WesWorld

Edit note: the bit about the gov't getting impatient has been edited and moved to 5 September, following Danish news reports of 6 and 11 September.

31 August 1924

Two more Indian warships lay on the ocean floor today. The destroyer G-107 and sloop S-109 were sunk as targets west of Sittwe today by the Indian Navy, a little over a week since the two vessels sustained heavy damage in action against Denmark.

“S-109 was wrecked to the point that she would never be the same again”, Admiral Sanjay Das said. “G-107 , meanwhile, was old and somewhat outdated - given how heavily our resources are being strained to repair our other vessels, it seemed more practical to delete the vessel from the fleet list.”

Interestingly, the ships were not used for gunnery practice, instead being sunk with torpedoes. Rumors that some of the torpedoes failed to explode were not confirmed by the Navy, but the destroyer G-134 was observed to take on six torpedoes after returning to Sittwe Naval Station.

2 September 1924

His Royal Highness Able Seaman Shrinivas Canangasundrum has been released from Sittwe Military Hospital. AWNR has learned that the Crown Prince was serving on SR Chennai as a member of the damage control team when the ship saw action at Ko Racha Yai last month.

“The Crown Prince sustained two serious shrapnel wounds to his right arm late in the engagement with the Danish Navy”, commented a government spokesmen. “Prior to this, he had also accumulated a number of bruises, lacerations, and minor burns. This would not be surprising given that he spent the battle top-side, fighting fires and clearing debris.”

The Crown Prince is expected to be on medical leave for some time yet, as his arm is said to require some rehabilitation.

5 September 1924

The Indian Government is growing impatient with the Danish investigation into arms smuggling. “It’s been almost two weeks, and we’ve heard virtually nothing. It seemed that they were suggesting involvement by some of the Siamese military back on the 30th, and even that was a media report, not a formal communication”, commented a senior bureaucrat in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Foreign Minister Jal Kadharni says that the government, nonetheless, “will honor the commitments made by the Raj and await the results of the investigation, however long it takes.”

Defence Minister V.K. Chandra told AWNR that just one arms shipment has been intercepted since the battle off Ko Racha Yai, “and that vessel was intercepted on August 27 - so it obviously departed Siam well before the 23rd. We’ve seen no evidence of further shipments since, which we have to think is a result of whatever the Danes have learned. That’s good - I’d just like to know what’s going on.”

The stoppage of arms has not yielded a corresponding stop to violence in Chittagong. Over fifty soldiers, police, and civilians have died in daily violence since early August, while thirty or more insurgents have been killed. “We’ve stopped the flow of arms”, Minister Chandra said ruefully, “But they still have ammunition.”

[OOC: Note that I’m not impatient - just my characters!]

8 September 1924

The last of India’s dead have been laid to rest. The remains of Gunner’s Mate Surinder Grival were cremated at Sittwe yesterday in an official ceremony attended by Admiral of the Navy Sanjay Das and His Royal Highness Able Seaman Shrinivas Canangasundrum. Grival was a member of SR Chennai and was seriously injured when a shell destroyed the gun at which he was serving. He succumbed to his wounds two days ago.

The Navy says that it expects all remaining casualties of the recent conflict to recover. Admiral Das noted, “Four hundred and three men have perished since the blockade was put in place, and another four hundred fifty-eight have been injured. We must ensure their loss was not in vain - that their sacrifice ensures the safety and security of all India.”

The death toll was worst on the light cruiser Delhi , which was torpedoed and sunk with an estimated 174 dead, the torpedo boat T-14 , lost with all forty-six of her crew, and the light cruiser Trincomalee , which lost fifty-seven killed.

As would be expected, there has been much grieving in Sittwe, where virtually every one of the men were based. Friends, family, and clerics of all faiths have joined together to support the wives and children of those killed. One unidentified woman said, “It’s like the city itself has been bloodied.” Indeed, the city has been unusually quiet since the return of the blockade forces at the beginning of the month, with festivities, weddings, and other normally happy occasions either being downscaled or deferred altogether.

One elderly man summed up the mood of the city thusly: “We will heal, then we will question.”

16 September 1924

There are no reports of Indian casualties following a massive explosion in Manila, where the Rana and four vessels were on hand for the launch of the Filipino cruiser Basilan three days ago. Ironically, the incomplete cruiser sank as a result of the explosion, which appears to have been a magazine detonation as another ship was being de-ammunitioned.

“It’s a dreadful disaster”, the Rana commented from the royal yacht Hindustaan . “We’ll help our friends in anyway possible, of course, but I think they have the situation in hand.”

The Rana says that she’s satisfied with the unveiling of the SATSUMA treaty but thinks that the outcry around the world is overly harsh. “The point that Lady Tokugawa, Presidente Monastario and I all tried to make, in our different ways, is that the people of Asia deserve lives as fulfilling as those of anybody else. However, they can’t achieve this if their culture, ethics, and values are dominated by foreign governments interested only in commodity exports. SATSUMA is intended, among other things, to encourage those foreign governments to at least improve the lives of my neighbours.”

The Rana shrugged off the notion of a SATSUMA-led military campaign to liberate Asia: “Whether or not our navies are up to such a task is moot; you can only vanquish an oppressor with a land campaign. India has been capable of ejecting the British from Pakistan for years - but we haven’t, because we’d prefer to see Britain depart Pakistan voluntarily, and we’d like to work with them through diplomatic means to see that happen.”

The Empress of India finally noted, “One must also remember that I am not just an empress but a mother, whose son has bled and hurt as a result of military action; neither I nor my husband take that pain - or the pain our people have felt - lightly.”

Good news and well written...

Official question to our Indian Ally:

"Currently there´s a RSAN fleet sailing the Indian Ocean which was originally mean to help secure peace in the Andaman Sea. This is no longer necessary so we kindly ask if permission is given to enter Indian waters to sail for our floatplane base in Alleppey."

Thank you. The human aspects of the conflict can't be ignored, but it's not easy to write it up.

"The South African squadron is welcome to make call in Alleppey. When an arrival time is confirmed, the Raj would be pleased to have an opportunity to meet with Admiral de Boer, so that he may thank him and South Africa for their support."

Assuming that happens in September, you and I can confer and I'll edit in a piece to the original news above.

"The Admiralty thanks our Indian friends to grant permission for our ships to sail to Alleppey. Our fleet is currently east of the British Indian Ocean Territory and will arrive in Alleppey on September 12th."

Err...that would be India's Chagos Islands?

Nice writing Rocky.

Quoted

India has been capable of ejecting the British from Pakistan for years - but we haven’t, because we’d prefer to see Britain depart Pakistan voluntarily, and we’d like to work with them through diplomatic means to see that happen.

Aha.
(making map note: paint Pakistan purple to indicate British control)

You never know what precious intel you'll find in the Indian news.

Quoted

Originally posted by The Rock Doctor
Err...that would be India's Chagos Islands?

The BIOT is south of the Maledives, east of the Seychelles and right above Diego Garcia - not sure if you captured those and named them Chagos Islands?! According to the map I have - actually not up to date - those islands don´t belong to any player so I assume they´re still british.

Try the this map to get more information. Be warned - it´s a relatively large PDF-file.

Regards,

HoOmAn

Hooman, if you look at the map thread, the map there will show you a vague blue line that indicates the extent of India's control to the south. On the bigger version of the map, you can see it better.

I'm not sure that I captured them (all), but they're part of India. Have been from the start.

Okay, I did capture Diego Garcia in 1898, but that was from the Iberian imperialists who took it from me in the first place.