance, Liége must be captured. The eastern forts of the city commanded all the railways, and all the roads but one, and that was the road leading from Aix-la-Chapelle to Visé. The Germans expected little opposition from the Belgians, and believed that they had an easy task before them. There were no Belgian soldiers on the frontier to oppose them, and they advanced unmolested. They tried to make friends with the people in the towns and villagesthrough which they passed; but many of the townsfolk and villagers at once fled by road and rail into Holland or towards Brussels.
At this time the Belgian army was mobilizing along the line of the river Dyle,[192]to the east of Brussels. At midnight on the 4th of August the church bells were still ringing to call the soldiers to arms, and dogs were being collected to draw the machine guns. When news arrived that the Germans were marching on Liége a division and a brigade were hurried to the city; but, along with the Civic Guard of the town, they did not number more than 20,000 men. It had long been known that at least 50,000 men were needed to hold the forts and the intervals between them. It was a "scratch" force that attempted the task—infantry of the line, in their blue and white dress; cavalry in their peaked caps, green and yellow uniform, and flowing capes; and the Civic Guard,[193]in their high round hats and red facings. Already gangs of colliers and navvies were at work digging trenches and throwing up breastworks, and already houses, spinneys, and even churches in the line of fire from the guns of the forts were being levelled to the ground. Engineers were also at work blowing up bridges, viaducts, and tunnels in the Belgian Ardennes, so as to prevent the enemy from using the railways. By the afternoon of Wednesday, 5th August, the Belgians held in strength the line of the south-eastern forts, and cavalry covered the gap between the most northerly of these forts and the Dutch border. The army was under the command of General Leman,[194]an officer of Engineers, who had worked under Brialmont. He was a grave, silent man, more than sixty years of age, and was highly respected by his fellow-countrymen. Every Belgian in the trenches was a patriot, eager to defend his country, his wife, children, and home with his life.
Wednesday morning (5th August) dawned hot and rather dull. Soon the sound of firing was heard north of Liége. It came from the neighbourhood of the little town of Visé, where Belgian troops were holding the crossing of the Meuse. Watchers on the high ground above Liége saw blackclouds of smoke drifting along the river. German guns were pounding the little town, and the shells had set fire to the houses. The Belgians, however, held the bank of the river and the houses near it with great bravery. They had blown up the bridges, and the enemy was forced to build others. In one place a number of Belgian troops lay concealed while a pontoon was being erected, and just as the work was completed they opened fire. The bridge was destroyed, and with it many of the engineers who were building it. After fierce fighting the Belgians were obliged to withdraw, and the Germans entered Visé.
Every one expected that the main attack on Liége would come from this direction; but it began after dark next day on the southern side, along the wooded heights broken by the course of the little river Ourthe. About 11.30 p.m. shells came screaming through the darkness, and burst over the southern forts. The German guns were some three miles away, and they were firing in the blackness of the night at targets which they could not see. Nevertheless, by means of large-scale maps, they were able to aim their guns with great accuracy, and shell after shell exploded on the ramparts of the forts. Their heavy siege pieces had not yet come up, and they were using their field guns. The shells fired from them were filled with some high explosive which gave forth a bright greenish light as they burst. The guns of the forts replied to the German fire; but they probably did little damage, as the enemy's gunswere carefully concealed. For nearly three hours the bombardment continued.
Towards three in the morning of 6th August a rattle of infantry fire was heard in the woods on both sides of the river Ourthe. The Germans were advancing to attack the trenches between Fort Boncelles and Fort Embourg. Parties of Belgians were sent forward to check them, but were driven back, and just as dawn was breaking the Germans bore down on the trenches in dense masses, shoulder to shoulder, believing that they could carry them by sheer force of numbers. Upon these closely-knit ranks the Belgians poured volley after volley, cutting wide lanes through them until the dead were heaped high before the trenches. "It was death in haystacks," said a Belgian soldier, who played his part in the fight.
Again and again, like sheep driven to the slaughter, the Germans advanced, while the Belgian rifles cracked and the guns of the forts thundered. Again and again they were driven back, and more than once, when the Germans were but fifty yards away and the whites of their eyes could be seen, the Belgians left their trenches and swept the foe before them at the point of the bayonet. At the sight of the gleaming steel many of the Kaiser's men turned and ran or held up their hands and surrendered. At eight in the morning they withdrew, and the wearied Belgians cheered and cheered again, for they had won a victory.
