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 villages through which they passed; but many of the townsfolk and villagers at once fled by road and rail into Holland or towards Brussels.
Diagram of a Liége Fort.
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 black clouds 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.
General von Emmich, commanding the German Army in Belgium.
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 guns were 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.