Battle of Liège
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The Battle of Liège was the opening battle of the German invasion into Belgium, and the first battle of World War I. The siege of the city lasted from August 5 until the 16th when the final fort surrendered.
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[edit] The plan
In 1870, soon after the German military defeated the French in the Franco-Prussian War, German military leader Helmuth von Moltke began formulating a plan to fight a two-front war, against France and Russia. Germany would have to invade one country while defending against the other. By the end of the 19th century, it was apparent that France was the more powerful and dangerous of the two countries -- Germany possessed Alsace-Lorraine, the fruits of their victory in the Franco-Prussian War, and France would eventually deploy her growing armies to retake those regions.
Moltke's successor, the Count Alfred von Schlieffen, decided to cover the Russians' probable advance with a single army, while attacking and annihilating France with seven armies. However, this would be much more difficult than it seemed. The French, under the guidance of military engineer General Sere de Rivieres, had built defenses along its eastern borders. Germany could not attack through Switzerland -- the Swiss Army was 500,000 strong, well-trained, and highly patriotic. They could not attack directly into France, because of the strong defenses placed there. Therefore, von Schlieffen and his successor, also named Helmuth von Moltke (the elder von Moltke's nephew), decided to invade through northern Belgium, utilizing their efficient railway system, and quickly march through the heart of France, and eventually straight into Paris. Meanwhile, they would leave a few armies along the German-French border, because the French plan called for a counter-offensive in case of a German attack.
However, there were two problems with this plan. It called for a violation of Belgium neutrality, which would certainly cause the United Kingdom to enter the war. Also, the city of Liège was in the path of the German forces.
Liège was a highly fortified city at the time. The Meuse River ran through its center: on the south bank, there were massive industrial facilities, factories, and other things that would assist the modern defense of the city. The city itself was placed in the Meuse River valley, with the Ardennes to its east and the rolling plains of Belgium to its west. It sat on the main rail line leading from Germany to Brussels, and eventually to Paris - the same railway that von Schlieffen and von Moltke had planned to use as transport into France. Finally, there was a line of 19th century fortifications surrounding the city, which would facilitate the defense of the city.
There were six forts on each bank of the river Meuse, and these forts were heavily-armed and easily-defended: a typical fort held two 15 cm and four 12 cm cannons, two 21 cm mortars, one 21 cm howitzer, and many 5.7 cm guns defending the approaches. The forts were not easily seen from the east, and would play a major role in the defense of the city.
[edit] Fortifications
| Liège Forts (Clockwise from N) |
|---|
| Liers |
| Pontisse |
| Barchon |
| Evegnée |
| Fleron |
| Chaudfontaine |
| Embourg |
| Boncelles |
| Flemalle |
| Hollogne |
| Loncin |
| Lantin |
The Belgian city of Liège lies at the confluence of the Meuse and the Ourthe rivers, between the Ardennes Forest to the south and Maastricht of the Netherlands to the north. The Meuse flowed through a deep ravine at Liège, posing a significant barrier to the German advance. In addition, a ring of twelve forts, based on then-current German fortification methods, had been completed in an 6-10-km radius around the city in 1892. The forts overlapped each other's protective zones of fire, and were designed so that if any one fort fell, the two neighboring forts could still attack a force trying to move through the gap.
Six of the fortresses were built as primary forts, and were given a pentagonal shape with a surrounding ditch and barb-wire entanglements. They were concrete structures armed with two 6-inch and four 4.7-inch guns, two 8-inch mortars and four machine-guns. The guns were mounted in a cupola that could be elevated to fire, then retracted. The forts were linked by underground tunnels, and contained magazines for ammunition, crew quarters for up to eighty men, and ventilation systems. Between each pair of major forts was a triangular secondary fort, named a fortin. These were armed with two 6-inch and two 4-inch guns, a single 8-inch mortar and three machine-guns.
In total the forts had 400 pieces of artillery, although the guns were considered of obsolete design. (At the time the German Krupp Arms Works was under contract to replace the guns, so the German Army was familiar with the weaponry at the fortresses.) The other weaknesses of the forts were a lack of field artillery pieces to cover the openings between the gaps, and a shortage of men needed to guard the city. General Gérard Mathieu Leman had been personally selected to command the Liège fortifications, and he was under orders from the King to hold the fortress system to the end. Leman had a force of about 25,000 soldiers, including members of the civic guard, to man the defenses.
