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Auckland Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2336, 11 September 1877, Page 2

NEWS of the two days' battle at Plevna, comes to us through Russian sources. The Russian account places their losses at only five hundred killed, und claims an advantage over the enemy, their lines being advanced closer to the Turkish position. The latest disj.atch from our Special Correspondent, dated London, last night, s'atcß that a big battle is i¥iw going on ; 90,000 engaged on each side. The change in tho Russian position ou the eastern side of operations, is, wc presume, another way of acknowledging that the army has been driven back by the recent Turkish victories along the line ot the River Lorn. The abandonment of tho siege of ltustchuck is attributable to the same cause. It must not he lost sight of that the Russian army occupying a long centre line with the the enemy east, west, and south, is under the disadvantage of having to present a strong front to every point from which a blow may come. The invading forces have hitherto been scattered over too large an area of country, exposing them to defeat in detail. By drawing in the lines and throwingj an irresistible force against each of the Turkish positions, as the German army did against the isolated forces of the French, the way may be cleared for the advance which before ended in disaster. The Russians have suffered defeat through a contemptuous under-esti-mate of tho strength of their foe. The main body of tho army, however, remains intact, and it may not yet he too htte to retrieve the fortunes of their apparently failing enterprise. ________