British Civil Servant

v1 Chapter 261: Safeguard

"General Erwin, I believe you have also learned about the situation in the Andaman Islands." In the Governor's Palace, Sir Barron greeted him and extended his hand, shaking hands with the military commander of the British Army currently stationed in India.

General Erwin stretched out his hand to shake Sir Barron's hand, and said at the same time, "I don't know all about it. Now I only know that all the residents on the island have been evacuated. As for the situation on the archipelago, it is not very clear. I don't know very well how many people were involved in the riots on the island, did Sir Barron know?"

Sir Barron glanced at Alan Wilson, who made a knowing gesture, leading General Erwin to the side of the map of the Andaman Islands on the table, explaining, "Japanese prisoners of war in the Andaman Islands had just begun to have The 26,000 people are the descendants of Fengwen at the foot of the Malay Tiger Mountain. They were exiled to the Andaman Islands. They also have the role of building military bases. The general is a soldier and should understand that the Andaman Islands block the Malacca Strait. what?"

General Erwin nodded in approval, and Alan Wilson continued to introduce, "The Andaman Islands have long been a place of exile, because the isolated overseas location is most suitable for this kind of work. We put Japanese prisoners of war in to establish A modern military base, after all, the mainland has just come out of the war, and the situation in British India is not particularly optimistic. Using these free labor, no one will be held accountable, it is all for the sake of saving costs.”

"The island, together with the first prisoners of war, as well as pro-Japanese elements from Burma, Malaya, Thailand, and some French colonies, were exiled on the island, with a population of about 70,000."

"70,000 people? It's an astonishing number." General Erwin looked back at the staff officer behind him. The staff officer nodded and stepped forward and said, "The military force on the island consists of two battalions in India, equipped with one battalion. 105mm infantry guns, but if all the 70,000 people mentioned by Assistant Allen participated in the riot, the garrison of the two battalions may have disappeared. There are two Tribal-class destroyers in Port Blair, and the telegram we received is the warship Sent during evacuation."

The situation is still very serious, even if the island is now due to various reasons, there may be no more than 70,000 enemies.

But it is still more troublesome. You must know that after the war, the size of the British army stationed in India was reduced, and a large part of the force went to British Malaya, and that part went to British Malaya. The British army was close to 50,000.

There are only 50,000 British troops stationed in India now, and the number is not comparable to the number of rioters on the island.

"It's an isolated island, and the food self-sufficiency rate on it is very low. In addition to the original indigenous people, even if the Japanese prisoners of war rioted, what would they eat?" Alan Wilson was not so pessimistic. Among the people in the Governor's Palace, he may He is the one who knows the most about the Andaman Islands.

Not only do they know how many people there are on the island, how much strength the garrison has, how many weapons they are equipped with, and even how much food they have stored.

Even if the rioting Japanese turned over the island, they would never find enough food to eat.

Of course, since he is a pirate, of course he can fish, but it is quite a challenging job to rely on fishing to feed more than 70,000 people, not counting the population of the aborigines on the island.

"Even if the Indian garrison has been wiped out, what can the weapons of the two battalions do?" Alan Wilson said lightly, "An abandoned group with no backup, no supplies, no weapons, and what can be done is quite limited. Although the commotion is quite big, the environment of the archipelago has caused it, and it is still a controllable situation."

"Yes, mobilizing the fleet will immediately quell this riot." The staff behind General Erwin nodded in approval.

"Don't be too hasty!" Alan Wilson shook his head and said, "I'm not against tough policies, but although things are controllable, we still don't know the situation on the island, so for the sake of safety, we still use the fleet. Blockade to ensure that the remnants of the Axis powers on the island do not escape. The Andaman Islands are also two hundred miles from the nearest British Burma, but if all the prisoners of war want to escape, it is still possible to use improvised rafts to escape. of."

"Even if there are not many people who escaped in the end, once the people on the island dispersed to the surrounding area and entered the mainland, the nature of this matter has changed, and we can no longer control the situation within a controllable range."

Alan Wilson has no selfishness at all, he is all thinking about the overall situation, it's just the Andaman Islands riot, things are controllable. Once things spread beyond the island, it became a big deal.

Considering the current environment of British India and the unknown situation in the Andaman Islands, it is better not to send troops immediately. Instead, it is better to focus on the blockade of the fleet, first to prevent the Japanese prisoners of war and Japanese traitors on the island from escaping the islands, and then How to calm things down.

"Allen is right, it's more appropriate for us to wait and see for a few days." Sir Barron nodded, "At present, there is no one finalist in British India, and there is a vacancy in the governor, so take an overly aggressive approach, and it may not be possible in the future. Good explanation."

