On 4 August, the Germans crossed the border and marched towards the fortress of Liège. Pen ~ fun ~ Pavilion www.biquge.info In order to take this important fortress, the German army formed the Meuse River Corps, which consisted of the 11th Infantry Brigade, the 14th Infantry Brigade, the 27th Infantry Brigade, the 34th Infantry Brigade, the 38th Infantry Brigade and the 43rd Infantry Brigade, with a total strength of more than 59,800 people and more than 100 artillery pieces. Feng? General Nmich commanded.

However, the Belgian troops stationed at the fortress of Liège had more than 36,000 men and 252 cannons to deal with. In addition, there were hundreds of cannons on the fortress of Liège. In terms of artillery, the Germans were completely at a disadvantage.

Liège is located at the meeting point of the rivers Maas and Urte, between the Ardennes Forest in the south, Maastricht in the Netherlands, and the Flanders plain in the northwest. The Maas River flows through Liege along a deep valley and forms an important barrier for it. Germany's main railway to Brussels passes through Liège, which ends in Paris. Schlieffen and Moltke wanted to use the railway to transport troops into France.

However, if you want to take the following days, you must first take the fortress of the following days.

The fortress of Liège consists of 12 fortresses, which are generally 6-8 km from the city of Liège, and 3-5 km from each of the fortresses. The six on the east bank all face Germany, and the six on the west bank are lined around and behind Liège. These forts appear to be medieval castles built underground, with only a triangular top on the ground, with some arched canopies protruding from the top to conceal all the turrets, and everything else underground, with inclined tunnels leading to the basement and communicating the turrets with the ammunition depot and fire control room. The 6 large bastions and the 6 small bastions scattered between them had a total of 400 cannons, the largest of which was a howitzer with a caliber of 210 mm. In the top corners of the triangle there were small turrets, rapid-fire guns in the towers and ramps in front of the fortress of machine gun controllers. Each fort is surrounded by a 9-meter-deep trench and has a steel watchtower that, like its cannon, can be lowered below the ground, and is equipped with a searchlight. Each large fort was garrisoned by two companies of artillery and one company of infantry, a total of 400 soldiers.

Before the war, in order to maintain strict neutrality, six Belgian infantry divisions and one cavalry division were deployed in various directions to deal with any invading enemy: the 1st Division facing the British Ghent, the 2nd Division in Antwerp, the 3rd Division facing the German Liege, the 4th and 5th Divisions facing Namur, Charleroi and Mons in France, and the 6th Division and the Cavalry Division in central Brussels.

On 3 August, King Albert was officially inaugurated as Commander-in-Chief of the Belgian Army. He personally nominated the 63-year-old General Lehmann for the post of commander of the 3rd Division and military commander of Liège. The king demanded that he "hold fast to the position entrusted to you and fight to the death."

The Belgians relied too much on these fortifications designed by Brialmont, the defenders were outnumbered and all reservists, with only one officer per company, and it was not until 2 August that they began digging trenches and barricades with barbed wire to defend the gaps between the forts and clear houses and trees that hindered artillery fire. These measures were still in their infancy when the Germans attacked.

When the Germans arrived at the fortress of Liège, they immediately attacked. Although, the Belgian defenders stationed in the fortress of Liège were not at all opponents of the German army in terms of combat effectiveness. But they had a strong fortress to back it on. This allowed the Germans to defeat Belgian forces outside the fortress, but it was difficult to take the fort.

Passing through a fortress without taking it is no different from looking for death. The artillery deployed on the fortress would cause the Germans who tried to pass through the fortress to pay extremely heavy losses.

On 5 August, the Germans began an offensive against the fortresses of the fortress of Liège. But it was at this time that the inferiority of the attacking Germans in terms of lack of artillery was completely exposed. Although the German soldiers were very heroic, they were flesh and blood after all, and they would also be torn to pieces in the shelling.

"Boom! Rumble! "On the German artillery positions, one cannon after another opened desperate fire in an attempt to provide artillery support to the infantry attacking the fortress of Liège. However, these howitzers, which are not large in caliber, pose no threat to a strong fortress at all. In addition, the inferiority in the number of artillery also made it impossible for them to provide sufficient fire support for the infantry.

"Fire, blow up those damn Germans!" A Belgian officer, commanding loudly.

The artillery of the Belgian army deployed in the fortress was firing frantically, and one after another, shells fell like raindrops, exploding in the ranks of the attacking German troops.

Although, the German offensive queue was very open and sparse. But there were still many soldiers who were torn to shreds in the artillery fire.

"Boom!" A large-caliber fortress shell fell, and a violent explosion rang out. A deep crater with a diameter of four or five meters appeared on the ground, and all the German soldiers in the vicinity were killed.

"Da Da Da!"

The heavy machine guns of the Belgian troops deployed on the fortress were also firing, and they fired condescendingly, and the dense bullets swept like a storm, and many German soldiers fell in pools of blood.

"Hell! The Belgians were not very good at fighting, but their fortifications were too strong. Without destroying their fortifications, we simply won't be able to take the fortress of the following days! "The commander of the 11th Infantry Brigade of the German Army, von ? Major General Vechtel watched his troops fall in pools of blood with a look of rage. In order to avoid even greater losses, he had to order the troops to temporarily stop the offensive.

Otto, commander of the Meuse legion? Feng? General Nmich's face was also very ugly. The attack on the fortress of Liège was the first large-scale battle of the German army in this great battle. If it is blocked here, it will have a great impact on the morale of the German army. Once the blame is down, it is definitely not something he can afford.

Subsequently, Otto? Feng? General Nmich launched several more attacks, but was still held back by the Belgian army.

In fact, during the battle, the German army also invested a lot of new weapons, including zeppelins, and tanks produced by the German Arms Company.

However, these weapons were really not of much help in taking the fortresses of the Belgian army. The fortified fortress became an obstacle to the German advance.

In the absence of a way, Otto? Feng? General Nmmihi had no choice but to report the situation to the General Staff. They can't afford to delay too much in the fortress of Liège, and they must break through as soon as possible. Otherwise, it will give the enemy more time to react. When the time comes, it will be even more unfavorable for them.