FIGHTING IN TRIPOLI

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 186, 12 January 1912, Page 3

FIGHTING IN TRIPOLI

DIFFICULTIES OF THE CAMPAIGN.

The Times military correspondent writes:—Fin-reaching operations into the interior require large numbers of camels, and as the confidence of Italy in Arab support appears to have been misplaced, the necessary means of transport must be drawn from other quarters, and the organisation of desert columns will take time and cost money. In Tripoli, as in old days in Spain, small armies are liable to be beaten and large armies to be starved. Although the forces investing Tripoli and other towns occupied by Italy will probably be brushed aside by the first act of vigor on the part of the invaders, the affirmation of conquest by occupation will not he easy in view of the unexpected strength of the opposition. Had the regular Turkish garrison alone been in question, and had some of the tribes rallied to Italy, a march into the interior would have* been a practicable operation, But against the com-: bined Arab, Berber and Turkish levies, and in view of the difficulties in feeding and especially watering, troops and transport belonging to large columns, penetration promises to be anything but peaceful and far from easy. There is ( also this difficulty—namely, that the i strength of the opposition cannot easily be estimated. In improvised armies like J those under Colonel Neshat Bey, the | strength fluctuates from lack of organised commissariat, and where 5000 men may be found to-day 60,000 may be found to-morrow. The strength of Italia* columns must render success assured against the maximum opposition, and in view of difficulties connected with sup- ' ply, water and ammunition, this is not an easy matter to arrange. It is also to be observed that the Sultan'B levies -in Tripoli are not led by a Khalifa who sees visions and dreams dreams, but by a body of devoted and intelligent young Turkish officers who know Tripoli well,' and must.be expected to create all the difficulties in the path of an Italian ad- i vance that circumstances, permit. Fanat-! icism, directed by modern, military science, is a much more poteu„ instrument than-fanaticism alone, and it must.be re- \ membered that many of .the most patri- j otic young Turkish officer's were exiled in Tripoli under the old regime, and not only learnt to know the c6untry well, but to gain the confidence of the natives . by devotion to their education and social progress. Had not this unfortunate affair of the repression of the Arab rising in the Tripoli oasis occurred, the natural bent of the Arab as trader might possibly have' reasserted itself, but the strife is now embittered "beyond measure,, and the campaign will be fought out "with no mercy on either side.