SEVEN GERMAN REGIMENTS SURRENDER

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2224, 10 August 1914, Page 5

SEVEN GERMAN REGIMENTS SURRENDER

; 25,000 CASUALTIES ACKNOWLEDGED. BELGIANS STILL HOLD THEIR OWN AT LIEGE t (Press Association Extraordinary.) ' . 'tr_ .v ' „ London, August 7. An of&oial message from Brussels states that the Germans have asked for & twenty-four hours amistice, aiid acknowledges that they jiaro had 25.000 casualvied* . (Eeo. August' 9, 9.80 a.m.) ... « .'V ' . . '■ Brussels, August 8. It is officially reported that an armistice was refused. • ■> „ A °, f German oavalry forded the Meuse north of Liege; and was practio'elly annihilated. * - . * . Seven Tegmenta surrendered, and have Teached the town, . Eec. August 9, 5.5 p.m.) ■ . ■ Londoni August 7. . " Heavy fighting and bombardment of the fortresses, continues at Liege. The Belgians are holding their own. > The. battles on Franco-German frontier during the next ten days will not be a struggle between tho main.masses, but a conflict between' covering troops designed to protect the*concentration zones from hobtila incursions. Six Germanjarmy corps form the covering armyj numbering 300,000 men. of which 101,000' are rifles, 12,000 sabres, and the remainder men for 1044 guns. ENEMY ALMOST ANNIHILATED AT VISE. Eec. August. 9, 5.5 p.m.) 1 Brussels, August 6. An eye-witness of the oombat at Visa affirms that a squadron of Prussian cavalry moved towards the Vise bridge, on whioh the Belgians made a breach sixty metres wide. The. Belgians, hidden by the broken piers, opened a dross-fire, aid almost annihilated the enemy.\ 'Simultaneously shots were fired from the houses on the right bank of the Vise, which the Germans had already occupied. The German soldiery then commenced an indiscriminate massacre of the inhabitants, and fired< at the Hed Cross.' The Belgians blew, up the villages, churches, and other buildings in the'line of fire of Liege forts. The Belgians destroyed two regiments of Uhlans fit Spa. .. ; , KING OF BELGIANS TAKES COMMAND. King Albert, commands lip French and Belgian'troops with Combined French •ndlßelgian staffs. t Before leaving for the front the King placed his Brussels Palace at the dis-' :/osal of the Bed'. Cross Society. . v ■l prbclamaticii to the- Army says:. "Our neighbour, -haugjity in /to strength, has. torn up the treaty bearing its signature and 'violated our ter•b'e??" Seeing its independence threatened their children sprang to the fton- 1 ANOTHER NAEBATIVB OF THE FIGHTING. An Independent Cable Association message from London, date<T Friday, Brussels reports fighting round Liege. - The Germans attacking Fort Bfcrohot were compelled tav retire, murderous machine "gun and rifle fire leaving heaDs oi dead and woundid. Some reports allege that the Belgians captured seventeen machine guns The berman Uhlans (Lancers) made a desperate attempt to capture the Befaan srsterf',titeM.ri»trd.?vS , s.* 1 ' incli Th6 net reSUlt ° f the flghtißg is ttat i tha Germans did not gain a single . Many German wounded havo ' entered Dutch territory. ■ The Germans lost their biggest Zeppelin airship. A- shell from a speciallydesigned aircraft gun penetrated the envelope and the dirigible fell All of the twenty-six occupants vrere tolled* A Belgian aviator named Forneau fought an aerial duel" I new' Verviers 6 with a German aeroplane, the hglit lasting twenty minutes. The machines 'manoeuvred for positions, the airmen exchanging revolver shots, The invader fled — ("Times" and Sydney Sun Services,) • FRENCH COUNTER MOVEMENT EXPECTED. (Rec. August 9, 5.5 p.m.) ./The Tenth Army Corps, reinforced by cavalry, ' light, and crossed, the ljiined zones, whioh were exploded. Whole battalion were killed. Iwelvo thousand Gorman wounded were picked np. Not a fort was - captured. Six German officers, disguised as Englishmen, made their way at four o'clock in the morning to the Governor's office and all were killed. The Governor es. cap'ed. ■ , i . Liege's gallant >defence is greatly assisting the, French mobilisation. It is understood General Joffre talongs to the forward school of French militarists, which 19 likely to favour a counter Offensive nlSveihont, possibly driving a wedge between the" outflanking attack in Belgium and tho main German aririite in Lorraine and Alsace.Jurthcr , details of the fight n't Fort Barohon show the Germans rnsliM a strong column between Forts Barchoii a„d Devonco, under cover of artillery fire Th« invaders crept up to Barchon, and tho Belgians reserved tlieir fire until the jnemy Was at close quarters prepared for the final onslaught, then the Belgian* loosed a .perfect bail of lead from their Hotchkiss guns, which wrought terrible havoc. The ground resembled a shambles. Meanwhile forty guns at Chaudi'onMito wmUr'ded thp enemy, some of whom tflot refuse in a chateau.

