Editing Belgian Armed Forces (section)

===Army in 1914===
[[File:Belgian dogs trained to draw quick-firing guns.JPG|thumb|right|A Belgian machine gun team, 1914]]
{{see also|Belgian Army order of battle (1914)}}
On the eve of World War I, the Belgian Army comprised 19 infantry regiments ([[line infantry|line]], [[Chasseur#Chasseurs à pied|Chasseurs à pied]], [[Regiment Carabiniers Prins Boudewijn – Grenadiers|Grenadier]] and [[Regiment Carabiniers Prins Boudewijn – Grenadiers|Carabinier]]), 10 cavalry ([[Guides Regiment|Guides]], [[Lancers]] and [[Chasseur#Chasseurs à cheval|Chasseurs à cheval]]) and 8 artillery (mounted, field and fortress). Support forces included engineers, [[Gendarmerie (Belgium)|gendarmerie]], fortress troops, [[Train (military)|train]] and [[Garde Civique|civil guards]]. The seven divisions of the Field Army were intended to provide a mobile force while the 65,000 fortress troops provided garrisons for the substantial forts constructed around [[Antwerp]], [[Liège]] and [[Namur]]. These fortifications had been built in several stages beginning in 1859, though a number were still incompleted in 1914. While well-designed and built by 19th century standards, these fixed defences with their sunken artillery turrets had been rendered obsolete by recent advances in heavy siege artillery howitzers.<ref>{{cite book|last=Courcelle|first=R. Pawly & P. Lierneux; illustrated by P.|title=The Belgian Army in World War I|year=2009|publisher=Osprey|location=Oxford|isbn=9781846038938|pages=4–6}}</ref>