The Battle of Liege-All Change On The Western Front

[SteveW]

I'm sat in the front room of a flat in Liege, and got thinking about the Battle of Liege in 1914. IOTL, the battle was not factored into German military planning and slowed the German advance greatly. Some have in the past looked at what might have been if the battle had been avoided, but I've found something different.

On then 7th August 1914, a traitor named Charles Troupin telephoned the commander of the garrison within the city and told him to withdraw. The commander did not check, and as a result, abandoned the city itself to Ludendorff. Which ironically sped up Liege's eventual surrender, as the Germans could then focus on the forts.

So what if Troupin's call had been checked and ignored? I envisage fighting in the streets, and a further slowing of the German advance.


At 6am on 7th August 1914, from the direction of La Charteuse, the German 14th Brigade entered the outskirts of Liege around Jupille-sur-Meuse and Bressoux. There was, as expected, minimal resistance.

At just before 7am, however, the attackers were surprised by a series of explosions. The Pont de Fragnee, Pont du commerce, Pont du Val St-Benoit (the key rail bridge) and the Pont de la Boverie all went up in smoke in the course of half an hour. Only the Pont des Arches into the centre, to be used by retreating Belgian soldiers, lasted any longer, and that was for another half an hour as the local forces fell back into the city proper.

Encountering low-key resistance in the Outremeuse district (where a few Belgian snipers held up the German advance for over an hour),the overwhelming German numbers eventually reached the Meuse at 9:32 a.m. They were faced with a seen of utter ruin in the water- no bridge on the Meuse as far north as Vise (where they had already crossed in small numbers), and none left intact within the city limits. On the Rive Gauche, a token presence of Belgian field artillery was pounding the evacuated civillian buildings on the Germans' side. This caused no casualties, but the flying masonry and smoke and dust made the 14th Brigade's work difficult. It was clear that a pontoon would need to be constructed, or that troops would have to make the circuituous route via Vise.

However, the remaining Belgian garrison was small and naturally somewhat concentrated, mostly on the Citadelle and Mont St-Martin heights above the centre. The Germans therefore decided to wait until nightfall, and attempt to send troops over in small boats. Ludendorff was most perturbed by the loss of the bridges, however; it would mean a delay in getting the new Wunderwaffe, the Dicke Bertha howitzer, into position to attack the stronger of the Liege forts in the west.

 

[MikeTurcotte]

This actually could have a huge impact.

If the German advance is slowed enough (I'll concede that the Germans will eventually force a crossing), the BEF may not be trashed as thoroughly. The trench line may be further north, protecting some French Industry. Paris will not be as threatened. Of course, there may be no Miracle on the Marne, so I'm not sure what impact that has on both German and Allied morale.

Mike

 

[SteveW]

This actually could have a huge impact.

If the German advance is slowed enough (I'll concede that the Germans will eventually force a crossing), the BEF may not be trashed as thoroughly. The trench line may be further north, protecting some French Industry. Paris will not be as threatened. Of course, there may be no Miracle on the Marne, so I'm not sure what impact that has on both German and Allied morale.

Mike

Cheers Mike.

Like you,I don't envisage much of a delay in crossing, but even a matter of days could be crucial. Especially as, if the Germans force their way into the centre and there is street-fighting, any advance on from there puts them under the range of the guns of the forts.

 

[Hörnla]

But what if a slowed advance through Belgium shows that the "Grand Design" à la Schlieffen is impossible and thus the German Armies turn left earlier, catching a substantial amount French forces (at this time pressing against Alsace) and encircling them in Lorraine?

 

[BlairWitch749]

I would worry that the Belgian army would be destroyed. Evacuating Liege kept their army in tact and allowed them to fight another day. Fully 1/4 of their army was deployed in and around the forts. The German delays were more in bringing up the mobile 305mm howitzers and setting up the concrete bases for the 420mm big berthas. If the Belgian army stayed and fought they would have been destroyed in place by the mass of German artillery that reduced the forts.

 

[SteveW]

A Hard-Won Crossing

At around midnight going into the 8th August 1914, after a day of bombardment and sharpshooting on both sides, 200 hundred German soldiers landed under fire on the Rive Gauche. They were quickly scattered, but it was enough to cause the Belgians fear of widespread German landing. When contacted by telephone, the Belgian general in charge of the defence of the city, General Gerard Leman, ordered the garrison to pull back from the riverside towards the heights of Cointe and Mont St-Martin. A small presence of men was to stay behind and co-ordinate low-level attacks against the German troops, and to slow their advance.

And this they did. Through the early hours,amid scenes of chaos as the remaining civillians fled, the stay-behinders and the German vanguard fought from building to building along the Quai de Rome and onto the edges of Boulevard d'Avroy, a major thoroughfare which led onto the road towards Luxembourg. The Germans got the false impression that the city was heavily armed still, and Ludendorff ordered as many boats as possible to cross the Meuse before dawn.

Civilian resistance was crucial. The Belgian regulars were assisted by improvised attacks by locals, including a notable incident in which an elderly gentleman with an old shotgun mortally wounded a German lieutenant at close-range from the window of a building which the Germans had deemed pacified. Towards Boulevard d'Avroy, the Germans found burning carriages and hay bales presenting new obstacles.

And in the distance, visible from the boulevard, was the sight of the main station, Guillemins, torched. The Belgians had set fire to it and torn up the tracks.

By dawn, the Germans were over en masse. By 8am on the 8th August, they had control over both banks of the Meuse and were forcing their way rapidly through the centre of the town. The Belgians slowly pulled back from their positions. At 12pm, near the Gare Jonfosse, a German detachment was surprised by a Belgian ambush whilst attempting to clamber the slope to the Mont St-Martin. 27 Germans and 8 Belgians died, but the Belgian tactics (pushing yet more burning carriages down the slopers) not only helped to repulse initial German assaults up the slope but blocked the roads below with acrid smoke and burning wood).

