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Is that 100 divisions on Nauru???:wacko:

I think it's 10- thankfully Vian's managed to stop the AI before it could truly indulge its obsessions with small Pacific islands.

And Halifax again proves his idiocy after a period of being at least tolerable- he's even more out of touch with military affairs than I thought if he could suggest abandoning the Chinese foothold. I wonder if he's having any success at all with the states threatened by the Germans? With the Soviets collapsing and Britain in no position to help I'd be trying to find some accommodation with Hitler if the alternative was relying on Halifax to come riding to the rescue.
 
Considering how bellicose King and Smuts were earlier (IIRC), I'd think Wood would be in a strong position to request/demand add'l units.

At least for once political and military expediencies are aligned and the China coast offensive will be resourced. Hopefully some Commonwealth forces can help the attack on Siam from Malaya/Burma. I'd be happy to see concentration on the coastal areas, let the Auk play defense and tie down as many Japanese as possible far away inland.

Nice to see Park get a command, OTL--BoB, Malta, SE Asia--he was a superb commander. :cool:
 
I love the cabinet meeting, Le Jones. The idea of the Speaker of the American Congress (I think it is Sam Rayburn) going to visit London is a neat idea and I look forward to seeing how you flesh that one out.
 
Halifax needs to eat more, before he wastes away. Whether anything can save his political career, well thats a different diet altogether.
 
Yes, but maybe the German High Command will be thwarted by the firing conditions of the Bitter Peace Event, and not as was commonly thought, 'General Winter'. Ho-hum..
 
Halifax needs to make a purge in his government, Stalin's style...
 
Despite Halifax's best efforts to snatch defeat from the jaws of salvation at least the Chinese success is being exploited. Unfortunately it still appears Home Defence is getting too much weight and that Canada and South Africa continue to be surly, not that I blame them after 1940, but as has been said they don't seem keen on backing up their earlier bellicose words with actions.

If they don't want to send troops or planes why were they plotting with FDR about going to war without Britain? Very odd.

What I find most interesting is the way the government and the country still isn't taking the war that seriously, this is most definitely not yet a serious matter despite the casualties. I wonder if Longbow will be the kick up the arse needed to put a bit more effort in?
 
Chapter 202, Singapore, 28 May 1942

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It was a cool evening, and General Sir Alan Brooke, CINC Fourth Army, left the bustle of the Club’s Dining Room for his evening’s meeting. His ADC, Colonel Chatsworth, led him quietly to a comfortable drawing room where the furniture was bright, art-deco and unashamedly modern. Brooke liked that some of the pictures depicted local scenes; he hated the British obsession with making every room, every office, indistinguishable from a country club in the Home Counties and fell in love with a fine watercolour scene of the straits; the detail shown of the small birds was vivid and Brooke, as ever, wished that he was at home with his wife and family where the only trips away from the rural idyll were for fishing weekends with his friends, or, preferably, alone. Sighing, Brooke sipped on a whisky and soda and again found himself focussing on the challenges ahead.

Brooke had been a critic of Longbow; he had sympathised with Morgan’s plight and had lobbied at the highest levels for the Operation to be significantly altered. Some of his suggestions for the use of what were, theoretically, troops of his army had been adopted; his greatest success had been to liberate Morgan from being both Corps GOC and overall commander with the early deployment of General Wilson. Wilson was a competent commander, Brooke had seen that in 1940 when he had relieved Wilson of the Middle East Command. Whilst Brooke had, admittedly, written disparagingly of Wilson that he “was not the man for dash and danger” he accepted that Wilson’s calm, sensitive and perceptive handling of V Corps and the other advanced troops of the Army had been superlative. Calling off the doomed landings on Hainan had been, as Eden had written, “a gutsy call” and one that Brooke, who had sensed immediately that the only prospects of success existed by working with the Chinese forces on the mainland, had supported publicly. Wilson’s able handling of the reorganisation of V Corps and the other troops had allowed Brooke to call off his rush to the Leizhou peninsula, and to remain in Singapore and ensure that the preparations were of the highest quality. Including the information given to the General himself, culminating in this meeting with Sir Alexander Cadogan.

