Great Britain -- Defenses; Imaginary wars and battles
In the Harrow Road and those cross streets between Kensal Green and
Maida Vale the advancing Germans shared much the same fate as about
Hackney. Surrounded by the armed populace, hundreds upon hundreds of
them were killed, struck down by hatchets, stabbed by knives, or shot
with revolvers, the crowd shouting, "Down with the Germans! Kill them!
Kill them!"
Many of the London women now became perfect furies. So incensed were
they at the wreck of their homes and the death of their loved ones that
they rushed wildly into the fray with no thought of peril, only of
bitter revenge. A German whenever caught was at once killed. In those
bloody street fights the Teutons got separated from their comrades and
were quickly surrounded and done to death.
[Illustration: LONDON AFTER THE BOMBARDMENT.]
Across the whole of the northern suburbs the scenes of bloodshed that
night were full of horror, as men fought in the ruined streets, climbing
over the smouldering _débris_, over the bodies of their comrades, and
shooting from behind ruined walls. As Von Kronhelm had anticipated, his
Army was compelled to fight its way into London.
The streets all along the line of the enemy's advance were now strewn
with dead and dying. London was doomed.
The Germans now coming on in increasing, nay, unceasing numbers, were
leaving behind them everywhere the trail of blood. Shattered London
stood staggered.
Though the resistance had been long and desperate, the enemy had again
triumphed by reason of his sheer weight of numbers.
Yet, even though he were actually in our own dear London, our people did
not mean that he should establish himself without any further
opposition. Therefore, though the barricades had been taken, the Germans
found in every unexpected corner men who shot at them, and Maxims which
spat forth their leaden showers beneath which hundreds upon hundreds of
Teutons fell.
Yet they advanced, still fighting. The scenes of carnage were awful and
indescribable, no quarter being given to any armed citizens not in
uniform, be they men, women, or children.
The German Army was carrying out the famous proclamation of Field
Marshal von Kronhelm to the letter!
They were marching on to the sack of the wealthiest city of the world.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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