ion if I
pressed for reinforcements. We should be on velvet if we asked for so
many troops that we must win if we got them; whereas, if we did not get
them we could say victory was impossible. But we are not the only
fighters for the Empire. The Admiral, Braithwaite, Roger Keyes agree
with me that the fair and square thing under the circumstances is to ask
for _what is right_; not a man more than we, in our consciences, believe
we will really need,--not a man less.

Actually, after much heart searching and head scratching, my mind has
made itself up and has gone home by cable to-day. The statement is
entirely frank and covers all the ground except as regards the Fleet, a
pidgin which flies out of range:--

"(M.F. 234).

"Your No. 4644 cipher, of the 14th instant. The following is my
appreciation of the situation:

"On the one hand, there are at present on the Peninsula as many troops
as the available space and water supply can accommodate.

"On the other hand, to break through the strong opposition on my front
will require more troops. I am, therefore, in a quandary, because
although more troops are wanted there is, at present, no room for
them.[18] Moreover, the difficulty in answering your question is
accentuated by the fact that my answer must depend on whether Turkey
will continue to be left undisturbed in other parts and therefore free
to make good the undoubtedly heavy losses incurred here by sending
troops from Adrianople, Keshan, Constantinople and Asia; we now have
direct evidence that the latter has been the case.

"If the present condition of affairs in this respect were changed by the
entry into the struggle of Bulgaria or Greece or by the landing of the
Russians, my present force, kept up to strength by the necessary drafts,
plus the Army Corps asked for in my No. M.F. 216 of the 10th May, would
probably suffice to finish my task. If, however, the present situation
remains unchanged and the Turks are still able to devote so much
exclusive attention to us, I shall want an additional army corps, that
is, two army corps additional in all.

"I could not land these reinforcements on the Peninsula until I can
advance another 1,000 yards and so free the beaches from the shelling to
which they are subjected from the Western side and gain more space; but
I could land them on the adjacent islands of Tenedos, Imbros and Lemnos
and take them over later to the Peninsula for battle. This plan would
surmount the