Another report stated that the Germans in Liège were trying to fraternise with the Belgians, and that German military bands played daily in the two Belgian cafés.
About the middle of August a Belgian who had a relative at Port Talbot, Cardiff, wrote:
Every day brings to light new acts of heroism displayed by the plucky little Belgians, whilst several more no doubt have been accomplished, of which we shall never hear. Their heroes are either too silent or for ever silent. Lupin, a boy of eighteen, a corporal in the regiment of Major Jeanne, who himself was nearly killed during the battle of Liège, has died, a great hero in the eyes of his whole regiment.
One of his comrades who has known Lupin for years tells this pathetic story, which Major Jeanne has himself brought to light. "We were on the right bank of the river Meuse at Bellaire, which is not far above Jupille, and we were in close touch with a German battery. The musketry on both sides was terrible. I was stretched out flat, continuously loading and shooting, and could feel my gun getting hot. Bullets were flattening their noses in front of me, raising clouds of sand and dust. My mouth, eyes, and ears were full of powder. Corpses were heaped round me, their faces black with powder, and stamped with the horrible grimace of death; their hands, with swollen veins, gripping their deadly Mausers. Yes, war is magnificently terrible.
"All at once the Germans adopted new tactics, and I must give them credit for being a cute lot. They seemed to withdraw from their position, and we could distinctly notice their ranks splitting as if in great confusion, but it was only to bring to the front some more artillery which had been rushing from behind. The move was smartly executed, the ranks closed again, and for a time they seemed as if they were going to have the advantage over us.
"But now young Lupin had seen his chance looming, and what he did altogether changed the face of things. 'Leave them to me now,' was what someone heard him say, and like a flash the boy dashed off under cover of a ditch on the left. Only a few of us had seen it, but Major Jeanne knew his corporal of eighteen, and knew he was up to something grand. Watching him, he shouted, 'Go for them! Get at those square-heads with your bullets. Fire!'
"In the meantime Lupin had managed to get to the left of the German battery, and at 300 mètres distance he sheltered behind a wall. He took aim at the battery in enfilade, and under the fire of his Mauser brought down in quick succession the chief officer, the under-officers, and the artillerymen. This time real confusion took place at the German battery, which was nearly silenced, the Germans, thinking that a whole platoon was now attacking them from behind the wall, directed their last piece of artillery on the wall, and with a terrific crash the wall came down, burying the brave Corporal Lupin. The boy's bravery had weakened the German position, and it did not take us long to scatter them, and put another victory on our list."
On Saturday and Sunday, August 15th and 16th, there was little definite news from any part of the theatre of war. There was some fighting in the south undoubtedly, and a French force defeated a strong body of Bavarians, capturing 500 prisoners. At Dinant, in Belgium, there was another stiff engagement, but no details of it came to hand for a few days. An authoritative report was given out at Brussels to the effect that the Germans had lost more than 25,000 killed, wounded, and prisoners at Liège—more than half an army corps. These losses, of course, would have been reckoned as trivial if the Germans had succeeded in their original design of executing a "military promenade" through Belgian territory. Apart from the scarcity of food, already referred to, the besieging forces at Liège suffered from lack of horses, and cavalry reconnaissances were gradually becoming impossible.
On Monday, August 17th, it was officially announced that the British Expeditionary Force had been safely landed on French soil; and it was at the same time stated that the French army had scored some successes in Upper Alsace. The movement of this wing of General Joffre's army appeared to extend from the Swiss frontier at Altkirch, near Mülhausen, as far away as Château Salins, a distance of eighty miles. Its object, which was afterwards frustrated by a strong German advance, was to isolate and "contain" the great fortresses of Metz and Strassburg. The two official notices issued by the War Ministry in Paris describe these operations:
Sunday Midnight [i.e., August 16th].
The forward movement has been developed along the whole front from Réchicourt to Sainte Marie-aux-Mines. In the Vosges we have carried Sainte Marie-aux-Mines and made progress towards Sainte Blaise.
The French troops which occupied the Donon yesterday have advanced. In the valley of Schirmeck especially their progress has been extremely rapid. We have taken 1,000 prisoners, in addition to the 500 captured yesterday. Large quantities of equipment have been abandoned by the enemy.
In this district, as at Sainte Marie, we have captured guns of large calibre, field-guns, and ammunition.
In the region Blamont—Cirey we have gained the heights of Lorquin, and in doing so have taken the convoy of a division of German cavalry, consisting of nineteen motor wagons.
In the attack on Dinant the enemy's forces consisted of the Cavalry Division of the Guard and the First Division of Cavalry, supported by infantry from several battalions and some companies with maxims. When these forces appeared on the left bank the French troops attacked them. This attack, delivered with magnificent dash, soon drove the enemy back, and they recrossed the Meuse in great disorder. Many were unable to regain the bridge, and fell into the river, which at this point has steep banks and flows swiftly. Numbers of the enemy were drowned.
Taking advantage of this disorder, one of our Chasseur cavalry regiments crossed the river after the Germans and pursued them for several kilomètres. Several hundred horses belonging to the Uhlans were captured and subsequently passed to the rear for remount purposes. In this pursuit the French regiment put to flight forces of the enemy considerably superior to itself in numbers.
Monday (11 a.m.) [i.e., August 17th].
Our advance continues to develop. Our troops have carried the heights to the north of the frontier, and their lines pass Breschwiller, Lorquin, Azaudange, Marsal.
In the Donon region we occupy Schirmeck, 7½ miles beyond Saales.
The number of field-guns taken by us at this point is not four, as was stated yesterday, but twelve, as well as twelve limbers and eight maxims. Our cavalry has pushed forward as far as Lutzelhausen and Muhlbach.
Further to the south we have occupied Ville, to the east of the Pass of Urbans, on the road to Schlestadt. Thann, Cernay, and Dannemarie are occupied.
At Blamont, a village from which the Germans have just been driven by our troops, they had, without reason or provocation, put to death three persons, of whom one was a young girl and another an old man of eighty-six, whose name was M. Barthélemy, and who was an ex-Mayor of the village.
On Monday, August 17th, the Queen of the Belgians and the Ministers for War, Finance, and Foreign Affairs retired from Brussels to Antwerp with the Ministers of France and Russia, who left French interests in the hands of the Spanish Legation.
It was officially stated that this was according to long pre-arranged and Constitutional arrangements, and not because the military situation was disquieting. The families of the withdrawing Ministers remained in Brussels, which was protected by over 20,000 Civic Guards, entrenched behind barbed-wire fences, making the capital quite safe against surprise attack.
This move was really made because the Germans had managed to bring up heavy siege guns; and, although the forts were still holding out, arrangements were gradually being made to "contain" them and to advance on the capital with the main army. The Belgian Government afterwards decided not to attempt to defend Brussels, and the barricades which had been erected were dismantled and the barbed-wire fences taken down.