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In 1908, the introduction of universal military service in all European countries, coupled with a well-developed railway network, enabled most of the belligerents to quickly mobilize professional armies to the front. www.xstxt.org look at the latest and most complete novelIn the months following the start of the war, Germany increased its standing army from 791,000 to a staggering 5,000,000.

Because Germany's military service law stipulates that all able-bodied young Germans are required to perform military service, no one can avoid conscription for qualified young people, despite the power of their families. It takes two or three years of service, depending on the department in which it serves, followed by five and a half years of regular army reserves. Then go to the wartime reserves. This is the second reserve army, which lasts for twelve years; By the age of thirty-nine they were transferred to the last reserve army wartime militia, where they remained until their forty-fifth birthday.

However, of the five million German troops, two million of them were highly effective core armies of officers and non-commissioned officers, who were well trained, well-organized, and well-equipped, and had a very strong fighting capacity once mobilized, which was beyond the reach of other countries. Moreover, there was a good relationship between the German officer and the soldier, which was advocated by Field Marshal Moltke the Elder in the nineteenth century and continued by his successor, Schlieffen. German officers care about the welfare of their soldiers as much as they care about oiled machine guns.

Initially, the German Army also had an advantage in weapons, the infantry used Mauser guns, which were solid and accurate, and the German General Staff also understood the strategic value of the Maxim machine gun and was equipped with many machine guns. In terms of artillery, the Germans had 3,500 medium and heavy guns, while the French had less than 300 guns. Each German corps had thirty-six 105-mm howitzers. Plus sixteen 150-mm howitzers. Germany also had more than 4,500 machine guns, while the French had only 2,500. Even in light artillery it was Germany that had the advantage, it had more than six thousand seventy-seven-mm guns. And the French had only three thousand five hundred seventy-five mm guns.

The Austro-Hungarian army increased from 450,000 to 3,350,000, but the biggest disadvantage of the Austro-Hungarian ** team is that it is multi-ethnic, Austria-Hungary has many languages, and most of the officers are Germanic, but only 25% of the troops can speak German, so the combat effectiveness can be imagined!

Competing with it was the Entente, and Britain did not have a large standing army. The 160,000 British Expeditionary Force was later increased to 975,000, including Dominion and Colonial troops.

The French team increased from 790,000 to 4 million. But at war with the Germans, the Germans had absolute superiority in artillery. And not only in quantity. It's also about quality. The Krupp plant in Essen, Germany, and the Skoda plant in Bohemia are among the most outstanding arsenals in all of Europe. The French seventy-five-millimeter gun, although light and the fastest of the cannons of its time, was this three-inch gun. Effective only against uncovered troops. It is not suitable for shelling at long distances. Not as powerful as the German howitzer. In addition, the French General Staff saw artillery as a secondary supplement to the infantry; They believe that collective spirit will better compensate for technical deficiencies.

On the Russian side, the army increased from 1.2 million to 6 million. Although Russia had six million troops, most of them were illiterate, and although they were made up of soldiers who were not afraid of death, their officer corps, which consisted of nobles and wealthy men, was poorly trained. The knowledge of war of the Russian ** officer was still limited to the use of sabers and swords. On the other hand. The corruption skills of Russian ** officials are the highest in Europe. There was often a lack of artillery and machine guns at the front. Many soldiers did not even have rifles when the troops were fighting. Some were often armed with bayonets tied to a stick. Many Russian armies, except for the chests of soldiers, had no weapons. They sadly realized that fighting the Germans, "this is not war; This is a massacre", as evidenced by the fact that in less than a year of the war, the number of Russian casualties reached a staggering two million.

In terms of army formation, the Allies and the Entente were similar, except for the size of the formations. Each division ranged from 12,000 to 22,000 men. A division is usually commanded by a major general. Two or more divisions are organized into a single corps and are led by a lieutenant general. Two or more armies became a group army, led by a general. In Germany, the number of the army is denoted by numbers. Group armies, corps, and divisions all have a staff office divided into four or five sections, which usually includes logistics, intelligence, operations, supplies, and training. Further down, a division consists of two or more brigades, each commanded by a brigadier general or brigade commander; A brigade consists of two or more regiments, each of which is under the command of a colonel; A regiment is equal to three or more battalions, and the head of the battalion is a lieutenant colonel; A battalion consisted of four companies, each commanded by a major or captain; A company consisted of four platoons, each commanded by a lieutenant.

At that time, most of the fighting was fought by infantry, cavalry, and artillery, but technological advances gave rise to many logistical units that equaled and often exceeded the number of front-line troops. Industrially underdeveloped countries, such as Austria and Russia, still relied on outdated concepts of warfare and relied more on cavalry. A cavalry brigade usually consisted of three cavalry regiments consisting of nine thousand two hundred cavalry and nine thousand eight hundred military horses. Their cavalry represents the essence of the army. The cavalry, dressed in splendid helmets and charged with spears and flying sabers, could only be destroyed by dense fire. And the French and British cavalry were no better. Due to the use of German machine guns and grenades, they soon moved their horses to a safer rear and used for transportation, forcing the former knights to fight on foot in obscurity.

The artillery consisted of a number of artillery batteries with four to eight guns. three to four artillery batteries form an artillery group or artillery battalion; Two or three artillery groups equals one artillery regiment. By that time, the range had increased so much that the artillery could shoot shells at targets far beyond what the gunner could see.

