From here to...well...it SEEMS like an eternity

[BrucePowers]

[:D]

[Cap Mandrake]

**********Rail terminus, Kohima, India, February 1, 1943*************


The bulk of the communciation gear of SEAC is being offloaded from a boxcar to lorries. The entire HQ is relocating to Imphal in preparation for Operation You Know What.. A distinguished-looking looking gentleman in a Royal Navy Admiral's uniform approaches a crew of soldiers laboring to unload the quipment.

A distinguished-looking looking gentleman in a Royal Navy Admiral's uniform: I say there sargeant, can you tell me where I might find the command car?

Sargeant: <salutes sharply> Yes sir, last car in the train. It's that way, sir.

A distinguished-looking looking gentleman in a Royal Navy Admiral's uniform: Thank you , sargeant. <returns the salute, turns and walks away>

Sargeant: Bloody Hell! Did you see that? I believe that was Lord Louis Mountbottom.

Private: Phht...go on...."mountbottom"....hahaha..good one sarge....

[Cap Mandrake]

**********Eastern Fleet HQ, Colombo, Ceylon, February 2, 1943*********


<Operation You Know What Liason Group>

Sentry 1: You know, I've been thinking. Are we really being energetic enough? What about going for the lifeblood of the little yellow bastards?

Sentry 2: Sake, you mean?

Sentry 1: No, but something equally flammable.

Adm. Phillips: Hello? Oil is it then?

Sentry 1: Yes sir. And where do they get the lion's share of their oil?

Sentry 2: Sumatra?

Sentry 1: Bingo! Palembang to be precise. <he motions the others to come near the map of the DEI>

Adm. Phillips: But surely the little yellow bastards will have thought of their vulnerability at Palembang.

Sentry 1: Oh, indeed sir. I imagine a full division in garrison..and heavily fortified as well. Oh, and please stop calling me Shirley.

Adm. Phillips:But..I...didn't...

Sentry 2: Ah, don't fret it sir. I've called 'im worse meself.

Adm. Phillips: Splendid...oh blast..I mean superb! Shall we push on then? I'm afraid the Royal Navy will not be too keen on hazarding the Malacca Straight with the little yellow bastards at Singapore.

Sentry 1: Indeed they won't, which is why I would recommend Java, either Surabaya or something on the Indian Ocean coast, then we push North, seizing airfields until we can deny them air superiority over Palembang.

Sentry 2: Yes, go on.

Sentry 1: Right, we will need some advance intel.

Adm. Phillips: But we haven't any bases within reach.

Sentry 2: What about Nicobar?

Adm. Phillips: Nicobar, where is that?

Sentry 2: Right 'ere sir. <points to map..the others approach>

Adm. Phillips: Are you sure that isn't a fly spec?

Sentry 2: Oh quite, sir. It's quite lovely I hear. I am sure we could talk some of the Dutch boys into flying in to operate Coronados from there.

Adm. Phillips: I think you are onto something. Let me see, we'll need 250 mosquito netting kits, 3 months of quinine, 300 lbs of phosphate-free laundry detergent.......

[Cap Mandrake]

1) The Japs control the Burma Road from the SE bank of the Irrawaddy near Myitkyina to the West bank of the Red River at Yunan. NCAC readies an attack against 3 Japanese divisions across the Red River. As all of the Japanese transport aircraft have apparently evacuated Burma, the Japs must be in poor supply status at this time

2) British Burma Corps, comprised of 2 brigades of 14th Indian Division, 2nd Burma Rifles and 2 demoralized Chinese divisions guard Myitkyina. A further Indian brigade and one Chindit brigade are heading down from Ledo.

3) Indian IV Corps, comprised of two Indian Brigades, two Chindit Brigades and one colonial brigade confront 52,000 isolated Japanese troops (about 2 1/2 divisions).

4) Indian III Corps has cut the supply line to Jap troops near Myitkyina. They confront 60,000 enemy troops in likely good supply (2 1/2 divisions and nearly 500 tanks). The Corps is comprised of 2nd British Div, 2 Indian brigades, a light Armoured Regt. 7th Armoured promises to arrive in 2 days...this time they really mean it. RAF and USAAF mediums have been hammering the Japs here daily, causing 400-700 casualties a day. When 7th Armoured finally arrives, it may be possible to drive on Mandalay

5) Mandalay garrison is at least 60,000 with 400 tanks. The airfield is empty save for a few recon aircraft.

