On the morning of August 25th there were few German troops in Louvain. The greater part of those that had entered the town since the 19th had passed on to the front in the direction of Malines, and were now engaged in resisting the Belgian sortie from Antwerp, which was made this day. As the Belgian offensive made progress, the sound of the cannon became louder and louder in Louvain,[165] and the German garrison grew increasingly uneasy. Despatch riders from the front kept arriving at the Kommandantur;[166] at 4.0 o’clock a general alarm was sounded;[167] the troops in the town assembled and marched out towards the north-western suburbs;[168] military waggons drove in from the north-west in disorder, “their drivers grasping revolvers and looking very much excited.”[169] At the same time, reinforcements[170] began to detrain at the _Station_, which stands at the eastern extremity of the town, and is connected with the central _Grand’ Place_ and with the University buildings by the broad, straight line of the _Rue de la Station_, flanked with the private houses of the wealthier inhabitants. These fresh troops were billeted hastily by their officers in the quarters nearest the _Station_.[171] The cavalry were concentrated in the _Place du Peuple_, a large square lying a short distance to the left of the _Rue de la Station_, about half-way towards the _Grand’ Place_.[172] The square was already crowded with the transport that had been sent back during the day from the front.[173] As the reinforcements kept on detraining, and the quarters near the _Station_ filled up, the later arrivals went on to the _Grand’ Place_ and the _Hôtel-de-Ville_,[174] which was the seat of the Kommandantur. During all this time the agitation increased. About 7.0 o’clock a company of Landsturm which had marched out in the afternoon to the north-western outskirts of the town, were ordered back by their battalion commander to the _Place de la Station_--the extensive square in front of the _station buildings_, out of which the _Rue de la Station_ leads into the middle of the city.[175] The military police pickets[176] in the centre of the city were on the alert. Between 7.0 and 7.30 the alarm was sounded again,[177] and the troops who had arrived that afternoon assembled from their billets and stood to arms.[178] The tension among them was extreme. They had been travelling hard all day; they had entered the town at dusk; it was now dark, and they did not know their way about the streets, nor from what quarter to expect the enemy forces, which were supposed to be on the point of making their appearance. It was in these circumstances that, a few minutes past eight o’clock, the shooting in Louvain broke out.