WesWorld

India News - Q4/31

Executive Summary: we can only wish Gandhi was the big story.

2 October

Officials with the government have confirmed that El Derretir has broken out in Imphal. The city has been under quarantine for several days now, but it is not known whether or not any infected individuals left the city prior to its establishment.

Hospital officials confirmed that they have received about three dozen cases at this point, seventeen of whom have perished. Two hospital staff are amongst the casualties at this time.

Essential supplies are flowing into the city and being distributed by a network of volunteers, but it is otherwise rather quiet, with most businesses heeding a government advisory to suspend operations and the vast majority of citizens respecting a tight curfew.

“There is apprehension in the air”, said Mayor Shekhar Bedi. “But at the same time, most people are calm. There have been very few disturbances so far, which I thinks highly of all Imphalites.”

5 October

Grim news from remote North Sentinel Island, as the army confirmed that it is battling El Derretir amongst the 2,400 men of the 2nd Regiment, Krokodil Division, in quarantine there.

“There have been deaths. I can not say how may at this time”, acknowledged Field Marshal Satyanarayana. “Medical personnel on the island are doing their utmost.”

14 October

Another skirmish in Asir has claimed Indian lives. A squad of Camel Corps troopers were apparently ambushed by a significantly larger force in a small canyon on the eastern border. All eight men were killed.

Outrage amongst the local garrison has been amplified by evidence suggesting two of the dead were actually executed after being captured. “They were shot in the back of the head”, said an Indian soldier who asked not to be named. “Put down like [censored] dogs. B*****ds.”

Foreign Affairs Minister Jal Kadharni warned Saudi Arabia to rein in its forces in the region. “We are not going to tolerate Saudi incursions and the killing of Indian soldiers doing their duty.

A spokesman for the Saudi government told AWNR, “There is no evidence to prove the outrageous implication that we have committed any wrongdoing. The Saudi government appeals to the League of Nations to ensure that India respects our borders and international law.”

16 October

A potentially serious incident of El Derretir has the coastal city of Vishakaphatnam gripped with fear tonight.

“Acting on complaints from several neighbours, city constables entered a flat on the north end of the city and found the body of a middle-aged man who had succumbed to El Derretir at least two days earlier”, said Constabulary Captain Rakhesh Dutt. “We have established that he was selling carpets in a market in the days prior to his death, and are thus concerned that he may have exposed a large number of people to the disease.”

Captain Dutt confirmed that they are following up with other carpet sellers and their contacts in the city. “The carpet trade is international; we are attempting to determine whether this may be the conduit that the disease used to get here.”

Anybody who has been in the Doshi Market in the past week is urged to contact health officials at once, and to take measures to ensure they do not present a risk to the public. In the meantime, constabulary and army units are mobilizing to erect a quarantine around the city, and the Navy has instituted a blockade of the harbour.

17 October

By the order of His Highness the Samraja, all facilities engaged in the production of gas masks, protective clothing, and other equipment to be used in fighting outbreaks of El Derretir have been directed to bring in additional workers and commence round-the-clock, seven-days-a-week production. Existing stocks are now being released to civilian agencies such as hospitals and constabularies.

A full mobilization of the army and the National Reserve has been ordered, with all soldiers to receive crash training in quarantine, casualty-handling, and crowd-control measures. The National Cadre has been placed on forty-eight hour stand-by.

The Bharatiya Nau Sena has ordered a full recall to all personnel and has most destroyers and cruisers on stand-by for emergency transport missions along the coast. The Second and Third Battle Squadrons and the First Naval Aviation Squadron have departed Chennai for Trincomalee. Other vessels are currently sortieing in preparation for possible blockade missions.

18 October

The Government of India has announced a blockade of the island of Ceylon is now in effect. Any and all vessels approaching within five miles of the island will be sunk.

“We are going to ensure that Ceylon remains free of El Derretir”, Admiral Kashiram Paswan said, “And the deployment of our major fleet assets to Ceylon will ensure that India’s maritime defensive capabilities are not undermined.”

Blockades have also been instituted around the Andaman Islands, and the Maldives, Lakshadweep, and Chagos archipelagoes. There are no reports of El Derretir in the latter three island chains.

19 October

As feared, El Derretir is claiming more victims in Vishakaphatnam. Over two hundred cases have been brought to city hospitals, many of them by friends and family. There is considerable concern that the transport of the infected individuals may well have exposed a greater number of people to the disease.

