Cairo Daily News (1919)

[Darman]

16 September 1919

In a dockside tavern, one of the more respectable establishments along this section of the Alexandrian docks, four men are gathered.  Two of the men wore clothes most fashionable in Cairo, the others wore clothes of a foreign design.  

"Messieurs, I assure you that our ammunition is of the highest quality, after all, we produce the shells that His Majesty's own artillery pieces fire!  We train our workers to the highest standards well before they even set eyes on the product assembly lines.  Furthermore, we here at the HCCI are confident that our fuses are second to none!"
The Heliopolis Company for Chemical Industry's representative ends his sales pitch and looks across the table at the two Russians, waiting for their response.  The two Russians look at one another, and the less bear-ish looking man slips his fellow a note, his partner glances at it, then looks up at Monsieur Hussein.
"We accept your offer and would like to place an order for 20,000 tons of ammunition."  

22 September 1919

Back in Cairo at HCCI's office...

Mohammed Baybars stared at his partner incredulously.  
"You cannot be serious!  We have the capacity, but only if we triple the number of shifts!  And to think the sort of effect that will have on quality, not to mention the morale of our workers.  We have already had several near-misses with these workers.  They think that once they are no longer on the Royal payroll that they have all sorts of rights.  The gall of them!  Trying to strike!  Regardless of their reactions we must immediately hire more men, the least they can do is haul materials around.  Thank Allah I had the presence of mind to dismiss only the men with no skills when we made the transition from a Royal company to a private one!  Have your chief clerk draw up a schedule for a second shift at the plant, we need to check the state the equipment is in, a stoppage now would be terrible! "
Jebel Hussein smiles to himself, he knew that it had been his idea to retain as many skilled munitions workers as possible during the slack times by offering them jobs working in the railyard and at the quay, unloading and loading the trains and ships for the Company.  His partner, Baybars, had argued against this, citing the increased cost of such labor.  The fool, skilled laborers such as these were worth their weight in gold, and this situation was proving the soundness of his earlier decision.  There was no need to train new workers, the men they hired would simply load and unload ships, very little skill needed, only strength.  Every man they replaced, though, was a skilled craftsman who was then freed to actually produce the munitions.  

OOC note:  Pre-WW1 the British armament industry was dominated by craftsmen, each worker was a skilled laborer and produced each individual component himself.  In the case of, say, the fuses for artillery shells, one craftsman would make the entire fuse.  During the war the influx of unskilled labor forced the armaments industries to forgo training new craftsmen and instead taught the unskilled laborers (as often women as men) to make one part of the fuse, and then a craftsman would put all the components together.  Just to clarify that the British did not use an assembly line in most munitions industries.  And yes, the solution Hussein came up with was one I'm shocked the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich did not adopt, although it would have allowed a massive increase in munitions production in August and September 1914.  

22 December 1919

Hussein watched as men loaded the Russian-flagged merchant ship with cases of rifle ammunition.  Many loads of heavy artillery shells were already aboard, but stacks more lined the HCCI quay, covered in canvas to keep the dust out.  The freighter had plenty of room aboard her but Hussein had been instructed to limit the quantity of munitions sent in any one ship.  He knew the ships were all headed west and then north, and that the crews spoke Russian.  However, he had seen the specifications of the munitions and they did not match those used by the Russian army.  And the vast quantities of munitions ordered pointed to a country that was engaged in heavy fighting.  There were only two nations engaged in such a titanic struggle and the shortest route to neither went westward.  A dockworker stumbled and nearly dropped his case of rifle cartridges into the water.  Hussein shook his head to dispel his thoughts and strode over to berate the unfortunate man.  As he went he thought that it was best he didn't know the final destination of this cargo.  

Edit:  Changed the dates.  I forgot that I was dealing with 1920H1's report. 

[TexanCowboy]

22 November 1919

Hussein watched as men loaded the Russian-flagged merchant ship with cases of rifle ammunition.  Many loads of heavy artillery shells were already aboard, but stacks more lined the HCCI quay, covered in canvas to keep the dust out.  The freighter had plenty of room aboard her but Hussein had been instructed to limit the quantity of munitions sent in any one ship.  He knew the ships were all headed west and then north, and that the crews spoke Russian.  However, he had seen the specifications of the munitions and they did not match those used by the Russian army.  And the vast quantities of munitions ordered pointed to a country that was engaged in heavy fighting.  There were only two nations engaged in such a titanic struggle and the shortest route to neither went westward.  A dockworker stumbled and nearly dropped his case of rifle cartridges into the water.  Hussein shook his head to dispel his thoughts and strode over to berate the unfortunate man.  As he went he thought that it was best he didn't know the final destination of this cargo. 

[/quote]

There's a very good reason they don't want too many shells in a ship.....

[Darman]

There's a very good reason they don't want too many shells in a ship.....

True, but it was a very small shipment.  The ship was going to take on a load of cotton as well. 

[TexanCowboy]

And the good reason rhymes with Barna.

[Guinness]

This is completely OOC for now, as the Ottomans likely have no IC knowledge of this, but when they find out they'll likely be fairly peeved that Egypt is supplying ammunition to one of their most likely foes...

Also one wonders: will fully loaded ammunition ships be transiting the Turkish Straits?

