Gaining weight, running late.
November 1938, Egypt.
Johnny Rhodes and myself have been shanghaied into yet another special mission. The PM along with Chatfield have decided that the military situation in Asia needs closer scrutiny. Who better to send than the blokes who insulted half of France only to be saved by a junior operative of the MI6? The situation is of a delicate nature so Andrew Browne Cunningham (ABC to his friends) is the obvious choice to represent the naval part. I am chuffed to bits to be honest. ABC and Johnny are the sort of men who remind you of what a terrific lot the men in the services really are.
2 ASW (ABCs command) is waiting for two new destroyers to bring the unit up to strength. The new Battle class destroyers, HMS Armada and HMS Barfleur, are being sent down from England. ABC ever the pragmatic suggested that we meet them in Malta since it is an important location of the Med. theatre.
On the 1st of November Yunnan gave Nationalist China military access. This is interesting, if the smaller nations in Asia throw it's lot in with Nationalist China they can give the Japanese a run for their money. MI6 has targeted Nationalist China, Yunnan, Guanxi Clique and Xibei San Ma for increased intelligence gathering.
On the 3rd Yunnan gave the Guanxi Clique military access. The spirits were raised in the Planning Committee.
On the 4th we set sail for Malta. ABC said he would transfer his command to the HMS Armada when we came to Malta. Knowing the Dublin borne pirate, I sensed something else was forming in his mind... On a personal note I have grown quite fond of sea travel. Comfortable beds, good grub and fresh air. Our young sailors really are second to none, day or night the young men discharge their service with careful attention to detail.
Malta.
This was my first trip to Malta, but I hope not the last. The climate was lovely. Warm, but being an island the fair breeze made it quite comfortable, and the scenery looked like something from a movie set. In the Harbour the HMS Armada lay like a great swan I am no sailor but it looks great. The Tribal Class was great, but the new Battle class seems to have made new strides forward.
ABC's new ship the HMS Armada in Malta Harbour.
I was right about ABC. His plan to confirm the seatrials is a sightseeing tour of the Libyan coast so we can get a better view of what the Ities are doing. The governor threw a party for us, plenty of fat cats about. Feeling like a fish on land I was relieved when John Cunningham, the commander of Task Force 97 stationed in Malta, came to chat about the status in the Med. Johnny had the time of his life hammering on a piano and impressing the local crumpets.
On the 7th our tour of Libya started. My previous reservation against such a provoking trip had completely gone. ABC's the devil may care attitude is highly infectious. Around Tripoli we found a mixture of colonial troops and motorised units. In all 2 motorised and 2-3 colonial units were put down in our estimate.
Sightseeing the Libyan riviera, Navy Style
In Benghazi we saw only colonial garrisons, but the people in our operation centre detected radio traffic further inland that belonged to a motorised unit. Around Tobruk the airwaves were full. A large Corps size exercise was taking place. We all crammed in the operation centre to listen to the action. The intelligence officer commented that they had difficulties in supplying their motorised corps with fuel and ammo.
Tobruk is buzzing with activity
On the 8th Nationalist Spain ended the trade agreement of 29th September. MI6 is at an loss to explain it. Have Nat Spain enough of the resource, or have they spent all their gold reserve? MI6 decided against an intelligence operation in Spain. Given the strain put on the conflict with operation Out of Step, Messrs Hitler and Mussolini have questioned our neutrality.
16 November, Hong Kong.
ABC is pleased with the high speed cruising of the new Battle destroyers. The rest of ASW 2 have either milled about in the Med or returned to Plymouth. 'Drives the other lot nuts' is ABCs stock answer to questions as to wethertos or whyfores. Barfleur and Armada have raced to Hong Kong so that we can have a look at the recent developments in the Far East.
The Governor gave us a Kings welcome. Since we withdrew the local garrison and let the Hong Kong Constabulary take care of security in the colony, the Governor has felt a bit abandoned. Being visited by the two most modern vessels of the Royal Navy has obviously done a lot to boost the morale to the locals.
If I have to do another banquet I'll look like a portly civil servant rather than an old dour Scotsman. The Governor threw a big party and we got to meet a lot of the big men in the financial sector. Having tried, and found most welcome, Australian red wine I received a red hot tip to invest in the French National Engineering Corporation of Indo-China. What utter arse of the highest order. Young Rhodes had found a piano ditto the swooning young damsels. During a popular tune that was played so vigorously that it attained the attention of the entire party, I was able to extract from the battlezone and made a dash for the HMS Armadas motor launch.
Before dawn on the 18th we were well underway to the South Straight of Taiwan. The Crew of HMS Armada had been augmented by Fredrick Beagrie from the MI6. His skills in languages would help us gauge the situation on land. I happen to know that Beagrie is the controller of the intelligence network set up in Nationalist China. He could not partake in field work because he has a heart condition. He seemed pleased like punch to be part of the outfit. We continued up to Hangzhou bay.
First to the Beachead north of Hong Kong
Some regular units are moving in the area north of the Beachead
The Nationalists are fleeing from a modern motor unit
Beagrie was pleasantly surprised at the spacious operation centre of the destroyer. The Radio equipment and RADAR was beyond what he was used too. Good Lord, are the secret services beeing neglected?
All in all it seemed to us as if Nationalist China was far from finished, they still had a proper army in the field. This made Beagrie absolutely livid. He said that there is more to warfare than having mass on the field of battle. He went on to discuss the importance of certain hubs of communication and civil government. 'Victory points' he called them, without them National China would loose the control of their army and their people. The Empire of Japan is going for the kill was his message. He included a few maps to explain the situation and implored that we bring the info further up the system.
On the 20th the French terminated the trade agreement of 26th of October. Thanks to the Anglo-Iranian oil company they now have an acceptable crude reserve. On the same day we set sail for Blighty with stops in Singapore and Egypt.
The Planning Committee has a great task ahead with regards to the appraisal of the military situation. I reported to CHatfield in person, and we agreed on a few weeks extra to deliberate the report.
On the 30th we held our monthly update. I was distressed to see the PM look so tired. He was alert as always and asked good questions, but he was clearly marked by the strain of an unruly Parliament and unpopular politics.
The Nationalists are taking the initiative
The Empire of Japan is turning into a Juggernaut
Nationalist China looks to be at the mercy of Japan. Beagrie reported a national unity of 75%, 750 Manpower, dissent of 3,3% but a surrender percentage of 92,2% As one can see on the map the hubs of communication and control are mostly on Japanese hands. They have vectored their thrusts at the core of the Chinese. Rather than attacking their ability to fight, they have attacked their will to fight.
A few more 'victory points' and the Chinese will collapse
In Spain the German advisors must have whispered a few words on Bewegungskrieg to the Nationalists. The Counter attacks are directed at important nodes of communication.
Effective handling of the army might turn the fate of war for the Nationalists
The PM was distressed at the prospect of a sudden collapse of Nationalist China. With only Yunnan, Guanxi Clique and Xibei San Ma to check the Japanese on mainland Asia we might have to adjust our force dispositions.
Personally I am afraid that if we are to do anything about the developments in Asia we must act now. Waiting for the Planning Committee to appraise the situation could force us to 'miss the bus'.