[edit] The battle
To reduce the fortifications of Liège, a special task force of 30,000 troops was allocated, consisting of six brigades of infantry and three divisions of cavalry. These were placed under the command of General Otto von Emmich, accompanied by the staff officer Erich Ludendorff as an observer. War with Belgium was declared on the morning of August 4, and the lead elements of Task Force Emmich crossed the border a few hours later. They advanced to the Meuse river, but found the bridge crossings had been destroyed. By the 5th, however, German forces had crossed the Meuse to the north at Visé.
The Belgian 3rd Division guarded the town from behind hastily constructed earthworks, and on the 5th they successfully repulsed attacks by German infantry passing between the forts. An attack against Fort Barchon was beaten back with heavy losses due to machine-gun and artillery fire. After this failed attack, the Germans performed the first air raid in history by using a Zeppelin to drop bombs on Liège. Meanwhile cavalry moved south from Visé to encircle the town. With the town likely to be invested soon, Leman now ordered the 3rd division to withdraw from the town and rejoin the mobilizing Belgian army to the west.
Ludendorff now took command of the 14th brigade that was able to infiltrate between the forts. This brigade succeeded in capturing the town on the 7th. However the outer ring of forts continued to hold out, blocking German advance due to their interdiction of the railroad lines. The forts endured steady bombardment and attack by the German forces, but most of the forts continued to repulse enemy attacks. Only Fort Fleron was put out of action, its cupola-hoisting mechanism being destroyed by shell fire. The only fort to be captured by infantry assault would be Fort Barchon, which was taken on August 10.
To reduce these fortifications, the Germans would have to employ their massive siege artillery. These would include the Krupp "Big Bertha" 420mm howitzer and some Austrian 305mm Skoda guns. The shells from these guns landed on the forts from directly above, penetrating the concrete sides and then detonating inside by means of a delayed fuze. One by one the forts were bombarded into submission, with the last, Fort Boncelles, capitulating on August 16. On the 15th Leman was injured at Fort Loncin, and he was carried out unconscious to become a prisoner of the Germans.
Some had suggested the valiant ten-day stand made at Liège served to knock the German timetable off by two days, buying time for the Allies. However, German commanders denied that the siege significantly delayed the schedule of their still-mobilizing army. The ten day siege did, however, serve as a morale boost to Allied forces, and the French President would bestow the cross of the légion d'honneur on the town for their resistance.
[edit] Belgian order of battle
The 3rd Belgian Division defended the city of Liège; it was commanded by Lieutenant General Gerard Leman. Within the division, there were four brigades and various other troops:
- 9th Mixed Brigade, including the 9th and 29th Infantry Regiments, along with the 43rd, 44th, and 45th Artillery Batteries
- 11th Mixed Brigade, including the 11th and 31st Infantry Regiments, along with the 37th, 38th, and 39th Artillery Batteries
- 12th Mixed Brigade, including the 12th and 32nd Infantry Regiments, along with the 40th, 41st, and 42nd Artillery Batteries
- 14th Mixed Brigade, including the 14th and 34th Infantry Regiments, along with the 46th, 47th, and 48th Artillery Batteries
- 15th Mixed Brigade (5 August), including the 1st and 4th Chausseur Regiments, along with the 61st, 62nd, and 63rd Artillery Batteries
- The Fortress Guards, including the 9th, 11th, 12th, and 14th Reserve Infantry Regiments, an Artillery Regiment, four reserve batteries, and various other troops
- 3rd Artillery Regiment, including the 40th, 49th, and 51st Artillery Batteries
- 3rd Engineer Battalion
- 3rd Telegraphist Section
- 2nd Regiment of Lancers
Overall, there were about 30,000 infantry, 500 cavalry, and 250 artillery pieces to face the German onslaught.
[edit] German order of battle
[edit] Publications
- Paul Hamelius, The Siege of Liège: A Personal Narrative (London, 1914)
- J. M. Kennedy, "The Campaign around Liège," in Daily Chronicle War Books (London, 1914)
[edit] References
- Griess, Thomas E., The Great War, Avery Publishing, 1986.
- Marshall, S.L.A., World War I, American Heritage, 1964.
- Reynolds, F. J., The Story of the Great War, Vol. III, P.F. Collier & Son, New York, 1916.
