Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 9.djvu/165

 THE EMPEROR STILL HARPING ON HIS PLAN. 135 'pol, would have a more decisive effect than all 'the bloody attacks against SebastopoL' * If the Emperor thus still continued to harp on Louis Na- poleni 1 1 ii- the plan he had formed, this was mainly because awareof i the v, ' av in none had told him of the curiously signal collapse which his J ° L plan had which his cherished design underwent so long since collapsed, as the middle of May. Enquiry then pursued in the Crimea had made it appear, as we saw, that for the defence of the Allied position — a task all agreed to be vital — there would be needed no less than 90,000 men who (for reasons disclosed at the time) would have to be all either French, or French and English combined;! and it is only after allowing for this immense exigency that Pelissier's stern design can rightly be put in com- parison with Louis Napoleon's project. Under General Pelissier's plan of firmly pressing the siege, the Allies — by simply their presence — would be amply sufficing for all defensive pur- poses, yet meanwhile would also be free to put forth their full strength in attack. Under the Emperor's plan, on the contrary, if amended to meet the huge exigency of the enquiring Commis- sion, the 90,000 men furnished for the defence of the position would be all, as it were, standing sen- try, doing nothing besides towards the object in hand ; and it is obvious that any proposal would almost stand self-condemned, if it sought to with- + See ante, vol. viii. p. 294, and note. By agreement, the Sardinians were exempt from siege duties, and Omar Pasha held that the Turks had a like immunity.
 * Rousset, vol. ii. p. 258.