The Approaching War

Feilding Star, Volume IX, Issue 114, 26 April 1888, Page 3

The Approaching War

Two pamphlets on "the approaching;, war" have just been published — the one at Hanover, the other at Vienna. They both indicate ■ Poland as . the theatre of the first operations, then Volhynia and Podolia for the Austrian and Lighuania and White Russia ; ior the German troops, Warsaw being the objective pomt of the allies during the first phase of the campaign. Supposing this city to be taken by them the. Russians must fall back on the lines of the frontier and the Dwina. Both pamphlets assume that Russia would take the offensive and one of them— written in obvious ignorance of the terms of the secret treaty — while admitting that the ! Russian army is superior in number to the Auatrianj claims that the latter could be -mobilised in a fortnight, while the former could not Tie placed in the field under six weeks. The following are the figures given :— Russia could set in line. 888 bat--talions of infantry, ' 452 squadrons' of cavalry, 338 batteries of comprehending 788,544 ■ rifles 67,000 sabres, and 2,688 cannons ; Austria 676 battalionßj376 squadrons, and 227 batteries— equivalent to 642,623 rifles, 58,000 sabres,: and 1664: cannons. On the other hand it is noton* pus thats9me of the battalions in the Russian army exist on paper only, and that the commissarist system is rotten to the core— colonels and contractors conspiring* to rob the- Government. •"' ■••■;■•'■"•■