The Invasion of 1910, with a full account of the siege of LondonLe Queux, William
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The Invasion of 1910, with a full account of the siege of London
Le Queux, William
Great Britain -- Defenses; Imaginary wars and battles
His men wondered what he meant. Some halted, believing it to be a new
order which demanded further attention, until a smart young subaltern,
smiling behind his hand, shouted out, “Sauve qui peut--Every man for
himself!”
And at this there was a helter-skelter flight on the part of the whole
battalion.
The Uhlans, however, were not to be denied, and, circling round through
Attercliffe, and thence south towards Richmond Park, they effectively
placed themselves across the line of retreat of many of the fugitives.
The latter practically ran straight into the lines of the Germans, who
called to them to lay down their arms, and in half an hour along the
cordon over two thousand five hundred British of all arms found
themselves prisoners in the hands of Von Landsberg, upon whose brigade
the brunt of this attack had fallen.
General von Wedel, of the 14th Cavalry Brigade, was not inactive. He
pursued the flying columns along all the roads and country north-east of
the city. From the south came news of the cavalry of the VIIIth Corps,
which had circled through Dronfield, Woodhouse, Totley, along Abbey
Dale, till they made an unresisted entry into Sheffield from the south.
Within the town it was quickly seen that the day was lost. All
resistance had been beaten down by the victorious invaders, and now, at
the Town Hall, the British flag was hauled down, and the German ensign
replaced it. From every street leading out of the city to the west
poured a flying mob of disorganised British troops, evidently bent upon
making the best of their way into the hilly district of the Peak of
Derbyshire, where, in the course of time, they might hope to reorganise
and re-establish themselves.
The German pursuit, although very strenuous on the part of the cavalry
as far as effecting the occupation of the city was concerned, did not
extend very much beyond it. Clearly the invaders did not want to be
burdened with a large number of British prisoners whom they had no means
of interning, and whom it would be difficult to place on parole. What
they wanted was to strike terror in the great cities of the north.
Sheffield was now theirs. Nearly all the ammunition and stores of the
defenders had fallen into their hands, and they were enabled to view,
with apparent equanimity, the spectacle of retreating masses of British
infantry, yeomanry, and artillery. Westwards along the network of roads
leading in the direction of the High Peak, Derwent Dale, Bradfield,
Buxton, and on to Glossop, the British were fast retreating, evidently
making Manchester their objective.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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