In the third week of September the Germans, having massed a force
believed to be sufficient for the capture of Antwerp, brought up their
heavy Krupp siege guns which had been used successfully at Liege and
Namur, and planted them within their seven-mile range, so as to command
the outer belt of forts east and south of the city. [See map of the
fortifications of Antwerp on page 102.] These huge howitzers were
reinforced by heavy siege guns furnished by Austria. The fortification
system of Antwerp was believed by its builders to be practically
impregnable, but they had not reckoned with the tremendous shattering
power and great range of the latest Krupp siege guns. For Antwerp was
destined to fall, her outer and inner defenses broken down, within ten
days from the time the siege began in earnest.

BRITISH MARINES AID DEFENDERS

The number of German troops engaged before Antwerp was variously
estimated at from 80,000 to 200,000. The siege proper began on Tuesday,
September 29. For more than a week previously there had been daily
engagements in the suburbs of the city and on several occasions the
Belgians made a sortie in force, only to encounter overwhelming numbers
of the German enemy, before whom they were compelled to retire behind
the shelter of the forts. In all these engagements the Belgians gave a
good account of themselves and inflicted severe losses on the enemy. But
the odds against them were too great and then when the great siege guns
began to thunder, it was soon realized that the city was in imminent
danger.

King Albert did all in his power to encourage the defense and by his
presence among his troops on the firing lines around the city added
greatly to his reputation as a patriotic soldier. A force of several
thousand British marines, coming from Ostend, aided the Belgian defense
in the last days of the siege, but all efforts were unavailing. One by
one the forts succumbed to the German fire with which the Belgian guns
could not cope, and German troops penetrated nearer and nearer to the
doomed city.

Finally, on October 9, when the inhabitants were in a state of terror
as a result of the long-continued bombardment of the forts, and the
shelling of the city, further resistance was seen to be useless, the
defending forces, Belgian and British, made their escape to Ostend or
into the neutral territory of Holland, the city formally capitulated
through the Burgomaster, and occupation by the Germans foll