However, at the conclusion of the negotiations it was found that Russia had pushed herself a considerable distance towards Herat, and had reached Ak Robat, while the railway to Samarcand was nearly finished. Thus Russia certainly scored a winning point, and, if desirous, could attack the Anglo-Indian frontier by three ways:
(1) By advancing towards Cabul from Bokhara across the Oxus.
(2) By marching towards Candahar _viâ_ Herat by the Meshed line.
(3) By attacking the same place through the Attric Valley and Merv route.
The unsettled condition of the boundary between the Oxus and the Heri Rud, and particularly the Upper Oxus, will undoubtedly prove a source of discord between Russia and England for many years to come.
In spite of the strenuous efforts of Russia in advancing, and extending her power and boundaries in Central Asia, yet her great and absorbing thought was not revealed openly to the watchful eyes of European Powers, viz., to have full control of Constantinople, the key to the Black Sea, and by obtaining this to command the Mediterranean and be paramount in Western Europe.
A favourite manœuvre in military operations is to try and divert an opponent’s eyes from the true point of attack, and by so doing to weaken the opposition at that point.
As we have casually mentioned before, the elder Pitt “conquered America in Germany,” and afterwards when Charles III. of Spain concluded a secret Treaty known as the (third) “Family compact” with France, intending really to make war upon England, Chatham “determined to attack without delay the Havannah and Philippine Islands.”
Again, as another illustration of the above statement, we saw that Napoleon’s Egyptian expedition and his invasion of Russia were really underhand blows at England.
But why did he not attack America or Ireland? Surely if he had sailed directly from Brest, 1798, to either of the above places, instead of going to Egypt as he did, with the combined fleets of France, Spain, and Holland, he would have dealt a much deadlier blow at British power.
Let us examine the policy of Russia which has caused me to make the above statement.
Catherine II. had resolved to reach Constantinople through the Balkan Peninsula. Pitt withstood this resolution by supporting the Ottoman Empire, together with Austria, as conducive to the interests of both nations. Austria, therefore, became an enemy of Russia.