WesWorld

Starting with just July for now...

<---- Say, like my Mughal flag? Just learned of its existence a couple weeks ago...

3 July

Sources in the Imperial Palace have told AWNR that the Raj is very satisfied with the outcome of the recent League of Nations session on the Paracel Islands.

“Basically, three things happened that the Raj wanted to see happen. First, the Iberians are once again involved in the whole anti-piracy thing, which should translate into more trouble for any pirates that actually exist.

“Second, the Chileans weren’t given possession of a square foot of Asia. The Raj did think that they meant well, but their methods were making him uneasy. Better that they not get involved in sovereignty issues out this way.

“Finally, the Philippines came out no worse than before - they’re still operating in the area, the Iberians have invited them to continue doing so. El Presidente’s government stood its ground, yet displayed appropriate obedience to the League of Nations. These are good things.”

7 July

From the Antarctic comes word that the Sharmilla has been destroyed, most likely crushed by ice several months ago.

“The search party found snow-covered debris lodged within cracks on the ice”, Kamal Pashira, director of the Meteorological Service of India, said somberly at a press conference yesterday. “They found enough to recognize that this was clearly the remains of Sharmilla and not wreckage or garbage from a previous expedition.”

Mr. Pashira said that the party found no evidence of survivors, but, “Footprints would have long-since been erased by the winds. Unless the ship’s destruction was quick and unexpected - an unlikely scenario - we believe that there may have been survivors. Where they are, and their condition, remain to be determined.”

The search party is now recovering from the journey back aboard the Lady Anneke. If and when they will set out again depends on the weather, as Antarctica is almost at the coldest and darkest part of the year.

29 July

There is great interest in news that a military campaign aimed at re-unifying China has been launched. The country began fragmenting after President Yuan Shi Kai’s aborted effort to crown himself emperor in 1915 and early 1916, and became worse after the controversy that accompanied the declaration of war against Germany in 1917.

General Chiang Kai-Shek’s forces recently launched its “Northern Expedition” after months of preparation. The Guangzhou government says it is optimistic that the warlords will be pacified within a year, after a decade of rebellions, secessions, and internecine warfare.

“China needs to be unified if it is to survive and prosper”, the Raj commented from Agra, where he is holding court throughout the summer. “I fully support the Guangzhou government in its efforts to put an end to the lawlessness of the warlord era. Not just diplomatically, either - I have provided equipment to the government as well.”

The Raj added, “I’m glad to see this day finally come. It made me very angry every time I saw some petty general carve off a chunk of the country because he felt like getting rich at the expense of the people. I certainly hope that China’s other neighbours will similarly support the Guangzhou government and not do anything unfortunate that might prevent or delay unification.”

(OOC Note: this last story is "per historical", except that without a Soviet Union supplying weapons, Kai-Shek has to get weapons from India and elsewhere)

Quoted

OOC Note: this last story is "per historical", except that without a Soviet Union supplying weapons, Kai-Shek has to get weapons from India and elsewhere

http://wesworld.jk-clan.de/thread.php?th…f0e3ff0b53b1132

Quoted

Pursuant to this investment, Chinese Military Attache General Feng Huisang inspected a number of Russian armored trains and railroad guns, with gun calibers ranging from 76mm in a car-mounted turret to 356mm gun on T-1 railway mount and observed firepower demonstration provided by 23rd Gun Artillery Brigade of ARVGK, equipped with new A-19 122mm Corps Gun, a precise weapon of outstanding range, developed for counterbattery mission. This gun fires a 22kg shell to a range of 20km

It is safe to assume that this interest in the "big stuff" has been preceeded by favorable experiences with the "small stuff".

8 August

From the diary of Natwar Rukh:

I awoke, as I had now for several months: uncomfortable, surrounded by my sleeping companions. Although it was utterly dark, I knew from the sounds of the snoring that Salman was on my left, Rolf to the right. Down past my feet was Ravi, still struggling with his cold. He sounded worse, and I feared that it was becoming a case of pneumonia.

I now had yet another day of frustrating inactivity and creeping despair to look forward to. Oh, sure, we’d tell stories and sing songs, but we’d heard the stories and the songs too often already. All it did now was help me practice my Afrikaans. But what else was I going to do - a geologist without rocks, a scientist with out books, living under an overturned row-boat. I sighed, imagining the sight of my frozen breath wafting up to the frost-covered planks above my head.

After a time - perhaps half an hour spent thinking idly about a girl I knew while I was in university, a girl I’d liked but couldn’t marry - I heard it. A faint crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch of somebody walking in the snow outside. It wasn’t anybody from this boat, I could hear each of them.

Perhaps it was somebody from the other boat, then, and hopefully not taking a final walk like poor Henrik had evidently chosen to do. But then I realized the footfalls were getting louder, approaching the boat. Could it be? The captain, Maas, and the others, back after all this time?

The crunching ceased in front of the door - a wide piece of plank jammed into a gap in the snow wall the boat rested upon. Some unidentified noises, then the plank was removed, and the silhouette of a man, back-lit by a gloomy August dawn, replaced it.

“Anybody here?”, a raspy voice called out.

“Captain? Is that you?”, I replied weakly, as the other men began to stir.

There was a chuckle. “No captains here, lad. Just a frost-bitten halvidar of the Fifth Himalayan, looking for civvies from Sharmilla. Don’t suppose that’d be you lot, would it?”

