WesWorld

Undisclosed location, Tehran, 07:36hrs, November 11th 1938

General Ahmad Amir-Ahmadi hear the latest reports from one of his aides with apparent indifference. After glancing through the situation reports he summoned his aide to his office.

Inside the map-room Ahmadi was studying the deployment of divisions fighting on the front. "The 4th Infantry Division and the 2nd Cavalry Brigade are to be transferred immediatly to the Northern Front," he said without looking up. "We have to stop the enemy advancing further in that front. The fall of Gorgan is bad enough."

In a more prudent mood the young aide would have just kept in mouth closed and continue to take notes. But this early in the morning the young men wanted to show how intelligent he was to his boss.

"The Pushtigabans are sitting idle east of Shiraz. They could be used to defeat the enemy advance either on the Center or the Southern Front. They..."

Ahmadi was tired so he snapped. "They will stay were they at. I can see you are smart Ali, but leave strategy to the big boys. Can you? I just send my last available reserves to stop the bleeding in the Northern Front, the two new mountain brigades still not ready for combat and the damn followers of Kharmani are fighting tooth and nail in the streets of Shiraz. But the Pushtigibans will stay were they are. Do you understand me!

The young man waited for the tirade to continue. But to his surprise the General now spoke to him calmly, in an almost friendly fashion.

"You have to understand I'm under a lot of stress. I hope you realize that. But you have to understand I know Parwiz and he's going for broke. He has always being a man that loves to take risks. But this time is biting more than he can chew. But I got two more request for you. First, the Speaker needs to be inform to sent the request to the British for "Muslim Volunteers" to help fortify Bandar Abbas. And second, talk to the Bharati liason and tell him that we are more amicable to accept an slight increase to the BRA."

"As you wish, Sir"

Saying that the aide departed. General Ahmadi turned back into the huge wall-map. "I need to built up our forces for the final reckoning."

The barracks was full of equipment, boxes were strewn everywhere and soldiers were packing and unpacking.
As Brigadier Whitesyde-Smyth crossed the compound he caught sight of Lt.Col. Sattar, "Ah, Colonel could you accompany me to my office?" The Lt.Col. saluted smartly, "Yes Sir!"

As they walked to the low brick-built barrack Whitesyde-Smyth caught sight of the gun park and a pang of jealousy came over him at the sight of lines of brand-new carefully wrapped six-pounder guns. He would give his last wisdom teeth for those guns.

"Your orders have come through Colonel."
"At last Sir. When do we leave?"
"Well we have to wait until the new uniforms arrive, enough have been made for all your men. They are not normal uniforms but loosely based on the Persian model with a Muslim Volunteer Unit armband on them and a new cap badge for all officers. You will take command of the brigade at 06:00 tomorrow."
"Yes Sir!"
"You've got two days to entrain the guns to the coast where ships are waiting to take you and your men across the Gulf. You should then be ready to leave on the ninth."
"That will be enough time now all the guns have arrived."
"Well they are fresh off the factory line, I want a full report on the performance of the guns when you get back. I want all ammuntion expenditures and batch numbers, numbers of duds, any faults and all penetration figures. There isn't much ammunition yet but we are shipping out another batch in a month or so."
"We have enough rounds for thirty to each gun with about a hundred to spare after training. Do we get to keep the guns Sir when we return?"
"Don't ask me, that's a matter for the War Office. Alright you can go now."
Lt.Col Sattat smartly saluted again and left the office, at last his own command of an important formation with real combat ahead of him. It was hard to keep his thoughts from wandering as he gave orders to prepare for what lay ahead.

Tehran Airfield, 10:56hrs, November 20th 1938

General Ahmad Amir-Ahmadi was escorting the commander of the Bharati forces in Persia, Muhammad Ali Singar, to the aircraft waiting on the tarmac to take him back to Bandar Abbas. General Singar, having conferred with the Persian General Staff was returning to Bandar Abbas to try to salvage the situation around the city.

General Singar was extremely confused. Why had Ahmadi not sanctioned the release of the Pushtigabans? The situation in the Central and Southern fronts was turning for the worse and the Pushtigabans just sat west of Shiraz, not moving at all. Singar pushed the thoughts away while climbing the transport taking him to his command. He bid his farewell with a wave from his hand and entered the aircraft. Within minutes the aircraft was rolling down the tarmac and into the sky.

About thirty kilometers from his destination a flight of aircrafts was detected on the distance moving on his direction. That was now a common sight, but the lack of fuel on the Nationalist side probably meant the aircrafts were Loyalists. But this time they were wrong. It was a flight of Chinese fighters that were returning home after escorting some dive bombers that hit the frontlines in support of the latest attempt to achieve breakthought.

Split-seconds later the transport pilot realised his mistake and tried to turn away from the coming fighters. The enemy fighters were low in ammo and fuel so they only gave a short chase but in what can be considered bad luck one of the bullets went thought the fuselage and throught the commander of the BRA, General Muhammad Ali Singar.

