The New York herald., 1877-07-01

railways. Al that time the only railways IN Russia
were those from Mylow'r 70 warsas, ana ron ~.
arising from The transportation Of troops aud supplies
10 the Crimea were far greater than those resatng
from the action OF The allies Az the present tse The
railway system Is we'll advanced toward compietion.
and affords facilities for the movement OF oops and
II Is not saying too much to assert that had the
present railway system been IN operation 1888 The
siege Of Sebastopol would have been impossible.
Coming to tho discussion OF the present var the
General states:-
THE SEAT OF WAR ~ ErncrK.
In tho present war, the In lSeS and m
1885, operations conducted upon two distnct
and distant tthsatres-Turkcy IN Europe
aicly
First lot us touch upon the main typographical lea
turcs Of Turkey Europe. Below the Iron Gates the
Danube, except when divided By Islands into several
width, often than double that In places Il -
from seventy to eighty feet deep, often shaower but
always deep river, nowhere fordable. There Is only
place. al Tultscha, where u sandbar reduces its
depth so much as to render pc bridge practicable;
boats Tho current averages about two and onc-halt
miles per As rule tho right, Turkish, bank
commands The left bank, which is often marshy to the
waters edge The points suitable Tor crossing large
bodies Of troops are few, and generally covered by
forti6cations the Turkish bank
or these works the most westerly OF any impor-
taucc Is wddin. This Is town OF considerable SIZE
and importance. on the right bank OF the river; y Is
well fortified and contains extensive military estab-
its 1e de po'.. bu. is possession OF
SLAMS. Below widdn there small works at LON
aud 0rsova Nicopolis is place Of more Importance;
the Osma River hero enters the Danube from tho
south aud the Alula from tho north. This is possi
Bile point OF crossing for tho Russians Al Sstova Is
tant fortress or Rustchuk, which is we'll ior,Hcd op-
posite 10 this. but at long range, is Gurgcvo. Al
Nustchuk IS the terminus a. o .he rai,wW irom
tuka, which has been strengthened oil late years
Here is OF the most advantageous crossings Of the
Danube from tho north. The river IS here 800 PAGES
wdc the banks the left side, firm and always
aole. The river DomOrswicza here enters the Dan
ube from Bucharest and affords great faculties for
collecting bridge materials. Next below Is tho strong
fortress and intrenchod camp OF silistra, SO well
known from admirable delcnces in 1925 and 1855.
Hrsova Is q smaller work. covering very important
point for crossing the RIVER
Somo forty miles below Is Ibrail, In the hands
OF the Russians and ttle distance from IT,
the Turkish stc the lorthcation OF Matchn. Galaz,
Ten ana lsmaii are all IN inc hands OF anS Russians
porant covering good crossing places for tho Rus
slams. ="
The portion OF tho Bulgarian plain between Trajan's
wall and Bazardjik quite as desolae and as destitute
the middle OF this desert must contend against tho
total absence Of tho necessnries OF life during march
tho Bulgarian piain between the Danube and the
kan, IL different. Tie soil Is rich loam aud In
the wet season wellnign impassaole. Ine ROADS are
constructed Of late years OH tue main roads through
Shumla and yarna. In tho winter there much snow;
tho summers arc hot tha autumns dry Until tho
carly the ground is everywhc carpeted With
vordure; the slopes Of the valleys are covered with
trees, the streams bordercd by grccn meadows and
wherever cultivation extends thcre abundant crops
Of grain In tho auQmn vegetation wthcrs and water
is scarce The population crowded into large villages,
where there abuEdant stores Of provisions. Tho
inhabitsnts agricultural and pastoral. The
Balkans In the iormer tho Mosems In tho latter tho
Christians, predominate. Tho Bulgarians are indus
trous they are inclined toward the Russians by their
Savonic origin and Greek faith, and hate the Turks,
who have long pluudered and oppressed them. The
only railways Bulgaria are the short lines from Kos
across the Danube tho Russians masters OF Bul
gara TO tho Balkan range, except the ground covered
BY tho Ere Of the fortrcsBes and intrenchcd camps
THE BALKAN PASSES.
