THE COMING WAR.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVIII, Issue 211, 11 September 1897, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE COMING WAR.

GENERALS WHO .WILL PROBABLY BE AT-THE HEADS OF THE GREAT ARMIES.

The Graeco-Turkish war has conic, and virtually gone .without, as was at one time to be feared, setting ISurope ablaze, with the result that we arc still looking forward to the great, struggle which we have grown to regard as inevitable, and iv which, if is thought, wosl of the great nations will be directly or indirectly involved. And although 1 he chief Continental Powers are full of peaceful declarations, it yet remains that every year sees an increase in the military expenditure. It is idle to disguise the fact that the present unrest is largely due to the recovered strength of X ranee. Twenty-seven years ago our neighbour lay prostrate at the feet of Germany. To-day her lighting men ■ number S.fiOO.OOO men, with 750.00(1 re-serves for fortresses total, -1,:_.. 0,000.

At the head of this imposing force is General Saussier, Governor of Paris, who, ns Generalissimo *>f the French Army, holds letters ol' service appointing him to the stiprcmecommand in the event of war. Under him is a staff of generals who every year, among the fields of South-east Champagne, fight the mimic battles they may one day have to wage in earnest in defence of their country.

General Saussier, although sixty-nine years old, shows few marks of age. He can remain hours in the saddle Avithout exhibiting signs of either physical or mental fatigue. General Saussier has seen a good deal of service. A Crimean ouicerjie has fought in Algiers and Mexico, and was one of those Who, disapproving of the capitulatjon of Bazaine at Mete, escaped from the German fortress in Avhich he was confined to fight with the lines raised by (1 ambel;la. He commanded the Tunis expedition, in 1881, and since 3SB-I has been Governor of Paris. Not only has the French War Ollice the most unbounded faith in his abilities, but the confidence reposed in him is shared by the army and the people. Still, sixty-nine years is a ripe old age, and generals avcll in the sixties are so apt to lose their dash that even that fighting cavalry officer, General de Gallifet, whose wounds in the Franco-German Avar, by compelling

him to adopt the most Spartan diet, have made him a young man for his age, jjnay have to make way for younger men. So also may General Davoust, Due d'Auerstadt. The youngest of all the French generals, and the one on whom the mantle of Saussier is expected to fall, is General de Negrier. He was wounded at Metz, escaped from hospital, was ar-

Rest-cd, shot his captor, escaped again, and fought in the north lill once more severely wounded. Experts, however, say that his abilities are not equal to those of General .Duchesne, who eon<]iicred Madagascar.

If a knowledge of military tactics, from a student's poiol of view, is lo be Ihe fcsl of merit, Gallianior. now Governor of Madagascar, would probably direct Ihe next campaign, but he is not popular with the Press. The German army remains to-day what it was thirty years ago--a splendidly -trained lighting machine. Hut Moltko is dead, and whether Count yon Scitlieffcn will realise the expeeta-

tions formed of him remains to be seen.

It is safe to say that very feAV of the generals who made their mark in tiie Fran co-German Avar will be available for the next struggle. Blumenthal is ejghty-seven years of age, and the King of Saxony seventy-nine. Many

of tlie generals who also distinguished themselves as staff officers during that campaign are already on the shelf. General Schellcndorf is only fifty, but he is such ;m able organiser thai, he is likely to be retained for the commissariat.

In the time of peace the Russian army numbers!,o9o,2f>o men; on a war footing the lighting strength is 3,077,394 men, of which huge total no less than 234,917 are cavalry. The officers controlling this monstrous fighting army comprise some of the ablest military theorists in Europe, many of the best works on military scionce baAing been AViitten by Russian staff officers. A truly masterful plan for the invasion of India some day has been devised ,it is said.by Pezewalsky,

The chief of the staff of the Russian army and on Avhom, after the Emperor, the supreme command would devolve in case of Avar, is Obroutchef. The Russo - Turkish Avar somehow provided him Avith such feAV opportunities for the display of his talents, that the success which attended his plans for pushing the Russian advance on the confines of Afghanistan came as a surprise to the Russian War Office. Obroutchef, although sixty years of age, is blessed with such a superb constitution that Avhen in Asia he thought nothing of remaining in the saddle for fourteen hours at astretch. But it is his intellectual gifts which make him so formidable an opponent; subtle in

devising, his grasp of detail is enormous.

.Most of the generals avlio came to the front during the Busso-Turkish war are all alive, a disadvantage Count Schonvaloff, great soldier though he is, may labour under when the Russian army is called upon to take the. field.

Although Hie abilities of Obroutehef are universally recognised, it is highly probable that were the next war postponed for ten years General i'etauehevsky would head the army.

His brother officers, no mean judges, have the highest opinion of his abilities.

Thirty years have passed since the disaster of Sadowa brought Austria lo her knees, and chastened by adversity she has since then never paused in Ihe work of reorganisation, the fruit of which is now ready to be reaped.

The permanent army of the AustroHungarian Empire consists of 939,884 men." When the law of 18S9, Avhich every year adds 124,150 recruits, is fully developed, the fighting machine of the dual empire will number 2.500,000, of which all but 500,000 men Avill be fully trained.

Field-Marshal the Archduke Albreeht has for many years held the position of Imperial and Royal In-spector-General of the army, "a post which entitles him <o claim supreme command in time of war, but as his Highness is seventy years of age, the can (I net of operations will probably devolve on Karl Ludwig, a military man of great tact and ability.

In one respect the position held by this country as far as its generals are concerned is unique. The small wars we have been waging during the past thirty years in one part or other of our vast empire has provided us AAith

an array of experienced officers such as no other country in the world can boast. Since, the Crimea, Lord Wolsele] r has Juirdly ever been Avithout a campaign of some sort or other on his hands, circumstances Avhich perhaps have combined to make him a splendid soldier and an unrivalled strategist. Lord Roberts' Indian experience has been so varied that, Avhcther Aye consider him as an engineer, fortifying- Cabul and planning those wonderful works Avhich some day will perhaps bar an enemy's advance into Northern I^dia, or as the general avlio literally fIeAV across the plains of India to relieve the imprisoned g-arrisou of Candahar, he must Avin our admiration.

After Wolseley and Roberts, the officer Avho can boast the most varied experience is Sir Evelyn Wood. Since he exchanged—after his Crimean experience—a naval for a military life, he has had plenty to do. But whether

in the Crimea, Indian Mutiny, Ashantee, Khartoum, or South Africa, he has invariably proved himself a fighter as bold as he is prudent. Another officer with a splendid record is Sir Redvers Buller, Adjutant-General, a profound student of the art of war, and one of the most capable generals in the field. The next big Avar in Avhich Great Britain is involved may also provide an opportunity for H.R.H. the Duke of Connaught of shoAving to the best advantages military instincts which, there is little doubt, are inbred in him. Of our young officers, the one who has shown the most genius for organisation is Sir H. H. Kitchener, Comman-der-in-Chief of the expedition noAV moving up the Nile. Kitchener has not yet fought white troops it is true, but our wars in the past have never shown a single instance of an officer who distinguished himself against coloured races not subsequently sustaining his reputation Avhen opposed to European soldiers. His ability also for handling large bodies of men has yet to be demonstrated, but if it equals his genius for organisation the country has in this officer a soldier who one day will do much towards upholding its honour.