20 October

Military authorities in Port Blair are reporting the receipt of garbled transmissions from North Sentinel Island suggesting a mutiny amongst 2nd Regiment, Krokodil Division. The monitor Chandragupta and four motor-torpedo boats are en route to the island to investigate matters.

21 October

The situation in Vishakaphatnam is deteriorating as riots and looting are now being reported in several neighbourhoods. The Doshi Market, where the initial cases appeared to have been spawned, has been razed by arson. The army has instituted martial law within city limits and confirms that looters and rioters are being shot on sight. Twenty to twenty-five people have been executed since yesterday.

Additional casualties are starting to overwhelm city hospitals, prompting a call by the mayor for casualties to be kept in their homes. “Our medical staff are at their limits. Respect your neighbour’s health by caring for your loved ones at home; ensure that they are fed, hydrated, and cleaned, while taking measures to prevent direct exposure to them. Above all, remain calm.”

22 October

Admiral Kashiram Paswan has confirmed that a mutiny has taken place amongst army personnel on North Sentinel Island.

“An unknown number of men seized control of one of their transports, the Kashmir Outlook, and were attempting to steam for the mainland. It is with great sadness that I ordered the monitor Chandragupta to sink the Kashmir Outlook and execute all survivors without taking any aboard. These orders were carried out this morning.

“Chandragupta is currently anchored off of North Sentinel Island and has orders to sink the remaining vessels there if they raise steam.”

Army commander Field Marshal Satyanarayana said that he was angered by the mutiny. “Those men had orders, and they disobeyed them. That is unacceptable. I expect every man in this army to follow their orders, even if those orders mean death.”


23 October

Cases of El Derretir are being reported in the cities of Mumbai and Hyderabad. The number of casualties is limited so far and there are no reports of civil unrest.

In Jaipur, at least three thousand people have defied curfew and martial law to march in protest to yesterday’s suppression of a mutiny amongst the Krokodil Division, normally based in the city. The crowd included a number of family members of the soldiers, as well as up to a hundred soldiers who broke out of army barracks to take part in the protest. The demonstration was broken up by riot police, with over two hundred arrests. Three protesters were reported killed, though it is not clear how they died.

26 October

Jaipur is calm today following two nights of rioting by citizens protesting the deaths of three marchers in an earlier protest. Five police and seventeen civilians were killed in the violence, with many arrests made. Alarmingly, there are now reports that at least two of the many people arrested during the riots are now in isolation in hospital.

28 October

The entire empire has been shocked by the news that one of the first victims of El Derretir in Hyderabad is the six year old Princess Amrita . Officials are scrambling to determine how the girl came to be infected, as access to the Imperial Palace is normally restricted and no cases had been reported amongst those living or working there.

Both the Samraja and the Samraji are said to be distraught by their loss - and are also under close medical observation themselves as a result of it.

Rioting resumes in Jaipur.

New cases of El Derretir are reported in Imphal.

Eek!

With the huge amount of people in India this is not going to be pretty.

Yes, it is going to be truly U-G-L-Y!
O_O

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAh, World tour Cancelled.

I have created a monster. @_@ Excellent-but-frightening post.

My Q4 news will follow soon..

Uh oh! More trouble ahead.

There's going to be some in indochina too...

The government of the Republic of France express their deepest condolences to the Samraja and the Samraji, and the entire Imperial household for the loss of Princess Amrita, and wish them to know that we pray for their health. Supplies of chemical warfare protective equipment have been dispatched to India by air, and further medical supplies are being sent to India on First Cruiser Squadron. The production lines for chemical warfare protective equipment, left idle for years but retained in case of need, have been reactivated, and are being worked by 3 shifts.

Prince Brashkar thanks France for its kind thoughts and its material assistance, though he recommends that France retain sufficient materials to support its own needs in Indochina.

Shipments by air and sea should proceed to the eastern port of Sittwe, which remains currently unaffected by El Derretir.

Quoted

I have created a monster.

It's all your fault!

Maybe I should go look up those "War Economy" rules in case I feel compelled to clobber Luzon in retaliation...

Quoted

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAh, World tour Cancelled.

Oh no you don't - I've already arranged the catering. What am I going to do with two tonnes of tandoori sauce?

Improve the catering at the cadets training academy?

Quoted

....though he recommends that France retain sufficient materials to support its own needs in Indochina.

That shipment is in transit on 4th Cruiser Squadron.

Cruisers have a very handy speed for critical cargos too big for air shipment, such as this.

