Chapter 16
-or-
Rivalries Born
"An unprovoked insurrection yesterday across the border between Mexico and the colony of Honduras has seen the beginning of what many have come to dread for the British Empire, an entrance into the Great War that is currently enveloping the globe. Ever since the signing of the Lafayette Accord last August the United States of America has been in Alliance with France and following yesterday's actions it now seems likely that the British Empire and her Dominions will now be joining the war with our one time gallant allies across the sea in Germany." ~ Member of Parliament for Oldham, Winston Spencer-Churchill. 22nd of February 1915
"Come my Brothers,
If the world shall fight us,
Then let's go out fighting."
~ (Translated) Irish Army recruitment haiku. Okinawa 1915
Of all the parts of Mexico he'd been to so far this was the one that reminded him the least of his native California, and he should know General Pershing and President Villa's forces had pushed their way through the entirety of this country in the last eight months and now it was nearly over. The last group of Mexican soldiers loyal to the old regime had been spotted in the area and now Lt. George S. Patton was determined to capture them and return home a hero. He only had ten men at his command but he was certain that with the three Armoured cars his little group would be able to over whelm any threat that came before them. Barely had the thought flickered across his mind when one of his soldiers cried out.
"Lieutenant Sir! We've got them spotted, two miles South-East and open in the field. By God we've got them." The soldier's voice was barely able to contain his excitement as their was no doubt in anyone's mind in this little group about the rewards that were due under these circumstances.
"Car three!" Patton called out "Dart back to the main body of the 6th and inform them that to move to our current location would help us greatly. And don't worry you'll get your share of the glory for this." With that he turned to the driver of his car, "Forward man! Forward to glory!"
As the two cars started towards the enemy and the third car made it's way back Patton couldn't help but let out a loud whoop of excitement as his two cars started to gain on them. He was so excited he didn't realise that his units had just crossed the border into British territory. However a nearby British Cavalry officer did notice from his hiding place behind some foliage and rocks and urged his troops forward from in front of the Mexican troops to meet the Yank forces. As the Mexicans cleared out of the cavarly's horses the officer turned to his men. "Unfurl the colours!"
"What the hell is that?" Patton growled loudly as he realised that the cavalry group riding towards was carrying a Union Jack flag from atop a pole in the middle of the group. "Come to a stop, but keep the engines running and the Machine Guns ready, I'm going to see what the hell those bastard's are doing." He hopped down from the car to the ground as the British cavalry surrounded his two cars immediately and came to a halt 15 feet away in a circle where they stayed with their rifles laying across their laps. "My name is Lieutenant George S. Patton of the 6th Infantry Regiment United States Army, I wish to speak to whoever the hell is in charge here." With that he noticed one man come off his horse and shoulder his rifle and started to walk towards him.
"Leftenat, my name is Captain Phillip Bromley of His Majesty's Army, Shropshire Light Horse [1] I don't suppose you happened to notice when you passed into sovereign British territory?" Captain Bromley stood maybe four inches shorter then Patton but he made himself sound like he was leaning over him. "Perhaps when you noticed the grass getting greener, the air fresher and generally the world being a better place, I mean surely then you would have noticed that you were in British ground?"
"No
sir." Patton filled the word with as much contempt and venom as possible. "I was busy pursuing enemies of my nation and rebels against the Mexican nation." He indicated to the now rapidly disappearing Mexican force. "If you would allow me to round up those rebels I would be out of your territory in no time what so ever." The response he received was not what he wanted to hear.
"On the contrary Leftenant, for passing into British territory without permission I'm afraid I shall have to detain yourself and your men until such a time as this matter can be resolved. You may choose one of your men to stay here with your vehicles under guard until such a time as either more US troop's come to collect them or this matter is totally resolved."
"And if I refuse sir?"
"Then I'm afraid that myself and my men will have no other option but to fire upon you and your men and in case you haven't noticed you are significantly outnumbered and even with your vehicles you would still be quickly overwhelmed. I believe that this course is the one least likely to bring about any blood shed.[2] You will be detained in the town of Empire twelve miles west of here."
Patton turned back towards his car "Corporal Hannings. You will remain with the car and inform any elements of the 6th when they get here that myself and the rest of the men have been taken prisoner. We will be held in the town of Empire twelve miles west of here and immediate rescue would be appreciated. You will have a guard that will probably disperse when the 6th shows up, until then good luck." With that Patton then called out to his other men to come with him as they were carried on horseback to Empire.
