Over all
reigned a stupefied silence, broken only by shuffling footfalls.
Among them the absence of automobiles and light horses would indicate
all such had been commandeered by the Belgian military authorities.
Their cavalry was badly in need of good light-weight mounts. At
crossroads passage to imagined safety was blocked by farm live
stock driven by bewildered peasants.
On Thursday morning, August 20, 1914, the burgomaster motored forth
to meet the Germans. His reception and the terms dictated by General
von Arnim were almost identically the same as at Louvain. The
burgomaster was perforce compelled to accept. The scene of the
entry of the German troops into Louvain was repeated at Brussels.
There was the same stolidly silent-packed gathering of onlookers on
the sidewalks, the same thundering triumphant march of the German
host. Corps after corps, probably of those who had fought at Liege,
and subsequently passed around the city on the grand sweep toward
the French frontier. Moreover, huge bodies of German troops were
advancing up the valley of the Meuse and through the woods of the
Ardennes. As in Louvain, that night the hotels, restaurants, cafes,
and shops of Brussels were patronized by a rush of trade which
never before totaled such extent in a single day. Bills of purchase
were settled by the Germans in cash. The city was promptly assessed
a war indemnity of $40,000,000.
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