21 October - Addendum

Life in Alleppey slowed to a crawl this morning as the drone of aircraft engines overhead announced the arrival of the German airships Graf Zeppelin and Hindenburg. Despite being accustomed to the comings and goings of South African airships that dock here, Alleppeans paused to take in the sight of the two airborne behemoths as they curved around the north end of the city.

Both airships made quick and effective dockings in light winds and were hoisted down to ground level, where ground crews and lorries wasted no time in unloading the precious cargos of ventilators, protective clothing, and medicines. As each lorry was loaded, it sped off in different directions, some to waiting aircraft elsewhere at the aerodrome, others to the railway yards.

The airships only remained long enough to unload and take on supplies. The brief stop concluded with young Princess Prahminder, touring the area to raise morale, thanking both airship captains in their native tongue. A past trauma now clearly forgotten, the princess later told reporters, "Germany is a true friend to this nation; we should never forget it."

Graf Zeppelin and then Hindenburg were raised to the top of the docking masts and then cast off, as aerodrome workers paused in their duties to wave and cheer. The two airships then lumbered over the city centre and out to sea, until they faded to dots and disappeared over the bright blue waters of the Indian Ocean.



I'll deal with the French shipment during the November portion of the news later on...

Awfully nice of the Germans.

Quoted

Originally posted by The Rock Doctor

Maybe I should go look up those "War Economy" rules in case I feel compelled to clobber Luzon in retaliation...

Oy!

Heh, the German shipment to the Phillipines should be arriving by now, though it was having to be delivered from Russian ports (there were 71 box-cars of it, so carrying it in airships simply wasn't practical).

Yeah, you're right, you're clobbering Luzon enough by yourself.

Update on Foreign Construction

Nations with construction contracted to Indian shipyards should note the following:

Seaplane carrier Lagonoy, building for the Philippines, completed at Mumbai on 31/9/1931. Due to a known outbreak of El Derretir in the city, the ship was quarantined under armed guard until 15/10/1931. At that time, it was ascertained that no workers involved in her construction had yet been diagnosed with El Derretir. Therefore, she was fuelled and towed out of the harbour, whereupon a Filipino transport came alongside and transferred a passage crew aboard.

Battleship Osmanieh, building for Turkey, was towed from Chennai to Trincomalee on 17/18 October as a precautionary measure. Fitting out will be delayed by three weeks as a result of the change in location. Assuming the quarantine around Ceylon prevents outbreaks of El Derretir on the island, Osmanieh should be available for hand-over three weeks after her initially scheduled completion date, on ~20 July 1932.

Battleship Mahmudieh, for Turkey, was laid down at Chennai on 1/10/31 as scheduled. Turkey will be advised if El Derretir results in delays to her construction.

Battleship Babur, to be rebuilt for Peru, was at Mumbai when the outbreak of El Derretir took place there. She was decommissioned early, on 4/10/31, with a skeleton crew remaining aboard and an armed guard in place to enforce a quarantine. As no members of Babur's crew were reported to be ill with El Derretir on 18/10/31, the ship cast off and departed for Trincomalee. The ship will be rebuilt for Peru with initial priority given to minimizing her stay in Trincomalee's type two drydock.

Frigate Yamlai, to be built for China, remains scheduled for laying-down in Q1/1932. Construction will take place in Sittwe, where no outbreaks have yet occurred. China will be advised if El Derretir does result in delays to construction.

No matter how quick that stop was, it is quite possible that El Derretir is now aboard the two airships. If it breaks out in Alleppey within 10 days or so...

I'll leave it to Hrolf to determine how he deals with that end of things - Alleppey had no reported outbreaks, and I'd imagine some effort was made to prevent any transmission of the disease to the Germans or their vehicles.

China's kind words are appreciated.

The precautions taken to prevent the spread of the disease are fairly strict: the airships stayed higher up on the masts than usual, lowering the cargo crates on hoists and taking on fuel and ballast via hoses; those crewmen who were involved in the transfer were wearing as modern a protective suit as could be arranged; their suits were scrubbed afterwards with a strong bleach solution and packed into barrels with more bleach (those barrels will be weighted and dumped at sea). So Germany is fairly sure no contagion will spread from this, but we shall see.....

Plague is nasty stuff. And I happen to have the luck to live smack in the middle of the only place in the world where it still exists.

If Plague gets to Germany everything will get very nasty very fast.

Australia is considering itself very lucky to have a continent all to itself and that the Pirate Hunting Group was already home by the time the Plague started. Mexico is another matter. We might just see The Plague in the New World