Belgian resistance and German fear of Francs-tireurs, led the Germans to implement a policy of schrecklichkeit (frightfulness) against Belgian civilians during the invasion. Massacres, executions, hostage taking, and the burning of towns and villages took place and became known as the Rape of Belgium. After the Battle of the Sambre, the French Fifth Army and the BEF retreated and on 25 August, General Fournier was ordered to defend the fortress, which was surrounded on 27 August by the VII Reserve Corps, which had two divisions and eventually received some of the German super-heavy artillery, brought from the sieges in Belgium. Maubeuge was defended by fourteen forts, with a garrison of Territorials, and British, and Belgian stragglers, and blocked the main Cologne–Paris rail line. Only the line from Trier to Liege, Brussels, Valenciennes, and Cambrai was open and had to carry supplies southward to the armies on the Aisne and transport troops of the 6th Army northwards.
