CHAPTER XXXVI.
THE SIEGE AND FALL OF ANTWERP.
The main bodies of the Germans swept through Belgium into France in the last week of August 1914, and the Belgian army, overwhelmed but undismayed, retired on its great national bulwark of defence. Yet not until 28th September did the curtain rise on the first act of Antwerp's tragedy. Many people in this country thought that Antwerp would be left alone until the conquest of France was complete. The Germans, indeed, made a proposal to King Albert that, if he would promise to keep his army quiet within the fortifications, the city would not be attacked. You know enough of King Albert to be quite sure what his answer was.
Why did the Germans besiege Antwerp? Chiefly because they were well aware that the Belgian army, now within the shelter of its forts, was in a position to fall on the German flank whenever the chance might arise. While Antwerp stood it was a source of serious anxiety to the German Staff. All the country between Antwerp and the sea still remained in Belgian hands, and thus Britain might send reinforcements to Belgium at any moment. If she did so, the Germans would have to fight not only in France but also in Belgium, where their communications were in danger of being cut. While the Belgian army remained in being, a large German army had to be kept in the country, and thus forces that were badly needed elsewhere were not available. Further, the capture of this great port would be a feather in the German cap, and would greatly hearten the subjects of the Kaiser. There was need of a new victory to give them cheer, for the retreat of their armies, and the deadlock that had now set in on the Aisne, had dashed their hopes of that speedy success which they had expected.
More than a month before the siege began, Antwerp had a foretaste of her fate. "At eleven minutes past one o'clock on the morning of 25th August death came to Antwerp out of the air." A Zeppelin suddenly appeared overhead, humming like a swarm of angry bees. A few minutes later something like a falling star dropped from it. Then there was a rending, shattering crash, followed by another and still another. Buildings fell as though a giant had hit them with a sledge-hammer. Ten people were killed and forty wounded, and nearly a thousand houses were damaged. One bomb was dropped within a hundred yards of the royal palace, in which the king and queen were sleeping, and another fell within two hundred yards of the Staff headquarters. It is said that one of the bombs fell on the German club and destroyed a statue of the Kaiser!
On the same day the Belgians moved out of Antwerp and attacked the Germans. They drove them out of Malines; but though they fought like heroes, they were overpowered by the large numbers of fresh troops that were hurried up. The Belgians were forced back once more, and at the beginning of the last week in September the Germans in real earnest set about the work of reducing the forts. They brought up their howitzers south of the river Nethe, and on the 28th, at a range of seven and a half miles, began to drop their shells on Forts Waelhem and Wavre Ste. Catherine. There was not a gun in these forts that had a range of more than six miles. The German fire was directed by observers in captive balloons, and was very accurate.
All day the roar of big guns and the crash of bursting shells were heard. Meanwhile the Belgians fought hard to the south of the Nethe, and had some success. But it was clear to everybody that the forts would soon be a heap of ruins. On the 29th Fort Wavre Ste. Catherine was smashed beyond repair, and the magazine blew up. Waelhem was badly hit, but managed to resist all day.
Next morning the German guns gave their full attention to Fort Waelhem and Fort Lierre. The air was filled with shrieking shell and bursting shrapnel. When the big shells, which the Belgians called "Antwerp expresses," fell in a field, they threw up a geyser of earth 200 feet high; when they dropped in a river or canal, a huge waterspout arose; and when they fell on a village, it crumpled into complete ruin. A shell that flew over Fort Waelhem fell on the waterworks and broke down the embankment of the reservoir. The water poured into half a mile of the Belgian trenches, and flooded out the defenders, who were thus prevented from carrying supplies to the fort. Meanwhile the citizens were short of water, and had no means of putting out any fires that might arise. On Thursday, 1st October, all the southern forts were destroyed, and by nightfall the Belgians had fallen back to the northern bank of the Nethe, where trenches had already been prepared. Here, on the second line of defence, they made a most stubborn stand. Within the city there was still hope. Although the citizens could hear the faint thunder of the guns, though they saw the dead and the wounded being brought in, and German aeroplanes circling above them, they still hoped that the enemy might be held off until the British could arrive and save the city.