6) SEAC redeploying to Imphal to improve supply along the rail line.

[Alfred]

After your recent victory at Perth, shouldn't you have a subtantial number of Allied troops available to push up to Soerabaja from the Australian Kimberleys.&nbsp; That would make Adm Phillips happy as he&nbsp;could then bypass the Malacca Strait and Singapore.&nbsp; One of the Sumbwa islands might be better than Nicobar and less obvious regarding the direction of your axis of advance.
&nbsp;
Alfred&nbsp;

[Cap Mandrake]

ORIGINAL: Alfred

After your recent victory at Perth, shouldn't you have a subtantial number of Allied troops available to push up to Soerabaja from the Australian Kimberleys.  That would make Adm Phillips happy as he could then bypass the Malacca Strait and Singapore.  One of the Sumbwa islands might be better than Nicobar and less obvious regarding the direction of your axis of advance.

Alfred 

Yes, one US Div., 3 Aus. Div., 6 Inf Brig., 3 Armoured Regts and 3 Artillery Regts, a very serious force. The infantry units are all at 96-99 experience but the 3 Aus Div are still flagged under Blamey and they were all prepped for Perth.

I have been moving transport capacity toward Darwin but there is not enough for the entire force. Much of it was purloined for use by SEAC.

[Cap Mandrake]

W.C. never really was happy with Gen Pownall so they cast about and found "Lord Louis" Mountbatten bereft of a destroyer...et voila...a couple of jumps in a Lancaster and here he is in India. He has about the same land warfare rating as Pownall (apparently he learned something after Dieppe [:)]), but he is reputed to be quite the inspirational speaker.


********Catholic Cathedral, Kohima, India, Feb. 3, 1943************


<Adm. Mountbatten addresses the assembled officers and men of SEAC HQ in the only building of suitable size. The audience appears mesmerized>

......I am well aware that it must seem that conflict in Burma appears to be interminable and that there are many dark days, but my hope is that I might humbly ask you all to perservere, indeed to ERADICATE the little yellow bastards!

<the Cathedral erupts with shouts of "Huzzah". The Admiral beams. When the cheer dies down he continues>

I hope you will permit me a personal remembrance. <the small number of women in the audience are near swooning..as are about 10% of the men>

1917 was a very dark year for my family but there never was a single uttered word about giving up. I know I never even thought about it and I am quite sure neither did my father, even though he suffered terribly. There was quite an anti-German sentiment about at the time. <general harrumpf of disapproval from the audience>

Yes, yes, I know. It seems hard to believe, but the loyalty of my father to His Majesty was in question. <more harrumphing>

Indeed, intolerance is an ugly thing, but war does that to people. To paraphrase General Sherman, it is best to "get it over with". I hope you will forgive me the preposition at the end of the sentence but I was trying to be colloquial. <uproarious laughter even though about 1/2 of those attending have no idea of which he speaks>

But you ask what did my father do for Britain? What did I do for Britain? I will tell you. My father resigned his position as First Sea Lord and I....Serene Highness Prince Louis of Battenberg....iI, n my serenity...I revoked the use of my title and we changed our family name to Mountbatten! <he crosses his arms in a Mussoliniesque pose and the Cathedral erupts with wild applause at this extraordianry sacrifice. Dozens of caps fly into the air. It is quite wild, really, I'm not kidding. You should have been there. I saw grown men crying. Men and women surged toward the pulpit. They were like seriously stoked. Majorly stoked. It was like a Grateful Dead concert without the pot smoke and with better dressed fans. Well...there weren't any beards either.....and a lot of them were shouting geeky stuff like "Huzza!", whatever the Hell that means............>

[Cap Mandrake]

*****************Dawn, February 2, 1943, Yunan Province, China**************

Gen Stilwell, CIC, NCAC, surveys a steeply incised river valley. On the opposite bank is the Imperial Japanese Army, two divisions worth. After months of planning and careful husbanding of supplies, today is the day his command will attempt to seize a bridgehead and begin the long battle to take back the Burma Road. He turns to the translator next to him.

Gen. Stillwell: Hop Sing, please tell Gen. Li that this looks a propitious day for our attack.

Hop Sing: He no General Li.

Gen. Stillwell: Sure he is.

