There were no cowards on this land

"Tick, tock."

The second hand of the pocket watch turned. When the hour hand pointed to ten, General Herbert nodded to the soldier behind him.

Upon receiving the order, the soldier turned and climbed the slope behind them. Once he reached its highest point, he took two signal flags from his waist and waved them twice.

Far to the rear, at the artillery positions, the artillery commander watched the messenger's flag signals through his binoculars, then lowered them.

"Ready, load!"

"Fire!"

The muzzles of the guns roared in an instant.

Shells were hurled high into the air, flying toward Liège Fortress.

Boom, boom, boom!

An unbroken succession of explosions battered the walls of Liège Fortress. Concrete mixed with shattered stones slid down its walls.

"Fire!"

At the artillery commander's next order, the guns fired one after another, violent explosions engulfing the entire Liège Fortress.

Watching Liège Fortress under bombardment, General Herbert tightened his grip slightly on his binoculars.

"Liège Fortress really is a tough nut to crack. Even this many heavy guns can't shake it."

"I truly can't understand how you managed to lose such a heavily defended fortress in the first place."

The French officer looked somewhat embarrassed by Herbert's criticism.

Lieutenant General Degoutte could barely save face. "If you'd been the one defending Liège Fortress back then, you'd know how terrifying the German heavy artillery was."

"Don't make excuses. We now have more guns than the Germans did back then, with larger calibers. Why can't we even blast the facing off the fortress walls?"

"All right, get those Belgians ready to attack. We must identify the German heavy-weapons positions as quickly as possible."

As the two generals finished speaking, the guns continued firing without pause, and the Belgium Field Army Group north of Liège Fortress also completed its preparations for battle.

Although they knew the British and French wanted to use their lives to probe the German firing positions, they had no grounds to object.

After all, it was their Belgian territory they would be reclaiming afterward. Without British and French military assistance, recovering their homeland with their own strength was simply an absurd dream.

The Belgian commander checked the time. The hour they had agreed upon with the British for the attack was approaching.

"Prepare to attack!"

At the very moment the Belgian commander gave the order.

The sound of bombers came from high in the distant sky. Hearing their drone, the commander froze and looked up.

Bombers bearing the British flag were flying toward Liège Fortress ahead of them.

"This isn't what we agreed on."

Coming back to his senses, the Belgian commander flushed with excitement and shouted eagerly, "They're our bombers! To reclaim Belgium's soil!"

"Soldiers, attack!"

Inspired by this lavish display of firepower, the Belgium Field Army immediately began advancing toward Liège Fortress under cover of the bombardment.

Meanwhile, the Germans inside Liège Fortress raced toward comrades who had been blasted away or wounded by the bombardment, immediately filling the vacant positions.

"Quick, quick! Reinforce the defenses!"

"Don't let the enemy break in! For His Majesty the Kaiser!"

Rat-tat-tat!

Machine-gun fire tore through the smoke, dust, and sand, raking the Belgian troops in front of Liège Fortress.

At the same time, small-caliber field guns began firing shells at the enemy.

Every shell that landed sent several figures flying, but this did nothing to diminish the Belgian troops' determination to attack.

"Charge, charge, charge!"

"As long as we can reach the foot of the fortress, our mission is complete!"

"Fuck the Germans! For the motherland!"

Tat-tat-tat!

A burst of machine-gun fire suddenly came from a breach at the base of the fort, mowing down a swath of Belgian troops trying to push through.

Whoosh!

A piercing sound rang out as a heavy bomb slipped from a bomber's bay and fell onto Liège Fortress.

The violent explosion hurled several German soldiers manning a machine gun into a wall, leaving them silent.

Soon, several more German soldiers filled the gap. They did not even spare another glance at their comrades behind them.

There was no time left for mourning. Their task was to hold this fortress and prevent any enemy soldier from reaching their rear.

As the British bombers flew over Liège Fortress, antiaircraft guns roared, sending shells toward the bombers high above.

But the British bombers made no move to turn back, continuing forward through the gunfire and dropping shells one after another.

"Reinforcements, quick! We need ammunition here!"

A German machine gunner squeezed the trigger hard, but the sharp click of the firing pin announced that his ammunition had run out.

"Ammunition's here!"

Soon, crates of machine-gun ammunition were carried to the weapon. Before long, its muzzle spat tongues of flame again.

The bombardment continued, with neither the artillery nor the aircraft letting up.

Inside the command post at Liège Fortress, dust shaken loose by the explosions kept falling onto the officers' uniforms.

"Yes, Marshal! We will hold Liège Fortress."

"We will never betray His Majesty the Emperor's trust!"

Clack.

The officer hung up the telephone and looked at the equally dust-covered staff officer beside him.

"Come command the battle with me. Don't just stand there. Hurry!"

The battle continued, and men kept falling on the battlefield.

Those behind them continued forward, stepping over the bodies of the comrades ahead of them.

One Belgian soldier had been firing his rifle at a firing position in Liège Fortress just moments before. A few breaths later, he lay on the cold ground.

A trace of unwillingness still lingered in his eyes.

A soldier clutched his pierced belly, struggling to cover the wound from which blood kept pouring.

The intense pain reminded him of his mother back home. "Mama..."

The battle lasted several hours, and when the Belgian troops withdrew.

The Germans looked out through the breaches. Soldiers lay densely packed across the open ground outside.

The sun was about to set.

At that moment, General Herbert gazed at Liège Fortress ahead, deep in thought.

"General, we've calculated the locations of the German firing positions and artillery emplacements."

"We can prioritize striking them tomorrow."

A staff officer came before General Herbert with a sheaf of calculated data.

Looking over the figures, Herbert nodded.

"Continue the bombardment tomorrow. Prioritize eliminating the German firing positions."

"Have the soldiers get ready to enter battle tomorrow. We must take Liège Fortress as quickly as possible, before German reinforcements arrive."

"Also, have the bombers carry more heavy bombs, and have the heavy artillery prepare its shells."

"Even if we have to raze Liège Fortress to the ground, we will spare no cost."