Page:The invasion of the Crimea vol. 2.djvu/69

IN THE WAIl AGAINST KUS3IA. 39 CHAPTER IV. In a military point of view, and upon the suppo- chap. sition of there beino: no iinderstandingr between ' the Czar in occupying WaUachia. liussia and Austria, the seizure of the whole e^or^oT of Wallachia by a Kussian army is a dangerous measure; for, after reaching Bucharest, the line of occupation has to bend at right angles, ascend- ing the northern bank of the Danube between au enemy expectant and an enemy already declared, till at length it touches the frontier of the Banat, at a distance from Moscow of not less than a thousand miles. To be in fitting strength at a point thus situate would imply the possession of resources beyond those which Russia could com- mand. The General at the head of the Turkish army ofthu was Omar Pasha; and it chanced that he was a takes skuiui man highly skilled in the art of bringing poli- tical views to bear upon the operations of an army in the field. He perceived that by protruding his forces into Western, or Lesser Wallachia, the Emperor Nicholas was not only distending im- prudently his line of communications, but eom- ad vantage.