On the same day, a French witness, the correspondent of a Paris paper, spoke of the German advance as extending “over a line of nearly 100 miles, spreading out in a formidable fan-like movement, preceded by a swarm of scouts in all directions, which sweeps over the country from Brussels to Arlon. The German hordes are on the march over five different routes towards France. They will find men to meet them.” M. Auguste Mellot, deputy of Namur, saw in that town on August 21 eleven German Army Corps “pass the Meuse coming from Visé, a powerful force being detailed to mask their march.” The German troops engaged in this action probably amounted to fewer than half that number. The lines of the Allied Armies practically covered every assailable point from Condé to Dinant. Mr. Maxwell thus described the position of the British forces just before the great battle which began on Saturday, August 22:— The 1st British Cavalry Division (General Allenby) had its headquarters at Givry, close to the frontier, and was moving north in the direction of Binche. Cavalry covered the south-east of Mons. It was pushed forward also toward Fontaine l’Evêque, west of Charleroi, and, generally speaking, threatened to raid the left flank of the Germans advancing rapidly from the direction of Brussels. An immense army was gathered on the frontier, and had passed into Belgium. Mons was the point of greatest concentration of the British. It was an army marching to attack, for there was no attempt at making defensive works. From Mons the British army extended west along the canal from Mons, from Maubeuge through Bavay, on to Valenciennes, where the Highland regiments created immense enthusiasm. From the western end of the canal at Mons, Belgian territory has few defenders. Most of the men have been withdrawn from that side. Prussian patrols swarm over the country, and it is clear that behind them is a great army. Sir John French, in his first admirable despatch, gives a history of the activities of the British Expeditionary Force during that eventful week in August from the 21st to the 28th when our troops were fighting against overwhelming odds. We will divide the despatch into sections, which will fall into place as our story proceeds. He says:— The concentration [of the troops] was practically complete on the evening of Friday, August the 21st, and I was able to make dispositions to move the Force during Saturday, the 22nd, to positions I considered most favourable from which to commence operations which the French Commander-in-Chief, General Joffre, requested me to undertake in pursuance of his plans in the prosecution of the campaign. The line taken up extended along the line of the canal from Condé on the west, through Mons and Binche on the east. This line was taken up as follows:—