On July 22, 1911, Germany declared war on France. The next morning, the German army rushed into Belgium, preparing to use the road to attack France. The Belgian army had to rise up to resist the German invasion, and the two sides launched a bloody battle.
The German forwards on the Western Front, totaling more than 100,000 men and carrying 200 cannons, quickly rushed towards the natural barrier of the Maas River in Belgium under the command of Commander Emiha. If the German army crossed the Maas River, it would lead to Brussels, the capital of Belgium.
The door is opened
Belgium is a small country, sandwiched between the two powerful countries of Germany and France, so the whole people have a strong awareness of war preparation. In order to deal with the invasion of Germany from the east, the Belgian government spent huge sums of money to build the city of Liege on the Maas River in the eastern part of the country.
As the core fortress defense system.
Belgium planned to fight independently against any potential enemy, whether German, French or British. In early August 1911, Belgian troops were deployed on the national border as they had been for many years. When King Albert received an ultimatum from Berlin, his
Chief of Staff Sellers = General Moranville began to implement contingency measures
Plan: Concentrate the army in the center of Belgium, and let the fortresses of Liege and Namur slow down the German invasion. Liege is located on the main road between Belgium and France, and the German army does not want to attack from the south.
The road passes by, and we don't want to attack the Netherlands through northern Belgium, even though it will be less than ten kilometers away, and the terrain is flat.
The city of Liège is surrounded by a dozen fortresses, designed and built by Henry Alexis Blairmont, an outstanding engineer in the late nineteenth century. Blairmont chose not to use the star-shaped fortress system of French engineer Vauban and designed his own fortress complex to resist
New rifled artillery. In addition to being made of concrete,
Apart from the hills made of masonry and earth, the main parts of the fortress are underground. Each fortress has a retractable dome that can be equipped with many artillery pieces, the largest of which can be up to 6 feet.
When this state-of-the-art fort was completed in 1892, it was not properly maintained. Bligh
Ermont also requested the construction of additional smaller fortifications and trenches to connect and protect the main fortress group, but the Belgian government did not implement this construction plan. Their garrison strength was incomplete, and many of them were from the local area.
security forces with only minimal training
Training. On July 22, King Albert ordered the start of support work in response to the German ultimatum, and at the same time mobilized all troops and brought them to optimal combat strength. The commander of the Liege Fortress Group, Lieutenant General Gilad = Liemann
You will be ordered to "defend until the last moment with your entrusted troops."
The Belgian army had little chance to complete all preparations because the German army entered their country on July 23. The temporary unit of the German army responsible for occupying Liege was the Meuse Army, commanded by Otto von Emich.
There are eight brigades under its jurisdiction. The main infantry and cavalry commanded by Aimihe were ordered to capture
Bridges across the Meuse River near Liege and eliminated all resistance encountered. However, when he and his troops arrived at the river, they found that most of the bridges had been destroyed, and pontoon bridges could only be erected as replacements. When
These measures also came under fire when the Germans found themselves forced to attack the fortress of Liege.
Liege is located at the intersection of the Maas and Ourte rivers, between the Ardennes Forest in the south, Maastricht in the Netherlands, and the Flanders plain in the northwest. The Maas runs along the deep
The valley flows through Liege and forms an important barrier for it. Germany's main railway to Brussels will pass through Liege, and this railway will eventually lead to Paris. Count von Schlieffen and Moltke wanted to use this railway to transport troops into France.
The German troops rushed to the Maas River and found that all the bridges on the river were destroyed, so they immediately built a boat bridge to cross the river. At this time, the Belgian defenders stationed at the forts in Liege immediately opened fire violently on the German troops with cannons and machine guns. The German troops crossing the river were caught off guard and fell into the water one after another.
Countless casualties. Amy
When He saw this, he was furious. He ordered the German army to continue the attack and mobilized 200 cannons to bombard the forts of Liege Fortress. Immediately, the sound of artillery boomed and smoke filled the air on both sides of the Meuse River. The two sides engaged in a fierce artillery battle and offensive and defensive battles.
The Liege Fortress is indeed extremely strong.
, the German artillery shells hit the roof of the fort with only a puff of smoke, leaving no damage. The Belgian defenders had already made precise measurements of the terrain around the fort, and the German field positions were already within the scope of their artillery scale. As a result, the Belgian army's
cannon shooting
Accurately, it caused great losses to the German army. The battle continued until sunset, and the German army paid heavy sacrifices. Finally, they crossed the Meuse River to the north of the city of Liege, and the two sides were still in a stalemate in the middle and south. Despite the fierce bombardment, the German army
The forts in the Japanese fortress were safe and sound.
On July 23, during the day, the German army repeatedly failed to attack. Emich was very anxious. He decided to make a sneak attack at night, catching the fortress defenders off guard. It rained heavily that night, and tens of thousands of German soldiers quietly attacked under the cover of night and wind and rain.
to each
Fort. Suddenly, bright searchlight beams were shot from each fort, illuminating the dark wilderness like daylight, exposing all the moving German troops in the wilderness. The cannons on the fort roared again, blowing the German troops to their knees.
