The sun., 1901-08-24

In isss tho Afghans were defeated.
and the Russians established q military
station at Kushk on the river Of the
same name. extending the railroad TO
that point.
This last advance Is especially inn
portant in case OF war with England.
Herat, the strategic key point Of Afghan
istan In only eighty miles from the
Russian border. By the extension Of
the trans Caspian road to Kushk. M
well as through the central Asia roads.
Russia can concentrate at this point
all her troops in Turkestan. for an ad-
vance on Hcrat. and can bring re-
endorsements from the Caucasus and
European Russia. The railroads avail
able for this purpose are the Batum
or Poti. on the Black Sea; the line
from Tifis TO Baku on the Caspian
Sea and the line from Rostov. on
the Sea Of Azov. to Petrovsk From
Baku transports connect with kras-
novodsk: thence troops can he sent on
over the central Asian route.
Il was shown by actual trial In 1909
that the advance guard Of an army
corps can be shipped in eight days from
Tiflis to the Afghanistan border An
army corps can be sent in about a month.
England can hardly bring up an equal
force In that time A. soon as the
Orenburg- -Tsshkent road il completed
there will be another means Of tran
sporting troops from the interior OF
Russia TO central Asia. The Merry
Andi-han or Marghilan route Ia directed
against Chinese 1irkestan.
The central Asian road, also, has an
important bearing on Russia's relations
with Persia Russia desires route
TO the open sea, and is planning
the construction Of railroad from
Resht, near the southwest coast of the
Caspian Sea. over Teheran TO Bender
Abbas, a port on the Persian coast.
Should this road ever be constructed,
the central Asia road. passing as IL does
close Ia the Persian border. will be Of
even greater military significance than
at present The fact that IL passes
through Bokhara has already made the
Ameer practically a vassal Of Russia.
By these railroads Russia's forces
in Turkestan thus front on western
China. on Afghanistan and on Persia
Turning now to the trans-Siberian
road. we see that il. too. has a high
military value. especially in connec-
ton with the east China road and its
branch TO the south. which is also
practically Russian. In the Far Fast
the advance Of Russia has been similar
10 her progress in central Asia; the
strategic points Of vladivostok. Port
Arthur and Talienwan are all connected
by rail with the interior Of Russia. Dur
ing the troubles in CHR a f,Iis road did
important service. although IL left much
To be- desired. The recent appropria-
ton Of eight and half million rouble-
will, however. put IL in condition for all
that will be required Of H. The sea
route by way Of Odessa tn the Far East
Ia easily impeded by an enemy at tho
Dardanelles, consequently this land
route. when once in good condition.
will become the more important in .
military sense.
In Manchuria the road from Mukden
10 Ticntsin and Pekin, with a branch
from Kinkhau TO Niuchwang. where IL
strikes the road 10 Port Arthur. is Of
great Importance. BY these railroads.
Russia encloses China on the west, north
and east The strategic importance Of
her network OF railroads Is thus evi-
dent. The system enables her to con-
centrate troops from all parts Of the
empire either against China in the Far
East, or against Afghanistan and Persia
on the south