ATTACK  THROUGH  BULAIR  CONSIDERED     75

But  Sir  lan's  decision  was  already  taken,  and
subsequent  conference  with  the  Admirals  de  Robeck
and  Wemyss  only  confirmed  it.  On  their  arrival  at
Mudros,  his  Generals  also  agreed,  and  the  General
whose  objections  to  landing  on  any  condition  had
been  the  most  serious,  became  enthusiastic  for  the
scheme,  if  landing  was  attempted.  Various  lines  of
attack  were  possible,  and  each  was  carefully  con-
sidered. To  the  lay  mind,  an  assault  upon  the  neck
of  the  Peninsula  at  Bulair  appeared  so  obvious  that,
from  the  very  outset  of  operations,  Sir  Ian  was  blamed
for  not  attempting  it.  The  neck  is  narrow — not  more
than  three  miles  across.  If  it  were  cut,  the  enemy  on
the  main  Peninsula  might  be  expected  to  surrender
for  want  of  supplies  ;  the  Straits  would  then  be  free
from  obstacle  on  the  European  side,  and  the  Asiatic
side  could  be  commanded  by  big  guns  on  Achi  Baba
and  the  Kilid  Bahr  plateau  opposite  Chanak.  The
main  objection  to  this  obvious  strategy  was  the  dis-
concerting truth  that  the  enemy's  chief  line  of  com-
munication did  not  run  through  Bulair,  but  across  the
strait  itself,  chiefly  from  the  Asiatic  coast  to  the  town
of  Gallipoli,  and  even  if  Bulair  were  occupied,  the
supply  of  the  Turkish  army  on  the  Peninsula  could
be  maintained  ;  while  an  Allied  force  advancing  from
Bulair  towards  the  Narrows  (which  was  the  objective
of  the  whole  expedition)  would  be  perpetually
threatened  from  the  rear.  Bulair  itself  was  also  a
formidable  obstacle.  The  famous  lines,  originally
fortified  by  the  Allies  in  the  Crimean  War,  and  re-
newed to  resist  Russian,  Bulgarian,  and  Greek  attacks
from  the  north,  had  been  incalculably  strengthened  in
the  preceding  weeks  under  German    direction.     On


y6  THE  PREPARATION

his  first  survey  (March  i8)  Sir  Ian  had  observed  the
labyrinth  of  white  Hnes  marking  the  newly-con-
structed trenches  upon  which  thousands  of  Turks  had
already  been  long  at  work.  The  gleam  of  wire  was
apparent  around  the  only  two  possible  points  of  land-
ing, both  difficult,  and  unsuited  for  naval  co-operation.
