Page:England & Russia in Central Asia,Vol-I.djvu/132

112 ENGLA.ND AND RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA. Atrek and the Sumbur, and at Kizil Arvat, and Kizil Tchesme in the Akhal region ; and there is good reason for saying that the Cossacks have pushed beyond Ash- kabad in the direction of Abiverd and theTejend swamp. Later information says that Abiverd was occupied in force, but this has not been confirmed. These ope- rations are carried on by an army of far different composition to, and acting under other conditions than, that which recognises General Kaufmann as supreme. The army of Trans- Caspiania is but an advanced section of the army of the Caucasus, the same army which conquered Armenia and took Kars and Erze- roum. Its strength is computed at one hundred and fifty-five thousand regulars and forty thousand irre- gulars. It has an artillery of forty-three batteries — ■ three hundred and forty-four guns — and is considered to be one of the most efficient forces at the Czar's disposal. It also has its garrison duties to perform. Tiflis, Ardahan, Batoum, Kars, Erivan, and Baku have to be garrisoned. The Circassians are not so cowed that they can be left unguarded. The frontier towards Turkey, strong as it now is, is not so im- pregnable that it does not need the presence of a strong garrison. Kars, Ardahan, and Batoum, the Armenian trilateral, require men to man their walls. Their possession, however, sets free a large portion of the army of the Caucasus. Fifty thousand men and one hundred and fifty guns could easily be spared for operations in Persia or in Turcomania ; and with a slight effort that force could be doubled, its place being supplied by reinforcements from Europe,