[Darman]

Also one wonders: will fully loaded ammunition ships be transiting the Turkish Straits?

Potential routes are under the jurisdiction of the nation that owns the hulls. 

[Darman]

21 December 1919

...It is the recommendation of this Board that the Royal Egyptian Navy immediately acquire, through purchase or lease, the services of fleet collier and fleet oilier, of at least 28,500 tons  capacity for coal and 7,000 tons capacity for oil.  Additionally, a reserve of 15,000 tons of good steaming coal be set aside for use in emergencies, as well as 4,000 tons of oil.  This should suffice to fill the fleet's bunkers once....

For those interested the Egyptian fleet has bunkerage capacity of 13,100 tons of coal and 3,800 tons of oil.  Its daily requirements are estimated at 950 tons of coal daily and 230 tons of oil.  The requirements for oilier and collier capacity were based off the fleet's needs for a 30 day cruise to be carried by the replenishment ships. 

[Darman]

The earliest signs of trouble had started immediately, but the men of the Guards Cavalry weren't unduly concerned, after all many of these farmers and nomads had been forced off their land to make room for the refugees from the south.  The fact that the government had over-compensated them for their land and even resettled their households elsewhere meant little when they had left their ancestral homesteads behind.  The first signs were misinterpreted, some men burned their houses down after they had moved out, some spread salt on their most fertile lands, others cut down trees, and a few even poisoned wells.  It was a small percentage of the population performing these acts, and the guardsmen arrested and tried some of them.  Most escaped without punishment emboldening others to new acts of resistance.  By the time the new settlers were moving in all the old inhabitants of the area had been evacuated, and the land was cleaned up as best as possible.  Within months things began to disappear, first it was tools left in the fields, soon after small animals were taken from their pens, then larger animals, and finally a young girl was kidnapped and then released.  The local authorities were bamboozled and couldn't figure out who was causing this trouble.  The young girl was able to point authorities in the right direction, and they sent for the border patrol (I Guards Cavalry) who tracked down, engaged and defeated the band of raiders.  But raids continued, with the Guards Cavalry being more and more heavily committed to defending the area.  It was a campaign of attrition, with some civilians being killed, but mostly it was a war between the nomadic raiders bolstered by the displaced farmers and the guardsmen on patrol.  People in the cities are blissfully unaware of these events happening far off in the countryside, but most Egyptians live in rural areas, and they are all too aware of what is happening, even though it isn't affecting them for the time being, being limited to the areas settled by the refugees. 

[TexanCowboy]

...Does act 2 contain Mos....whatever that guy who just quits name is?

[Darman]

lol no although I wont deny that current events in Egypt somewhat influenced me to (Finally) write this piece...

[Darman]

Reports indicate that King Fouad has just had a heart attack .... JUST KIDDING! 

The Private in the Royal Transportation Corps yawned loudly.  He was so tired, they had woken him up well before dawn so he could deliver his supplies before the locals had finished their chores.  Experience had taught the men of the Guards Cavalry that nothing untoward happens before the locals had finished their household chores.  The Private yawned again, and didn't hear the jingling of harness as a horse approached from his left.  He saw movement out of the corner of his eye.  It was the last thing he ever saw. 

That afternoon a message arrived at the depot.  The supplies had never arrived and there was no sign of the wagon or driver along the road between the troop's encampment and the depot.  The Captain listened to the messenger and then went into his office and closed the door.  The messenger and sergeant exchanged looks, they knew the Captain was pissed.  And they both figured they knew why.  The insurgents had captured a light field gun the week previous and the wagonload of supplies that had dissapeared that morning had contained several score shrapnel shells.  Who knew what would happen if the insurgents figured out how to use the damn thing? 

A week later....
"Sir, wake up!"  The Captain mumbles groggily and tries to wake up.  The Private shaking him steps back, "Sir, there's a bit of a problem!  The insurgents have..." A loud explosion shakes the walls and drowns out the Private's words.  The Captain opens his eyes and sees a dust-filled but otherwise empty room.  He hears a moan from behind the desk, the private had been hit by shrapnel.  The Captain grabs his belt and revolver and rushes out the door right into another shell.  Not much is left. 
A Sergeant surveys the wreckage a few hours later.  His squad secures the ruins of the depot as he takes stock in his head.  An entire depot gone, like that,  and evidence points to the insurgents making off with most of the ammunition and weapons.  The nomads were dangerous with rifles alone, give them mortars and machineguns and... he shuddered at the thought. 

Note: Sorry for the choppiness and delay, I'm just finishing school up in the next few weeks and this story is a collection of notes I take in class when bored. 

[ctwaterman]

Hmmmm not sure who I should be rooting for.... considering Italia and French recent investments in Egypt a rebellion is not going to be happy for them. 

[Darman]

Now, I can't really speculate as to what the insurgents will do next, not being privy to their councils of war.  But I can say that the insurgency isn't all that large.  Currently its only tying down a brigade of cavalry, but the big problem is that they are pretty smart and have started hitting weak military targets with an eye to capturing heavier pieces of equipment, especially field artillery. 

[maddox]

Pretty simple... Look at the last deployments of troops/fortifications at Suez and Djibouti.

France doesn't like upheavel in the investment area's.