10h 57min, aug 5, 1914 y - German advance on Retinne

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the 14th Brigade (Major-General von Wussow) advanced at 1:00 a.m., led by Emmich and Ludendorff and made a rapid advance to Retinne, where Belgian troops covered the road with machine-guns and forced the Germans under cover with many casualties. Wussow and a regimental commander were wounded; Ludendorff took over and rallied the survivors, the Belgians were outflanked and c. 100 prisoners taken. At Queue-du-Bois, the advance was stopped during house-to-house fighting, until two howitzers were brought up and the village was eventually taken around dawn. By noon the brigade reached high ground near a Carthusian convent and saw a white flag flying on the Citadel over the river. An officer was sent forward to investigate and found that the flag had been unauthorised and was repudiated by Léman. Attempts were made to contact flanking units but communications to the rear had been cut and no ammunition had been delivered, which left the force of c. 1,500 men isolated during the night.[29] During the morning, Emmich gambled that the bridges in Liège were undefended and ordered the town to be occupied. Infantry Regiment 165 crossed the river and reached the north-western gate without resistance, taking several parties of Belgian infantry prisoner. Ludendorff drove ahead of Infantry Regiment 27, under the impression that the Citadel had been captured, found himself alone with the garrison and bluffed them into surrender. The town and the Meuse bridges had been captured with most railway lines intact. Emmich sent officers to make contact with the other brigades; the 11th Brigade advanced at noon and reached Liège, through artillery-fire from Fort Chaudfontaine, by evening and formed a defensive line along the west side of the town. The 27th, 24th and the rest of the 11th Brigade entered the town and operations began to capture the forts

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