Meanwhile, however, the fort of Fléron[195]had been silenced. A shell had burst on the turret, and had smashed the machinery of the cupola. A furious bombardment was also kept up on Fort Chaudfontaine,[196]at the point where the railway line from Aix-la-Chapelle passes through a tunnel. The German artillery fire reduced the fort to a heap of ruins, but it never surrendered. Its heroic commander blocked the tunnel by causing railway engines to collide within it, and then, in order that the German flag should never fly over even the broken remains of his fort, he set fire to his ammunition magazine, and thus completed its destruction. The fall of Chaudfontaine opened up the railway to the invaders.
Long ago Julius Cæsar wrote, "Bravest of all peoples are the Belgæ." Onewho knows the Belgian soldier well says: "Greater even than my admiration of his careless courage is my liking for the man. For all his manhood, he has much of the child in him; he is such a chatterbox, and so full of laughter; and never are his laugh and his chaff so quick as when he has the sternest work in hand. Unshaven, mud-bespattered, hungry, so tired that he can hardly walk or lift his rifle to his shoulder, he will bear himself with a gallant gaiety which I think is quite his own, and altogether fascinating." No doubt in the eyes of the Germans the Belgian soldiers, almost untrained, clothed in a quaint jumble of curious uniforms, slovenly in appearance, and without any of the smartness of the drill-ground, appeared absurd; but they were patriots, every man of them, fighting freely, and indeed gladly, for all that they held dear.
During the fighting which I have just described, a lad of nineteen actually managed to capture a German general single-handed. When the general surrendered, his captor found that he was carrying a satchel containing not only papers but six thousand pounds in notes and gold. The young Belgian handed over the money to the Red Cross Society, to aid it in its splendid work of tending the wounded. He kept for himself, however, the satchel and the general's silver helmet.
While the forts were being bombarded, an examination was going on at the university. Most of the candidates finished their papers, and then trooped from the hall to the battlefield, where many of them lay dead a few hours later.
During that day and the next the Germans tried to "rush" the forts by hurling dense masses of men against them. Let me tell you the story of one of these attacks, from the lips of a Belgian officer.
"As line after line of the German infantry advanced we simply mowed them down. It was terribly easy, monsieur, and I turned to a brother officer of mine more than once and said, 'Voilà![197]they are coming on again, in a dense, close formation. They must be mad!' They made no attempt at deploying, but came on, line after line, almost shoulder to shoulder, until, as we shot them down, the fallen were heaped one on top of the other in an awful barricade of dead and wounded men that threatened to mask our guns and cause us trouble. I thought of Napoleon's saying, ifhe said it, 'It is magnificent, but it is not war.' No, it was slaughter—just slaughter!...
"But, would you believe it, this wall of dead and dying actually enabled these wonderful Germans to creep closer, and actually charge up the glacis! They got no farther than half-way, for our Maxims and rifles swept them back. Of course, we had our own losses, but they were slight compared with the carnage inflicted upon our enemies."
On Thursday, 6th August, most of the forts were still holding out; but the Germans had brought up two more army corps from the south and south-east, and it was now clear that the garrison of Liége was too small in numbers to hold the forts and the intervals between them. At nightfall, though the forts remained intact, bodies of German troops pushed through the spaces between the two forts which look south-east towards the German frontier. On the morning of the 7th it was discovered that a considerable force of Germans had got within the ring of forts, and was in the town of Liége itself. Nevertheless, until the forts were silenced the roads and railways which they commanded could not be used, and the German advance was, therefore, held up.
General von Emmich,[198]who was in command of the German forces, now brought up 8.4-inch howitzers, and probably one or two still heavier mortars, and began a furious cannonade of the forts. These guns fired shells which burst with such terrible power that they crashed through twelve feet of concrete, and crushed the sides of the forts as though they were sand castles on the seashore. They howled through the air, exploded with a terrific thunderclap, and then gigantic clouds of dust and smoke arose above the trembling ground. Nothing could resist them; the forts of Liége were doomed as soon as the Germans brought up their siege guns.
Yet, terrible as the cannonade was, the garrisons of the forts stuck to their guns with marvellous courage. Here is a passage from the diary of an officer who served in one of the forts during that awful time:—
"At 8 p.m.—Two German officers asking us in French to surrender. This is about what they said: 'You've been able to judge of the formidablepower of our guns; you have been struck by 278 shells; but we have still bigger and more powerful guns, and they will destroy you in a moment. Surrender!' Reply of our officers was, 'Our honour forbids us to surrender; will resist to the end.' Our men all cheered."
