the morning of August 5, Fort Fleron was put out of action
by shell destruction of its cupola-hoisting machinery. This proved a
weak point in Brialmont's fortress plan. It was presently discovered
that the fire of the supporting forts Evegnee and Chaudfontaine
could not command the lines forming the apex of their triangle.
Further, since the Belgian infantry was not in sufficient force
to hold the lines between the forts, a railway into Liege fell
to the enemy. The fighting here was of such a desperate nature,
that General Leman hastened to reenforce with all his reserve.

This battle went on during the afternoon and night of August 5,
into the morning of August 6, 1914. But the fall of Fort Fleron
began to tell in favor of the Germans. Belgian resistance perforce
weakened. The ceaseless pounding of the German 8.4-inch howitzers
smashed the inner concrete and stone protective armor of the forts,
as if of little more avail than cardboard. At intervals on August
6, Forts Chaudfontaine, Evegnee and Barchon fell under the terrific
hail of German shells. A way was now opened into the city, though,
for the most part, still contested by Belgian infantry. A party
of German hussars availed themselves of some unguarded path to
make a daring but ineffectual dash to capture General Leman and
his staff.

General Leman was consulting with his officers at military headquarters,
on August 6, 1914, when they were startled by shouts outside. He
rushed forth into a crowd of citizens to encounter eight men in
German uniform. General Leman cried for a revolver to defend himself,
but another officer, fearing the Germans had entered the city in
force, lifted him up over a foundry wall. Both Leman and the officer
made their escape by way of an adjacent house. Belgian Civic Guards
hastening to the scene dispatched an officer and two men of the
German raiders. The rest of the party are said to have been made
prisoners.

The end being merely a question of hours, General Leman ordered
the evacuation of the city by the infantry. He wisely decided it
could be of more service to the Belgian army at Dyle, than held in
a beleaguered and doomed city. Reports indicate that this retreat,
though successfully performed, was precipitate. The passage of it
was scattered with arms, equipment, and supplies of all kinds.
An ambulance train was abandoned, twenty locomotives left in the
railway station, and but one bridge destroyed in rear beyond immediate
r