The diplomat entered now, Chatsworth him herding towards the General with another man, whom Brooke realised instantly was Air Vice Marshal Sir Keith Park, the new GOC Malaya Command and the man who had led the colony to success in recent days. Brooke had invited Park here via a polite letter to his HQ in the Northern jungles of Malaya. Brooke was pleased that Park had undertaken the difficult journey to attend the meeting.

“General,” Cadogan greeted Brooke, with whom he was well acquainted, with the stiff formality that was his hallmark. “May I introduce to you Air Vice Marshal Sir Keith Park, Commander of His Majesty’s Forces in Malaya and Singapore.”

“Sir,” Park said quietly, but with a slight grin. Brooke gestured for them to sit.

“I had intended for Admiral Cunningham of the Navy to attend but he is with his squadron. Colonel Chatsworth will take a detailed note and will send a copy to his Flag Lieutenant.”

Both Cadogan and Park nodded, Brooke relaxed in his chair. “Well, Sir Alec, the War Office instructed me to remain here in Singapore for a briefing. I had also requested that Lieutenant General De Wiart attended. I assume he is still in China?”

Park nodded. “He apologised Sir, but said you would understand. Apparently,” Park really smiled here, “he wanted to do ‘a bit of biffing’. Our reconnaissance planes report that the Chinese are fairly active in the South of the country.”

Brooke nodded, and looked past Park and Cadogan to where Colonel Chatsworth was scribbling at a desk. “Colonel Chatsworth, a copy to be sent to our liaison staff with the Chinese.”

“Sir,” Chatsworth’s voice sounded from his corner.

“General,” Cadogan began, his tone as formal as ever, “here are your instructions,” he handed Brooke a cream sheet of paper, which Brooke’s eyes scanned. “You’ll see that it tasks you with a number of things.”

“Liberation of Southern China and Indochina. ‘Whatever assistance possible to the relief of Hong Kong’. Hullo, this final part is intriguing.”

Cadogan nodded. “I know. ‘The ultimate objective of Fourth Army must be the complete evacuation of the Chinese mainland by the forces of Japan’.”

Brooke continued reading. “How organised are the Chinese?”

“Officially we’re still trying to work with Chiang Kai Shek as well as the other leaders.”

“And realistically?”

“Our chap is the only acceptable ally. You’ll find that he will have already sent a liaison officer to Fourth Army.”

“Quality of the Chinese?” Brooke was firing the questions out like machine gun fire.

Park answered this. “Everything that I’ve seen suggests that when inspired they will fight; they are fighting for their homes after all. But at the slightest hint of a defeat they will melt away.”

Cadogan, content to let the military talk exclude him, lit his pipe whilst Brooke peered at Park through his spectacles. “What about the Australians?”

“Good troops, and the New Zealand force you’ll be getting,” Park said with confidence. “Eager, enthusiastic, wanting to get to grips with the Japs. But they’re young troops, Sir. None of the troops assigned to Fourth Army has seen a shot fired in anger.”

Brooke sat quietly. On paper he commanded a formidable army, made of up of four reasonably equipped Corps. He had two Infantry Corps; the already blooded V British Corps under the talented Lieutenant General Frederick Morgan, and the I Australian Corps under the temporary command of Major General Frank Berryman. Brooke didn’t know Berryman but had heard that he was a fellow artilleryman, and a capable commander. With such an infantry force, plentifully supplied with artillery, engineers and logistics support Brooke should have been content. But the quality of this apparently powerful force troubled him. The British of V Corps were seriously weakened; reinforcements had been sent but Brooke was deeply concerned that V Corps had lost its heart on the beaches of Hainan and would be reluctant to tackle the Japanese. As for the Australians, they were keen enough, Brooke allowed, but were ultimately an unknown quality. Would they prove adept or would they freeze?

“And you’ve got a good armoured force,” Park said more in commentary than debate.