Hop Sing: No, he General Liu.

Gen. Stillwell: Well he looks like General Li.

Hop Sing: Yes, all General look same. All green.

Gen. Stillwell: Hmm..where is General Li?

Hop Sing: He go back Kunming for daughter quincianero

Gen. Stillwell: Quincianero? I thought that was...ah, never mind. Please ask the General if he is prepared to cross the Red River today?

Hop Sing: <turns to Chinese General> ±ä¾Þ¡]¢°¢´¢´¡Ð¢±¢±¢¯¡^¡G§?

Gen. Liu: ¡^¡A¬°³O¦{ªª¡A¤À¤Æ¡B»¤­°«C¦{¶À¤y­xªº¤@³¡¤À¡A½s¬°¡§«C¦{§L¡¨¡C«Ø¦w¤¸¦~¡]¢°¢¸
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Hop Sing: He say no.

Gen. Stillwell: NO?! What does he mean no? WE are going to cross the Red River today. Tell him that.

Hop Sing: ¤W¶®¦n¸Ö®Ñ¤åÄy¡AÁö¦b­x®È¡A¤â¤£ÄÀ¨÷¡C¨C¨C©w¬Ù¡A±q®

Gen. Liu: <shakes his head to indicate "no">

Gen. Stillwell: <takes a step toward the Gen. , they are now nose to nose> Tell the General he will cross that river today or I will bring him up charges.

Hop Sing: AºB´n´d²D¡C´²¤å¥ç²M®m¾ã¼ä¡CµÛ§@¦³¡mÃQªZ«Ò¶°¡n¡A¤w§H¡A¦³©ú¤H¿è¥»¡C¤µ
¦³¾ã²z±Æ¦L¥»¡m±ä¾Þ¶°¡n¡C¡]¡mÃã®ü¡n¢°¢¸¢·¢¸¦~ª©¡^

Gen. Liu: ¾r¤»Às¡A­¼­ <nods affirmative and smiles>

Hop Sing: He say yes, bignose.

Gen. Stillwell: <smiles> Please tell the General he smells of onions and this afternoon we will both be standing on the Western bank of the Red River.

Hop Sing: ©^«ù¦æ¡AªF¨ì½´µÜ¤s¡A¤W¦Ü¤Ñ¤§ªù¡C

Gen. Liu: ÄÁÀ¯¡m¸Ö«~¡n¡^ <laughs>

Hop Sing: He say no. He say we stand on western bank of THIS river. This Lancang. He say you have crappy US Army map. He say you need Andrew Brown map from M&M Enterprises, Cartography Division. He say you have bean sprout in tooth................

[rtrapasso]

[BrucePowers]

Wasn't Hop Sing in Bonanza back in Nevada in the 1860's and 70's. You know Virginia City.[:D]

[BrucePowers]

Now that John's other war is ending in a peace treaty, maybe this one will pick up[:)][:D]

[Cap Mandrake]

ORIGINAL: BrucePowers

Wasn't Hop Sing in Bonanza back in Nevada in the 1860's and 70's. You know Virginia City.[:D]

This is grandson. It long story. Hop Sing Sr. have many story.

Here early color photograph. Little Joe catch Hop Sing Sr and Hoss in compromising position. Bonanza ranch have no womans. Town 3 days away.

[BrucePowers]

[:D][:D]

[tabpub]

server time is messed up I think.....this is not the time that I posted at.....

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

ORIGINAL: BrucePowers

Wasn't Hop Sing in Bonanza back in Nevada in the 1860's and 70's. You know Virginia City.[:D]

This is grandson. It long story. Hop Sing Sr. have many story.

Here early color photograph. Little Joe catch Hop Sing Sr and Hoss in compromising position. Bonanza ranch have no womans. Town 3 days away.

Hoss looks like a candidate for Kramer's Bro (tm)
Oh, and I want the 32nd Infantry Division back from it's excursion to Perth.
I'll trade you the "Fiji" Brigade, 25 Liberty ships full of supplies and an AR.....eh...eh...AR...tough to get....the Vestal is still a virgin in this universe.....

[rtrapasso]

server time is messed up I think.....this is not the time that I posted at.....

