ARE THE RUSSIANS IN BELGIUM?

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2256, 16 September 1914, Page 6

ARE THE RUSSIANS IN BELGIUM?

MYSTERY OP AN ARMY PROBLEMS OF TRANSPORT One question that raises a largo amount of interest at the present moment is this—are there Russian forces m France or Belgium? It has been reported from a variety of sources that tnore are, and semi-denials and denials nave followed, and again havo come more reports, stating that their presence mine western part of tho Continent is a fact. Would 1 it have been possible to get a Bussian force to that centre from Archangel in tho time Mat has elapsed since the-war started? Archangel is connected -with the interior, by a line of railway and the River Dvma. The railway runs in a straight■] ■line 6outh .as far. as the junction point' of Valogda, 350 miles distant from the coast, and from this point tracks branch off west to Petrograd, south to Moscow, and also to:the eastward. Valogda, of course, being an important railway junction, may bo garrisoned, and if so it is possible that .before the declaration of' war Russia, troops there incase of trouble. But even if there was no big array,at-Valogda, and a whole force of, say, 80,000 soldiers, with'horse, guns',:and : transport, and the other impedimenta of a hold army had to be drawn from Petrograd and Moscow, it would have.been a comparatively, easy task fori that, .number to have got into the eastern theatre of ■ war hy now by way of.'northern., seas. Moscow is, roughly, 700 miles by rail from Archangel, and Petrograd 800 miles distant. " Capaoityof Troop Trains. As a rule, 12 trains a day is regarded as the maximum performance of a single line, and it is almost'certain that from Valogda to Archangel there is only such a line. A railway train of from 100 to 110 axles and an approximate length of 500 metres—a.metro is slightly more than 39 inches—can accommodate a battalion _with regimental or brigade staff, or n.rifle battalion, or a squadron with regimental and brigade staffs, and 1} squadrons l -respectively, a 'field'battery with regimental or artillery ' brigade staff, five-sixths of a horse artillery brigade staff, .engineer companies with a divisional pontoon train;", finally, either an ammunition or a provision column, a remount depot, a field nospital.section, etc. ■ An army-corps, complete, in all'details, would thus require roundly 100 trains, if comprising 25 . battalions,' or 108 trains if consisting of 33 battalions; that, is, if our battalions had been formed! in tho .infantry regiments, An infantry division ■ (exclusive of train), would claim from 24 to 26 trains, and a cavalry division- (also without train) 20 trains. : On this.basis the number of, days re--quired for; the conveyance of a given body of troops pan readily be calculated. Assuming a minimum of eight trains a day for a single, and 12 for double lines, >nn army corps would'be transported in 12 r to 13$ and Bj-to 9 days respectively ;' an infantry division _ in three and two, and a cavalry division -in 2J' and one/and two-third days respectively. By; adding the' duration of asii.gle journey, the fci-ie is arrived if which is required to move the body of troops in question from point to point.' Since a military .train travels at most 18 miles an hour, the time required; for the conveyance to a distance of, say, 800 miles, would bo, for an army corps 1 on a single line 14J-15J:'days, oh,a double 'line ,101-11 days; for the advance guard of,an army corps, 31-4 and 3 days respectively? for an infantry or. cavalry'division 4-5 days and-31-4'daj's respectively.-: ■' Assuming . again that. the Russian forces from Petrograd and Moscow started to move to Archangel on .the day that Germany declared war, August 1, 80,000 troops could be got to Archangel, under the most difficult circumstances, in about' 38 days. Shipping them from, Archangel to 1 England would take'eiglit more days, and. as Great. Britain took over at the start of the war all the Bri-tish-India fleet and al'.' the Wilson boats at Hull, s about 200 ships in all that might have been used as.'transports; it is likely that two'whole army corps would bo expeditiously dispatched.