“Hmmn,” Brooke hummed as he considered this point. As with the infantry, the armoured formations were a point of concern. Lieutenant General Sir Harold Alexander had recently arrived with his II Corps; these, supposedly, were the ‘cream’ of the British Army, having been carefully trained and hoarded in England for use against the Wehrmacht. But Brooke wondered just how effective these tank tactics, designed for use on the plains of Flanders, would prove in the complicated world of the Chinese seaboard, where he intended to use them. He also harboured deep misgivings over their commander; instead of the acidic Bernard Montgomery, Brooke’s first choice for the command of II Corps, Gort had insisted on appointing Alexander, another hint that the ‘cavaliers’ in the Army were dominating over the ‘roundheads’. Alexander was a favourite of the peacetime army; his brave conduct in France in 1940 had seen him become one of the few household names amongst the Army and he had been sent out with fanfare and publicity. Brooke hoped that ‘Alex’ would prove him wrong, and intended to keep a tight rein on his British tank formations. But it had been a worrying sign to Brooke, a sign that the ‘cavaliers’, the aristocratic, ‘school of maneourvre’ tank and cavalier soldiers of the new BEF, were in the ascendant over the ‘roundheads’, the more infantry-centred officers, as well as the officers of the ‘technical’ branches, and the Indian Army,

Of the Australian tanks, both IV Australian Corps and their GOC, Lieutenant General Vernon Sturdee, were relative unknowns to him. Though he had met and had briefed all of his Corps commanders (Morgan aside, as he was already in China) he didn’t really know how they would perform.

He had, initially, four seemingly capable formations with four seemingly competent GOCs. With the spare brigades of the reserves and the New Zealand division he had a well furnished Army with which to fight until the promised reinforcements arrived in a couple of months’ time. But their fighting abilities were a huge unknown and they would, Brooke, suspected, prove a brittle commodity in the next few weeks. He knew that the Japanese were not stupid opponents, and that, if the quality of their conduct against Auchinleck was anything to go by, would prove formidably determined to defeat Fourth Army. It was a gloomy assessment, one that troubled Brooke.

“There is one other thing,” Cadogan said after lighting a cigarette. “Hainan. Eden wants it captured.”

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Park looked at his shoes and shook his head. “But Hainan is useless,” he said to both men. “I’ve got bombers pounding Haikou and the airfields, and they cannot go on sending enough supplies to feed all those divisions. Let them rot.”

“I agree,” Broke said, nodding that agreement. “Hainan is now strategically negligible.”

“The latest intelligence is that the Japanese are trying to reinforce Hainan by sea,” Park said in his clipped voice. “Vice Admiral Phillips has intercepted a troop convoy bound for Haikou.”

“Good,” was Brooke’s short, sharp, assessment.

NewPicture5-23.png


“Gentlemen,” Cadogan said carefully, “the Cabinet is united. After consolidating your position, you are to capture Hainan and fulfill the Longbow remit. This is from the very highest strata,” he said quickly.

Brooke wasn’t going to let Cadogan off so quickly. “Pointless. Another wasteful assault on Hainan will not be attempted.”

“The orders do give you the flexibility to plan and fight your own offensives, General...”

Brooke looked over to Chatsworth. “I want a detailed assessment of Longbow,” he said with some anger. “If we fail again on Hainan...”

“...I will do all that I can to assist,” Park said quietly. Brooke nodded.

“Was that all, Sir Alec?”

Cadogan shook his head. “There’s one thing I need to talk to you about. The Americans.”

“The Americans?” Park looked surprised and couldn’t help himself from blurting the question.

“Yes. Halifax is concerned that Roosevelt will use our toehold on the Chinese mainland as a funnel for American supplies, troops, influence. You’re to keep a tight grip on it.” Cadogan’s tone indicated that there was no discussion open on this issue. “But Stanley and Templewood have arranged with the Admiralty for surplus merchant vessels to be pressed into supplying the Army.

“Escorts? The Japanese Navy is still active in this area?”

Cadogan was a diplomat, not an Admiralty civil servant, and so discreetly looked to Park for assistance. “Consider it done, Sir,” Park said. “I’ll also use the Hudsons out of Singapore to keep active patrols of the area.”

“The logistics of the operation are crucial,” Brooke said quite quietly. “I want as much ordnance, food and ammunition shipped as possible.”

“In case of air attack, or a raid by their navy?”

Brooke nodded, whilst Cadogan coughed politely. “A threat that would be substantially reduced, so the argument goes, by our capturing Hainan.”

There was little else to be said, and with all three (or four, if Colonel Chatsworth was included) quite eager to enjoy the evening, Cadogan and Park withdrew to the bar. Cadogan handed Brooke another bundle of confidential correspondence, which Brooke flicked through.