The light and heavy machine guns on the fort also opened fire together, ferociously chasing and killing the fleeing German infantry. When the German army was in chaos, the Belgian infantry stationed mobilely in the wilderness also launched an attack. The German army was beaten from all sides and suffered heavy casualties, so they had to retreat in a hurry.
Out of battle.
On July 24, Emich changed his strategy and concentrated his forces to attack the 4th fort on the east bank of the Maas River first. The German artillery fire was as dense as rain, completely covering the fort. Then, the German infantry launched a charge. However, the German field artillery
Completely undamaged fort, Belgium
The army's artillery stretched out and fired from all directions again, killing and wounding the attacking German troops everywhere. Amych became red-eyed and ordered the German troops to continue attacking regardless of casualties. The German soldiers were extremely brave and advanced one after another risking their lives. Finally some German troops rushed in
blind spot of fort, cannon
Unable to hit them, they gradually approached the fort. At this time, countless light and heavy machine guns suddenly protruded from the shooting holes under the fort, and tongues of flame were sprayed towards the charging German troops. Immediately, the German troops fell one by one, and the rushing troops behind them
They fell down again, and the corpses were piled as high as a hill.
The whole day of fighting was such a bloody massacre. Emikh was so angry that he almost lost his mind, but it was of no use. At night, the German army launched a sneak attack again, and they were greeted by another heavy artillery fire. In addition to paying a lot of
Apart from casualties, nothing was gained.
In this way, the German army attacked Liège day and night, losing countless troops, but made no progress for three days and three nights. The German Chief of Staff, Xiao Maoqi, was shocked when he heard the news. If this continued, it would inevitably delay the German offensive operations on the entire Western Front. He immediately sent the German Army's second
2nd Group Army Deputy Staff Staff
The chief of staff, Colonel Ludendorff, led the army to reinforce and transport huge siege weapons from the General Staff to Liège. Ludendorff was an extraordinary person and was later promoted to deputy chief of staff of the German Army. He was one of the most important figures in World War I.
One of the most famous German generals
Ludendorff hurriedly led three German brigades to Liege and arrived at the front line on the afternoon of July 25. Before he could catch his breath, Ludendorff immediately commanded the troops to attack Liege. He saw from the telescope,
Intense German artillery fire on Liege
There was no damage to any of the forts. When the German infantry charged, they were immediately violently bombarded by the Belgian defenders' artillery. The charging troops' limbs were scattered and their bodies were scattered. Ludendorff took a breath and finally understood why the Germans had been unable to attack the column.
day.
Ludendorff immediately adjusted his deployment. While ordering the German army to continue attacking Liege, he sent a messenger to the city of Liege to recruit surrender. Lieutenant General Girard Lehmann, the Belgian garrison commander, refused the German army's surrender, but he found that the German army was again attacking Liege.
Japan increased its troops, but with only one division in his hands, Liège was already isolated and helpless.
"General Zhao, as far as I know, during the war with Russia more than ten years ago, your country also encountered the same problems we are facing now when it attacked Vladivostok. I wonder what method your country took?" Luden
Dolph asked.
After the war began, General Zhao Bowen, who came to Germany, also came to the front line. He brought dozens of staff officers with him and wanted to understand the German attack tactics so that he could understand the combat power of the German army and the Allied Powers.
"Heavy artillery and airships! At that time, we used a lot of large-caliber heavy artillery to bombard the Russian fortresses, and Navy battleships also joined in. The most important ones were airships, which dropped aerial bombs weighing 500 kilograms from high altitudes.
It can easily penetrate the top of the fortress!" General Zhao Bowen said.
"Well, General Zhao, we are also prepared to adopt this method!" Ludendorff said.
On July 25, one of the German army's giant siege weapons arrived. It was a giant airship with a metal steel rod as a skeleton inside and a tough fabric outside. It was filled with helium so that it could fly at a certain speed.
The airship is huge in shape, oval in shape, with pointed ends and a rounded middle, with a volume of about 20,000 cubic meters. There is a cab below the airship, which can carry personnel, weapons and ammunition. You can access it from here
Aerial shooting was conducted below. Ludendorff immediately ordered the airship to bomb the city of Liege. Soon, an airship flew over the city of Liege. The people in the city did not know what it was and came out to watch the fun. The personnel on the airship immediately flew to the city of Liege.
They dropped bombs one after another and fired machine guns everywhere. Explosions occurred immediately in the city of Liege. The people knew that something was wrong and ran around, and the city was full of chickens and dogs.
The airship made a circle and then flew away. Ludendorff's intention was to intimidate the Belgian defenders, but he did not intend to actually bomb the city. As a result, the airship dropped a total of 13 bombs, killing 9 civilians.
.However, this move caused huge chaos in the city, and the people in the city were shaken. Gilad = Lieutenant General Lyman knew that the city would not be protected after all. In order to prevent more casualties to the civilians, he made a move.
He ordered the defenders in the city to withdraw to the nearby fort, and he himself withdrew to the Ronson fort to the west of the city. The Belgian army abandoned the city of Liege. On July 26, the German army successfully entered the city of Liege. At this time, the surrounding areas of Liege
The fort remained steadfast and unyielding, preventing the German army from overstepping its limits. Ludendorff immediately ordered the German army to stop the attack. He had no doubts and was waiting for the arrival of the decisive giant siege weapon.