The city of Antwerp was defended by numerous forts and other defensive positions, under the command of the Military Governor General Victor Deguise, and was considered to be impregnable.
Since the 1880s, Belgian defence planning had been based on holding barrier forts on the Meuse (Maas) at Liège and at the confluence of the Meuse and the Sambre rivers at Namur, to prevent French or German armies from crossing the river, with the option of a retreat to the National redoubt at Antwerp, as a last resort, until the European powers guaranteeing Belgian neutrality could intervene.
The National redoubt consisted of a dozen older forts around 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) outside to the city, completed in the 1860s, with an enceinte around the town abutting the Scheldt estuary at either end, with wet ditches around the enceinte and forts.
The principal line of resistance comprised a ring of 21 forts, 10–15 kilometres (6.2–9.3 mi) outside the city, which had been built after 1882.
A group of two forts and three coastal batteries defended the Scheldt and there were a small number of prepared inundations.
Forts built at Liège and Namur on the Meuse were of similar construction and intended to be "barrier forts and bridgeheads", a first line of defence in the event of an invasion from the east or south-east.
The city of Antwerp was defended by numerous forts and other defensive positions, under the command of the Military Governor General Victor Deguise, and was considered to be impregnable. Since the 1880s, Belgian defence planning had been based on holding barrier forts on the Meuse (Maas) at Liège and at the confluence of the Meuse and the Sambre rivers at Namur, to prevent French or German armies from crossing the river, with the option of a retreat to the National redoubt at Antwerp, as a last resort, until the European powers guaranteeing Belgian neutrality could intervene. The National redoubt consisted of a dozen older forts around 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) outside to the city, completed in the 1860s, with an enceinte around the town abutting the Scheldt estuary at either end, with wet ditches around the enceinte and forts. The principal line of resistance comprised a ring of 21 forts, 10–15 kilometres (6.2–9.3 mi) outside the city, which had been built after 1882. A group of two forts and three coastal batteries defended the Scheldt and there were a small number of prepared inundations. Forts built at Liège and Namur on the Meuse were of similar construction and intended to be "barrier forts and bridgeheads", a first line of defence in the event of an invasion from the east or south-east.
Siege of Antwerp (1914)