THE SEAT OF WAR.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5026, 3 May 1877, Page 3

THE SEAT OF WAR.

j (From the Australasian.) - ‘ i [Late telegrams have informed'us that the Russian army is advancing i; on Jassy, and that the commander-in-chief of the Turkish forces hAs proceeded to Shumla. Each ,o,f these places-will' no doubt constitute the base of ‘ operations for the power occupying-it, as'wap the case during the war of 1828-9. ■ Jassy,;the former capital of Moldavia,' which has-been, 'since merged in the principality of Koumania, islabout rtwelve'‘ niileS < froW'the'river-Fruth;’ ‘which constitutes the boundary-line between that, principality, and_. the Bussiaij'province! of ;; and it will be remembered-that the'fitAt’bvert Act of hostilities against Turkey -iru Julyj!lßs3;'was’’the this river'by Ithe Czar’s troops ; although, acting-uhk’er the laqvice of the aIUe4;jMFW%. the;:Suitafi re.r framed from treating bhe outrage; as a casus tells-

i. lAs a strategic position, it is the only one available, ,k It offers a ready means- of commbnicatiou with the whole frontier line, of Bulgaria, washed by the Danube, from Wediu . on the ’ westj to 'Bassova in the east; and supplies can be drawn from Odessa, the granary, of!Southern Russia, in the event of that port’ not being bombarded and destroyed by the' Turkish fleet; of which the inhabitants were ’.very apprehensive in .December last. On the -south, or Bulgarian side of the Danube, there . is’a chain of seven'fortresses, constituting the ffiqst line of Turkish defence. These are ’Wedin',;N}oop.plis, Sistova, Rustchuk, Tuturkai, Silis■tria, and Rassova; the latter, being connected by Trajan’s Wall with Kustendji, jon, the -Black Sea. Three of these—Rustchuk, Tu’turkai, and Silistria —cover that part of the ■Turkish territory which'would most likely be ; selected for invasion,, and they form ,the base of: a right-angled triangle, which has Shumla for its apex. This almost impregnable position, which has beon selected as the headquarters’; of.-the Turkish army, forms part of the second line of defence; the other fortresses being Sophia, Tirnova, and Osman Bazar, on; _the west, and Varna and Bazardjik on the east. Shumla is about fifty miles distant from the port of Varna on the Black Sea, from which it would draw supplies; and Varna is J6O miles distant by .water from the capital..; r Shumla is probably one of .the finest natural in the world. Tt is an entrenched camp; occupying a plateau, enclosed by lofty hills, which present the aspect of cliffs exter- ; naily, and offer a steep and almost perpendicular face to an enemy advancing from the noith ; while the - approaches to the town are covered by 'numerous redoubts mounted with heavy artillery. The citadel is strongly fortified and-abundautly- supplied with munitions of war. ■ > ■ ■

' There are only threo passes by which an invading army could find its way through the Balkan Mountains’ into Roumelia, so as to (approach Constantinople by laud. These are; the Trajan’s Gate,' the Ghipka, and the Great Pass. The road to the first is barred by the fortress of Sophia, to the second by! Tirnova,' and to the third by Shumla. The last is that by; which the Russians would most likely endeavor to force their way. Assuming them to have reduced Shumla, and have penetrated the Balkans, they would have to 'confront the Circassian population settled on their southern ! slopes, and to take the fortress of Karnabat, which faces the southern outlet of the .Groat Pass -„ aud ...then;, nibving i on to ■Adriano'ple, they would have to capture that fortified city, - as - they did in 1829, setting themselves ; down before the line of defences protecting the peninsula upon which Constantinople’stands.' According to the foreign officers who have been engaged by the Porte to superintend the construction and equipment of these defences, the position canbe rendered almost impregnable, especially as, with the sea bn both sides, a besieging army would be exposed to the fire of the fleet on each flank. j It seems reasonable to anticipate that the Turks will await the entry of the Russians into Bulgaria, and that the battle-ground of the two Powers, if Turkey should accept the challenge to a general engagement, will be the quadrilateral' enclosed by the fortresses of Rustschuk' and Silistria on the north, and by Osman Bazar and Bazardjik on the south. This would enable the Turks, if defeated, to fall back upon Shumla, which lies nearly mid-’ way and in a straight line between the two last; while supplies and reinforcements could be poured in from Varna. This quadrilateral embraces an area of about 50 miles square. ■ It remains to speak of the Principality of Boumania, across ' which the Russian march will 1 : be directed. This is tributary to the Porte, and comprises the two principalities of

which wenTTncorporated by a firmanofth'e Sultan in 1861, and placed under the rule; of an elective hospodar. As its neutrality has' been guaranteed by the great powers, in a convention signed in 1858, supplementary to the treaty, of 1856, Russia, by invading Roumania, places herself outside the pale of the jus gentium, and, as The Times observed in August last, she by such an act “ releases the , other contracting parties from, any moral of legal obligation to keep engage-: ments which they might find onerous or inconvenient.” ‘ , The Roumanians have nothing in common with the Slav races of Turkey, On the contrary, they are the lineal descendants of those brave Dacians whose conquest by the masters of the world is commemorated in the Trajan column at Rome. They hold the same territory which their forefathers occupied in the first and second century of the present era, and are consequently, like the Hellenes, the oldest population in Eastern Europe. When their semi-dependence was conceded, -in consideration of an" annual tribute of £36,800, to be paid to the Sultan, it was' believed that Roumania would serve as a bulwark between Russia and Turkey, and that the instinct of self-preservation would make it the faithful guardian of the most insecure outpost of,the Ottoman Empire; aid the ! Roumanians have certainly; no cause to love the Russians, Oh the last occasion of the latter crossing the Pruth, they incorporated the whole of the small army of Moldo-Walla-chia with the vanguard of their own, forced them to'fight, thrust them into the very front of the battle, and compelled Moldavian artillerists to work their own guns against the fortress of Silistria, which was defended' by their Turkish fellow-subjects. ; i ! In the previous occupation of these principalities by Russia in 1828, the country was literally devastated by the Muscovite and it is a well-established fact that the population of the country diminished one-fourth under the patronage and protection of the Osar. When the Hospodar of Roumania mobilised his small army a few months ago, Russian agents in the various capitals of Europe industriously circulated the report that it was intended as a demonstration, against Turkey; and it was.generally believed to ! be Such. Since then, however, it Ms understood that representations have been addressed .’from Bucharest to all the protecting Powers, giving an entirely opposite account .of the motivea’of Roumania in so doing; while the Hospodar was likewise anxious to prevent the smuggling of Russian- soldier into the - Servian* territory, but was- restrained by the advice of the consular representatives at .Bucharest/ who individually and collefctively counselled the Roumanian Government to shut, its eyes to what was being daily perpetrated on its . soil by Russian subjects, lest an attempt to ‘ ’stop 'them should compel the Russian Government to take steps that could u not fail to lead, to, a European war. “If we are invaded by Russia,” said a distinguished Rouman statesman ti> the correspondent of the Londo- Daily Telegraph at Vienna, in Novemberlast,'“qur .atmy cannot, will not attempt ■ to resist the entry into our territories of I- the ! Russian troops. It will retire, before them,Vwith the "Prince at its head, and the Roumanian flag flying wherever- he may be; — And there'upon * peak, or in sbme fastness'of,little Wallachia, .we may still be able to exclaim, ‘ Where that flag flies, stands the Roumanian .army, the representative of a free; country.’ “ I ~"T r*! ■" t 1 ’ 1 " 1 ~ r ~- ‘V