THE SIEGE OF NAMUR The Belgium 4th Division remained at Namur. The moment it lost touch with the bulk of the Belgian army, it became part of the fighting system of the Franco-British forces.
German Plan of Attack.—On the morning of Aug. 18 Joffre issued a succession of orders in which it was laid down that the French 3rd and 4th Armies should advance into the Ardennes and the French 5th Army and the British Expeditionary Corps take the offensive west of the Meuse in the direction of Gembloux Nivelles. Meanwhile, the Germans having discovered—through the reconnaissances of their airmen—the French columns march ing northwards between Maubeuge and Dinant, gave von Billow— already in command of the 1st and 2nd Armies—authority over the 3rd Army, which was to strike the Meuse between Namur and Givet, and made up their minds to overwhelm the Allied left by a converging attack delivered by 15 corps. It was essential to the scheme that the fortress of Namur should be carried with the least possible delay.
The task was entrusted to a special army detachment under von Gallwitz. It included the Guards Reserve Corps, the 11th Corps, three pioneer regiments, five battalions of 21-cm. howitzers, two battalions of heavy guns, one battery of 42-cm. howitzers and four of 30.5 Austrian howitzers. These troops came into position north-east of the fortress. To complete the investment the 3rd Army detached the 24th Reserve Division north of Dinant and the 2nd Army the 14th Reserve Division south of Gembloux. Thus during the two days of the battle of Charleroi the 30,00o men of the Namur garrison drew upon themselves six enemy divisions and 500 guns.
Bombardment of Namur.—The attack on Namur was quite different from that on Liege. There was no longer any question of a surprise. Von Gallwitz, who in peace time was inspector general of artillery, aimed at an artillery preparation so devastat ing as to render the defence incapable of resistance to the as sault. All his batteries concentrated their fire upon three forts, Maizeret, Marchovelette and Cognelee, and on the interval be tween the two last named, where he intended to make a breach. The bombardment commenced at 10 A.M. on Aug. 21, continued throughout the night and the whole of the following day, and reached its height on the morning of the 23rd. The trenches and the wire—at that time very slight—had disappeared. The forts were reduced to shapeless ruins ; all their cupolas were put out of action.
Surrender of Namur.—Three French battalions had arrived in the fortress. A counter-attack, half Belgian, half French, at tempted to repulse the enemy artillery, but failed. The defending troops suffered steady extermination without being able to fire a shot. Finally at 11 A.M. the German infantry masses made a sud den onrush—three divisions of them to a front of 4 lkilo.—held by what remained of nine battalions of 700 men. The defenders were swept off their feet. At many points, although enveloped, they put up a desperate resistance ; and, as a result, it was not until evening that the assailant reached the outskirts of the town.
Gen. Michel, commanding the fortress, had disposed a brigade facing north-west to co-operate in the French offensive which he was impatiently expecting. At about 1.3o P.M. he heard, how ever, on the one hand that the French on his left had been driven back southward instead of advancing to the north; on the other that the Germans, far behind his right, had crossed the Meuse be tween Namur and Dinant. With their front broken the garrison ran the risk of being enveloped and surrounded. Michel there fore expedited the order for an immediate retreat toward the south-east.
By dint of 48 hours of forced marches—coming after three days' battle—the greater part of the garrison succeeded in rejoin ing the French troops and a fortnight later in reinforcing the Belgian army at Antwerp. Five or six thousand men of the rear guard were trapped between the flank corps of the German 2nd and 3rd Armies, and after several skirmishes, were forced to sur render. The six forts which were still active at Namur were able to hold up von Gallwitz's forces two days longer. Suarlee and Andoy only surrendered on the evening of Aug. 25 after having offered a memorable resistance to the enemy's mortars, which bom barded them simultaneously from all sides. (See also ANTWERP,