As the other men left, Brooke opened up a letter, written, he recognised, in Wavell’s classically light hand:

“Hainan maintains its grip upon Gort and Eden and, far from being content with its isolation, now expressly instruct you to begin immediate consideration for its liquidation. I am very sorry at having to push this on you at such short notice but you, with your tactical and strategical knowledge and the prestige of your successes in France are undoubtedly the man for the job, and it will greatly relieve my mind to know that you are there; both the CCCS and I as CGS agree that you and Fourth Army are the only solution.”

“Colonel Chatsworth...” Brooke began, looking upon his principlal aide with a grim-faced expression.


[Game Effect] – And so Brooke prepares to set off. Hainan maintains its grip on the British imagination, probably through a desire to vindicate the dead of Longbow.

Brooke is, of course, probably the best British general of WW2, and I include Monty, Slim and Alex in that assessment. His assessment of the four initial corps of his army is probably fair: the Aussies are keen enough if inexperienced, V Corps is much reduced following the horrors of Longbow, and II Corps, one of the prized new armoured formations, is to be frank an unproven asset. Brooke did had misgivings about Alexander, and would probably have been happier with Monty commanding the tanks. Monty is, also, one of the leading ‘roundheads’ in the British Army.

I've ramped up an observation by Gort, as well as one of Monty’s biographers, into a fairly clean split in the British Army. The aristrocratic Gort, during his reorganisation of the BEF into a blitzkrieg army designed to pound the Nazis, has favoured officers who support his ‘dash’ and elan. Alexander, epitomising this, is ‘in’, hence his appointment to what is probably a highly sought-after command whilst Monty is not. But this shows that Brooke is given little say in the appointment of the officers due to serve under him; this is not unusual, but can be a major factor in forming a good command team. Brooke appears to be limited to choosing his staff appointments; he was close to Chatsworth (he served him OTL) and clearly works well with him.

Park is clearly relishing his role as GOC Malaya, coordinating all three services in a way that seems entirely modern. Park was a more than capable officer and Brooke his lucky that the support network for Fourth Army is under Park’s watchful eye.

The letter from Wavell is actually pretty much that sent to Wilson when he went to Greece in 1941.

And so the groundwork is done, the chatting over, and major British deployment begins...

Carlstadt Boy: No, it was 10?, but that’s not to say that the AI didn’t obsess over Nauru!

Zhuge Liang: The Middle East approaches are still being formed, though Halifax has already enjoyed meetings with the Saudis during his recent visit to Washington. I agree, given the choice I think that most people would hope that being an Axis-leaning neutral would be enough to save them, rather than hoping for help from a Britain led by the naturally hesitant Halifax.

DonnieBaseball: The naughty Canadians and South Africans will feature soon...

Nathan Madien: I’ve PM’d you on a similar matter...

Sir Humphrey: Given that leading the Empire seriously impacted on Churchill’s health, there is no way that Halifax could escape. So expect to see more migraines and what we could call ‘stress-related’ illnesses.

Enewald: The Germans are doing very very well.

Sir Humphrey: Another ‘BP’ inspired problem!

Kurt_Steiner: Can you really see this happening?!

El Pip: Longbow, for the public at least, will be a blow. But the Cabinet aren’t really in wartime mentality.
 
Hainan es beginning to worry me. Not because the Japanese hold it, but due to the British obsession about it.

Kurt_Steiner: Can you really see this happening?!

Not in a million of thousands of eons, methinks.
 
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Ugh--let Hainan rot & let the Japanese try and reinforce by sea if they're foolish enough. Silly cabinet ...

Anxious to see how Brooke does--how he would've ran the OTL Middle East (as Churchill offered him) and Italian campaigns has been one of my favorite "what ifs".

I'm afraid Alex instead of Monty will not be the best choice ...
 
Well at least the government's being ambitious for once if it's ordering the liberation of all of China. I do wonder if they have any remotely suitable strategy to achieve that goal though, particularly if they make a habit of sending the army on pointless missions such as avenging Longbow.
 
Well at least the government's being ambitious for once if it's ordering the liberation of all of China. I do wonder if they have any remotely suitable strategy to achieve that goal though, particularly if they make a habit of sending the army on pointless missions such as avenging Longbow.

Somehow, I doubt it. I mean, if they can't capture a single island, how on Earth are they going to liberate a huge plot of land?

Nathan Madien: I’ve PM’d you on a similar matter...

