The Belgian troops engaged are the 3rd Division and 15th Mixed Brigade. The Germans are reported as the 7th, 9th, and 10th Corps under General von Emmich. The detachments of Germans captured which I have seen have all been cavalry. They are mostly boys of from eighteen to twenty-four years old. Their grey uniforms are stripped of all insignia, and they have covered their helmets with grey drill. In justice to the attacking force, I must say that their artillery practice was excellent. This fact only adds to the credit of the Belgian defence. In all honour to the work done by the army, the spirit of the citizens of Liège also merits the highest praise. It takes courage to sit still under a bombardment. And this is what the civilians have had to do. Their courage was also tested to the utmost by the stories of murder and rapine told by the panic-stricken refugees coming in from the outlying towns. Fortunately, so far, the German shells have done little harm to the city proper. Yet it seems contrary to the spirit of our boasted civilisation that the rules of war permit an enemy to drop projectiles among women and children. Liège is a fortified town, and under this classification it is liable to artillery attack without notice. In a subsequent despatch Mr. Fortescue emphasised the fact that the dogged resistance of the Belgians had been of the highest military importance for two reasons: in the first place, it had given France time to complete her mobilisation; and, in the second, it had given the British army time to mobilise and to begin its landing on the Continent. At noon on August 11th, the Press Bureau issued a statement showing, _inter alia_, the disposition of the German forces at Liège, so far as they were known. The statement said that about two German cavalry divisions were reported in the neighbourhood of Tongres; three German corps were still opposite Liège; other German troops were reported to be entrenching the line of the River Aisne. The large German force was moving through Luxemburg, and the advanced troops were now on the Belgian frontier. CHAPTER III Preliminary Atrocities--Bravery of the Belgians--Battle of Haelen-Diest