n of a well-developed offensive
was followed looking toward the acquisition of Turkish territory which
had long been coveted by Russia.

With the fall of Trebizond Russia became the possessor, at least
temporarily, of a strip of territory approximately 125 miles wide
along a front of almost 250 miles length, or of an area of 31,250
square miles. In the north this valuable acquisition was bounded by
that part of the south shore of the Black Sea that stretches from
Batum in Russian Transcaucasia to Trebizond. In the south it
practically reached the Turko-Persian frontier, while in the west it
almost reached the rough line formed by the upper Euphrates and the
upper Tigris. It thus comprised the larger part of Armenia. As soon as
the Russians had found out that the Turks had a start of almost two
days, they began an energetic pursuit. The very first day of it, April
19, 1916, brought them into contact with Turkish rear guards and
resulted in the capture of a considerable number of them. The retreat
of the Turks took a southwesterly direction toward Baiburt along the
Trebizond-Erzerum road and toward Erzingan, to which a road branches
off the Trebizond-Erzerum road. Baiburt was held by the Turks with a
force strong enough to make it impossible for the Russians to cut off
the Trebizond garrison. Along the coast the Russians found only
comparatively weak resistance, so that they were able to land fresh
forces west of Trebizond and occupy the town of Peatana, about ten
miles to the west on the Black Sea.

A desperate struggle, however, developed for the possession of the
Trebizond-Erzerum road. The Russians had been astride this road for
some time as far as Madan Khan and Kop, both about fifty miles
northwest of Erzerum and just this side of Baiburt. There the Turks
put up a determined resistance and succeeded in holding up the Russian
advance. Although they were not equally successful farther north, the
Russians managed to advance along this road to the south of Trebizond
only as far as Jeyizlik--about sixteen miles south of Trebizond--where
they were forced into the mountains toward the Kara Dere River. This
left still the larger part of the entire road in possession of the
Turks, and especially that part from which another road branched off
to Erzingan.

In the Mush and Bitlis region the Russians had made satisfactory
progress in the meantime. On April 19, 1916, progress was reported to
the south of Bitlis toward Sert,