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7th Field Force HQ, Jalahabad, 23:39hrs, November 20th 1938

General Thomas Kureekkal rose from his bed to answer the phone, not too pleased at all for the interruption while the young damsel on his bed was beckoning for him to return. The way he answered the phone showed how displeased he was, "What's going on!"

His aide on the other side of the line made sure his commander has finish talking before starting to talk. "Sir, You have being relieved from command and transferred to command the BRA in Persia effective immediatly. That comes straight from General Staff in Hyderad. General Singar has being killed."

"What? How much time I got to pack?" was the response of the General.

"You have to be in Karachi no later than tomorrow night," his aide responded.

"Very well. I will be there." with that he put the receiver back on the cradle and went back to bed. No time to waste, he thought while the young girl opened her arms to receive him.

BRA HQ, Bandar Abbas, 06:48hrs, November 27th 1938

General Thomas Kureekkal had many things to think about to try to stop the advancing enemy. He was trying, with no little difficulty, to try to create a defensive perimeter around the city with the distinctive units available to him at this time. He knew the destruction of the 14th Jagganatha in a running battle with Persian tanks (1) was a great blow to his defensive plans but the arrival of the Muslim Volunteers was a welcome sight to the defenders of the city. Still the reports that the presence of very large enemy tanks painted with Dragons on the front was a great concern to him.

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Outskirst of Bandar Abbas, 11:37hrs, November 27th 1938

Lt. Sattar scanned the horizon with glasses and nodded in agreement. That Bharati seems to know what he's doing, was his thought while looking at Persian soldiers digging mines, both anti-personnel and anti-tank, in the most likely avenues of approach; the construction of what he had heard the British call sometimes laagers, with Persian soldiers of the 5th Infantry manning them and his own antitank guns being positioned in depth to cover all avenues of approach.

But what he found interesting was the Persians were manning the laagers. The Bharatis are professionals but for all their talk the Bharatis are a bunch of Imperialist. They consider the Persian soldiers as expendable and no more than cannon-foder. was his thought while moving back to his scout car to continue his survey of the defensive works.

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Outskirst of Kashan, 04:37hrs, November 28th 1938

The rumble of artillery signalled the beginning of a new act of the Nationalist Winter Offensive. For close to a month now the 3rd, 5th and 6th Nationalist divisions have being moving west and a victory here could allow them to move north in the direction of Tehran. They think that all remains in front of them are the remains of the Loyalist 3rd Infantry Division and the 2nd Intervention Division but they are very wrong. The Loyalists released two very green mountain brigades to stiffen the defense of the city. It would not be easy.

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West of Shiraz, 09:12hrs, November 29th 1938

General Ahmed Sadi read the short message from the War Council and turned in the direction the radio operator. "It was decoded correctly?"

"Yes, Sir! That is the message we received from HQ's, Sir!" said the man, while still monitoring the radio for more news.

"Good, carry on." Sadi turned and smiled.

1) the more mobile Iberian made Verdaja tanks proved too much for the old Sher and Gaada tanks of the 14th during a large raid in force on November 22nd by Nationalist tank battalion.

Excerpts of "The Persian Succession War", Imperial Publications, January 1954

An hour dawn on 02 December 1938 the Nationalist artillery began its preliminary bombardment, and as the sun edged above the rim of the eastern horizon the sound of whistles can be heard, indicating the troops to move forward.

In the Nationalist ranks morale was high. The soldiers have achieved victory twice against the Loyalists' 3rd Infantry & 2nd Intervention and their expectations were to do the same again and advance in the direction of Tehran. And then at best there would be peace and home, at worst more fighting but closer to victory.

The commanders were equally optimistics. General Harwiz, commander of the Nationalist Central Front, was latter to write:

"Although there was some concern that the final objective was too far, and that lack of clarity might encourage interference from the Supreme Commander (Parwiz) there was little doubt in any of our minds that the war would be won with the fall of Tehran."

On the opening day of the of the Central Front attack the Nationalist forces burst thorough the weak screen facing them and forced the enemy in the direction of the city of Kashan. By the evening of that day the leading elements had broken inside the city of Kashan...

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With the furious urban fighting inside the city of Kashan now close to a week and no end in sight plans were made to bypass the city. It turn out the Loyalist forces have positioned two green mountain brigades to cover their flanks and fortified them accordingly. The Nationalist attack against the flanks have greater difficulty breaking through after some initial success. By the afternoon of 09 December 1938 the attack was completely bogged down.

December 10th 1938 Nationalist forces began operation to capture Bandar Abbas. To the north the battle of Kashan continued to be a stalemate.

December 11th 1938 The Bharati submarine I-30 lobed four rounds in the direction of the port of Chabahar and the nearby airfield with minimal casualties for the enemy.

