The 17th Battalion, which was to occupy the suburb of Fives, was met with a sharp fusillade as it left the ramparts. Organizing promptly, it drove the enemy from the railway station and fortifications, capturing a number of machine-guns and prisoners. To the north of the town, the French troops came into contact with German patrols near Wambrechies and Marquette, while the 7th cavalry Division had skirmishes in the neighbourhood of Fouquet. Meanwhile, the garrison, consisting of territorials and Algerian mounted troops, took up positions to the south of Faches and Wattignies, in liaison, at Ronchin, with other units of the 13th Division. The enemy attacked at this point, and reached the railway. On the 5th, after a sharp counter-attack, the French took Fives, Hellemmes, Flers, the Fort of Mons-en-Barœul and Ronchin. To the west of the town cavalry engagements took place along the Ypres Canal. On the 6th, the 13th Division left the outskirts of the town, following the 21st Corps in the direction of Artois. Only two battalions of Chasseurs were left in Lille. On the 7th, the two battalions of Chasseurs rejoined the 13th Division, the defence of Lille being left to the territorials and Algerian troops. On the 9th and 10th, the 2nd cavalry Corps engaged the enemy near Estaires-Merville (between Aire-sur-la-Lys and Armentières), but was unable to open the road to Lille, which was then left to its fate. At 10 a.m. on the 9th, the first enemy aeroplane appeared, and dropped two bombs on the General Post Office. In the afternoon, all men from 18 to 48 years of age were ordered to the Béthune Gate, with instructions to leave Lille immediately. [Illustration: AFTER THE BOMBARDMENT: A FALLING HOUSE IN THE RUE DE PARIS] A crowd of people from Lille, Tourcoing, Roubaix and the neighbouring villages, left on foot for Dunkirk and Gravelines. Several died on the way of exhaustion, others being taken prisoners by the Uhlans. The last train left at day-break on the 10th. At 9 a.m., the first enemy shell burst, being followed by many others which fell in the neighbourhood of the station, and on the Prefecture and Palais des Beaux-Arts. The afternoon was quiet, but at 9 a.m. the bombardment began again, lasting until 1 in the morning, then from 5 a.m. to 8 a.m. and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. On the 12th, when the garrison capitulated, 80 civilians had been killed and numerous buildings destroyed by the bombardment. That part of the town near the railway station was almost entirely destroyed _(see plan, p. 25)_.