Léman) along with the attached 15th Infantry Brigade defended Liège. The division comprised five brigades and various other formations with troops and Army of the Meuse The Army of the Meuse (General Otto von Emmich) consisted of the 11th Brigade of III Corps (Major-General Friedrich von Wachter), the 14th Brigade of IV Corps (Major-General Friedrich von Wussow), the 27th Brigade of VII Corps (Colonel Benno von Massow), the 34th Brigade of IX Corps (Major-General Richard von Kraewel), the 38th Brigade of X Corps (Colonel Oertzen) and the 43rd Brigade of XI Corps (Major-General Hülsen). The cavalry component consisted of (II Cavalry Corps [HKK II]), Lieutenant-General Georg von der Marwitz), consisting of the 2nd (Major-General Friedrich von Krane), 4th (Lieutenant-General Otto von Garnier) and the 9th (Major-General Karl-Ulrich von Bülow) cavalry divisions. (A German Cavalry Corps was not an army corps in the conventional sense but the largest German cavalry unit that operated in 1914 and was known as a .) The Army of the Meuse had with and howitzers, accompanied by Erich Ludendorff as an observer for the General Staff. Prelude German preparations In August 1914, the Germans realised that the garrison at Liège would be larger than anticipated and that prompt mobilisation had given the Belgians time to make progress on the defences between the forts. Six reinforced brigades and II Cavalry Corps under the X Corps commander were to be ready on 4 August, the third day of mobilisation, at Aachen, Eupen, and Malmedy to conduct the . The 2nd Army Quartermaster General, Major-General Erich Ludendorff, was assigned to the X Corps staff as he was familiar with the plan, having been the Chief of the Deployment Department of the General Staff. On the night of the force was to make a surprise attack, penetrate the fortress ring, capture the town and the road and rail facilities. The invasion began on 4 August; aeroplanes, cavalry and cyclists went ahead of the infantry, with leaflets requesting calm from Belgian civilians. On the right flank, II Cavalry Corps with the cavalry and the 34th Infantry Brigade, advanced to take the crossings over the Meuse at Visé, to reconnoitre towards Brussels and Antwerp and prevent the Belgian army from interfering with the attack on Liège. The advance into Belgium took place in suffocating hot weather; roadblocks slowed German progress; cavalry found that the bridge at Visé had been blown and were