And I appreciate that. :)
 
Politicians should allow the generals to wage war by themselves, not meddle with important stuff. Alas, they always involve themselves.
War is just a continuation of politics. :D
 
Well that's disappointing. One of the unarguable mistakes of Churchill's time as PM was meddling in strategy, the entire Greek Campaign springs to mind, and I had hoped Halifax would resist that temptation and leave matters to the professionals.

Alas it appears he has scorned one of the few chances he'll have to prove himself a better PM that old WSC, I just hope it isn't too bloody and doesn't delay the mainland too much, though on past form I'd be damned surprised if either of those come to pass.
 
Politicians should allow the generals to wage war by themselves, not meddle with important stuff. Alas, they always involve themselves.
War is just a continuation of politics. :D

But if the Generals do wage war by themselves, they might be successful enough to boot out the politicians in charge and put themselves in charge. That is partly why politicians get involved in war planning: to safeguard their own seats against too much success on the battlefield.
 
An interesting update indeed, as the war springs to foot. I suspect that FDR is spewing that the plucky Brits are going run for run in China whilst they are mucking about somewhere in the Pacific and not China proper.

And the Australian's will see you through, no need to worry about them, but its typical to see that the Brits are still uncertain about the quality of Australian troops. Maybe have the divisions play a friendly rugger or cricket match to spread some Anglo-Australia hospitality, oh and then go kill the enemy...
 
Chapter 203, DLI HQ, Leizhou, 7 June 1942


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The infantry platoon surprised the locals with the smartness of their drill, the cleanliness of their uniforms and the obvious cheer as they stamped their way into the square outside of the run-down building where 10 DLI had their battalion headquarters. Major Lumsden, alerted to the platoon’s arrival by one of the clerks, dragged himself away from the battalion’s sick list with relief and, putting on his battle bowler (his forage and service caps were lost somewhere with the the brigade’s missing baggage), wandered down the uneven stairs to where the platoon now formed up as their commander, a young second lieutenant, inspected his men.

“Sir,” his platoon sergeant murmured, but loud enough for the entire square to hear. “Looks like ‘Colonel’s coming.”

The Lieutenant whipped around, a look of panic marring his otherwise perfect bearing. “Platoon, present, arms!”

Belsay was apparently oblivious to the disruption that his arrival had prompted. Returning the salute as smartly as it was offered, he spotted Lumsden and stalked towards him. “Brigade has gone bloody mad,” he said as a greeting to his 2IC.

“One of the few things in this uncertain world of which I am certain,” Lumsden said grandly, winking outrageously at the Lieutenant who now marched towards the two senior officers. “Dare I suggest that your arrival portents news of our imminent deployment?”

“We’re off to clear a settlement near the route of advance,” Belsay said as he read through his orders. “Classic single battalion stuff: march up along the road to Xinpocun and then we peel off, secure the objective, and deny its use to the enemy. Another step towards capturing Zhanjiang.”

Lumsden looked at the fresh platoon, realising that they gave the wrong impression of the state of the DLI. “Did the general know...”

“...that we’re knackered? Of course. But when you compare us to the Green Howards and the Northumbrian Fusileers we’re as fresh as a daisy. The Tyneside Irish are still a bloody shambles, led by a junior Major. And anyway, it’s all your bloody fault.”

“Mine, Sir?”

“Yours. If your boats hadn’t got bloody lost and landed on the wrong beach on Hainan you would have seen combat like the rest of us. Because of you we’re one of the stronger battalions.”

The Lieutenant had been stood nearby, but at a discreet distance, and Belsay realised that he was being rude. “Hullo, who are you?”

“Lieutenant Carr, Sir, and reinforcements for ‘battalion.”

“Belsay, Colonel Belsay, CO. This is Major Lumsden, our second in command.”

Lumsden grinned broadly. “Come far, have you, er, Carr?” Belsay snorted at Lumsden’s unintended rhyming.

“Depot, Gib, Alex, Calcutta, Singers, and the South China Sea. We all thought you’d be well inland on Hainan by now, Sir.”

“So did General Morgan boy,” Belsay snapped. “Have you rations and ammunition?”

“Sir, and all our luggage.”

“Leave the luggage hear, form up with the rest of the battalion and take rations and ammunition for two days. We’re going for a little stroll.”

“Where, Sir?”

Belsay was exasperated. “Why don’t you come with us, Lieutenant, and then you might find out?”

