THE COMPLICATION OF RUSSIAN TROUBLES. (From the Times, 27th October.)

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XII, Issue 898, 5 February 1856, Page 3

THE COMPLICATION OF RUSSIAN TROUBLES. (From the Times, 27th October.)

There can be no doubt of th-> importance of the events which the next few months will bring to pass in Asia. It is one of the advantages ot the allies in the present war that Russia has plunged into hostilities at a period of her aggrandizement whnn her outlying conquests are defended by no stiong lines of houtier, and before her own communications with them ha\e been brought to perfection. Alien in feeling, or at best half assimilated , they lie easy of acee* 1 ! to an invader who commands the sea, while the Russian armies must toil over vast tracts, and tind themselves half exhausted in a bad military position in the face of an tin weakened enemy and in the midst of an m'liff rent population If the Czar boldly faced the Western Powers in the hope that the tactics and the catastiophe of 1812 would be repeated, his successor must now see the error. Russia Proper is not likely to bo im.td h\ in the present or any luture w.ir ; but there is hardly a single conquest of the last SO years which she may not lose before this great contest is concluded. The Crimea may he considered as already in the power of the Western armies, the fortresses of the Lower Danube aic not likely to resist a twelvemonth ; even the frontier of the empire may possibly ho thrown back from the Pruth to the Dniester, and Bessaiahia u.iicd to the Romanic provinces. But it is in the regions south of the Caucasus that the blow will fall most speedily on Russian power. Here the Ozar must fight an nhor battle with all the conditions of success agiinst him. As in the Crimea, his aimies must be romfoiced or supplied by a single road or by an uncertain navigation. More completely than in the Crimea will his aimies be isolated, for Perekop and Tohongar are at le-ist not surrounded by fierce and hostile tribes, while the Dai iel Pass and the so-eallod Gates of the Caucasus may he closed at the hour of extreme need by the indomitable mountaineers. The stubborn resistance of Kars and the comparative quietude of the Crimea have attracted men's minds once more to the army of A°ia and its operations. The appointment of Omar Pasha to the chief command, though too late to deliver Ka q finm assaulf, may recompense the heroic cour ige o its garrison. No officer will have cause to regret t ha t he lias cast in his lot with the defenders of the Aoiatio provinces during the present year. It is difficult to foictell the course of operations', but sufficient is known to indicate that the Ottoman General will not rest content with defending the Sultan's te.ntory, but Mill cany ihe war into the provinces of the Czar. Omar Pasha is at Batoum ; General Mouravicff is still before Kars. Both aie acting on the offensive; the operations ot both are likely to be soon brought to a close by the inclemency of the season, yet both seem willing to risk a winter campaign. Omar Pasha seems to aim at something moe than a foray. He is establishiu* his authority on a firm ba<is Foi more than a year the enemy has abandoned the forts on the sea coast, and now fiom Tainan to Redout Kaleh ail aie in the hands of the allies. The mil'tnry scheme of Omar Pasha seems to consist in an ad\ance on Kutais, in Imeritia, 70 miles north-east of Uatoum. The Russian force in Mingrelia and Imeritia is small, and, should the Turkish General not be impeded by the deiiincnces of his own army, he will hardly be likely to meet any other obstacle. But a movement into the intenor seems difficult at the present season, and in the actual circumstances. The Pasha has now 10,000 men collected at Batoum, but they aie ill provided and clothed, while means of transport through the country are much wanting. We learn Jrom our correspondent that 18,000 of the Ottoman troops in the Crimea are to leave for the Asiatic seat of war at> soon as transports can be made ready for them ; but with all the good-will and industry of the Naval Department, it' is unlikely that these will he at Batoum before the month of November is far advanced. It is possible, irdiul. that an advance on Kutais and the occupation of the town may take place within the present year, but it will probably be reserved for the ensuing summer to w itne>s the earnest prosecution ot the Asiatic war. It cannot be expected that such a teiiitory as Geoigui should fall into the hands of the allies -without an obstinate struggle. An army advancing lrom Kntais will have to force the Suram Pass. The valley ot the Phasis may be ascended with ease, and it is even argued that the small craft of the allies may be ivuilj use of to cany men, provisions, and the materials of war moie thin a hunched miles up the river. But between Imeritia and the highlands of Georgia a spur of the Caucasus iuiis southward, and may bedeiended bj a small h>ice against greatly superior number. The Pa^s of Sin a m , w Inch crosses it, is neaily 4,000 feet abo\e the level ot the sea, and will therefore piobably be choked with miow during the entire winter. Noi when it is foieed, will the march to Teiiis be an easy matter. The Valley of the Cyrus is intersected by a great number of sticams which now from the north to south into it, and each descends between ranges of hills uffurdmg to a defensive army great advantages. In fact tho enemy will have the same superiority of position as has enabled the Turks, though undisciplined and few in numbers, to resist for two years the whole stiength of the Russian army. We cannot therefore doubt "that the plans of Omar Pasha for the piesent year will be limited to the occupation of Mingrelia and Imeiitia, and that he will rely on the assistance of the allies for a further prosec ition of the campaign. But even such a conquest as is within his power during the winter months will be no small gain. These two piovinces arp isolated by mountain ranges from the rest ot the Russian possessions, and when once gained may be kept for ever. Their occupation will relieve the northern distucts of Asia Minor from any fear of the enemy, and will chock his advance from his own territory, through tho dread of being intercepted by a hostile force operating from them. The Pasha complains of the slackness with which he is reinforced, nnd is disposed to lay the blame on the transport department of the British service ; but it must bo remembered that the supply of a quarter of a million of men in the Crimea is mainly dependent on the exertions of the British marine, that many of the steamers have been long at sea and are in inferior condition, and thatnoteven the commercial enterprise of Great Britain can supply in sufficient numbers the vosels which arc required for the prosecution of this gigantic vv ar. All that has occurred, or is now pissing in Asia, may be looked upon only as a prelude to the great drama which is to come. The feeling of the nation has long pointed out the region of the Caucdsiis as the scene of a contest by which the most dangerous, because the most unperceived, aggression of Russia may be bici^ht to a close, and all, whether enemies or friends, who dream of a march to the Indus may be aroused to the conviction of its vanity. The despatch which we publish to-day of the defence of Kars will encourage those who have advised an expedition to Asia, while it will convince all who read it of the resources of the enemy, and the necessity of adequate preparations. Russia may be conquered beyond the Caucasus, and the fall of her dommion will be gieat, but the enterprise is no light one, and it must immediately receive the whole attention of the Allies. As wa have often observed, no real danger threatens the Ottoman provinces of Asia. The Turks appear to have fought on the 29th of September with the stubbornness which in ail their past history they have displayed in defensive warfare. The enormous loss of the Russians is confinnesl. For seven hours did the garrison face the whole ro \er of the eiiemy. The town, was nearly Minounded. The heights to the east of the place weie attacked at the same time that the enemy crossed the river and assaulted the to-.vn in the rear. They seem to have bean everywhere repulsed ; and not one of the Tabias or detached forts appears to have been taken. General Williams, who, without any military position but that of British Commissioner, has been the guiding spirit of the Asiatic compaign, has achieved a high triumph, and is entitled to the honour of his countiymen. Next year it will be the turn of the Allies ; their vi(st armies will be fiee, and no entei prise seems more promising of success than that winch shall liberate from the Muscovite yoke a country as laige as the British Isles, and throw back the frontier of Russia behind a barrier of mountains which even the most aggressive of empties will hardiy surmount twice in its history.