GERMAN GTTNS ABANDONED.

' This morning: tho Belgian artillery roduced Chateau to ruins. A Belgian shell fell in the middle of a German retreating column, and caused heavy losses, The enemy abandoned Seventeen machine guns. One squadron of Belgian Lancoia was completely wiped out after killing 150 Uhlans. The Germans atLieite on Thursday Continued their 1 reckless tactics of sacrificing hundreds.of man in column frontal attaoks.. The survivors olimbod tho glacis and reached trenches; the commander foresaw this contingency, and placed guns in position to sweop the glaois. Tho Germans on reaching the trcnches were Mviped ; out. An attack on Liege, via tho River Visere is impracticable, the winding rortto being unsuited fdr a largo army, and tho tunnels and bridges are mixed. Tho alternative is via Hei'vc, whore there are plenty of roads, or via Gemminih, but probably by feinting an attack it will be possible to movo via Hervo, Several German howitzers avo already in position, whiie the bulk of the attackers, with heavy artillery, advance through the pi ains to the north-east, of Liege, 'consequently General Huy has special bodies of Liege Garde Civiquo now guarding tho' bridges. APPEAL TO BELGIANS TO STOP FIGHTING. The defence of Liege is a triumph for Leimnn, who was formerly an engineer officer. He had special guns mounted on the rise against German aircraft. Seven guns were-captured from .the Seventh German Army Corps. . ,On Wednesday eight Uhlan officers passed between the two forts and entered Liege wearing the new German grey campaign uniforms. , The townsfolk' thought it was the English uniform, and shouted "Vive L'Anglaise." The Uhlans entered the Belgian Headquarters, and a hand-to-hand fight followed. Tho fortifications afforded admirable resistance to the Germans' shell*. The Vegnee fort was in action all day, and was absolutely unharmed. General Vonemnich, commanding tho German Army • aj;'tho Meuse, appealed to the Belgians to avoid a conflict and recoiled Waterloo. He added the destruction of bridges, tunnels, and railways would be considered hostile actions. '. ADVANCE OF 400,000 MEN EXPECTED. (Roc. August 9, 5.5 p.m.) — ' Brussels, August 6. _ The German attack was concentrated on Barchon. On AVednesday niorning the German cavalry engaged in evolutions to the north of Liego. while the infantry sought.to cross tho Meuse, but were driven back by the forks' fire. . \ ■■ It'is estimated a force of four hundred thousand Germans are likely to attack Prance through' Belgium. It is possible the German attack on Liego w&b designed to prevent interference with German advances westwards, south of the Mouse. French strategists long ago anticipated a German advance through Belgium, and tnado dispositions to meet it. THE FORTIFICATIONS OF LIEGE. (Reo. August 9, 9.30 a.m.). ' Brussels, Aujjust 8. Liege is defended by six forts and six fortius, or little forts, forming a ring of five, milea outside the city. Of,these Barchon, Devegnee, and Chaudfontaino are on tho western flank, tho Citadel at DelapierreUse within the city, on the north side is: the river, and the Fort Delauchartreux at tho south-eastern comer of the city. ; ( ■ , . :** On Sunday thirty thousand navvies began digging deep trenches, preparing obstacles, cutting down w&xlb, and destroying buildings wlhieh interfered with the defohders' fire. Lord Sydenham in 1890, reporting to tho late King Leopold, estimated that with 71,000 men in the field and adequate garrisons in the forts, Liege might hold out for a month possibly. The French are sending help to the Belgians at Namur, the other of the two ohief fortresses on. the Meuse. . . . The Belgian defences at Liege find the Meuse consist of great works in concrete with numbers of cupolas or turrets. The northern gap leads to the rugged Argonne country; the southern gap leads into the basins of the Meuse, Marne an<l Seine, and are quite suitable for .military operations with great masses of men, but the forts of Tonl tmd Luneville have made the route hazardous, forcing the Germans to choose tlio Luxemburg and Belgian routes., The eastern corner of Belgium and Luxemburg is broken country, consisting largely of forests, and unfavourable for the movements of a large army. On the contrary, the'west of the Meuse and Samble is open country, interaeoted by railways, and is ideal territory to start operations on the largest scaled The protection of tho Belgian ■ frontiers are oldfashioned fortresses. longwy, and Montmedy are mddorn forts, also MeziercS and Givet, and there is an entrenched camp at Maubeuge. ■