In fact, as the Commissioner of British India, Sir Barron had no prejudice against the incoming Governor-General.
However, as the commissioner's assistant, he also had some mysterious relationship with the governor's daughter that was unclear, unexplainable, and could not be explored. This inevitably made Sir Barron worried.
When General Mountbatten takes office, will he still be the authority in British India?
Fortunately, Alan Wilson's expression of loyalty was very effective. He directly stated that he was a grateful person and would never forget that Sir Barron helped him at the beginning of his career.
This answer made Sir Barron quite pleased. The young official was still reliable. "Actually, Alan, you know the current situation. We have to wait until the deadline as much as possible. But you also know that General Mountbatten is a character."
People who are more unrestrained are afraid that they will not cooperate with our work after taking office."
What is foresight? This is called foresight! Alan Wilson really admires it. Historically, when General Mountbatten arrived in British India, he saw that chaos was already happening. With the idea of getting out as soon as possible, he directly cut the chaos with a sharp knife.
British India became independent into two countries, India and Pakistan, a full year earlier than the time originally set by the cabinet. This even caught the local Labor Party cabinet and Prime Minister off guard.
Almost as soon as I woke up, the most important jewel of the British Empire was gone! Even Prime Minister Attlee could not accept it, let alone ordinary citizens of the Empire.
General Mountbatten served as the commander of the Allied Forces in Southeast Asia. Although he spent most of his time in British Ceylon on vacation, this new governor was definitely no stranger to Lord Barron.
I am afraid that there will be disagreements at work. For a leader of the British Indian Civil Service, it is always unwise to have a conflict with the Governor, but the interests are there, and Sir Barron cannot let it go.
So after the cabinet stated repeatedly that the Governor-General of British India would not be replaced, Sir Barron called his assistant over to test whether the promising young official was reliable.
"I understand what your Majesty means. Governor Mountbatten may have some wishful thinking, which requires someone to give well-intentioned advice at this time." Alan Wilson considered the words and said, "To maintain the peace and stability of British India
.”
"That's right, it's best to have a close relationship with this person." Sir Barron said with a high profile, "The most suitable candidate is you. Only your relationship with General Mountbatten is suitable for the Governor to follow professional advice at that time.
, sometimes it can also be an opinion.”
"In order for our proposition to succeed, I will do my best." Alan Wilson deliberately emphasized the word "we", saying that he would stick to his heart and protect the interests of civil servants to the greatest extent.
"Alan's statement will definitely make many civil servants happy. In fact, everyone has always been very optimistic about you. They think you are a role model for young civil servants and someone they can learn from." Sir Barron couldn't help but nodded and said, "The Empire
The order of the world needs us to maintain it. Of course, this is all mutual. If you can protect everyone, everyone will also protect you. In some matters, everyone is also willing to support you."
General Mountbatten was finally going to take office, and Sir Barron was also preparing for this. He called Alan Wilson not just to beat him, but after receiving a satisfactory answer, he also expressed a positive response.
For example, on some matters, Alan Wilson can be given more valuable advice, while others can provide firm support.
After leaving Sir Barron's office, Alan Wilson felt refreshed. Before the arrival of the new governor, this conversation had already shown the commissioner's expectation to put more burdens on the assistant commissioner.
Of course, this also represents the determination of civil servants throughout British India to be closely united and stand ready for the last shift.
The most important thing is the support of Sir Barron. To be honest, the position of Assistant Commissioner can easily be regarded as a decoration by the Commissioner. Alan Wilson is very lucky and has not been treated like this.
Now Sir Barron has used this conversation to show that he will never suffer such treatment in the future, but must work with himself to safeguard the overall interests of British Indian civil servants.
At this moment, Commissioner's Secretary Edel came in a hurry, and Alan Wilson, who had just come out of the Commissioner's office, came to meet him, "What happened?"
"Assistant, something happened in the Andaman Islands." Edel spoke anxiously, walked to the door of the commissioner's office, and pushed the door open.
Then Alan Wilson, who had just left, followed in again. He already had a guess in his mind and came in just to make sure.
"Commissioner, there is a riot by Japanese prisoners of war in the Andaman Islands. The British on the island have evacuated, but the Indian garrison there only has two battalions and lacks heavy weapons. I don't know whether they can quell this riot." Edel took out it.
The telegram hurriedly reported, "The current news was sent before the British expatriates evacuated. We don't know the current situation yet."
"Such a thing happened?" Alan Wilson said with a solemn expression, "I didn't expect that on a small island isolated overseas and extremely easy to block information, Japanese prisoners of war would dare to riot. Do they have any brains?"