December 13th-14th 1938 The "Volunteer" Group Dragon tanks tried to pierce the defensive arrangements in front of Bandar Abbas. The enemy tanks were accompanied by rebel Persian infantry mounted in armored commercial trucks. The defenders utilized a mix of mines, fortified positions, anti-tank guns manned by Muslim Volunteers (1), artillery barrages and tanks hastily donated by unknown sources as a reaction force (2) to blunt the armored spear of the Nationalist forces. Also the Nationalist infantry could not keep up with their tanks and essentially those tanks faced the enemy alone. The enemy left behind 50 tanks damaged or destroyed.

December 15th 1938 The Loyalist 1st Cavalry Division and the Pushtigabans are released to attack in the direction of Yadz to encircle the enemy forces attacking Kashan. The Nationalist commander of the Central Front recognized the danger and order his forces to try to disengage from the attack in Kashan and move east as fast as possible.

December 17th 1938 Troops in Bandar Abbas report enemy forces moving away from the city's defensive positions. Those forces were screened in their withdrawal by the recently arrived Baharati cavalry brigades.

December 19th 1938 Shiraz is finally declared secured. The body of Ayatollah Karmani is recovered and paraded for the press.

December 22th 1938 Pushtigabans recapture the slightly defended Yadz, beating the enemy forces trying to reach the city

December 23rd-27th 1938 Pushtigabans and 1st Cavalry Division beat attempts by the Nationalist Central Front(3) attacking from the west and from the 2nd Cavalry Brigade from the east in an attempt to breach the encirclement.

December 29th 1938 Nationalist Central Front surrenders after assurances are given prisioners will be treated in an humane manner.

January 1st 1939 Bharati 1st Mechanized Brigade arrives to Bandar Abbas.


(1) 57mm guns manned by Iraqi Army soldiers.
(2) RAM tanks. Suspected to be donated by Canadians and even crewed by them but still classified.
(3) Composed of the remains of the Nationalist 3rd, 5th and 6th Infantry divisions

December 13th

Lt. Col. Sattar rubbed his eyes to remove the dust as the firing began to subside. His command position was undamaged and he began receiving requests for more ammunition and replacements for wounded soliders. "No, no you can't have any more rounds! How many have you used? I told you to conserve ammunition you know we are low enough as it is. Patch your men up and get them back in the line." He slammed the reciever on his field telephone down and turned to look through his trench periscope. The horizon was thick with smoke and dust, he could count at least a half a dozen smoking hulks and several burning trucks. Every now and then a Vickers would open up on some poor group of rebels trying to reach safety. Sattar turned to his aide, "those anti-tank mines worked well, those Chinese tanks were forced to go around them and expose their flanks to our guns. Those Paladins certainly took a beating and even those Qinglong commanders must have cursed when we ripped out their flanks. Of course we've used a lot of ammo and they now roughly know the positions of most of our guns."
"Yes Sir," said his aide, "but those poor bloody infantry in those trucks were roasted alive. I don't think they have the strength to attack again today. Reports estimate some thirty tanks destroyed." Lt. Col. Sattar laughed, "Really? I bet we got less than a dozen and by the sounds of that firing to the West it sounds as if the rebel troops are still fighting the Bharatis. We'd better send a patrol out to assist and secure those guns in the advance positions, those men took a beating today. See they get a hot meal sent up."

Even as he spoke the Dragon Volunteers were regrouping and just over the horizon a second wave of Taifun I tanks were racing headlong towards the advance line of laagers with Legionnaire II tanks in support and yet more trucks of infantry. As he saw the dust rising the field telephone rang...

Outskirts of Bandar Abbas, 12:37hrs, December 20th 1938

General Thomas Kureekkal walked up to the Chinese behemoth that had withstood 25 prd fire, and carefully fingered each hole, counting them, until he had come up with a count of eight solid hits that hadn't penetrated the vehicle’s armor, the shot that finally stopped this vehicle being a flank shot.

"Allah! This thing is very dangerous indeed !" remarked Lt. Col Sattar of the “Muslim Volunteers”, whose men had finally knocked the Chinese Qinglong out with a shell to one of the bogies, immobilizing it, and them knocking it out with a shot to the flank that penetrated the tank.. A group of Lt Col Sattar’s men had gotten a couple of crowbars and pried what looked like the commander's hatch open, only to be greeted by the sight and smell of shredded meat filling the interior. “Let the technical teams handle that one,” yelled Lt. Col Sattar to his men.

Turning away from the enemy tank, Kureekkal looked around and breathed in deeply, taking in the smell of victory, which was of burning vehicles and flesh, even six days after the end of offensive operations. All around him, the terrain was littered with tanks marked with different paintings depicting dragons, with at least four different models being identified so far; the last count was of fifty enemy wrecks. “So what you think, Colonel?” asked Kureekkal to the Iraqui.

“Four different vehicles with different characteristics altogether. I think our Chinese friends were having a live fire competition for their new main battle tank, Sir,” was the response of Sattar.

“I have the same opinion. The little bastards used this war to test their equipment and concepts. On time we will repay the favor. Thanks for the tour, Colonel” Returning the salute of Sattar the General moved in the direction of the scout car waiting for him, ready to return to his HQ’s to plan the next phase of the War.