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It took only two hours for advanced units of the 6th Infantry to find the abandoned cars. As they came to Corporal Hannings they could just make out the shape of troops moving away in the distance and the cars were quickly brought back to the main body of the regiment. From there it only took minutes to receive confirmation from General Pershing to go into Honduras and bring back out the captured US personnel. So the 6th marched over the border to outside the town of Empire. It was a small town but located on a plateau and was one of the last stops of the Honduras rail service. As they made camp outside the town a single soldier came out carrying a white flag. He was met with and a meeting between the commanding officers of both the US and British forces was arranged.
David Taylor had been in command of the 6th since they had crossed the border and he was in a very irritable mood. As far as he was concerned this hogswash was wasting valuable time and he was determined to see the Limey's punished for this. As he waited at the arranged location between the town and his forces he fumed more about the humidity of the area. When the British delegation finally arrived he found it was two officers and the British officers introduced themselves first.
"Hello Colonel" after a brief glance at his rank pin "My name is Major Terence Cornwall and this is-"
"I don't give a hot damn what your names are. I demand that you hand back over my men immediately. You've captured them without any sort of justification and I want them back dammit!" He was not in the mood for formalities and he hoped that this might help these Limey's understand that.
It was the other officer who then spoke with a look of grim determination on his face "Your men were captured trespassing on British soil chasing forces of the legitimate Mexican military who have permission to pass over the territory of Honduras. You have chosen to compact this transgression by bringing a full regiment of your troops here. You are in no position to make demands."
This was more then David could bare "The hell I am not. You have five minutes after you return to that pigsty you call a town to release my men or I'm coming in there and getting them. And God help you if I do." The major went to speak when the other officer looked at him and shook his head.
"Very well then Colonel our business is concluded." And they turned their backs on him and returned to the town. He and his aids made their way back to the US lines were he started giving orders for his men to get ready to assault the position. The town was in a good defensible position but it was nothing they hadn't already assaulted and cleared on the way down through Mexico.
As the five minutes ticked away and no movement was seen in the town he ordered his men forward. It was at this point the similarities to the Mexican campaign's ended. When they had been fighting the Mexicans they had been armed with Rolling-Block rifle's and scarce few automatic weapons. Now though Colonel Taylor's men were being cut down as what sounded like constant Machine Gun fire came from the town ripping into his men. By the time they had reached three quarters of the way to the town he had lost nearly half his men and his own life. His second in command tried to continue the assault but the gun fire was too much and he sounded the retreat.
As the Yanks started running, as that was it was not an organized retreat, Lieutenant Patton felt his stomach hit the floor underneath him. He had been brought up to were the senior British officers had been observing the battle.
"Machine Guns against infantry in open territory like that, it's not right." He hadn't realised until he had said it out loud until the most senior British officer turned to look at him.
"Whether it is right or wrong to use Machine Guns like that is not important for two reasons. One. In warfare the lines between right and wrong are considerably more blurred. Two. We used two Vicker's guns at most. The rest was the benefit of superior British training in the usage of the rifle, something I believe is referred to as the "Mad Minute", at least thirty rounds a minute at aimed targets from one of the SMLE's. Now though Leftenant Patton I hope you and your men will assist some of my men in recovering the wounded for treatment and burial for the dead. Also I would advise you to get used to British hospitality. After this I dare say you will be experiencing it for a while yet." Colonel Bernard Law Montgomery[3] beamed at him.
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It was barely four days since war was declared between the British Empire and her Dominions against the United States, and by extension France bringing the British Empire into alliance with Germany. Following the unprovoked invasion of Honduras it was no surprise that such an action would happen. This meant that throughout the Irish Territories the recruitment call had begun. In Ireland itself there had been near riots of men wanting to volunteer and the recruitment office's not being able to take them. In Alaska the State force's had formed up and Inuit, Irish and even some Russian soldiers were already assembling around the area. In both Africa and Abu Dhabi the army was flooded with native recruits. In Rome the Vatican guard found itself being expanded as locals joined up to battle the Red Hydra of godless Socialism in America.
However Tetsuo Oshiro[4] lived in none of those places. He had been born and raised in Okinawa an only child and the eldest Grandchild of his family.He had learnt English from a young age as his Grandfather had made it known that he viewed his family learning the language of their new Irish masters a good idea, this idea was shortly seized upon by his neighbours as well as when Grandfather Oshiro spoke very few in the area didn't listen. He had studied in Vancouver when he had received full Irish citizenship after presenting his birth-certificate to the local constabulary officer, his whole family had been there with him getting their new citizenship and all had voted during the Parliamentary elections. However more so then leaving his home to study in a foreign country today he was nervous.
He had arrived at the local RIC (Okinawa) office early. The doors were not yet open. Slowly behind him as time moved on a queue of other young men his age started to form behind him and it was not long before he was joined by his friend Hayate who took his position in line as an excuse to skip to the front.
