page_title: Battle of Liège
section_title: 8–16 August
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Liège / Siege / 8–16 August
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Pont Léopold Liège 1914
context_page_description: The Battle of Liège was the opening engagement of the German invasion of Belgium and the first battle of the First World War. The attack on Liège, a town protected by the Fortified position of Liège, a ring fortress built from the late 1880s to the early 1890s, began on 5 August 1914 and lasted until 16 August, when the last fort surrendered. The siege of Liège may have delayed the German invasion of France by four to five days. Railways in the Meuse river valley needed by the German armies in eastern Belgium were closed for the duration of the siege and German troops did not appear in strength before the Fortified Position of Namur at the confluence of the Sambre and Meuse rivers until 20 August.
context_section_description: Bülow gave command of the siege operations at Liège to the VII Corps commander (General Karl von Einem) with the IX and X Corps under his command. The three corps had been ordered to advance over the Belgian border on 8 August. At Liège, on 7 August, Emmich sent liaison officers to make contact with the brigades scattered around the town. The 11th Brigade advanced into the town and joined the troops there on the western fringe. The 27th Brigade arrived by 8 August, along with the rest of the 11th and 14th brigades. Fort Barcheron fell after a bombardment by mortars and the 34th Brigade took over the defence of the bridge over the Meuse at Lixhe. On the southern front the 38th and 43rd Brigades retreated towards Theux, after a false report that Belgian troops were attacking from Liège and Namur. On the night of 10/11 August Einem ordered that Liège be isolated on the eastern and south-eastern fronts by the IX, VII and X corps as they arrived and allotted the capture of Forts Liers, Pontisse, Evegnée and Fléron to IX Corps and Chaudfontaine and Embourg to VII Corps as X Corps guarded the southern flank.
  Before the orders arrived, Fort Evegnée was captured after a bombardment. IX Corps isolated Fort Pontisse on 12 August and began a bombardment of Forts Pontisse and Fléron during the afternoon, with 380 mm (15 in) coastal mortars and Big Bertha 420 mm (17 in) siege howitzers. The VII Corps heavy artillery began to fire on Fort Chaudfontaine, Fort Pontisse was surrendered and IX Corps crossed the Meuse to attack Fort Liers. Fort Liers fell in the morning of 14 August and the garrison of Fort Fléron surrendered in the afternoon, after a Minenwerfer bombardment. The X Corps and the 17th Division were moved to the north and VII Corps to the south of the Liège–Brussels railway and on 15 August, a bombardment began on the forts to the west of the town. Fort Boncelles fell in the morning and Fort Lantin in the afternoon; Fort Loncin was obliterated by a magazine explosion and Léman was captured. Forts Hollogne and Flémalle were surrendered on the morning of 16 August after a short bombardment.
caption: Destroyed bridge in the Liège city centre
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