Very quickly news was sent over the telephone, which the Germans had now established in many quarters of London, and large reinforcements were soon upon the scene. The men of Shoreditch had, however, obtained two Maxim guns, which had been secreted ever since the entry of the Germans into the Metropolis, and as the enemy endeavoured to storm their position they swept the street with a deadly fire. Quickly the situation became desperate, but the fight lasted over an hour. The sound of firing brought hundreds upon hundreds of Londoners upon the scene. All these took arms against the Germans, who, after many fruitless attempts to storm the defences, and being fired upon from every side, were compelled to fall back again.
They were followed along High Street into Bethnal Green Road, up Great Eastern Street into Hoxton Square and Pitfield Street, and there cut up, being given no quarter at the hands of the furious populace. In those narrow thoroughfares they were powerless, and were therefore simply exterminated, until the streets ran with blood.
The victory for the men of Shoreditch was complete, over three hundred and fifty Germans being killed, while our losses were only about fifty.
The conflict was at once reported to Von Kronhelm, and the very fact that he did not send exemplary punishment into that quarter was quite sufficient to show that he feared to arouse further the hornets’ nest in which he was living, and more especially that portion of the populace north of the City.
News of the attack, quickly spreading, inspired courage in every other part of the oppressed Metropolis.
The successful uprising against the Germans in Shoreditch incited Londoners to rebel, and in various other parts of the Metropolis, especially in Westbourne Grove, in Notting Hill, in Marylebone Road, and in Kingsland, there occurred outbreaks of a more or less serious nature.
Between invaders and defenders there was now constant warfare. Von Kronhelm had found to his cost that London was not to be so easily cowed, after all, notwithstanding his dastardly bombardment. The size and population of the Metropolis had not been sufficiently calculated upon. It was as a country in itself, while the intricacies of its by-ways formed a refuge for the conspirators, who were gradually completing their preparations to rise en masse and strike down the Germans wherever found. In the open country his great army could march, manœuvre, and use strategy, but here in the maze of narrow London streets it was impossible to know in one thoroughfare what was taking place in the next.
Supplies, too, were now running very short. The distress among our vanquished populace was most severe; while Von Kronhelm’s own army was put on meagre rations. The increasing price of food and consequent starvation had not served to improve the relations between the invaders and the citizens of London, who, though they were assured by various proclamations that they would be happier and more prosperous under German rule, now discovered that they were being slowly starved to death.
Their only hope, therefore, was in the efforts of that now gigantic organisation, the League of Defenders.