After several seconds of stunned silence, I replied, “Yes. Yes, it would.”

19 August

At a press conference yesterday, Kamal Pashira of the MSI told the media that most of the crew and passengers aboard the Sharmilla have been found alive.

“The search party learned of a food and supply cache established by our expedition to the area in 1923/24. Realizing that it was only fifty-five kilometres from the Lady Anneke, Captain Bhagwati elected to investigate it. Two of his men found thirty-eight men living essentially head to foot, side by side, under two of the Sharmilla’s boats, which were lying upside down over trenches dug in the snow.

“It’s my understanding that nine members of the expedition have died, and that four others are missing - I don’t know who, unfortunately, so can release no names.”

Dr. Pashira said that two of the Himalayans remained with the survivors, while the remaining four returned to the ship. “The challenge is to get everybody strong enough and healthy enough to move them to the Lady Anneke. This will take some time, and the Himalayans will be establishing a route with supply caches over the next couple of weeks to make the actual trek easier.”

28 August

Admiral Sanjay Das announced that the Indian Navy would be assigning names to its active destroyers, replacing the previous numbering system.

“We felt that the type has played a significant role in our naval history and deserved more than just numbers. After some consideration, the Bharatiya Nau Sena chose to assign names of small cities and towns to the ships, just as the names of larger cities are assigned to cruisers.”

Admiral Das said that the names would take effect on the first day of November. “Among other things, it allows the transition to take place during what should be a quiet period for the fleet - having just concluded the SATSUMA exercises at that point.”

15 September

On this day, a Diplomatic Note from the Empire of India is sent to the Governments of Burma, Denmark, the Netherlands, Siam, and the United Kingdom; it is copied also to the Governments of Chosen, Formosa, Japan, and the Philippines. The note is hand-delivered to the respective nations’ ministers of defence on this day by India’s ambassadors to the respective nations.

Dear Sir:

This notice is to inform you of military exercises scheduled to commence on the 15th day of October. The exercise will include warships and aircraft from the five member states of the South Asian Trade, Scientific Undertaking, and Military Alliance (SATSUMA).

The exercises will take place in international waters and in Indian territorial waters, from Ten Degree Channel between the Nicobar and Andaman Islands, north to Sittwe in eastern India, and west to the island of Ceylon. With the exception of a live-fire practice shoot scheduled for 25 October in the north end of the Andaman Islands, there will be no use of live ammunition.

The participants will endeavour to avoid straying outside the exercise area or interfering with civilian shipping in these regions.

Should you have questions or concerns, please contact my ambassadors. They and their staff will be pleased to assist you.

(Signed)

The Raj

18 September

The survivors of the yacht Sharmilla are now aboard the Lady Anneke.

“The survivors were moved into three groups - the first and second of sixteen fairly strong individuals each accompanied by two of the Himalayans. They were followed by the remaining two Himalayans, two South African field medics, four healthy survivors, and two sick survivors - transported by sledge - once they were deemed sufficiently healthy to travel outdoors. I’m happy to say that despite a number of minor injuries and cases of frostbite, all made the journey safely”, said a beaming Kamal Pashira.

“The two pneumonia cases did deteriorate over the course of the trip, but are again recovering aboard ship with a positive prognosis.”

A ceremony marking the deaths of nine men on the expedition was held earlier this month at MSI headquarters. Meanwhile, there is still no word of the fate of the Sharmilla’s captain, navigator, chief engineer, and South African cartographer Maas Van Der Meer, who set out to search for help in January.

In related news, Ayesha Nath, a member of the board for the Adventurer’s Guild of India, called on the government to fund the purchase of a purpose-built exploration vessel. Speaking from a conference in Goa, she said, “Sharmilla went into a hostile, icy area and was lost - yet the Russians had an icebreaker stuck in ice for close to a year and it managed to make its way back to port without even reports of an injury amongst the crew. If we’re going to be serious about exploring the south, we need to get serious about the equipment used for those missions.”

Looks like it is time to decide which ships to send to the arena east of India.

Indeed. I'll send you and Swampy a PM in the next couple of days to lay out the scenario, you can make your decision then.

Okay. In the mean time, I'll make a list of what I am planning to send. Once I receive the scenario, I'll see if I need to change it.

In South Africa many families are quite happy these days...

(Well written, Doc! I envy your writing skills. :o) Keep it coming - please.)

Isn't Burma an English colony?

I concur on envying your writing skills. :-)

(Speaking of which, when will we see more of "Urumi"?)

My understanding is that Burma, like Persia, is nominally independent, but heavily influenced by Britain.

Thanks for the compliments, guys. Bear in mind that not all of the South African families will be happy - a quarter of the expedition is dead or missing. More will come on that in due time.

As to the "Urumi" story, that was one of the casualties of a difficult January. I'm attempting to get back to it, but figure I'll finish writing the story before I start posting it again

Quoted

yet the Russians had an icebreaker stuck in ice for close to a year and it managed to make its way back to port without even reports of an injury amongst the crew. If we’re going to be serious about exploring the south, we need to get serious about the equipment used for those missions.”

Designers of Admiralty Yard, Petrograd offer their services as consultants to South African/Indian design team for polar exploration ship project, and advise that reserve hull strength, beam, underwater protection, and abundant fuel were all critical to survival of Laptev Sea and her crew during their experience trapped in ice.