German invasion of Belgium

By early August 1914 Germany had two armies positioned in Alsace and Lorraine along its border with France, two more facing Luxembourg and three close to the narrow border with Belgium. The latter five armies were the key component of the Schlieffen plan and were set west to go into northeast France where they would swing due south the greatest effort had to be done by the first and second armies the first commanded by general Alexander von Kluck and the second commanded by Karl von Bulow around 580,000 in total in men and 1,700 in artillery.

Fall of Liege 

As speed was crucial to the success of the Schlieffen  plan, Belgium's frontier fortresses had to be neutralised as soon as possible realising this general Karl von Bulow sent some 30,000 special troops from his army to neutralise the fort city of Liege they were very well trained and thus fought under the cover of darkness on the 5th / 6th 1914, the specially trained troops commanded by Otto von Emmerich and Emmerich's troops tried to go through the forts gaps but were repulsed but the heavy guns made it a short work.The beat off a small Belgian counterattack near Tirlemont and occupied Brussels the next day while Bulow advanced along the east-west line of the rivers Meuse and Sambre. King Albert the Belgian commander realised that his tiny and under equipped army had no chances of stopping the German steamroller . He therefore sent one of his division to garrison Namur while the rest of his force occupied Antwerp both cities were protected by fortresses and stood in the Germans way . Kluck detached some corps to blockade Antwerp and prevent any sorties from reaching his right flank but the bulk of his fist army and Bulow's second army still continued westward 

Belgium conquered 

Bulow crossed the Sambre on the 22nd. Namur, which was now behind his lines was attacked on the twentieth and the siege proper began the next day. The fighting followed the same pattern as liege. Heavy hotwitzers destroyed the outer nine forts in succession and the city surrendered on the 25th . The Germans won but thier troops were becoming extremely fatigued because of combat and long marches under unusually warm late summer.