and moved to the front in an orderly manner, and with such remarkable precision as denoted long and careful preparation for just this emergency. All the railroad trains of the German Empire were used to move the army. There were no passenger trains running during this week of mobilization. It was this marvelous speed upon which the Kaiser was counting to get his forces to Paris before the French could mobilize their army for defense.

Germany also had some new and murderous weapons upon which she was counting to aid in her SECRET charge. For some time after the war of BIG GUNS 1870 it was thought that artillery fire in itself was enough to reduce a fort and that infantry attacks were no longer necessary. But armored concrete forts were later introduced. This changed the tactics which were for so long believed to be effective. It was argued that although the guns of a fort might be silenced by the attacking artillery, it was hardly likely that the armor of the forts could be destroyed, and it was probable that in most instances the silenced guns could be repaired and replaced by the time the attacking force could move their guns close enough to shorten the range. The attacking force was necessarily put at a great disadvantage.

Germany, wishing to reduce the forts quickly, set about making bigger guns with longer range, so that her troops could stand off many miles and destroy forts without the guns of the fort being able to reach hers in reply. Her big mortars fire shells 161⁄2 inches in diameter. They were made in the Krupp gun factory and the world knew nothing about them. This gun is so heavy that it requires a concrete foundation which it takes several days

to prepare. The shells weigh nearly a ton and can hit a fort 22 miles away. A few shots from this powerful gun will destroy any fort made of steel and concrete. Other nations did not know of this weapon.

Another great gun, a field howitzer of the Germans, fires shells 11 inches in diameter. It has as part of its equipment two tractors for moving it with an advancing army. One of the tractors pulls the gun itself, which weighs about twenty-five tons. It is mounted for movement on a special carriage. The other tractor pulls the gun carriage, which weighs slightly less than the gun. The ammunition is carried separately and as each shell weighs in the neighborhood of 800 pounds, it creates a big problem of transport in itself. The wheels of this outfit are of the tread-rail type. They move well over soft ground and the whole can be moved over good roads with remarkable speed. The range of the gun is about six miles. The shells burst with a deadly effect, the flying fragments scattering over a radius of fifty feet. The poisonous gases which are generated reach to a distance of thirty to forty feet more. The effect of one of these shells therefore covers an area about 150 feet across. The gases are not as deadly in the open as in the passages of the fort.

The German war lords knew that their guns could easily outrange those of the forts which they were planning to reduce. There were in the forts many 6-inch and 9-inch guns which could not shoot nearly as far as the bigger German guns. The Germans thought all they would have to do was to batter the enemy's forts into a shapeless mass with their big guns, which were easily directed by airplanes

flying over the heads of the defenders, and then, by an overwhelming infantry assault, capture the tangled pile of masonry and steel.

THE FRENCH

The French also had one surprise for the world. They brought out a secret gun known as the "seventy-five." It fires a three“SEVENTY-FIVES" inch shell and is in important respects the finest gun of its size in the war. The French army was well equipped with this excellent weapon, but neither they nor the English had a sufficient variety of big guns. The German army was well supplied with cannon of all sizes, and during the first years of the war this gave them a big advantage in artillery warfare. It was not until 1916 that the Allies were able to match the enemy gun for gun,

CHAPTER VÍ

THE CAMPAIGN OF 1914-BELGIUM

CONQUERED

Liege was the fortified Belgian city guarding the passage to the Meuse River. The Germans attacked it on August 4, 1914, two days after war was declared. They had three army corps, or about 120,000 men. It was defended by the gallant General Leman with 40,000 Belgians. Liege was protected by six major and six minor forts. The Belgians had two regiments occupying positions assisting the forts. They defended Liege with magnificent courage. For three days the German army tried to storm the forts, but in vain. They attacked in solid ranks but the Belgian machine guns mowed them down like grain. The world was staggered by the terrible slaughter.

The Germans then attacked the regiments in the field and gradually drove them back by massed attacks until the Germans were enabled to approach the city. On August 6th they silenced one of the forts and entered Liege on August 7th, but several of the forts still held until Sunday, August 9th, when they were completely surrounded. For six days more General Leman maintained his defense until the last fort under his command had been reduced to a heap of ruins and he, himself, was suffocated by gas from the exploding shells and taken prisoner. The Germans had at last brought up their big mortars and with a few shots smashed

every fort. They were so impressed with Leman's great courage that they allowed him to retain his sword.

DELAY

In the meantime France was counting on the forts of Belgium to hold the Germans back until her armies were ready for the field. The SAVES PARIS brave little Belgian army had held out long enough to delay the German hosts until England could land her first body of troops in France. This delay of the German hosts also gave France a chance to marshall her armies. On August 18, 1914, the British had landed 120,000 men in France and they were soon on their way to Belgium to meet the Germans.

After the fall of Liege, German troops swept through northern Belgium. They put forth their cavalry as a screen for the main armies and pushed them rapidly across northeastern Belgium. Although they met stubborn resistance at many places, they were so strong in numbers and so welltrained that, with their matchless guns, they overcame all opposition. They occupied Louvain and then marched unopposed into Brussels, the capital of Belgium. The Belgian army retired to Antwerp. The Allies were counting on the forts of Namur to check the Germans again as they had been delayed at Liege. But Namur fell with surprising haste, for Germany now kept her big guns near the front of her marching hosts and they so outdistanced all guns in the forts that there was little use to oppose them. The walls of the great fortresses were soon pounded to pieces.

When Namur fell, on August 22, Belgium was virtually conquered except for a strip of the west coast and the city of Antwerp. A few weeks later