Page:England & Russia in Central Asia, Vol-2.djvu/406

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"Journal des Débats," in a long and exhaustive article published during the spring of 1878, from which it would appear that the eventuality of a Russian campaign against our Indian empire is one of the most improbable, if not impossible, undertakings that could well be imagined, notwithstanding the enormous numerical strength which Russia is supposed to possess in her army, gave the following account of the present positions and numbers of the Russian forces in Asia:—

"The Russian army in Asia is divided into four parts, corresponding to the administrative divisions of the country — namely, those of the Caucasus, Orenburg, Turkestan, and Fergana, leaving out of the calculation the troops disseminated in the various governments of Siberia, which, in consequence of the