The Dangerous Years by Max Hennessy

Author:Max Hennessy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: The Dangerous Years
ISBN: 99780755128044
Publisher: House of Stratus
Published: 2012-05-17T04:00:00+00:00

Six

They ran into the first refugees at Kiang Yin downriver from Nanking. They were boarding a river steamer with all their belongings and were in no mood to be helpful. They’d lost practically everything they possessed and considered the British government – with whom they lumped the navy, the army and the air force – had let them down. The consul-general’s assistant, who appeared with the Senior Naval Officer, a lieutenant-commander from the gunboat flotilla, talked to Kelly in his cabin – and none too willingly because he shared the general view.

‘Things had quietened down,’ he complained. ‘And some of those people who’d refugeed had returned. Then the Nationalists arrived and they were cock-a-hoop and thought they could carry everything before them. We took refuge in a B and S hulk in the river and buildings outside the walls.’

‘An attempt was made to land Marines.’ The naval officer took up the chant. ‘But the Chinese had armed sentries at the city gate. We got ’em in by sending ’em through three at a time by taxi.’

‘Nobody expected trouble,’ the consul’s assistant joined in again. ‘In the end we decided that complete evacuation was the best.’

‘It was bloody hard getting our Marines out again, too.’ The lieutenant-commander seemed to think they’d been let down. ‘And one seaman was shot dead by a sniper. The consulate was looted, and the consul-general was wounded and held to ransom with his wife and the female staff. They were in the building for thirty-one hours and the women were subjected to the grossest indignities. They also tried to loot the American consulate, but the Americans, of course, bought them off with money.’

He sounded almost as if he resented the American wealth and Kelly wondered why the British hadn’t though of that simple solution.

‘What about Wu-Pi?’

The lieutenant-commander looked startled. ‘Wu-Pi’s nothing to do with us.’

‘It is with me,’ Kelly said. ‘I’m looking for Mr and Mrs Withinshawe.’

‘That woman!’ The consul’s secretary looked bitter. ‘They were warned to head for Nanking and the Consulate but they didn’t come. Now I hear they’ve lost the Swei-Fan. If you’re thinking of trying to get ’em out you’ll never do it. The mob’s out up there and the Nationalists are on the rampage.’

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