THE THREATENED WAR.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 96, 25 April 1877, Page 4

THE THREATENED WAR.

I (Continued from the Auckland Star), - tINB OF THE DANUBE '■"• - 3eii '"' :: -"y'.^9^9! L .t. l \y We cpodenae the followiog from ; the " Bey iew Militaire de l'Etranger," des- ' cribtng the relative * importance of the severlal points at ■ whioh the Danube might be effected, and whieh will at this tim^ be of interest to oar readers:— £he right bank of the Danube, from ..the' confluence of the Timok to Raschuk, ..forms a continuous terrace, withont any-great undulations, only parted by. wa{ar channels froui the Balkao. The terrace is often $ermiriated. <_by deep -lopes, washed; at their feet by the Danube^: Thie Roumanian bank ia a low~plain~ of meadow land, which is submerged daring floods, by serpentine streams throagh it* Widin is the first fortifled town met with in descending #se Qa^abe. It has 30,000 inhabitants, and is sitqated on low and marshy soiL It cqmoaands the river and adjacent isiands r bat is itself commaudst bjr £igh positions od the right and left banks of 'the river. On the lapd side, Widin is Surrounded. by two coficeutrie '" fortified <• - encenites. The ' first is only simple earthwork parapet, whiph -if Ranked by 11 redoubts, eacfc armed with 6 guas. At eithei extremity of this line are strong redoabta. There is a second and inner 'line of defence, in, ."' the form of a; half circle, composed of seven bastioned fronts, and in the river' side, of two parallel wails. There are poßlTerns- -for sorties. The castle of of formerly a strong fortress, is no^v osed as a: magazine. The armament of Widio, in last July was 120 Paixhan cannons of 9, 11, and 17 inches; 13^Krupp field guns, of 12| inohes,l6 mortars, of which two are 26 Inches. Th'e'yi -were to be l reinforced by 24 Krlipp guns. A correspondent of the National Zeitung says this arament bad a little different composition, vie. 62,la.rge Krupp* guns, and 85, other pieces, total 147. Widin is coneidered onall sides as one of the bulwarks of the Turkish Empire, able to offer some resistance; but likely to be destroyed by - batteries established on tbe other bank of the river at Kulafat, Widin, without Kulafat, is like a body without a head. Fifteen miles [south-east {of Widin, near where the Lorn : river flows into the Danube, is Lotii Palanka, on the heights _ commanding the course of the riyer. It has a. oastle ocoupied by a Turkish garrison. The work is square, with flanking towers, armed : with artillery ; at each angle. The Turks have also ereoted three works for batteries to defend the river, and to cover the postal roads. Kulafat is now occupied by 4000 Roumanian troops, who are engaged in plaoiog it in a state qi. defence. Lower down the river, opposite the "„ confluence of the, Schy 1, is - Bahooa (36,000 inhabitants), a place formerly fortified; ~vA vlittle further do^n is Qstrowe, w;bere the Russian ft-jay crotsed in 1810. The Turks are eaid to be fortifying this position/ HSficopolis, lower down the valley of the Danube, baa 8000 inhabitants, it was dismantled by the Russians in 1811. It is principally built on heights. The breadth of the stream is less than in . arfy other part of its course, ahd it would form an excellent passage for an army. X from Nicopolts to Ruschok, the left bank of of the Danube ier a vast marsh, and the. Russiaqa would have great difficulty in crossing these marshes, especially with the fortress of Raschuk in close proximity. Rusobuk forms port of the famous quadrilateril, Silistria,. Varna, SchumSk, against which, four tinies in one century — 1810, 1811, 1828, 1853— tbe Russian efforts were foiled. The town of Ruschok has 40,000 inhabitants, and j ia situated at the confluence of the Lom with the Danube. The encenite the of town is a simple bastioned line possessing a ditch and counterscarp. It has the shape of. a'' right-angled triangle of 60 degrees, of which the hypotenuse, formed, of six very irregular bastioned fron te.Js -washed by the Danube. Tha short side follows the edge of tbe heights, and tbe long side — the front which would probably be attacked— looks over the Plain. The western fort and citadel are the acute angles of the triangle. Last summer the Turks commenced constructing a polygon fort on the road to Shumla, armed the Western front with two large Krupp guns, and erected other defences Totrokau is the next point of passage, at a point where tbe D_nube ia separated by an island two milea long. The place is only practicable for a pontoon bridge in summer. The place is too much commanded by heights to be capable of offering a prolonged resistance, but tbe Turks are reconstructing : a battery to command the left flank. The next fortress is Silistria, which is 9 strongly fortifled Turkish to wo. The river is here nearly a quarter of a mile wide. The population is between 20,000 and 30,000. It is a convenient point, The wails of Silistria are of solid masonry, surrounded by a ditch and many detached works. It has been rendered almost impregnable. Ou the outbreak of the Crimean war, the Russians besieged it with an army of 60,000 or 80.000 men, while the Turkish garrison was only 15,000. After u vigorous end well-sustained a-u.Hck. tbo 3„ussians retreated with a loss of 12.000 men. B__sooa, about 30 miles further down tbe river, from which a fortified barrier constructed by the Etnpwror Trajan, extends lo Kustendji, ou tbe, coast of.the Black Sea, a disb. tance ot 37 miles. ?<;X ¥kx%.