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The battalion marched happily enough; Belsay did note, however, that Carr and his new platoon were struggling and decided that he should have given them a guard duty back in Leizhou that would have given them time to settle in. Muttering a curse, he decided to use the march as an opportunity to chat to the troops.

It was a simple enough routine; Belsay would ‘fall in’ with a platoon and would hand out a few chocolate bars (one thing that was seemingly in abundant supply was chocolate), chat to the troops and reassure them; their main concern was a lack of rest time and concerns over the sheer scope of the campaign ahead. Then Belsay would march in step with the NCOs and officers, and here, again, the eager young battalion had aged, it seemed by years rather than weeks, with cynicism and criticism of command, normally unheard of in the DLI, now commonplace. Belsay realised that every mile gained in this campaign would cost the DLI a little bit more of its character, not to mention its innocence.

They wheeled hard left off the road and over open, rough country. Belsay guessed that they had made better time than anticipated and so called a halt, telling the men to rest whilst he gathered his ‘O Group’ under the shade of a copse of trees.

“Right, the objective is this. Just beyond that small wood,” he pointed ahead of them “is a slight valley with our ridge seperated from the other ridge, on which the objective sits, by that valley, which looks from the map to be a mile and a bit wide. Our objective is a collection of small farm buildings on the top of the valley, which is close to the bloody road we need to use if we’re capture that damned city yonder.”

Belsay waited for them to take notes. “The problem, the niggling problem, is that there is reported to be very little cover, save for the valley itself. As we close the objective, we’ll wait for nightfall by sheltering in the wood. As the light fades, Lieutenant Copfield will go forward with his platoon and recce the valley. The rest of us will wait in the woods, I’ll hold another ‘O’ Group to detail the plan of attack when we have Copfield’s report. The wood is itself sunken slightly, so we’ll have a couple of ridges between us and the Japs. From now on, no talking, no chatting, we’ll filter into the woods slowly and with care.”

Lumsden raised a hand. “Enemy strength?”

“Expected to be no more than two understrength companies. At the most, a battalion. But we’ll go in just before dawn, surprise the hell out of ‘em and carry the position.”

The ‘O’ Group dispersed and after a few minutes spent rousing weary infantrymen the files stumbled and cursed quietly as they trudged along yet another muddy field, heading for the cover of the woods. By the time that Major Barnard’s company were safely ensconced under the tall trees it was already dusk; the rest of 10 DLI struggled through the growing darkness, the unyielding rocks, and the tall grass. Most of the men were tired, most were also fairly confident. They only suffered one loss from straggling: the rather tired forty-five year old officer from the Royal Army Service Corps who had come forward to take an inventory of any enemy items captured. As he was, with some mutual relief, permitted to return to Leizhou he was quietly jeered by the infantrymen. It was a cold, cloudless night, and after brushing aside the concerns of some of the officers that the battalion was too tightly massed, the CO of 10 DLI did what every other infantryman was doing that evening; sat quietly and pretended to be sleeping.


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Belsay must have dozed off; the light was different and Lumsden looked exhausted. “What time is it?”

“A little after one, Sir. Young Copfield has returned. Japs are pretty lively over there,” he waved in the direction of the distant ridge.

“Casualties?”

“Two wounded, one quite badly.”

That shook Belsay from his dozy sleepiness, and he clipped on his webbing and put on his battle bowler. He wandered through the woods that housed 10 DLI that morning, stopping when he found Lieutenant Copfield and his recce platoon. Copfield, by far Belsay’s best subaltern, was grinning broadly. As Belsay peered through the gloom he understood; the platoon had captured a Japanese patrol.

“Lieutenant, if, by some divine miracle, you also reveal to me that you speak fluent Japanese, then I will hand the battalion over to you and retire to Northumberland.”

Copfield’s grin showed in the darkness. “’fraid not Sir. But they were actively patrolling the valley. These boys” he looked at the sullen Japanese “were only one of half a dozen patrols.”

Belsay swore, which roused more than one sleeping infantryman. “Anything else?”

Copfield looked concerned. “I think they’ve dug in over there.”

“They’re expecting us?"

“Seems so, Sir.”

“Well, they’re not stupid then. Thank you Lieutenant.”

Belsay kept the dark thoughts now taking hold of him firmly to himself. He walked back towards his temporary HQ, Lumsden in tow. Despite the fact that the entire battalion (or the greater part of it, at least) was spread out not far away from the two officers, Belsay felt that he and Lumsden were quite alone.

