THE WAR BETWEEN RUSSIA AND TURKEY (PART II.) 469 
absorbed in it; its further operations will therefore be treated of in the 
next part. 
(c) Alexandropol Column. 
The position taken np by the outposts of both sides at the end of the 
First Period of Operations remained unaltered till the middle of August,, 
and neither army gave up its attitude of simple observation. Loris- 
Melikoff, working on interior lines, kept his main body, which had been 
reinforced by the whole Ardahan detachment, in the entrenched camp 
of Kuruk Dara, so that it was in a good position for defending both the 
roads to Kars. Mukhtar had indeed a longer line to defend, but along 
it were many almost impregnable positions, on plateaus with steep rocky 
slopes. His left at Khalif Oghlu and on the Little Yagni commanded 
the northern road from Alexandropol to Kars; next to this was the 
position of the Great Yagni (Yagni Tepe), between which and the 
Avlijar ran the southern road to Kars. The broad space between the 
Avlijar and the bend to the west of the Arpa Tchai at Megaspert was 
filled up by the mighty Aladja Dagh plateau. Here his right flank 
rested on the Russian frontier, so that an advance into Turkey seemed 
everywhere barred. In front of the centre of the line were two strong 
advanced positions, the ridges at Hadji Yali and Subotan, and in front 
of these still the Kizil Tepe; behind the centre were, as second line, the 
positions of Yezinkoi, Tchift Tepe, and Orluk Dagh. The front of the 
whole position was about 30 kils., the depth 25, including the second 
line. 
Mukhtaffs position was in every direction and for all purposes 
stronger and more suitable than that of his opponent, and yet he lost 
a golden opportunity for striking a blow with his right wing, when as 
yet the numerical superiority was on his side. On the 8th of August 
hostilities began simultaneously on both sides; from the Russian right 
a strong reconnaissance was pushed forward on the northern road 
towards Hadji Yali, while the Russian outposts at Kaidikler, near the 
southern road, were attacked by the Turkish centre. Both advances 
were unimportant. On the 18th August Loris-Melikoff felt himself 
strong enough to undertake a demonstration along his whole front, in 
order to force his opponent to deploy his forces. The preliminary 
advance was made against the Turkish left wing, while on the other 
parts of the front there was only a lively cannonade. The object of 
the demonstration was completely gained, for it was easily seen that 
Mukhtaffs centre was so strongly held that a real attack with the 
forces at present at the disposal of the Russian General would have no 
chance of success, and that therefore an offensive movement on a large 
scale would have to be put off till the anival of all the reinforcements, 
which could not be expected before the end of September. The loss 
on the 18th August was about 400 men on each side. 
In the night from the 19th to the 20th August, Major-General 
Prince Tchavtchavatze advanced on the southern road with 12 sotnias 
and a battery against the camp of the cavalry outposts of the Turkish 
