Redemption - Leon Uris [174]
COMMANDER OF FLEET, INDIAN THEATRE OF OPERATIONS. COMMANDER OF LAND FORCES ANZAC CONVOY PERTH-ALBANY. GERMAN RAIDER EMDEN SUNK BY RAN BATTLESHIP SYDNEY THIS DATE OFF SUMATRA. PROCEED ACCORDING TO COURSE, SPEED AND FORMATION IN ATTACHED ORDERS AT 0430-JANUARY 28 TO GULF OF ADEN, THENCE RED SEA TO SUEZ CANAL. TROOP TRAINS WILL BE ON HAND TO TRANSFER ANZAC AND INDIAN FORCES TO ENCAMPMENTS IN CAIRO VICINITY.
WINSTON S. CHURCHILL
FIRST LORD OF THE ADMIRALTY
57
SECRET FILES OF WINSTON CHURCHILL, LATE 1914
I am unflinchingly prepared to present my “grand strategy” to the War Council, earliest. Reviewing the war to date, I draw the following conclusion:
1. The Navy was ready! We successfully shipped the British Expeditionary Force across the Channel to France and Belgium without casualty.
2. Waters and lanes around the British Isles are impervious to attack. The Channel Fleet guards us with twenty super-dreadnoughts. Our shipping lanes are open despite the prowl of German U-boats.
3. The German fleet is bottled up, is hiding in their own canals, pens, and inlets.
The Western Front
Having halted the German advance, a stationary front has developed, anchored by the English Channel in the north and running for hundreds of miles to the Alps.
A series of layered trenches are manned by millions of men, fronted by mine fields and barbed wire, and backed by tens of thousands of artillery pieces and machine guns.
It appears only too obvious to me that in the coming year of 1915, little will change on the Western Front, as neither side will be able to dislodge the other.
The Eastern Front
The situation is fluid. Our Russian allies though not modern or of high morale are engaging dozens of German divisions. Russia is a vast land and German supply lines have dangerously stretched.
Thus far the Russians have given a good accounting against the Germans and Turks and I further believe 1915 will show the Eastern Front holding firm.
The Pacific Theatre
A decade ago the Japanese ministered an horrendous defeat on Russia, the first time an Oriental power prevailed over the West since Genghis Khan and the Mongol invasions.
Now, England and Russia are allies of the Japanese. I greet this with ambivalence. Japanese annexation of Korea clearly delineates their ambition to establish an empire on mainland Asia.
Their entry into the war was an opportunistic measure to grab off German-held Pacific Islands. We must reiterate our agreement with Japan that they be allowed to take over islands north of the equator only. Everything below the equator is to remain in the British sphere.
What I write now is what I believe to be the British course of action for the year of 1915:
1. England seeks no geographic gain on the European continent.
2. For Britain, the grand prize of war is the Ottoman Empire. To ensure British control over Egypt and the Suez Canal, we must extend our sphere by taking control of the Sinai Peninsula, establish a mandate to govern Palestine, create a British-controlled territory in the Trans-Jordan region, and assume control of Iraq.
3. Our French allies will extend their sphere to control Syria, including Lebanon.
4. Russia will control Armenia and the Caucasus region and Iran. They shall occupy and control Constantinople and ensure for all times warm water ports and access to the Mediterranean.
5. With the Canadian Expeditionary Force training in England and our national draft supplying fresh troops to Europe…1915 sees us with a surplus of naval vessels, British Divisions, and a major new army, the Australian and New Zealand Corps, about to set sail.
I contend that we divert the Aussie/N.Z. Corps to Egypt and join them with British and French units for training to conquer the Gallipoli Peninsula, and march on Constantinople, forcing open the Dardanelles.
Once we have conquered Constantinople, uncommitted Balkan nations, sitting on the fence, will rush to our side and enable us to make a campaign up the Danube Valley and cut the German forces in half.
Moreover,