On the first day of World War I for the Kingdom of Belgium, around 0900, 12 regiments of the 2nd and 4th Cavalry Divisions invaded the district of Herve, which would permit a rapid advance to the Meuse. The cavalry needed to seize Vise, which commanded the passage of the Meuse. Without Vise, it would be impossible to invest Liege or to deploy a cavalry screen on the left bank to mask the main army's movements.
Behind the cavalry, the mass of the Army of the Meuse, 130,000 strong, entered Belgium by the road from Aix-La-Chapelle, by the main road from Gemmenich to Vise, by the valley of the Vesdre, and by the Malmedy Road. The distance from the border to the Meuse River was 30 kilometers. By mid-afternoon, the Germans had reached the position Bombaye-Herve-Pepinster-Remouchamps.
At 1300, the 2nd and 4th found the bridges at Vise and Argenteau destroyed. The 2nd Battalion of the 12th Belgian Line Regiment under Major Collyns was deployed on the left bank to disrupt any attempted river crossings. The Germans attempted to build a pontoon bridge and came under heavy fire from across the river and from Fort Pontisse. The 2nd Battalion, with no cannon or machine guns, valiantly defended the river approaches until forced to withdraw towards the south. German casualties were high. Further north, at Lixhe, on the Dutch frontier, two Hussar regiments forded the river. The Belgian left was turned and the heroid 2nd was forced to retire in good order.
German bombardment of the retreating Belgians was answered by the guns of Fort Pontisse. By 1615, the 12th had pulled back to the Liers-Meuse interval defenses. The guns of Battice held off Von der Marwitz's forces for the rest of the day and he was forced to bivouac for the night without reaching his objective. The Germans had received their first taste of the Belgian spirit. In the desperate hours to come, the ferocious defense of Liege would exact a greater toll on the right bank.
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