Page:The invasion of the Crimea vol. 2.djvu/384

 354 RESOURCES OBTAINED FROM CHAP. XXIII. Alrey's quick per- eeiitiou of the need to get nicaii3 of land- transi-ort. with which to act. The regimental officers were of course busied wdth their respective corps. Yet it was certain that the power of operating effec- tively with the English army would depend upon its obtaining a large addition to its existing means of land-transport. In the result, it was the chief of one of the business departments of our Head- quarter Staff who pressed forward into the gap, and succeeded in achieving the work uj^on which, in a great degree, the fate of the campaign seemed likely to hinge. From the first General Airey had seen that the mere inert presence of armies in an invaded pro- vince is a thing very short of conquest. Conquest, he knew, must generally rest upon the success with which supplies can be drawn from the in- vadad province ; and he never forgot that, unless the country could be made to yield means of land- carriage, the Allies would have to creep timidly along the shore, tethered fast by the short string of carts with which they had come provided ; therefore, even within a few minutes from the time when the landing began, lie was alread}'' striving to gain — not the mere occupation of the soil — not the mere licence for the troops to stand or lie down on the ground — but that hold, that military grasp of the country which would make it help to sustain the invasion. When only a few battalions of the Light Division had landed, and were beginning to form on the beach, he had hastened up to the high ground on our right. There, at once catching sight of a long string of