5fish
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The German cavalry met the Belgium cavalry and was gun down by the Belgium at the town of Halen. If you read it the Belgium use Forrest move by dismounting and firing at the German's in a saber charge. At least to say the Belgium's carried the day...
By noon, German soldiers had almost completely captured the church square and the surrounding streets in the center of Halen, but they were under heavy fire from Belgian artillery. Von der Marwitz then ordered the cavalry to take out the Belgian artillery in a circumferential movement. In the early afternoon, several squadrons of dragoons launched an attack. The German cavalrymen, overconfident after earlier successes and eager for another easy victory, launched a frontal charge at full gallop with drawn sabers. The rush, however, turned out to be dramatic and the German cavalry died an inglorious death. The Belgians, making the most of their knowledge of the terrain and entrenched behind barricades, welcomed the oncoming horsemen with a relentless barrage of rifle bullets. In no time at all, the battlefield was covered with dead or dying Germans and dozens of horse corpses. Despite the resounding victory, the death toll on the Belgian side was also considerable and, in retrospect, the battle proved only a temporary success.
From a military point of view, the Battle of Halen was of little or no strategic importance. For the Belgian troops, however, it was an enormous morale boost. After all, it was the first action since the outbreak of the war in which Belgian units managed to defeat the enemy under their own steam. In Western European military history, the ‘Battle of the Silver Helmets’ is recorded as the last time a cavalry corps carried out a frontal charge with drawn sabers…
The Last Great Cavalry Charge With Drawn Sabre in Western Europe
The Battle of the Silver Helmets (1914)
historyofyesterday.com
By noon, German soldiers had almost completely captured the church square and the surrounding streets in the center of Halen, but they were under heavy fire from Belgian artillery. Von der Marwitz then ordered the cavalry to take out the Belgian artillery in a circumferential movement. In the early afternoon, several squadrons of dragoons launched an attack. The German cavalrymen, overconfident after earlier successes and eager for another easy victory, launched a frontal charge at full gallop with drawn sabers. The rush, however, turned out to be dramatic and the German cavalry died an inglorious death. The Belgians, making the most of their knowledge of the terrain and entrenched behind barricades, welcomed the oncoming horsemen with a relentless barrage of rifle bullets. In no time at all, the battlefield was covered with dead or dying Germans and dozens of horse corpses. Despite the resounding victory, the death toll on the Belgian side was also considerable and, in retrospect, the battle proved only a temporary success.
From a military point of view, the Battle of Halen was of little or no strategic importance. For the Belgian troops, however, it was an enormous morale boost. After all, it was the first action since the outbreak of the war in which Belgian units managed to defeat the enemy under their own steam. In Western European military history, the ‘Battle of the Silver Helmets’ is recorded as the last time a cavalry corps carried out a frontal charge with drawn sabers…