The citizens were induced to come forth from their cellars
and hiding places to reopen the cafes and shops.
General von Buelow entered Namur on Monday morning August 24, 1914.
He was accompanied by Field Marshal Baron von der Goltz, recently
appointed Governor General of Belgium. Previous to the former Balkan
War he had been employed in reorganizing the Turkish army. An onlooker
in Namur thus describes the German Field Marshal:--"An elderly
gentleman covered with orders, buttoned in an overcoat up to his
nose, above which gleamed a pair of enormous spectacles."
General Michel attributed his defeat to the German siege guns. The
fire was so continuous upon the trenches that it was impossible
to hold them, and the forts simply crumpled under the storm of
shells. But back of General Michel's plea the allied Intelligence
Departments lacked efficiency or energy, or both, in not gaining
more than a hint, at any rate, of the enormous German siege guns
until they were actually thundering at the gates.
* * * * *
CHAPTER VIII
BATTLE OF CHARLEROI
Toward the end of the third week of August, 1914, the atmosphere
of every European capital became tense with the realization that a
momentous crisis was impending. It was known that the French-British
armies confronted German armies of equal, if not of superior strength.
In Paris and London the military critics wrote optimistically that
the Germans were marching into a trap.
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