GENERAL BRUSILOFF.

Taranaki Daily News, 19 August 1916, Page 9

GENERAL BRUSILOFF.

"SPARK, Ai.KKT. AND MODERN."

KNOWS WHAT UK WA.NTS, AND

fIKTS IT

Were T king. emperor. or sovereign people, I would Ti;i\"c mi o-onprnU ill my «.«rvim- older than forty-five. If a man is not, capable of commanding an army at til,'it age. he novor will be. After Uiat ace lie loses more and more every year tlie energy, tlie enterprise, tlie desire to lie up and lining, not, waiting to see what tlie otlier side intends; all tlie qualities which are -n necessary' in war. Yot to tliis rule T would make an exception. and it would be iri favor of (iPiioial Alexis RrusilofT, who lias just scored sueli a signal victory over'the Austmns. Never did anyone illustrate more aptly tlie truth of the saying that a man is as old as he feels." General Brimiloff is sixty-three, only two years younger than f.'eneral TvnnofT, whom he succeeded a few weeks ago in the chief command upon Russia's south-western front. Tn evervthing but fact there is twenty years difference between the two men. TvanofV is big, slow-moving, oldfiishioned in his views. BrusilotT is spa: e, alert modern. As T s at and talked, to him in the bare room from which he directs the operations of one of the three pumps into which the Russian armies are divided. T felt at once that his mind worked quickly, that he is for never-ceasing "push and go," that he is first, last, and all the time, a man of action

Hi-, facp tolls tin's. Dark, steady, searching eves, and a note with a lik/h! enmninnd:n!», curved bridge, give him the look of an eagle. No pale cast of thought here. No student or professor, this Firm chin, vigorous, jaw-lino. When this man begins a task lie will carry it to the end, as ho carried his Carpathians campaign. Tt wa s lie who overcame all the difficulties of that surprising adventure. Spite of winter, spite of deep snows and terrible cold, ho noshed on till he bad won the whole ridge of the mountains and was ready to push his troops down into Himo-arv No fault of his thai the efforts and'the victories naught availed us. He has his place in history. He has made new records in the annals of war. NoVor before, T believe, has on arniv taken prisoners to tin- number of twice Us own strength. General Bnisilo/T's army aver, a.'red about 180,000. It never exceeded f.00,000. At times it dropped as low as loo.nno. He captured in all 300.000 Germans and Austrian*, with 400 , mns . "And how many maohino-guns?" T asked hun. "T forget. Thousands," he replied.

TTis success he attributes to the courage of bis.troops and to the policy which he followed of never giving the enemy any rest. "The best strategy and the most successful tactics lie in attack " he (old me. '■Don't,let the enemy choose Where he will hit yo„. Hit him firstkeep on Jutting him. Give him n ft rest " I he general's closc-croppoil. stubbv hair seemed to bristle as be spoke. His loutish, but thin and little-noticed grey moustache quivered. '-Yes, that is'"tho way. Always attack. TCvcn if he is stronger, attack him. Keep him <niossPuzzle him. Make him wonder what you are up to." "lint that means heavv losses!"

, TVANOFF ANT) BRUSTT.OFF. "No, no, not if your attack succeeds. Attacks which fail, like the German attacks at Verdun, are tcrrililv expensive Tint sucessful attacks cost' very little.' If only we had had munitions this time last year, . . .» JTe shook his head regretfully. He half closed his eyes. He could see again the dim vista'of the plains of Hungary, upon which be looked down from the Carpathian crests. He was thinking of what might, have been. But men of action do not ffivo wav to futile rp<yrcts.

l^ Tfnv >t is different," lie said briskly. "Wo have abundance of everything, as von lmve seen for yourself. ' We~'are ready, and we shall lie very glad when we get, orders to prove it." General Tvanoff was immensely popular in this south-ivest command. hut Genernl Brnsilofl', bv his record and his character. has already, T think, inspired more confidence. Tn almost every way the two men are curiously unlike. ' Thev have only one thins; in common, that they both belong to the regular army, and not to the general staff. In Rn'sia, as in other Continental armies, staff officers are separated, usually from the very start of their career. As a rule, they are given'the high commands. Both Tvanoff and Brusiloft reached their position "without the aid fit this valuable stepping-stone, and both reached them by hard, useful work. Tn every other respect they are at opposite poles, TvanofT, the son of a peasant proprietor, has remained in essentials" a peasant all his life. He lives in the simplest fashion. Prefers soldier's food to any pdier, Sleeps on a soldier's truckle bed. When he was in command at Kieff and had a palace to live in, he furnished very plainly three small rooms and lived in these, leaving the rest empty. T ncjed hardly add, after this, that he is unmarried. He might have advanced himself by marrying a rich wife. He preferred to be a -bachelor and play his own hand. General Brusiloff's career has been as different, as possible from that of General Ivanoll. therefore his mind and temperament have developed along different lines. He is of good family, went to the Russian 'Eton (the "Pages' Corps"), and then began life in a, fashionable cavalry regiment. Ability and influence combined to make iiis advancement rapid. He held many good positions, was reckoned a favorite at, Court, distinguished, himself as a daring rider, encouraged cavalry officers to go in for polo and cross-coun-try steeplechases, was popular in Petrograd society. Then came the war to try out the capacity and characters of men. He began in 1014 as the commander of an army corps. Soon lie had an army under him, and his army did the most brilliant work that has been done by any of the combatants. Now be has deservedly been promoted to a still higher command, and all who have worked with him are sure, that he will will further fame. "He is so straightforward," one of his officers told me, "arid so direct. He knows what he wants, and what he wants he must have." Tn his inode of life he follows the habits of Western Europe. His interests are those of cultivated people. He talks French like a Frenchman, and says he will learn English after the war.

"When will that be, mon general?'' I asked him.

"If, as 1 am sure, we are to fight till we have gained a complete victory, it will take us some time. The German people themselves might bring about peace before then by overthrowing their Government. But it would be foolish to reckon upon anything of that kind. In all probability the war must be won by land fighting. We are ready here, and lam very glad to see that you have decided to make your British army as large as possible. We shall have to exert all our strength,—Hamilton Fyfe, in the Daily Mail.