[75] Moltke, although not quite inexperienced in the practical conduct of war on a large scale, would scarcely have ventured to express himself as above, if he had studied the teachings of _The Soldier's Pocket-Book_. The distinguished author of that profound and accurate treatise writes of pursuits in quite a different tone. "You have won a great battle," writes Lord Wolseley, "and the enemy are in full retreat; run after him; hammer him with guns; charge him with cavalry; harass him with mounted infantry; pass round his flanks, and keep pushing him and hitting him from morning until night. Caution is out of place when you have a beaten army before you. Wellington never delivered any crushing blow, _because he failed to pursue_." OCCURRENCES IN THE SOUTH-EASTERN SEAT OF WAR UP TO 17TH OF JANUARY. SIEGE OF BELFORT.--In the south-eastern theatre of war, the forces detailed to operate against Belfort had been only gradually brought together under cover of the XIVth Army Corps. The town is surrounded by a bastioned enceinte. The citadel has a wide command, built as it is on lofty rocks, which, to increase the development of fire, are encircled by successive tiers of works in terrace-formation. On the left bank of the Savoureuse, newly constructed lines of defence protected the suburb and railway station. On the high adjacent ridge to the north-east the forts of La Miotte and La Justice, with the enclosing lines connecting them with the main fortress, formed a spacious intrenched camp. Hostile occupation of the lofty eminences of the two Perches (Hautes and Basses) would certainly endanger the whole defensive position, dominating as they did even the citadel from the south at a distance of only 1100 yards, and whence the works on the left bank of the river could be brought under fire. But two forts of masonry had been constructed on the Perches before the advent of the enemy, and further to strengthen the defence the nearest copses and villages, as for instance Perouse and Danjoutin, had been intrenched. The fortress was by no means deficient in bomb-proof accommodation. Its armament consisted of 341 heavy guns, and it was provisioned for five months. When immediately after the opening of the campaign, the VIIth French Corps vacated Alsace, only about 5000 Gardes-Mobiles remained in Belfort, but its garrison, increased by calling in National Guards, now exceeded 17,000. The vigilant Commandant, Colonel Denfert, laid great stress on the maintenance in force of the environs in his front. The advanced posts were every day assigned to fresh operations, which the artillery of the fortress had to cover at extreme ranges.