An attack in the morning.
3rd of September, Tournai.
Like some Belgian towns Tournai had fallen without any significant fighting, the German soldiers who entered the town had immediately arrested the mayor and other notables as well as any men of military age. They would be used for two purposes, hostages in the first part but also as labourers to help the German army with all those tasks which men could be driven to perform. The garrison for Tournai would be men drawn from a Landwehr Brigade, these units were drawn from men who had completed both their active service duty and their reserve service. These men were not in the first flush of youth nor were they as well trained as their younger compatriots, but they were more than capable of pointing a rifle at a man and telling him to dig a trench or unload a train.
General Friedrich Sixt von Armin was the commander of the IV Corps of the First Army. His corps was the boundary unit with the Second Armies VII corps under the command of General Karl von Einem. Communications between IV and VII Corps had mainly been travelling via Army Headquarters but both Generals had agreed to use a number of motor cars as couriers, this was done to reduce the time delay which had seen messages take up to 12 hours to complete the journey. This delay was making co-ordination between the two Corps very difficult and had driven the unorthodox solution. At present the routing being used by the dispatch drivers was secured by the presence of cavalry screen and the lack of enemy activity. General von Sixt was planning to outflank the British and act as a shoulder for further penetration of the Entente line. Once the first army was astride their line of retreat they would role the BEF and the French Fifth army up.
It seemed that the British Army was content to squat astride the Mons-Condee Canal oblivious to the threat posed by First army, which was rapidly advancing and would soon be in a position, to threaten the lines of supply for the BEF.
Karl von Einem was intending to start a series of holding attacks against the BEF, his cavalry had already clashed inconclusively with that of the BEF with both sides drawing blood but not gaining any particular advantage. His goal was to engage the British whilst the First Army outflanked them. He reviewed the air reconnaissance reports, they also noted that the British appeared to have additional troops concentrated on the Mons Conde Canal line. What limited intelligence reports he had received from higher command indicated that the British had deployed territorial force units to Belgium and France, the British Territorials were nothing like his reserve units being comprised of men who had not ever done any active service for the most part but instead trained once per week, one weekend per month and 15 days of annual camp per year. Their equipment was reported to be obsolete, and he imagined their morale would be poor. Against his well-trained forces he did not imagine they would hold.
His orders were already going out to the subordinate units, the attacks would commence in the morning. His orders made clear that there were to be no massed charges against the British lines, his men were to use their artillery strength as much as possible to dislodge the British before any assaults. The goal was to pin them and disorient them.
Like some Belgian towns Tournai had fallen without any significant fighting, the German soldiers who entered the town had immediately arrested the mayor and other notables as well as any men of military age. They would be used for two purposes, hostages in the first part but also as labourers to help the German army with all those tasks which men could be driven to perform. The garrison for Tournai would be men drawn from a Landwehr Brigade, these units were drawn from men who had completed both their active service duty and their reserve service. These men were not in the first flush of youth nor were they as well trained as their younger compatriots, but they were more than capable of pointing a rifle at a man and telling him to dig a trench or unload a train.
General Friedrich Sixt von Armin was the commander of the IV Corps of the First Army. His corps was the boundary unit with the Second Armies VII corps under the command of General Karl von Einem. Communications between IV and VII Corps had mainly been travelling via Army Headquarters but both Generals had agreed to use a number of motor cars as couriers, this was done to reduce the time delay which had seen messages take up to 12 hours to complete the journey. This delay was making co-ordination between the two Corps very difficult and had driven the unorthodox solution. At present the routing being used by the dispatch drivers was secured by the presence of cavalry screen and the lack of enemy activity. General von Sixt was planning to outflank the British and act as a shoulder for further penetration of the Entente line. Once the first army was astride their line of retreat they would role the BEF and the French Fifth army up.
It seemed that the British Army was content to squat astride the Mons-Condee Canal oblivious to the threat posed by First army, which was rapidly advancing and would soon be in a position, to threaten the lines of supply for the BEF.
Karl von Einem was intending to start a series of holding attacks against the BEF, his cavalry had already clashed inconclusively with that of the BEF with both sides drawing blood but not gaining any particular advantage. His goal was to engage the British whilst the First Army outflanked them. He reviewed the air reconnaissance reports, they also noted that the British appeared to have additional troops concentrated on the Mons Conde Canal line. What limited intelligence reports he had received from higher command indicated that the British had deployed territorial force units to Belgium and France, the British Territorials were nothing like his reserve units being comprised of men who had not ever done any active service for the most part but instead trained once per week, one weekend per month and 15 days of annual camp per year. Their equipment was reported to be obsolete, and he imagined their morale would be poor. Against his well-trained forces he did not imagine they would hold.
His orders were already going out to the subordinate units, the attacks would commence in the morning. His orders made clear that there were to be no massed charges against the British lines, his men were to use their artillery strength as much as possible to dislodge the British before any assaults. The goal was to pin them and disorient them.
