BRITISH MILITARY OPERATIONS IN EGYPT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIX, Issue 6485, 30 August 1882, Page 6

BRITISH MILITARY OPERATIONS IN EGYPT.

TFTR ABA3I PASHA. The evacuation of Kafradowar by Arabi iPashais solely " due to the stetegical mo vemrat'of'SirGOTet.;atVlsmaiUa.:; '-"We must , i 'not suppose that the Dictator is [acting on his" oto judgptrnt,' b«sause abonnds with foreign ofheera ol great ability, j ! whoaiie ; ever ready -to -assist, lit any. operaitions detrimental to : the' British, -'Aleiandria : being taken, it was jncumbent-to select a position to oppose our sdvaace.' Kafradowar was cho3en; : - and 100 girns, mostly Krupps, ware placed iir position.- There ? ca& be no 'doubt but we should have suffered a terrible loss had Sir Garnet detarinined- to force his; ; adversiry's Ipbaition.' • - Fortunately enough •for those' concerned m ; the war, a flanking imavement was by' which -the ■position at Kafradowar no' longer became" i tenable; - Arabi Pasha has therefore decided ■to retrain -conjectofe at'present states t(>j Cairo, but is such the case? ' '■ - ; ' " It 'is true that Cairo 1 is "•the' capital of Egypt," and, - generally 'speaking, - when' once - the;' <apitai of !a ' country is- occn-' piedj.'resistance* miy , be' considered at an' end.; The' distance from ■ Kafrodowar to Cairo is about 130' miles, two lines of railway, running oh other side of the' Nile, connect it with the . capitaL' The line to tho we3t does* not' cross; the river,'"whilst the eastern section not only crosses the Jiile, bufc also one of its tributaries or branches.- These two lines.are therefore open to him to retire by.'; In the"event of Cairo .being selected as* the point of resistance,''his : defeat will bo most, .To shut himself up in Cairo with two armies converging- on it,"both enabled to. arrive there,almostat thesame.time as himself,-' would .be but : to expose" himself not only.to dejfeat but capture. As a poiitl (Tappui Cairo possesses no peculiarity. The town is "certainly circumvented by walls, and a'citadeU'situated, on' an elevated sandstone rock commands it, but are this town and citadd. capable of defence against the forces opposed to him? Certainly not, for Cairo is a city of some 350,000 inhabitants, which could be reduced to ashea in a few hours, and the citadel, although'onc# fonnidable, is'incapable of resistance against the' guns which will be brought to bear upon it." Besides which, the fortifications are so dilapidated and . crumbling, that;' absolute breach'. 8 already exist,' which wonld" enable any Enlish regiment to assault it at a moment's'noSce/'Notably among the breaches i 3 the one adjacent' to' the Mamelukes* leap. : In : fact the citadel was'ruined by Menemet Ali in 1811, since which time it has never been repaired; /Again, under what circumstances, could Ara.bi' ■ Pasha hope to provision'such an city of 350,000 inhabitants ?'' Presuming, .then, that there is not sufficient'reason in selecting Cairo, where will the stand be made? •

A glance at the map will show that the delta formed by ! the two branches of tho Nile .offers great facilities for delaying and impeding the onward march of the. British, and would give means of escape after defeat, such as do not exist at Cairo.

First of all, the delta is intersected by railways and canals,and.it3 populationis estimated at 3,500,000. The lines mostly converge on Taatah,. a . great Mussulman towa' of 30,000 inhabitants. To reach the delta, the English armies would have to.cross the Nile and its great branch, flowing to Damietta. 'The only.bridges, crossing, rivers are railway bndges. The; first is at Ramaneeh;'and the second at.Nikleh. These can; easily be -destroyed, therefore.all means of .attack from the army commanded by General; Hamley, operating from Alexandria, would be frustrated for the time being, that is toj say, until such time 33 pontoon bridges could! be thrown 'across, "to' enable thai troops to pass over; a;feat.by.nomeans easy, consider-, ing the: season.of the year and the rising of the river. On the Damietta, or eastern branch .'o£; the : Nile,: there, is but' one bridge, namely,\at Benha; the. J destruction of .which could easily bo secured. And here again - the same , obstacle. ' occurs. Benha is in communication by rail • with Zagazig, ,and.' Ismailia.-andit is by this route athatSirGaraet i 3 now advancing.; Therefore,* should Arabi elect, to makehis final stand* within- the deity in both cases would Generals Wolseley and Hamley havo to cross "the river ere-the t ftnal overthrow of the Egyptian army could take place. We. have but to look, back to.the.passage of the Danube'at Giurgevo by the Russians; and see the enormous difficulties they h'id to overcome: It ia hot only the absolute crossing of these mighty rivers that; our troops 1 will have to contend with/ but the malaria always and the' exposure toil tropical'sun, - wKicH : will sadly diminish the ranks of our men; - Again, it is idle fe) suppose that an, energetic enemy • woulcl not actively oppose the passage, especially .as he is known to have good pms. which can be well seized, : as'-' they were ; at Alexandria, when a perfect avalanche of fire was hurled at them from our ironclads, v* : ■

-' It would seem incredible that Arabi Pasha will forego the great advantages offered by the terrain yithinthe delta, especially as, from a military ■point of view, it is considered necessary to subdue it/ 'for the protection of the : canal, Sir • Garnet '-Wolseley'a career, has'been a very lucky one, f butno previous • troke of - fortunewould ' equal 1 that of- his adversary* to retire ; on Cairo;; for he would then be enabled, without difficulty, to unite" his divisions under its waUs,- anddefeat with' one blow" the entire. 'Egyptian * army. This; event would- 1 certainly l be ; re warded bya : peerage; Sewsx. • i