Lumsden could sense his CO’s gloomy mood. “We’ll be alright, Sir.”

“Just this once, I’m glad for that. ‘O’ Group, ten minutes.”

The ‘O’ Group gathered at the HQ a few moments later. Belsay revealed the limited intelligence gained from looking at the Japanese patrol’s maps, which suggested that the enemy was deployed in far greater strength and with a much higher level of preparation that previously envisaged.

“So here’s the plan. Four phases, taking us from night into day. Major Barnard, one platoon from your company to reconnoitre the last few miles to the start line and secure it. Major Lumsden and Major Barnard will then advance North through the Japanese first positions, taking the left and right respectively. Major Gledhill, your men will advance through Major Barnard’s men on the right to keep up the attack, and you will in turn be passed again by Major Barnard, who has the honour of capturing the settlement. I want this done before it gets light, so ‘stand to’ I think.”

The recce platoon was led by the ever worried Lieutenant Carr. For the next fifteen minutes they probed cautiously along the tracks leading up the ridge. They found a small stream, and waded in up to their thighs in freezing water, checking that it was passable, wasn’t defended. But Carr was, with some relief, soon able to report that the start line was secured. Belsay, thankful that his first phase was completed, ordered the thin files of the various companies to their start lines.

“Sir, may I wish you a successful morning?” Lumsden, ever grand, held out his hand.

Shaking the hand, Belsay couldn’t resist a flash of his notorious waspishness. “For God’s sakes, Valentine, we’re fighting a minor battalion engagement, not the battle of Blenheim!” It was said with a smile and the Major took command of his company with a grin.

Lumsden’s ‘A’ Company set off first, Lumsden advancing his men broadly in the classic formation: two companies forward and one kept slightly back. Making the best use of the limited cover they descended into the valley happily enough, but 500 yards short of the target Belsay, watching from the top of one ridge saw the top of the other one explode in a display of light and noise. The Japanese were waiting for them.

“Captain Ebdon?”

“Sir?”

“Find out why Barnard isn’t advancing. At the moment ‘A’ Company are taking a lot of punishment. ‘B’ Company to drag their arses into battle this instant.” He didn’t shout the order, but managed to convey enough menace to send the normally cool Ebdon scrambling into the valley with haste.

“C’mon you stupid bastard,” Belsay muttered to himself. Something had gone terribly wrong; Barnard’s men should have advancing far to the right, and Belsay had been tempted to use the low ground on the right flank to effect a sweeping hooking manouevre to deny the Japanese the opportunity to easily retire into the city. But Barnard was apparently declining to march and Belsay was already exasperated.

After an age either Ebdon had roused Major Barnard or Barnard had roused himself: ‘B’ Company were finally moving forward. But precious time had been lost and Lumsden’s men were being terribly worn down. Time was now a critical factor as the sun began to peek over the Eastern rim of the valley. As light began to flood over the battlefield Belsay, who had decided to lead Major Gledhill and his men to Major Barnard (Belsay no longer trusted anyone on the right flank), could see how exposed they all were. In the distance, a small of clump of trees and the tiny outline of the farm settlement showed that with luck, Gledhill could take the position.

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“I can’t see any Japs, Sir,” Gledhill, a rather glib officer, said to Belsay as they both strode down to Barnard’s position. At this point the two senior officers could wander with impunity: Barnard’s men had overpowered a thin of Japanese defenders and were driving hard towards the scattered strongpoints that lined the road to the farm. Belsay checked that his pistol was loaded.

One of the brighter young Corporals, this one a whip-thin former Hartlepool labourer named Macmain, sprinted down from Lumsden’s position.

“Sir, from Major Lumsden: it’s bad Sir. We’ve lost thirteen men.”

“Ammunition?”

“None for the mortars Sir, and we’ve given up with the Anti-tank guns.”

“What is Major Lumsden wanting to do?”

“He wants your permission to rush a Jap trench Sir. It’ll mean a few of the lads getting potted but it will give us something to hang on to.”