After Germany declared war on France, the German tanks were transported to the Eastern Front and the Western Front at the same time, and the German Army's seven armies and an independent detachment of about 1.6 million troops and 5,000 artillery pieces were assembled on the borders of Belgium, Luxembourg and France, and the front of about 380 kilometers from Aachen to the Ober-Rhine was in full swing, of which about 1.1 million troops were deployed as assault flanks 200 kilometers north of Metz. These armies were personally commanded by the German Chief of the General Staff, Schlieffen, which is also different from the historical World War I.

Meanwhile. France and Great Britain also completed their military deployment northwest of Verdun. France's five armies and several divisions gathered about 1.6 million troops and more than 4,000 artillery pieces on a 350-kilometer front from Belfort to Ilson. The British Expeditionary Force of 70,000 men and more than 300 artillery pieces were assembled in the Lecato and Maubeuges areas.

According to Schlieffen's plan, Germany had to take Belgium. to capture France. When the huge Taiji diagram on the German-French border began to spin wildly, the war between Germany and the Entente began in Belgium.

Located in northwestern Europe, bordered by Germany to the east, France to the south, and the Netherlands to the north, Belgium was one of the first countries in Europe to carry out the industrial revolution in the 19th century. Year 1831. The Austrian Empire, the Russian Empire, France, the United Kingdom, and the German Empire in Europe signed the Treaty of London in London, recognizing Belgium's status as "permanent neutrality". Belgium is a small country, relying on neutrality. There has been no war for 77 years.

On the evening of August 2, when the wind was high and the moon was dark, the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs received a note from the German Minister to Belgium, Draculi. The note said. Germany received reliable information that France was going to invade Germany through Belgium, so according to the "need for self-defense", Germany had to "preemptively" stop the French attack, that is, the German army was to take France through Belgium. If Belgium agreed, the Germans promised to use it only as a pretext. Belgium can be guaranteed against any losses.

King Leopold II of Belgium summoned his ministers to discuss what to do, and his nephew, Crown Prince Albert, said: "If Belgium succumbs to the German threat." That would be tantamount to allowing the German army to defeat France, and a victorious Germany would no longer be able to take retreat to heart. It also undermines Belgium's permanent neutrality, which was the responsibility and foundation of Belgium in Europe in the past, and which, if abandoned, would lose all honour and dignity. ”

"If we are destined to be reduced to ashes, let us be gloriously reduced to ashes." Belgian Foreign Minister Basonpierre said: "We cannot have illusions about the benevolence of the Germans. ”

As a result of the deliberations of the Belgian monarchs and ministers, the voices opposed to the German pretext prevailed. Thus, King Leopold II of Belgium declared Belgium's neutrality to the German Minister to Belgium Draculi, replying to Germany's note: "Belgium will defend its neutrality to the death!" ”

The next day, King Leopold II appointed his nephew, Crown Prince Albert, commander-in-chief of the Belgian armed forces, with about seven divisions and about 110,000 troops to fight against Germany. Although Belgium had a relatively small army, there was a "Liège Fortress" between Belgium and Germany, and Opold II hoped to use it to stop the German army's advance.

The city of Liège was like a castle gate, guarding the gates from Germany to Belgium. Perched on a steep 500-foot slope on the left bank of the Meuse, about 200 metres wide, it is its natural moat, and is protected by a fortress for thirty miles, making it one of the most fortified cities in Europe.

From the 80s of the 19th century, Leopold II strongly urged the construction of the fortress of Liège, a defensive system consisting of twelve fortresses around the city. These forts were built on both sides of the river, generally four to five miles from the city of Liège, with forts about two or three miles apart. All six on the east coast faced Germany. The six rings of the West Bank are lined up around and behind Liège. The forts appear to be medieval castles built underground, with only a triangular top above the ground, with arched canopies protruding from the top, concealing all the turrets. Everything else is underground, with inclined tunnels leading to the basement and communicating the turret with the ammunition depot and fire control room.

Six large bastions and six small bastions scattered in between had ** cannons, among which there were also large-caliber howitzers. In the top corners of the triangle there were small turrets, in which the guns and machine guns controlled the slope in front of the fortress. Each fort was surrounded by a thirty-foot-deep moat, and each had a steel watchtower that could descend below the ground like its cannon, and a searchlight mounted on the tower. Each large fort was garrisoned by two companies of artillery and a company of infantry, a total of four hundred soldiers.

Crown Prince Albert nominated General Lehmann, rector of the Belgian Army University, as commander of the 3rd Division and supreme commander of Liège, to snipe the German troops invading Belgium. Because the German army had already occupied Luxembourg at this time, King Bode II of Belgium ordered the railroad and bridge on the border with Luxembourg to be blown up, and he also wrote a personal letter to General Lehmann, asking him to "hold his position and fight to the death". General Lehmann ordered the bridge over the Meuse River near Liège to be blown up and to hold Liège.

However, according to Schlieffen's plan, Germany must take the following date as soon as possible, otherwise the entire Schlieffen plan will fall short. Thus, an elite force of 30,000 men of the German Second Army Task Force, led by Lieutenant General Emich, quickly attacked Belgium from between the Ardennes and the Dutch border, reached the range of the Liège fortress, and prepared to attack the fortress.

The battle soon began, and the two sides were about to fight to the death. (To be continued......)