October 10, 1914 
LxVXD AND WATER 
siiificioutly show the ijiipoitancc of tliis news. It 
mcaus that whether by the releasiug ol" men rroin the 
gan-isons iu Belgium, or from the anival of new 
contingents, or from transference from the east, the 
enemy proposes to bring fiu-thcr forces ujjon the ilank 
of the existing French line, that is upon if not behind 
its western extreme. It is he who is attempting to 
lengthen still further the extension of this great new 
front which during the last fortnight has crept up 
from Noyon northwards until it has now reached the 
Belgian frontier. 
What fortunes the move may have we cannot 
tell for at least two days. 
AVe learn from the same communication and 
from one previous to it that there has again been 
some slight advance in the centre or rather in the 
loft centre over the trenches that have defended the 
crest of the plateau above Soissons and towards 
(Jraonne. In this local success the French acknow- 
ledge the aid of the British contingents. But there 
has been no serious development or change along the 
old main front between the Oise and the Argonne. 
THE SIEGE OF ANTWERP. 
have the ring of " old forts," the original works by 
Avhich the modem city was defended. Strictly speaking, 
the scheme is not a ring but three-quarters of a circle 
reposing upon the Scheldt, most of the country 
behind or to the west of which is not available for 
siege operations because it can be flooded, and 
because the last portion of it is foreign territory 
and Dutch. 
Finally, a third set of defences, at an average of 
about ten to fifteen thousand yards from the centre 
of the city, consisting in a chain of modern forts, 
completes the scheme. 
It is against the southern sector of these outer 
forts that the Gennan howitzer fire has been directed 
during the last few days. The attack began last 
Tuesday moi-ning upon the works of AVaelhem and 
Wavrc St. Catherine. Next day it was extended to 
the work at LieiTC. Upon Thursday evening these 
works were still replying, but upon the Friday a 
breach in the outer ring was so far effected that the 
besieging army was able to reach the line of the Biver 
Nethe behind it. 
Here appeared, and is still appearing, what has 
become a characteristic of all efforts against permanent 
K> 
1 
)'AJ.errc 
^ Fort 
Wavre*Ste 
Catlxenne 
"Rande of 10.000yds. 
tLA.N- BUOWIKO THE J OKTlFICiTIOXS ROCKD AXTWJCKr. 
There are many reasons why speculation upon 
the course of the last great Gorman oj)ei'ation, the 
Siege of Antwerp, shoidd be prudently restricted. 
But it is impossible to give a summary of the news 
this week without saying something of this most 
important development. It will be sufficient if we 
confine ourselves to the official communiques and note 
their bearing upon the situation. 
llie City of Antwerp is protected by three groups 
of works. First, immediately round its densely- 
inliabited portion the old continuous dit<.'h or eiiceinte. 
This rampart, though it has no relation to modem 
fortification, prevents something which has happened 
to all the other brailment rings in the north, and 
which would not have happened to them had they 
also possessed a ditch and rampart. I mean the 
introduction of small Ixxlies of the euomy between 
the outer forts into the heart of a place. 
Next, outside the suburbs and at ranges vaiymg 
from aOOO to 4000 yards to the heart of the city, you 
works in this w^ar, and what will be just as apparent 
when we come to attack Geraian permanent works in 
our turn. It is one of the chief lessons of the 
campaign. Howitzer fire dominates regular fortifica- 
tion far more than was imagined before the war broke 
out, but on the other hand the resisting power of 
infantry and field artillery behind any defensive line 
is far greater than was expected. It is exactly what 
you had in the attack upon the Mouse the other day 
in front of St. Mihieh The permanent works fell. or 
were silenced by heavy howitzer fire in a little over 
two days' engagement, but the defence of the infantry 
upon the other side of the stream rendered useless 
this achievement, and, though a breach had been driven 
through a line of rogukr fortification, progress could 
not be made beyond that line. The Belgian Amiy has 
Ijeen able to maintain itself Ijehind the Nethe and the 
Dyle ever since the first attack was made. The 
official communique which tells us that the German 
shells wei-e falling as far as Contich also tells us that 
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