"الأهمية الاستراتيجية لسكة حديد وادي الفرات" [‎٦] (٢٠٤/٦٥)

munication radiate. The first of the Turcoman
forts, Kizil Arvat, has already been taken by the
Russians, and during the advance on Khiva this
summer, a column will, not improbably, be de
tached to capture the remaining forts, and thus
cover the right flank of the army. Communication
once established with Turkistan by this line, Khiva
may well be left independent. The proposed line
of Railway which is now being surveyed by Engi
neers will run from Enselli on the Caspian via
Resht, Kassivin, Teheran, Kum and Shiraz to the
Persian Gulf, and open up direct communication
between India and the Russian posts on the Caspian.
Russia will never attempt a direct attack upon
India, where her troops, harassed by fatiguing
marches through the mountains, would be met by a
highly disciplined force; her real objective is the
Persian Gulf, and to any advance in this direction
Persia can now offer no serious resistance.
An attempt on the part of Russia to obtain pos
session of the Persian Gulf would almost certainly
lead to a war with England, and as the pamphlet
points out, the actual conflict would probably take
place on the plains of Mesopotamia. In such a
case a Railway, such as the proposed Euphrates
Line, would be of inestimable value to England,
and enable her to enter on the struggle with every
chance of success.
C. W W.
Fcbrtiary, 1873.