Think of it—"Our men all cheered." Though the great shells were smashing the forts to pieces and grinding them to powder, though the solid concrete was crumbling into dust, and the place was strewn with dead and dying, their honour forbade them to surrender, and when their officer told the enemy so, the doomed men cheered. Never was greater courage shown.
By the evening of the 6th General Leman had decided that his troops could make no further resistance, and that they would be shut up in Liége unless they were got away at once. He therefore ordered them to fall back from the city towards the Dyle, and so hurried was their retreat that they had only time to blow up one of the twelve Meuse bridges, and were obliged to leave an ambulance train and some twenty engines in the railway station. But the army had done its work. It had made a great and gallant stand; it had proved that the Germans were not invincible, and had won priceless time for the Allies. A time-table found on a German showed that they proposed to be in Brussels on 3rd August, and in Lille on 5th August. Already they were three days behind time. Not only had the gallant little Belgian army upset the German time-table, but it had inflicted such loss on the enemy that on the evening of Friday, 7th August, General von Emmich asked for a truce of twenty-four hours in which to bury his dead. This was refused.
The city of Liége was now in the hands of the Germans. The cannonade had done but little harm to the buildings of the city; the inhabitants had taken to their cellars, and but few of them had been killed. When the German infantry marched in, the Burgomaster and the Bishop arranged terms with them. They behaved themselves well, and paid for all supplies. The people of Liége were surprised to see how young the German troops were, and how spick and span they looked in their new greenish-gray uniforms. They were housed in barracks, schools, convents, and other public buildings, and good order was kept.
Now that Liége was in their hands, vast quantities of stores were poured into the city, and brigade after brigade came flocking in from North Germany. The hill roads of the Ardennes were choked with troops and convoys; the railways which the Belgians had destroyed were repaired, and over these, and over the undamaged lines from Luxemburg, came an almost endless stream of men, guns, and supplies.
Meanwhile the Germans were able to attack all the forts on the right bank of the river from the rear. These soon fell; but those on the west of the city still held out. The most powerful of them was Fort Loncin, situated on the great main road to Brussels. On 11th August the bombardment of this fort began. A German officer with signal flags advanced up to about two hundred yards from it, and directed the fire of the big guns. During the whole night, at intervals of ten minutes, the Germans threw their shells into the fort, causing great damage. The outer works were destroyed, and the armour plating of the windows was crushed. All the outer works were so filled with the fumes from the shells that the men were driven into the fort. Soon the suffocating smoke found its way inside, and almost choked the men working the guns.
On the morning of the 15th the end came. A large number of heavy German guns were trained on the fort, and they literally smothered it with explosive shells. The vault occupied by General Leman and his staff suffered terrific blows which made the whole place tremble. The ventilating apparatus was destroyed, and the room was filled with deadly fumes and dust. During an interval in the firing the general left the fort to view the awful destruction around him. When the bombardment began again he started to return to the vault, but had hardly moved afew paces when a strong and powerful rush of air threw him to the ground. He rose and tried to go, but was kept back by a flood of poisonous fumes which nearly suffocated him. Then he tried to save the garrison, but fell down in a swoon, and was discovered by the enemy pinned to the ground by fallen beams. When he recovered he found himself in the hands of the Germans, who gave him water, and carried him from the ruins which he had so nobly defended.
At the moment when he was stricken down the fort was blown up, and the Germans scrambled over the broken masses of concrete. Suddenly from one of the galleries which the explosion had not wrecked came the sound of shots. The Germans stopped in their advance. By the light of their torches they saw, massed at the end of the corridor, all that was left of the garrison. Black with powder, their faces streaked with blood, their clothes in ribbons, their hands grasping their shattered rifles, stood twenty-five men, all prepared to sell their lives dearly. Touched by the sight of such splendid heroism, the Germans made no attempt to attack. Instead of firing, they flung aside their weapons, and ran to the aid of the brave Belgians, who were already half choked by the poisonous gases set free by the explosion. Of the 500 men who formed the garrison of Fort Loncin, 350 were dead and more than 100 severely wounded.
Meanwhile General Leman had been carried in an ambulance to the headquarters of General von Emmich. He had sworn not to be taken alive, and he had only been captured while unconscious. Sadly he handed his sword to the general, who, with a courteous bow and generous words of congratulation, immediately returned it to him, as a tribute to the glorious courage which he had displayed.
