Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 9.djvu/61

 ANTAGONISM OF LOUIS NAPOLEON. 31 ' for grass does not now suffice.* If you scatter chap. ' your forces instead of drawing them together, _ ' you will do nothing decisive, and besides, will ' lose precious time. The Allies have in the ' Crimea 180,000 men. With such a force any- ' thing can be done ; but it is necessary to man- ' 03uvre, and not take the bull by the horns. To ' manoeuvre, is to threaten the weak sides of the ' enemy. It has seemed to me that the weak side ' of the Russians is their left wing. If you send ' 14,000 men to Kertch, you weaken yourself ' uselessly. It is confessing that there is nothing ' serious to be attempted ; for one does not will- ' ingly weaken one's self on the eve of a battle. ' Weigh all that carefully.' t The next day, Louis Napoleon wrote thus to Louis , ., . ,. Napoleon IV'lissier : — ' The course to take is easily indicated : agaiD to Pelissier. ' 1st, to defeat the Eussian army in order to 'invest the place; 2d, the place being invested, 1 to take Sebastopol ; 3d, the place being taken, ' to evacuate the Crimea, and blow up the forti- ' fications, or leave there only the Turks. The ' means of arriving at this result are of course ' more especially within your province, and I ' leave you free in your choice of the means ; but, ' as for the general course of action, you must ' follow the precise orders that I give you. They ' moreover are orders similar to those which Lord ' Raglan has received I explain to ground to the Tchernaya. f Rousset, vol. ii. pp. 192, 193.
 * This taunt was in allusion to Pelissier'a plan of taking