Khrulev plan

[1] Britain had a relatively small standing army and in 1854 Russian General Alexander Osipovich Duhamel [ru] proposed an invasion of India to divert British troops from the Crimean theatre.

[6] He considered that a Russian invasion might not take India on its own but that a strong presence in the North-West Frontier would affect the balance of power and require significant British forces to be moved to their rear areas in case of an Indian rebellion.

Based on Blaremberg's reports Khrulev expected that the region could support an army of tens of thousands living off the land, that the roads were passable to artillery and supply wagons and that ample quantities of water, rice, barley and sheep could be obtained locally.

[10] Khrulev maintained Duhamel's assumption of an average daily progress of 25 versts (27 km; 17 mi) for the invasion force and anticipated they would reach Herat 35 days after leaving Akkala.

[10] Khrulev's plan required that assurances of neutrality were received from Persia and that a means of protecting against Khivan, Bukharan and Kokandian attack during the Central Asia leg was found.

[6] Khrulev considered that the British might attempt to foil the invasion by launching a pre-emptive attack on Afghanistan but thought that this would be to his advantage by causing outrage among the Afghans who would join his forces.