To spare the fallen, to show mercy and kindness to the conquered, is the duty and pride of every soldier worthy of the name. In the following pages we shall read of many black and shameful deeds done by the Germans; but let us here honour them for their treatment of General Leman and the gallant twenty-five who fought with him to the end.
General Leman was carried prisoner into Germany; but before he left Belgium he was allowed to send the following touching letter to King Albert:—
"Your Majesty will learn with sorrow that Fort Loncin was blown up yesterday at 5.20 p.m., and that the greater part of the garrison is buried under the ruins."That I did not lose my life in the catastrophe is owing to the fact that my duty called me from the stronghold. Whilst I was being suffocated by gas after the explosion a German captain gave me drink. I was made prisoner and taken to Liége."For the honour of our armies I have refused to surrender the fortress and the forts. May your Majesty deign to forgive me. In Germany, where I am going, my thoughts will be, as they have always been, with Belgium and her king. I would willingly have given my life the better to serve them, but death has not been granted me."Lieutenant-GeneralLeman."
"Your Majesty will learn with sorrow that Fort Loncin was blown up yesterday at 5.20 p.m., and that the greater part of the garrison is buried under the ruins.
"That I did not lose my life in the catastrophe is owing to the fact that my duty called me from the stronghold. Whilst I was being suffocated by gas after the explosion a German captain gave me drink. I was made prisoner and taken to Liége.
"For the honour of our armies I have refused to surrender the fortress and the forts. May your Majesty deign to forgive me. In Germany, where I am going, my thoughts will be, as they have always been, with Belgium and her king. I would willingly have given my life the better to serve them, but death has not been granted me.
"Lieutenant-GeneralLeman."
All the world applauded the heroism of the Belgians in this first great encounter with the vastly superior forces of the enemy, and President Poincaré bestowed upon the city which had held out so nobly the highest honour which the French can bestow upon a civilian—the Legion of Honour.[199]
Perhaps you wonder, as the Belgians did, what the French and the British were doing while the Germans were battering down the forts of Liége. You will probably ask why they did not rush at once to the help of the gallant Belgians, and fight the Germans on their own frontier. The answer is that neither France nor Britain was prepared for war. Both were hoping against hope that Russia and Austria would come to some peaceful arrangement. The fact that neither we nor the French were prepared shows clearly that we had no desire for war. The fact that within twenty-four hours after the declaration of war the Germans had three army corps in front of Liége shows equally clearly that they had long determined to fight.
All that the Belgians could do was to hold up the German advance for a short time. As the terrible hours slipped by, the people grew very anxious, and on every lip were the questions, "Où sont les Anglais?" "Où sont les Français?" A solitary motor car appeared, decorated with theUnion Jack, and as it passed through the towns and villages the people cheered it to the echo. "The British are coming!" they cried. "Hurrah! hurrah!" Alas! both the French and the British were too far away to help the gallant Belgians struggling in the forts at Liége.
While the French were mobilizing as rapidly as possible they sent a brigade, with some cavalry and artillery, into Upper Alsace. I need not tell you what their object was. You will remember that ever since 1871 most Frenchmen have longed for the day when Alsace should again belong to France. The Alsatians have been harshly treated by the Germans. The German soldiers stationed in their towns have always been bitter against them because of their French sympathies.
In the year 1913, at the little Alsatian town of Zabern, a German lieutenant is said to have offered a reward to any of his men who stabbed a "Wacke," the German nickname for a native of Alsace. Disturbances arose, and in the course of them the lieutenant drew his sword and cut a lame cobbler over the head. The people of the town were very angry at this treatment, but when they protested their chief men were seized and imprisoned. An appeal was made to the Prussian Parliament. The War Minister supported the soldiers, but the Parliament stood up stoutly for the people of Zabern, and a military court sentenced the lieutenant to forty-three days' imprisonment. A higher court, however, did away with this sentence, and also found that no blame attached to the colonel of the regiment. While the trials were taking place the Crown Prince sent a telegram to the colonel praising him for what he had done. Thus, you see, the Germans had overthrown the rule of law in Alsace, and in place of it had set up the rule of the sword. Knowing all this, the French thought that the Alsatians would welcome their former fellow-countrymen with open arms, and would rise as one man against their oppressors. The appearance of French soldiers in Alsace would be a sign to them that the day of deliverance had arrived.
We must not think of this advance into Alsace as part of a well-thought-out plan by the French commander-in-chief. The forces employed in the work were far too weak to hold Alsace, even if they had been able to conquer it. From the point of view of strategy it was a mistake.