1914_1001_01s: Never Give Up! - FWWC 01 France '14

Antwerp, Belgium, 30th September 1914: As the conflict on the Western Front shifted its focal point in the period known as "the race to the sea," the threat posed by the Belgian Army bottled up in Antwerp on the German's lines of communications was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. His highness, the Kaiser, ordered OHL to do everything in its power to crush "little Belgium" once and for all. To that end, the Germans massed over 160 guns, taken from anything that could be spared. The plan of attack was simple but effective: concentrate this massive amount of firepower on the forts of Walhem and Katelijne Wavre, as well as on the twin redoubts to the northeast (Dorpveld and Boschbeek) and the surrounding area, then smash through this gap and move on the inner ring of forts surrounding Antwerp. The guns would then be brought up to pummel the inner ring into submission, thus opening the way to the city itself. On the 28th and 29th September, the massive array of German guns opened the bombardment with a ferocity and destructive power that the world had yet witnessed. With the fall of Antwerp imminent, the persistent Belgians refused to give up and prepared to retreat the bulk of their field army to the west and made arrangements to leave behind forces to hold Antwerp as long as possible. [Size: medium] *See the notes document for information on scenario design decisions and historical notes.