Belsay still had a fair number of his men uncommitted. Most of these had taken part in guard and patrol duties during the night. After sending Macmain on his way Belsay handed Gledhill and his men over to Barnard and, gathering some a platoon of reserves, headed to the left flank. The rear of Lumsden’s position was chaos; Lumsden, an inspirational, confident commander, was nevertheless utterly disorganised and his ammunition stocks were mixed with disgarded food tins and the moaning wounded. After tasking the adjutant, Captain Surtees, with sorting it out, Belsay led the platoon, commanded by Lieutenant Carr, to a thin tree where Lumsden squatted to avoid being shot.

“They’ve got a Durham bloody poacher up one of those trees, I swear it,” Lumsden said wryly. “I see that you’ve brought men.”

“Carr and his recce platoon were doing nothing but guarding the start line,” Belsay said, firing his pistol wildly into a cluster of trees. The noise from the small arms fire was deafening. “What do you want to do with them? I need you to keep the pressure up here; Gledhill will only be starting his attack now.”

“Can I suggest we throw them in as one?”

“Agreed, I never like penny packets anyway.”

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As Lumsden’s men dealt with the snipers in the trees, Carr led his men straight for the enemy lines. Belsay watched as they ran screaming into the trenches, the Japanese putting up a good fight before being systematcially defeated by the Durham men.

“Ah,” Lumsden said sadly. “Counterattack. ‘A’ Company, forward!”

The survivors of A company abandoned all military sense and ran to Carr’s rescue. Lumsden, singing a bawdy hunting song, was at the front of the attack and dissappeared into the recently captured trench. The line consolidated, Carr and his men rescued, Belsay turned to walk back to Barnard’s position. It was then Sergeant Hudson walked very formally up to him.

“Sir?”

“Yes Sergeant,” there was something in Hudson’s voice that didn’t bode well.

“It’s Mr Lumsden Sir. He’s hit bad.”

With a sinking heart Belsay wandered back to the blasted cluster of trees that caused such misery for ‘A’ Company. There, blood flowing freely from a pathetically small wound to the chest, was a pale Valentine Havelock Lumsden. He was already dead.

Belsay knew that every pair of eye in a distraught company were on him. “Fetch Captain Ebdon up here. He’s in command up here, the Adjutant can come and help him. Just hold the trench, lads, that’s what ‘he’ would have expected.”

As he trudged away to the right of the DLI’s battlefield, Belsay knew that things were changing. Lumsden gone, Belsay himself to be promoted out of the command that, despite its occasional infuriations, he had adored; he knew that this would be his last battle as a battalion CO.

Gledhill and his men had done well; the settlement was taken and the Japanese were withdrawing. The road to Zhanjiang was open. Belsay looked at his notebook: it was 8th June. General Brooke was due to arrive with the HQ of Fourth Army.

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[Game Effect] - I know, I know, more battalion-level battles.

The point is this – in game terms Zhangjiang was already mine but given that it contains a number of cities and is a fairly large area I wanted to show the British inching their way inland from their initial Longbow gains.

10 DLI feature again and I wanted to portray an infantry battle along ‘Goose Green’ lines – the tactics are based loosely on ‘H’ Jones’ though I killed the 2IC off not the CO.

There’s not much else to add. Brooke has arrived and the Army is ready to get on with the job of actually making an impact in this war. Tokyo is still a long way off...

Kurt_Steiner: I think it’s become an obsession due to the fanfare that was draped over Longbow. The British not only want to capture, but they have to be seen to be capturing it.

DonnieBaseball: Brooke was a consumate professional and will probably do well; I actually think that he and Alex compliment each other quite well. Brooke could be brusque at times (although he was nowhere as difficult as Monty) wheras Alex will soothe ruffled feathers.

Zhuge Liang: They’re optimistic, if nothing else!

Nathan Madien: Thanks for your help...

Enewald: There is a real sense of political meddling here, and hopefully Brooke can manage it.

El Pip: Agreed, sadly. I think a lot of the blame has to be laid at Eden’s door: he couldn’t resist the opportunity to meddle.

Nathan Madien: I think in Halifax's case it's just sheer terror at not being in control

Sir Humphrey: The prejudice against the Aussies largely springs from the fact that this generation of British officers probably haven’t fought with them since WW1 – and some not even then. Take comfort from the fact that Brooke is as worried about the British troops!
 
Another compelling update. By the looks of it, many of the divisions are understrength. In game terms do you have their 'reinforce' set to 'no' to represent the distance from base, or am I just making things up?..