The destruction of the delegation
The Horsell Common Massacre was the event that occurred minutes after the Martians unscrewed their cylinder.
The Massacre[]
The Heat ray firing
When the peace delegation, led by Ogilvy and two others, approached the cylinder, a large tube, the Heat-Ray, rose out of the top, firing upon the small group before slaughtering a large percentage of the crowd. It is estimated that over 50 of the people in the crowd did not leave the Common, their bodies burned so badly they were unrecognizable. After this, a company of soldier surrounded the cylinder, and began firing on the Martians. Using the Heat-ray, the Martians managed to hold off the soldiers long enough for them to deploy their Fighting-Machines, resulting in the company being decimated.