"That may require the Pacific Fleet of Xiangjiang, and some destroyers are dispatched to help, and the Malayan fleet is closer." General Erwin thought for a while and said, "If it is enough, there is no need to use the Pacific Fleet."

"It should not be necessary to use the Pacific Fleet. If we are facing a group of cold weapons... If it is not for prisoners of war with wooden sticks, we need to use the Pacific Fleet. It is too much of a fuss." Alan Wilson agreed with General Erwin's comments with a smile. Opinion "Indian fleet plus Malaya's strength should be more than enough."

India also currently has naval power. The Royal Indian Navy originated from the East India Company fleet, with eastern and western fleets, with bases in Calcutta and Mumbai respectively.

With the approach of World War II, the Royal Indian Navy has developed by leaps and bounds. Before the war, the Royal Indian Navy had 2,000 people and was equipped with five escorts and one survey ship.

By the end of the war in 1945, the navy had reached 30,000 people, with four frigates, four small frigates, seven frigates, fourteen minesweepers, one hundred and fifty landing craft, and sixteen tugboats. , Thirty-two auxiliary vessels, and two hundred and forty-five boats and motorboats of various types.

At that time, pacifists mainly worked on the deck of ships, while the officer class was dominated by Hindus. This means that if British India were to become independent, the newly formed Pakistani Navy would lack officers, while the Indian Navy would lack well-trained and specialized deck crews.

If the Royal Indian Navy is used, not to mention that the fleet in Mumbai is already larger, and the two frigates under its jurisdiction have to circle the subcontinent to reach the Andaman Islands, even if all four frigates are there, want to block the Andaman Islands Also unlikely.

As for letting Xiangjiang's Royal Navy Pacific Fleet come over, on the one hand, it is because of the distance, and on the other hand, it is too much of a fuss. The Pacific Fleet is not the size of the Royal Indian Fleet. Although the fleet commanders are all called commanders, commanders are different from commanders. , fleet and fleet are also different.

The Royal Navy's Pacific Fleet is a large fleet in terms of strength. At present, the Royal Pacific Fleet has six aircraft carriers, four light aircraft carriers, nine **** aircraft carriers, and two aircraft repair ships.

Four battleships, eleven light cruisers, three mine-laying cruisers, thirty-five destroyers, fourteen frigates, eighteen **** gunboats, nineteen destroyers, and thirty-one submarines.

If you ask for help from the Pacific Fleet, one of the most basic consequences is that if the Commander of the Pacific Fleet knows, it means that London knows, which cannot be kept secret.

And when the cannon rang out, the Pacific Fleet came over, and even if it was just some light warships, the cost was a huge amount.

On the contrary, the fleet of British Malaya, although not much stronger than the Royal Indian Navy, is better than the distance. As long as it participates in the blockade, it is barely enough~lightnovelpub.net~ For the current situation in the Andaman Islands, The civil servants and officers of British India in the Governor's Palace discussed and determined that the current situation is preventable and controllable. Although the Andaman Islands may have been controlled by the rioters, it is an isolated island, and these rioters cannot escape. corresponds to the most appropriate.

It would be more appropriate to wait until the real situation in the Andaman Islands has been established.

The Andaman Islands, controlled by Japanese prisoners of war, consists of two large islands, north and south. The South Island has a higher self-sufficiency rate. The capital, Port Blair, is also on the South Island, while the North Island has very little flat land, limited to a few valleys such as Bidanpur. and Digripple.

The Andaman Islands are composed of Tertiary sandstone, limestone and shale, which are deeply cut. The rocky surface is covered with dense forest, and there are large mangrove swamps in the northern part of North Andaman Island. There are few perennial rivers and insufficient water supply is a chronic problem.

This environment makes animals less happy to settle here. There are only about twenty species of animals on the island.

There are small wild boars that can eat meat, as well as long-tailed civet cats, bats and some rodents. These animals make up 80 percent of the island's mammals.

Therefore, when there is a shortage of food and even drinking water cannot be guaranteed, cutting off the only possible source of food, that is, fishing, is the most important thing to quell the riots in the Andaman Islands.

Sir Barron and General Erwin have reached a consensus on this matter. As long as the blockade is successful and the matter is controlled on the island, there is no need to report to London at all. After a few days, the riots on the island will naturally subside.

"As long as the blockade lasts for a month, the nearby warships can be bombarded, and the landing troops can go up." For the sake of safety, Alan Wilson still suggested extending the blockade.