Nelson's history of the war. Vol. XI., The struggle for the Dvina, and the great invasion of Serbia

50 HISTORY OF THE WAR.

were not alluring. Unless it was made with large armies on a broad front, it would be strategically dangerous, for an attack on the left flank and rear was always possible. Again there were no railways on the Turkish side, and no possibility of striking a blow at a vital part till the shores of the Bosphorus were reached. The Russian commander would have his farthest railhead short of the frontier at Sarikamish, and that point was already many miles from his main bases of supply. A move westward in force could scarcely be justified in the circumstances ; it would be a subsidiary operation, which might presently develop into a difficult major operation. All that the Grand Duke would do was to detain as many Turkish troops as possible in that area to prevent reinforcements being sent to Bagdad or the Dardanelles. In the event of a Turkish embarrassment elsewhere, his army of the Caucasus was well placed to strike a blow from behind.

The urgent question of the moment was the possibility of Russia moving a force from her southern Black Sea bases against Bulgaria. There was much talk of a landing at Varna, on the Black Sea coast, a step against which Bulgaria had prepared ; but the Russian fleet, especially since the reappearance of the Goeben, was not in such a position of dominance as to make the naval side of the operation secure, and in any case recent experience of landings in the face of a prepared opposition had not been encouraging. The real point was whether Russia could mass in Bessarabia an army strong enough to give adequate support to Rumania in the event of her entering the war on the Allied side. The situation of the latter Power was one of im-