Some interesting particulars of the Russian plan of campaign are
given in the Echo de Pat-is of Tuesday, and summarised by the Paris correspondent of the Times in Wednesday's issue. The information, which is alleged to emanate from a member of the General Staff in St. Peters- burg, indicates that General Kuropatkin, in accordance with the determination of the Czar, will act on the defensive until the arrival of the Baltic squadron in September, which will be a month of "great battles and knock-down blows by land and sea." Before that, however, the Commander-in-Chief intends to utilise the Caucasian Mounted Brigade to eject the Japanese from Wi-ju, Ping-yang, and Seoul. Mean- time four army corps have taken up positions in Manchuria; the fifth is on the march from Western Siberia ; and two more, from Moscow and Kursk, will be despatched this week, thus bringing up the total number of troops at the seat of war to the imposing aggregate of four hundred and sixty thousand men by the end of May. The correspondent of the Echo de Paris has ascertained from another source that there are now fifteen batteries of eight guns between Liao. yang and Kharbin, that a. second line is being laid between Kultuk and Douho, while a provisional line and a road are being constructed for the transport of ammunition and cannon respectively. It is believed, he adds, that the war will be over towards the end of September; but if not, the advent of the October snows will postpone all military operations till the following April. We quote these plans as a political curiosity, not because we think them likely to be put in operation. In war even more than in peace chickens must not be counted before they are hatched.
