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424 Supplies, munitions, and siege artillery were accumulatedat Bami; they were nearly all brought by the Tshikishlar route, as Skobeleff could not wait for the completion of the railway to Kizil-Arvat. By the beginning of December the Russians were ready to take the offensive, and the advance upon Geok Tepe was ordered.

Geok Tepe, sometimes called Goek Tepe ("The Green Hills"), is situated on the Akhal oasis, in the Turcoman steppes. 387 versts (250 miles), east of the Caspian Sea. The chain of hills called the Kopet-Dag, lies south andsouthwest of Geok Tepe, and on the other side it touchesthe sandy desert of Kara Kum, with the hill of Geok onthe east. The Turcomans, or rather the Tekke Turcomans, who held it, are the most numerous of the nomad tribes in that region. They are reported to count about 100,000 kibitkas, or tents; reckoning 5 persons to a kibitka, this would give them a strength of half a million. Their great strength in numbers and their fighting abilities enabled them to choose their position and settle on the most fertile oases along the northern border of Persia for centuries. These oases have been renowned for their productiveness, and in consequence of the abundance of food, the Tekkes were a powerful race of men, and were feared throughout all that part of Asia. Their principal stronghold was Geok Tepe, which lies in a depressed hollow near the hill of Geok, as already described. It is traversed by many irrigating canals, which, towards the north, convert the ground into a marsh, and make it almost inaccessible for troops.

The fortress of Geok Tepe at the time of the Russian advance consisted of walls of mud 12 or 15 feet high towards the north and west, and 6 or 8 feet thick. In front of these walls was a ditch, 6 feet deep, supplied by a running stream, and behind the walls was a raised platform for the defenders. The space between the first and second interior wall was from 50 to 60 feet wide, and