FIRST BATTLES CHAPTER XI THE ATTACK UPON LlfeCE /^N August 4 the Germans attempted to take ^-^ Liege by storm and on the same day there were skirmishes on French territory south of Lux- emburg and also west of Strassburg. To under- stand this fighting which marked the beginning of the great Franco-German conflict it is necessary to grasp clearly just one simple geographical fact. From the Rhine, which is the base of German operations, three routes lead west and south into France. The first starts at Cologne, crosses the Belgian frontier just beyond Aix-la-Chapelle, reaches the Meuse at Liege and ascends the Meuse to enter France at Maubeuge by a natural gap in the divide between the headwaters of the Oise and the Sambre. This is the route followed by the main railroad be- tween Paris and Berlin. It was employed by the Allies in the second campaign in the French Revolu- tion. The invaders were defeated by the French army celebrated in song and story as the Army of the " Sambre et Meuse " at the decisive battle of Fleurus. 57