Page:The Next Naval War - Eardley-Wilmot - 1894.djvu/76

 of the mouth of the Bosphorus, The landing began at seven the next morning and was effected with little opposition. A small force of Turks that had been hurriedly collected to oppose the disembarkation, was repulsed by the advance guard, and by ten that night the whole of the army and the stores were on shore. This operation was in fact a complete surprise, for the Turks had a large army in readiness on the opposite side and were without the means of rapidly transferring it across the water.

Leaving a strongly entrenched camp at the point of embarkation, a Russian flying column, 5000 strong, marched rapidly towards the Bosphorus, and occupied without difficulty the forts on that side commanding the entrance. In the meantime reinforcements kept arriving from Batoum and other Russian ports.

These rapid measures practically put Turkey at her mercy, and Austria grew alarmed. An appeal to Germany was promptly responded to, and the growing feeling in Italy that assistance should be offered to England, added to the probability that the whole of Europe would soon be in a blaze.

The difference between good and bad organisation was then apparent. To mobilise an army on the Continent may precipitate a conflict, and affects the entire nation to such an extent that it is only adopted as a last resort. A fleet may be equipped,