To hold Bulgaria the passes oil the Balkan must DO
pie, these passes must DO carried and traversod SO
that when they have overcome the difficulties OF the
Danube the Russians next lind the Balkan athwart
their path. AZ its western extremity the Balkan
uniies with the range traversng Albania and Dal-
malta, and connects with the mountain system OF
the north oGshoot which connects it with the
Carpathiap range, and II s through this onshoot
Tho greatest elevation o: tho man balkan range
Is TO tho west OF the sources OF the Jantra aud
the sum.nss are covcrsd with snow until mdsnmmsr
Thence the Of the Kamtschk the elevation
not over 5000 iees and farther east not more than
that Of richly wooded round hills 1t is only in the
valleys that masses OF rock are found. The southern
slope Is by Tar the most steep. On tho northern side
Is u parallel range OF foothills, differing much from
tho main range. These foothills arc Of limestone,
pead,cular walls from 100 to 200 feet In
height and forming singular doles. Toward
rock roc slopes moro gradually as Il doscends. Tho hill
tops are not easily accessible, and covered,
with the magnificent trees OF tho main range. but
with dense brushwood For long distances from the
foot OF the lower range tho lain is covered with
underground Of oak, which renders tbe of
masses OF troops across the country difficult anu
almost impossible. The idea in former times that the
Balkan impassablo arose not much from the
height and Inherent difficulties of the range from
within distance OF nvo or six marches many small
diilculties were accumulated which had 10
como by all the troops In succession.
Tho most westward are In the vicinity OF Sophia,
whero two roads cross tho mountains. One
comes from Ukschuo, where roads unite from Mon
tcnogro, Herzegovina, Bosnia and Servia, and passes
through Dubnitza to Tatar. Basardschyk Tho other
Nsch unitcs with that from Wddin, and also leads
Tatar- -Basardscnyk; thence the united ronds
about twelve miles OF Iatar Basardschyk, the
minus Of railway through Adranopc 10 Constantino
pie, with branch 10 Enos on the -Esean sea Lhcse
tho roads have been improved and fortified oil late
years The next important pass is that through which
the road from Trnova TO kassanik and Adrianope Is
constructed. Another road leads from Tirnova by
sedIno and Jsmooli 10 Acrianopc; this road Is
well as with Aidos. the Two last being
important stratcgcal points karnaoad Is con-
Ksssn with Tirnova on tho one hand and through
osmsnbasar with Rustchuk to tho left. and through
Rassrad with TuriuKal on the right; to the south
rosds lead to Adranople, TO Bourgas aud to CODstan
unopc. Aidos Is connected, towards the north,
through Prawady with Sh mla and Osmanbasar on the
lett. with varna BazardJik and Sstra on tho right;
while TO the south II rs also connected with Bouigas
Constantinoplc aud AdrianoLe. Most OF the roads
through ksrnabad and Aidos TO Varna and Shumla
have oi iato years been adc practicable Tor artillery
and fortified IN tho mountains
THE foRTREssEs
The most important TURKISH forlresses IN this region
are widdin Rustchuk, silistria, Shumia aqd varna.
We're The Turks IN condition to assume the offensive
Mlddin would 10 Of cre,t mpori ance as iacltaiing
th.ir crossing the Danube and gaining the Of the
Rgssisn posnons north Of that river. Rustchuk and
stlisris have aready been alluded to; they were
originally imperfect works OF masonry, which have
from time To time been extended aud strengthened by
tho addition of numerous carthworks They are TOO
De taken BY direct assault unless by surprise,
and must he attacked with heavy Wtil,cry masked
by corps Of observation. II simply held by garrisons
produce little effect the general result Of
the cspasn, except IN rendering the passage OF tho
Danube difficult Ia their vicinity II pobably be
sssu,ned with safety that the Russnns have sufficient
iorce mssk them wnilc operating elsewhere shuma
al northern base oi the foo hills Balkan.