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2i8 WITH THE GERMAN ARMIES IN THE WEST
it been their task to defend Antwerp, the city would not have
capitulated in thirteen days.
On its two lines of defence, the outer and the inner, Antwerp
possessed forty-nine forts and redoubts, all equipped with
the latest appliances and devices of modern technological
science. The outer line had a circumference of ninety kilo-
metres, and for complete investment would have compelled
the attacking army to operate on a front of 120 kilometres.
But for a regular siege, carried out according to the accepted
rules and canons of warfare, the Germans had no time—they
had better use for their troops in other quarters. It is always
endeavoured to shorten the attack as much as possible. From
the artillery positions in a line with the village Heyst op den
Berg the Germans proceeded to bombard the great southern
forts—with what effect I will show later. Their resistance
was entirely broken. But in order to reach the inner girdle
of defence as well as the city itself, it was necessary to force
the passage of the Nethe and silence the British artillery on
the northern bank of the river. The new line was marked by
the towns of Malines, Duffel and Lierre. The Nethe was
crossed by soldiers swimming through the ice-cold water with
ropes between their teeth in order subsequently to be able to
haul the pontoons across. When once this was achieved,
Antwerp’s fate was sealed. At eleven in the evening of the
7th of October the bombardment of the city itself began. By
an express order of the Emperor all buildings of great historic
and art value, such as the cathedral, the other churches, the
town hall, museums, etc., were to be spared. The zoological
gardens were also on the list of items which were not to be
bombarded.
The bombardment continued the whole of the 8th of October
and fire broke out at several points. In the evening and in the
night these vast conflagrations were visible from a great
distance and threw their ruddy light against the vapours
rising from the sea and the whirling smoke clouds. During
the night preceding the 9th October the bombardment in-
creased in violence and continued until the forenoon. Then
suddenly, at eleven o’clock, the firing ceased. At three the
victorious German troops entered the city with bands playing
and colours flying. There was no fighting in the streets and
no shooting from windows by civilians. Antwerp suffered no
damage beyond that sustained by the bombardment.
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