Now that Liége was in their hands, vast quantities of stores were poured into the city, and brigade after brigade came flocking in from North Germany. The hill roads of the Ardennes were choked with troops and convoys; the railways which the Belgians had destroyed were repaired, and over these, and over the undamaged lines from Luxemburg, came an almost endless stream of men, guns, and supplies. * * * * * Meanwhile the Germans were able to attack all the forts on the right bank of the river from the rear. These soon fell; but those on the west of the city still held out. The most powerful of them was Fort Loncin, situated on the great main road to Brussels. On 11th August the bombardment of this fort began. A German officer with signal flags advanced up to about two hundred yards from it, and directed the fire of the big guns. During the whole night, at intervals of ten minutes, the Germans threw their shells into the fort, causing great damage. The outer works were destroyed, and the armour plating of the windows was crushed. All the outer works were so filled with the fumes from the shells that the men were driven into the fort. Soon the suffocating smoke found its way inside, and almost choked the men working the guns. [Illustration: Fort Loncin after Bombardment. _Photo, Alfieri Picture Service_.] On the morning of the 15th the end came. A large number of heavy German guns were trained on the fort, and they literally smothered it with explosive shells. The vault occupied by General Leman and his staff suffered terrific blows which made the whole place tremble. The ventilating apparatus was destroyed, and the room was filled with deadly fumes and dust. During an interval in the firing the general left the fort to view the awful destruction around him. When the bombardment began again he started to return to the vault, but had hardly moved a few paces when a strong and powerful rush of air threw him to the ground. He rose and tried to go, but was kept back by a flood of poisonous fumes which nearly suffocated him. Then he tried to save the garrison, but fell down in a swoon, and was discovered by the enemy pinned to the ground by fallen beams. When he recovered he found himself in the hands of the Germans, who gave him water, and carried him from the ruins which he had so nobly defended.