"Tetsuo I have to admit of all people you being here is a surprise. But I suppose a man lost to adventure once is bound to go seeking it again, after all you were corrupted the moment you stepped off into Canadian soil." Hayate was grinning constantly "Myself however am just bored of this island so that's my excuse." Hayate was the youngest of a family of eight and while he had learnt with Tetsuo before he studied abroad had spent the last few years helping his father's fishing business.
Before Tetsuo could even begin his sentence in reply the doors to the office were opened and a group of soldier's in the dark green of the Irish army were standing there. One of them regarded the line that had formed, as did Tetsuo when he realised the line had grown almost double it's length from when he last saw it.
The one who had regarded the line stepped forward and with an almost theatrical movement swept himself around towards his fellow soldiers. "Gentlemen" he said "It is far to nice a day to do this indoors. Let's set up the tables out here and get to sorting through these fine recruits. O'Donnel, Maher go in and fetch the papers and ink and ask that nice Constable to come out here and give us a hand in case anyone needs translating." The desks were brought outside and the soldiers took their positions behind them as they set up. Tetsuo's heart was starting to race he didn't know why but it was. it was at this point that the man who had addressed the soldiers and was clearly in charge turned to look at the line. He then pointed straight at Tetsuo and said in a cheerfully loud voice. "You first lad."
He felt his legs walk towards the table the man in charge was behind as he saw from the corner of his eye others come forward from the front of the line to the tables. He reached the table after what seemed like an age and the man behind the desk beamed up at him.
"Top of the morning to you.[5] My name is Colm. If you give me your name and details we can get them down on paper and get this whole thing going."
"Sir?" As the man nodded at him with another smile cracking across his face "Sir. Which regiment will I be joining when I sign these" he indicated to the papers.
The man chuckled aloud and looked at him with his smile reaching up into his eyes, the Irish Tetsuo had found were notoriously bad at hiding their feelings in their facial expressions, "You will have the honour of joining the new 35th Okinawa rifles. A brand new regiment being recruited from here. The reason we advertised so much is because we need so many new recruits y'see."
This seemed to make sense to Tetsuo "Thank you sir. My name is Tetsuo Oshiro."
"Well then Tetsuo it's a pleasure to meet you. We'll just run through some details and then we'll be laughing."
At other desks people were rotating through a lot quicker, Hayate for example was already back in the line talking to some of his other friends after getting his orders. Tetsuo however was still answering this man's questions. "Any form of formal education Tetsuo?"
"I graduated in the top 5 of my class in the University of British Columbia."
The man seemed very impressed with this. "Pray tell what did you study?"
Tetsuo was feeling a lot more relaxed then at the beginning by now and answered the question immediately "Law with English."
At this the man stood up and offered Tetsuo his hand. This surprised Tetsuo and noting the look of surprise on his face the man looked him dead in the eye, no beaming smile this time but a hint of it still lingered in his eyes even if his face was now serious. "Welcome to the 35th lad. You are exactly what I'm looking for." Tetsuo was still very much confused and surprised at this sudden change of character.
"Pardon sir?"
"It's simple. You were first in line here and it was nearly an hour before someone else showed up after you. I know because I was watching and timing it. This shows you are determined. The fact you let your friend join you at the top of the queue shows that you look out for others. You are fluent in English and now you've just informed me of your University education. Lad you have "Officer" practically tattooed to your forehead. And I need a native officer because I know how much of a difference it will make. Some back home think that letting the New Irish become officers of their own regiments is asking for trouble, with my regiment however I intend to prove them wrong. Welcome to the 35th Okinawa Rifles Junior Leftenant Oshiro." With that he gestured towards him with his hand again and this time Tetsuo shook it.
"Here are your marshalling orders Leftenant and I will see you at the barracks nice and early."
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Questions?, Comments?, Dear-lord-how-bloody-long-is-this?
So it begins. Neither Monty nor Patton will become major character's here as I wish to avoid IRL figures as much as possible and those I intend to use I have planned out. I had planned for Patton to invade Honduras ever since learning about his role in the Pancho Villa Expedition. However the more I toyed with the idea that it was Monty who stopped him the more the idea appealed to me.
[1] An entirely fictitious unit I think. I'll be honest I didn't really research this.......
[2] Oh the Irony
[3] Right so why is he Colonel this early? Honduras is not an important posting and after his performance in China he was promoted to Colonel but sent to Honduras as he wasn't deemed "Senior" enough for an important posting.
[4] Our first main character. The others will be introduced shortly (shortly by my update rate that is)
[5] ........... Yeah I know