New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-04-25
ENGLAND AND RUSSIA.
THE PRESENT MILITARY SITUATION IN
ASIA-GENERAL KOMAROFFS STORY.


II vould he an entire mistake to suppose that the
rnol;.b look forward to war against Russia with
n light heart / have met not one who does not
regret the necessity: few who fail to foresee inc
probability of disaster at the beginning, alike on
land and sea. England and Russia have each plenty
If reasons for wishing to postpone rupture lhis
is TO be war for prestige in Asia for military pre-
dominance (; for menacing on one side ana securing
on the other British authority in India AS mat
ters stand today, there is some reason TO Dele'e
that the first incident in the contest wouid DO
the Russian occupation of Herat. General komaron
with force of unknown strengths within seventy
miles of that city, He has before him an easy road'
q country that can feed his army, and no enemy
capable of Offering serious resistance to his adj
vance until he reaches the gates of Herat' NO
military man here is able to suggest a means OF
preventing his seizure of the hills about the town
from which town and forts can be shelled. Inc
nearest English force is 500 miles to the SOUTH ls
transport has yet to be collected. 1t is not certain
how soon India supply the oo'oOo camciS
which are reckoned the minimdm Tor an army
of 10000 men. The road Is difncuit III
parts the country will afford meagre forage
Part of il is the same once traversed by us
tinguished Indian officer whom have heard de-
scribe his experience. A single fact will paint the
picture. His horses were only saved from starving
occasionally to be met with.
The best authorities estimate the time required
for q sufficient British force to reach Herat as not
less than three months. Sanguine soldiers thlnN
q flying column not exceeding 10000 men mlght
do it In six weeks. Both estimates assume that IL
IS to be helped, not hndered by the inhabitants.
But there IS great doubt whether such an expedl-
ton would be well received. What the Ameer himself
said Oh this point at Rawal-Pindi was interpreted
here as bid for a higher subsidy. mat Is not
the view of the Anglo-Indians, who know the coun-
try They are of opinion that Abdurrahman
spoke within the truth. Afghanistan is geo.
graphical expression. The territory which the
Ameer rules is peopled by different tribes, over
whom his authority is exercised for certain purposes
and within certain limits They are savage and
suspicious 1t is doubtful whether all Abdurrah-
mans influence will be enough to induce them TO
view the English as anything but invaders OF 10
give them anything but a hostile reception.
If the situation not so exceedingly
grave it would be comic. The Engllsh
are the allies of fhe Amer, they I'M
dertake a march of more than 500 miles to
repel Russian invasion of Afghanistan ana they
may have to fight the Afghans themselves before
they can get at the Russians Probably some means
will be found 10 these singular people But
the fact that there is doubt whether England can
tile Afghan tribes shows how perpleIlng the whole
Enthusiastically is. Already you hear Lord Lytton's
friends lifting their voices in defence OF
his discredited polio They say that friendly
AfghapIstan is impossible. and an independent
Afghanistan danger; that to hold Can
dahar and ovcrawe Cabul are the only
means of securing the northern frontier
of India and keeping the Russians at bay.
They forget the Afghans iii that case would SIDE
with the Russians, as they did IN 1878 when
Shere Ali would have welcomed Russian troops.
The latest calculations with respect to the Russian
forces at Merry and south of it give General
Komaroff about 5000 troops The Horse Guards,
or in other words the headquarters staff in London,
are understood to have satisfied themselves that no
more than this number have passed south OF
Askabad. But it must be remembered that the
data for such calculations uncertain and shift
ing The strength of the Russian army
in the Caucasus, and of the army in Turkestan
has long been pretty accurately known. Their
means of transportation and actual movements are
less accurately known. Nobody in England can say
with perfect confidence what has been going on
behind the veil which distance and the desert draw
over all the military operations Of Russia in Cen
trail Asia But it is conceded by the English that
an additional force of 900 Russian troops may
be collected at Askabad within month. Askabad
is 400 miles north of HeTat. General komaroh, at
Penjdeh, is but seventy miles from Herat HIS
supports are therefore, $50 miles away. II we as
sumo that he has collected. or could shortly col
lect, 5000 troops at Penjdeh the question-the
vital questiOn-s whether with that force he would
deem himself strong enough for rush on Herat.
Nobody seems TO know the strength of the gar
rison of Herat of what troops 1t is composed or
who commands them, or what they would be Ike
~ to do on the appearance OF a Russian army. we
hear of English officers on their way to the town
possibly enough they have already entered it.
General Lumsdcn's communications with llerat
are open his relations With the garrison presum-
ably friendly He is himself an engineer officer,
and has plenty of engineers with him. What ono
courageous and capable IS worth in such cir
cumstances was shown by the heroic and success
full defence of Herat by Eldred Pottinger in 1888.
1t is argued that the Russian artillery Will soon
give an account of the defcnces of tho place. But
there is reason TO suppose that General KOmarof
has a siege train with him, or any guns capable of
making an impression on the thick walls of the
town. If he can establish himself Oh the hills
which command Herat, not more than mile to the
north he can make the interior very hot for its de-
tenders but not untenabe in a military sense so
long as he can bring nothing to bear on it but
field artillery. AS for storning place like Herat
before a breach has been made in its walls that is
an operation about which even Russian General
of the Central Asia type would be likely TO think
twice and thrice.
1t comes to this therefore General Komarof
supposing the passes of the Parapomisus TO be
defended might be knocking at the gates of Herat
within week. His force would be somewhere
from 5000 to 5000 troops of all arms, Turco-
mans included. His large supports could
reach him before the middle of June
when he might look for the $4,000 from
Askabad, above mentioned. BY that time an
English force of equal strength might be expected
to arrive for the relief of the beeaguered fort and
month later double the number. Against the last