[Illustration:  This bridge over the Meuse at Liege was blown up by the Belgians to delay the German advance.  The German army crossed on pontoon bridges]

[Illustration:  Belgian gunners and field gun in action on the firing line between Termond and St. Giles, Belgium]

[Illustration:  The fortress town of Namur, Belgium, whose once impregnable fortifications were shattered in a few days by the great German siege guns]

[Illustration:  The city of Malines Belgium, from which the inhabitants fled as the Germans advanced from Brussels]

[Illustration:  A Belgian machine-gun corps taking up their position in a beet field at Lebbeke on learning of the approach of the German invaders]

[Illustration:  Belgian artillery replying to the fire of the Germans.  Though hidden by trees, this battery could be detected by aeroplane scouts]

[Illustration:  Belgian soldiers intrenched along a railway line.  The fine roads and railways of Belgium and France aided the rapid advance of the invaders]

A little after General French had sent General Hamilton this warning, he received a telegram from General Joffre which he describes as “a most unexpected message.”  General Joffre’s telegram conveyed the first news to General French not only that the French Fifth Army had been defeated and was in retreat—­the first intimation even that the French right at Charleroi under General Lanrezac was in peril—­but that at least three German army corps were attacking the British.  Doubtless the German smashing of General Joffre’s planned grand counterattack, after the Germans were to be beaten, was disheartening as well as a sore disappointment.

General French possessed 75,000 men.  It was now disclosed that in front Von Kluck was hurling upon him 200,000 men, Von Buelow was hammering on his right, Von Hausen in pursuit of the French threatened his rear, while some 50,000 Germans were enveloping his left.  He had no option but to order a retreat.

Dealing with the combined action of the French and British in this critical period a French military writer says: 

“The French armies of the center—­that is to say, the Third and Fourth Armies—­had as their mission the duty of attacking the German army in Belgian Luxembourg, of attempting to put it to flight and of crumpling it up against the left flank of the German main body at the north.  This offensive on the part of the French center began on August 21, 1914.  The Third Army (General Ruffey) followed from the east to the west the course of the Semoy, a tributary on the right of the Meuse.  The Fourth Army operated between the Meuse and the Lesse.  The Germans occupied the plateau which extends from Neufchateau to Paliseul.  It is uncertain territory, covered with heaths and thick woods, and lends itself poorly to the reconnaissance work of aviators or cavalry patrols.  There are no targets for the artillery.  The Germans had strongly fortified