The focus is on a small island that is isolated overseas and is extremely easy to block news! Alan Wilson's words at this time were very malicious. It was not that Sir Barron didn't hear it. On the contrary, he immediately understood Alan Wilson's intention.
"Call General Irwin and let's talk about the Andaman Islands." Sir Barron made a decision immediately. Once this kind of thing happens, it will definitely depend on the garrison. One hundred thousand civil servants and one hundred thousand troops can't go to the island to quell it.
Riot?
At this time, the Andaman Islands were in the midst of a massacre. The Japanese soldiers who had followed Yamashita Tombumi across Southeast Asia showed their ferocity again after nearly a year.
These Japanese prisoners of war were thin and their bodies had obviously consumed a lot of energy from long-term starvation, but each of them had murderous intent in their eyes, venting out all the abuse they had received on the island.
The reason for the incident was that a telegram to purge Japanese prisoners of war was leaked, which led to the riot.
The telegram was just a trigger, and the authenticity did not need to be scrutinized at all. In the final analysis, the endless heavy labor and food deprivation in the past year finally wiped out the Japanese prisoners of war who had excellent psychological quality.
As long as they were not sleeping, Japanese prisoners of war were working continuously, building a military base that almost exceeded the needs of use, and the deductions for food were accumulated over many years, not to mention the British instigating Indian soldiers to inflict all kinds of abuse on Japanese prisoners of war.
This riot finally resulted, but the instigator had already fled on a warship, leaving the Indians on the island.
There are more than 20,000 Japanese prisoners of war. Although they have no weapons, their number is twenty times that of Indian soldiers. Once they decide to resist, it is conceivable that less than 1,000 Indian soldiers will be unprepared.
There were originally more Japanese prisoners of war who arrived in the Andaman Islands. More than 4,000 people died due to the local environment and became part of the island. Indian soldiers contributed greatly to this. After the riots, the situation faced by the Indian garrison
One can imagine.
The British all lived in the largest port in the Andaman Islands, where there were warships docked. After receiving the news, they immediately boarded the ship and fled, leaving the Indian soldiers on the island.
Now, all the consequences have to be borne by the Indian soldiers. From the beginning of the riot, many lone Indian soldiers were directly killed. The Japanese prisoners of war armed themselves with the stolen weapons and continued to attack the Indian army. At the same time, they looked for all kinds of food to satisfy their hunger.
In the past two months, many prisoners of war have starved to death because they had no food, and many rioting Japanese soldiers fought against hunger with just one breath.
Tens of thousands of Japanese troops took the exiled Japanese traitors on the island and carried out a large-scale raid on Andaman Island.
The harsh environment of the jungles in the Andaman Islands is the same as that in Southeast Asia. With no roads and no possibility of obtaining supplies, tens of thousands of people plunged into the almost uninhabited jungle, infested with wild beasts and mosquitoes.
It would be a tragedy.
Moreover, the Indian soldiers, who were well aware of their image in the eyes of the prisoners of war, did not surrender at this time. They were still fighting with the rioting prisoners of war on the island, hoping that the situation on the island had been conveyed and they would persist until reinforcements arrived.
The two Japanese prisoners of war who were shooting at the door into the house were knocked to the ground. Even the light machine gun that had just misfired was blown up. Finally, the rioting Japanese prisoners of war were temporarily suppressed.
At this time, the defending Indian soldier got up and saw several prisoners of war rushing in from the gate. The rifle could no longer be used at this time, so he immediately pulled out the pistol from his waist. The moment he pulled out the gun
He aimed at the incoming prisoner of war and fired a bunch of bullets with a flick of his hand.
Twenty rounds of bullets were fired in a fan pattern. The three prisoners of war immediately fell to the ground with blood spraying from their bodies and screamed. The remaining two prisoners of war were so frightened that they quickly fell down. Before they could raise their guns to shoot, a man not far away appeared.
Two figures rushed out, holding pistols and started fighting.
But the house guarded by this soldier could not withstand the impact of the rioters. Because of the defense and weapons, the two brave Indian soldiers survived for fifteen minutes longer. Fifteen minutes later, a wisp of smoke rose into the sky.
, the hungry prisoners of war must eat something, anything...
In the life of prisoners of war in the Andaman Islands, the most intuitive feeling for these prisoners of war is hunger. They want to eat...
At the Governor's Palace in New Delhi, General Irwin of the British Army in India has arrived. He and the Governor's Palace received the news at about the same time, and is now rushing over to discuss countermeasures. No one knows the situation in the Andaman Islands now.