Yep - been messed up since the forum software "upgrade"...[8|]

[rtrapasso]

BTW - the time is set to a time zone that literally does not exist on the planet (GMT-14) - you run over the international date line before getting there... [8|] [:D]

[Cap Mandrake]

7th Armoured (with special plaster of Paris reactive armour) finally arrives on the rail line. I doubt the Japs now have sufficient strength to relieve their troops further up the line. Once 7th Armoured have safely secured their fossils, perhaps they can go over to the attack. Meanwhile, the RAF and USAAF are going over to airfield suppression as Operation You Know What is in full swing.

This might actually work.

Positions of III Corps. This corresponds to number 4 on the above map. I found some cool 1952 US Army topo maps of Burma. Note that the Irrawaddy is navigable here (and I think all the way to Myitkyina) so the banks would have to be secured to prevent riverine evacuation or supply.

[Cap Mandrake]

ORIGINAL: tabpub
Hoss looks like a candidate for Kramer's Bro (tm)

Hop Sing III say:

Yes, Hop Sing Sr good cook too. Cornbread with deer lard very popular at Ponderosa.

[USSAmerica]

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

*****************Dawn, February 2, 1943, Yunan Province, China**************

Gen Stilwell, CIC, NCAC, surveys a steeply incised river valley. On the opposite bank is the Imperial Japanese Army, two divisions worth. After months of planning and careful husbanding of supplies, today is the day his command will attempt to seize a bridgehead and begin the long battle to take back the Burma Road. He turns to the translator next to him.

Gen. Stillwell: Hop Sing, please tell Gen. Li that this looks a propitious day for our attack.

Hop Sing: He no General Li.

Gen. Stillwell: Sure he is.

Hop Sing: No, he General Liu.

Gen. Stillwell: Well he looks like General Li.

Hop Sing: Yes, all General look same. All green.

Gen. Stillwell: Hmm..where is General Li?

Hop Sing: He go back Kunming for daughter quincianero

Gen. Stillwell: Quincianero? I thought that was...ah, never mind. Please ask the General if he is prepared to cross the Red River today?

Hop Sing: <turns to Chinese General> ±ä¾Þ¡]¢°¢´¢´¡Ð¢±¢±¢¯¡^¡G§?

Gen. Liu: ¡^¡A¬°³O¦{ªª¡A¤À¤Æ¡B»¤­°«C¦{¶À¤y­xªº¤@³¡¤À¡A½s¬°¡§«C¦{§L¡¨¡C«Ø¦w¤¸¦~¡]¢°¢¸
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Hop Sing: He say no.

Gen. Stillwell: NO?! What does he mean no? WE are going to cross the Red River today. Tell him that.

Hop Sing: ¤W¶®¦n¸Ö®Ñ¤åÄy¡AÁö¦b­x®È¡A¤â¤£ÄÀ¨÷¡C¨C¨C©w¬Ù¡A±q®

Gen. Liu: <shakes his head to indicate "no">

Gen. Stillwell: <takes a step toward the Gen. , they are now nose to nose> Tell the General he will cross that river today or I will bring him up charges.

Hop Sing: AºB´n´d²D¡C´²¤å¥ç²M®m¾ã¼ä¡CµÛ§@¦³¡mÃQªZ«Ò¶°¡n¡A¤w§H¡A¦³©ú¤H¿è¥»¡C¤µ
¦³¾ã²z±Æ¦L¥»¡m±ä¾Þ¶°¡n¡C¡]¡mÃã®ü¡n¢°¢¸¢·¢¸¦~ª©¡^

Gen. Liu: ¾r¤»Às¡A­¼­ <nods affirmative and smiles>

Hop Sing: He say yes, bignose.

Gen. Stillwell: <smiles> Please tell the General he smells of onions and this afternoon we will both be standing on the Western bank of the Red River.

Hop Sing: ©^«ù¦æ¡AªF¨ì½´µÜ¤s¡A¤W¦Ü¤Ñ¤§ªù¡C

Gen. Liu: ÄÁÀ¯¡m¸Ö«~¡n¡^ <laughs>

Hop Sing: He say no. He say we stand on western bank of THIS river. This Lancang. He say you have crappy US Army map. He say you need Andrew Brown map from M&M Enterprises, Cartography Division. He say you have bean sprout in tooth................

There are so many "WitP inside jokes" buried in here that I can't count them all. [:D]

Finest kind, Mandrake, finest kind! [&o][8D]

[Cap Mandrake]

....