An unintended consequence of the assault into the town was the diversion of some of the infantry massing against the Fort Barchon [1]. The initiative was now with the Belgian troops within, who switched from purely defensive fire to firing on any German movement within a 4 kilometre radius. The German commander on the ground, von Emmich, ordered the Zeppelin under his command to bomb Barchon.



[1] IOTL, Barchon fell on the 10th due to concerted infrantry attack, having repulsed an initial attack with severe casualties for the Germans.

 

[Hecatee]

Why do I feel that the Palais des Princes Evêques (prince-bischops' palace) and the area around the place du marché (market's place) will suffer, as well as areas like the Curtius house and all thoses venerable old buildings of the centre of Liège ? Good theme anymay, I hope I'll see more of it !

 

[SteveW]

Why do I feel that the Palais des Princes Evêques (prince-bischops' palace) and the area around the place du marché (market's place) will suffer, as well as areas like the Curtius house and all thoses venerable old buildings of the centre of Liège ? Good theme anymay, I hope I'll see more of it !

They will be fine- you clearly know Liege, so by this point the Germans have secured the lower part of the city and will primarily focus towards Cointe/Rue St-Gilles/Rue St-Laurent. The Gare Jonfosse will be pretty badly damaged though.

@BlairWitch: the Belgians will still withdraw, but their much slower, more destructive withdrawal will a) divert German troops from the siege of the forts and b) buy the Allies time to advance and meet the Germans in Belgium. Hoping to change the face of the Western Front- trench warfare in the Ardennes, like a Belgian Caporetto.

 

[SteveW]

The Resistance Continues

The 9th August 1914 was another violent day around Liege. Just after dawn, the Zeppelin bombed Fort Barchon. The structure suffered a lot of damage, but the gun cupolas were still active. Indeed, von Emmich's own position came under attack briefly and he was forced to pull back. He telephoned Ludendorff and gained permission for the Big Bertha to be diverted to attack Barchon. Ludendorff was getting rather anxious: he himself had been telephoned by von Moltke, Chief of the General Staff, for explanations as to why it was taking so long, and to chide him, accusing him of delaying the thrust into France.

General Leman was somewhat relieved by how Liege itself had been evacuated. He had not expected Barchon to be able to hold out, and the continuing 'bitter-end' resistance in the outskirts of the city was giving him more time to prepare his troops for the oncoming German onslaught. Using carrier pigeon, the only communication method to the besieged forces left to him, Leman ordered the forts at Fleron and Evegnee to provide as much covering fire towards Barchon as possible. This began towards dusk on the 9th, and convinced the Germans even more that an infantry attack on Barchon would be a nightmare.

Ludendorff sent a truce party to Leman to negotiate a surrender. The response was a clear no.

Meanwhile, far further to the south-west, the French general Lanrezac was despeartely, and with futility, trying to persuade Joffre that a French thrust into Wallonia was needed. He reasoned that Liege was just the start of the German activities in Belgium, and that they would try to makea major offensive to outflank his forces.

 

[SteveW]

The Fall of Barchon

By the 11th, the city itself was fully pacified. But von Emmich and Ludendorff were still frustrated by the forts and the difficulty in getting anything directly over the Meuse. A pontoon was now being constructed in the centre.

Barchon was now in full range of the Big Bertha. And it would bear the full brunt. At just after 10pm that night, the gun cupola was finally blown apart by the artillery fire. The structure itself was still sound. But still the garrison did not surrender, even as the pounding continued. Eventually, just after dawn on the 12th, the pounding took its toll and destroyed most of top levels of the structure. The garrison had lost nearly half of its men in the overnight bombardment.

The commander surrendered. But he had bought the rest of the forts, and as time would tell, the Allied forces, two valuable days. Big Bertha would now be recalibrated to level Fort Evegnee.

 

[SteveW]

Royal Anger

King Albert I got wind of Joffre's obstinancy and was deeply unimpressed. As Charles de Brocqueville, the Prime Minister of the time, noted in his diaries:

"His Majesty was livid. He kept asking why his men should be dying in the forts of Liege if no relief was to come".

Albert eventually rang Poincare on the morning of the 13th August. He told the French leader that he expected French troops to enter Belgium and assist- if needs be, to help make an attempt to break the inevitable siege of Namur that would follow Liege's inevitable fall. Poincare agreed that something needed to be done, and spoke to Joffre. But no answer was forthcoming.

In the meanwhile, Joffre had finally agreed to allow Lanzerac to take the 5th Army towards Dinant. The Germans had as yet not reached Dinant as the troops required had been diverted to break Liege. Lanzerac's thrust halted on the 13th at Dinant itself. Then, after orders from Poincare himself, Lanzerac moved on to nearby Ciney, on the road towards Liege. Although he had no intention to swinging towards the Cite Ardente, the news filtered through to the Germans that a French army was marching on Liege. As a result, von Emmich made an urgent call to Ludendorff on the afternoon of the 13th.

Ludendorff initially doubted the veracity of the reports, but a further report report later that evening of French troops being sighted near Aywaille (south of Liege) made him concerned that there was trouble ahead. In reality, the French troops seen near Aywaille were outriding scouts of the 5th Army sent purely to ascertain how far away the Germans were.

On the evening of the 13th, Ludendorff and von Emmich ordered the troops deployed near Vise to abandon their assault on the northern forts and to head south. They camped at Seraing that night, and prepared to confront what was perceived to be a relief force.

Meanwhile, the fort at Fleron had had its gun cupola destroyed by German shellfire. The siege was grinding on, but the Germans were now starting to gain the upper hand.