The Sun.
London, England, 1866-08-07 00:00:00

THE AUSTRIAN ARMY.

(From the Times Military Correspondent)
RAILWAY TRAIN, NEAR EHRENITAUSEN.
August 1.

If two armies are operating in combination, the
one on the Danube, the other on the Po, the line
by which I am now travelling through the valley of
the Muhr, or Mura, and the road through the same
valley, become of the highest importance, as being
by far the easiest means of communication with
Vienna and affording valuable points of concentra-
tion. From news this moment received, that all
public trains cease to run after this evening, and
that 29 military trains are to pass southwards from
Vienna as fast as steam can urge them, it is not
difficult to determine that Italy has rejected the
proffered terms and will content herself with nothing
less than the whole of the Southern Tyrol and
Styria, if, indeed, her demands stop short of Trieste.
All posts are to be stopped after this morning, and
if this letter succeeds in reaching England it will
be the last for some days. No General who knows
anything of the art of war could doubt for a mo-
ment that Austria will send troops by this route,
nor that it will probably become the real point of
interest in the ensuing campaign, so no harm can
be done to the Austrian cause by mentioning what
is written above, and besides the telegraph will have
informed England from Vienna before this letter
can reach home.

The river D rave has two sources, fed by the Styrian
and Carnic Alps, it flows through Carinthia, opening
a passage through the mountains ; passes by Lintz,
Villach, the terminus of the railway from Marburg,
and the roads from Saltzburg, Innsbruck, Trent,
Vienna, and with Venice and the south by Tarvis ;
flows near Klagenfurt, the chief town of Carinthia,
past Marburg on the road and railway to Vienna,
waters the fortified town of Warasdin, whence a
road leads north to Vienna, and south to the
eastern shores of the Adriatic. Its further course,
till it falls into the Danube, is foreign to our present
purpose. As it rises not far from the sources :of
the Adige, the valleys of the two rivers have afforded
the means of communication between Botzen, where
the railway from the Quadrilateral and the road
from Innspruck over the Brenner Pass meet, and
Villach, the terminus of the railway from Marburg,
and thence north and south. Thus the valley of
the Drave opens a route sweeping round behind the
Alps, which frown over the fertile plains of the dis-
puted territory, and;is connected by radiating roads
and railways with the Quadrilateral, Vicenza,
Padua by Cittadella, Venice by Treviso, and
Trieste by Tarvis or the Vienna Railway.
A greatarmy might lie hid on this road and stand
ready to concentrate by the two railroads and the
passes named above, or, sending a large force round
by its flank, operate on the communications of an
enemy who has thrust himself too far forward.
Without pretending to any special information, I
think the latter course not improbable, and as the
Italians are not likely to suffer the Archduke to
reach the Quadrilateral without interruption, the
Trieste side may, I think, be watched with interest
as the probable direction in which the first great
shock of the armies may be expected. The Austrian
tactics, directed since the war of 1859 to the one
object of encountering Italian, and possibly French,
soldiers, are suited to the genius of the warlike
races which compose this heterogeneous army.
Every inch of the soil has been carefully studied,
and either Austria will beat the Southerners or she
must give up all title to the name of a great mili-
tary Power. If time and permission be afforded I
will visit the fleet first, and pick up what is to be
gleaned concerning its armament.