by Hall, Gerald
Several of the men pulled out Sten submachine guns and Welrod silenced pistols and approached the slowly moving motorcade, keeping their weapons concealed but ready for use. A few minutes later, there was a massive series of fireworks that began to explore between the motorcade and the crowd. This caused a thick cloud of smoke to envelop the motorcade, limited visibility to little more than a meter.
The assailants quickly moved in and killed the entire Hong Kong security detail with shots at point blank range. Quickly pulling on black masks, the attackers’ next action was to place small explosive charges on critical parts of each motorcade vehicle.
“What the hell is going on?” one of the British security guards within a motorcade vehicle demanded as he lost sight of the external security personnel. A couple of seconds later, the charges began to go off, disabling every one of the motorcade vehicles. Several charges were specially placed on the front edge of the driver’s doors of every vehicle to both kill the driver and breach the interior without killing the rest of the passengers.
Lord Mountbatten frantically looked around after the explosion that disabled the car that he and Prince Charles were in.
“Is there any way that we can get out of here?” He demanded.
“No, Sir. The front left tire appears to have been blown completely off of the axle.” The driver immediately replied.
“We’ve got to get some help here immediately. Someone get on a radio and call for assistance.”
“I can’t, Sir. The radio isn’t working.”
“Damn it. We better prepare for the worst.” Mountbatten ordered just before a deafening explosion erupted beside the driver who then slumped down onto the steering wheel. The armed guard inside the car, pulled his gun in preparation to defend Lord Mountbatten and the heir to the British throne.
“What’s going on?” the young Charles asked.
“I don’t know, Sire. But we will protect you with our lives if we have to.” Mountbatten quickly answered.
Hidden pry bars were quickly pulled out by the attackers and used to open the damaged doors of each car. Additional fireworks continued to be used to obscure the attack. A couple of the attackers were shot by guards inside when the doors were wedged open, but return fire quickly ended all resistance.
Suddenly, hands quickly reached in to unlock and open both passenger doors on the car. Mountbatten tried to fend off the attackers but was quickly clubbed down and dragged away. Just before he fell unconscious, Lord Mountbatten saw Charles crying out as two black-clad men dragged the young boy away from the disabled car as well.
Almost as quickly as the attack began, the assailants along with their captives melted away into the crowd. It would be several more minutes before the smoke cleared enough for anyone to realize what had just happened.
Chapter Forty:
HMAS Melbourne
Twenty miles east of Hong Kong
January 24, 1958
“Sir, we just received an alarming message from Ark Royal.” The radioman said after quickly walked onto the carrier’s bridge.
“What happened?” Captain Hawthorne quickly asked.
“The Royal Party has been attacked during the visit to Hong Kong, Sir. There have been several casualties among the landing party. Also, the Prince of Wales is missing in addition to the British First Sea Lord. It is believed that they has been kidnapped.”
“Bloody hell! Is there anything that we can do to help, Sir?” Commander Littner quickly asked.
“I don’t know, yet. Send out a message to Canberra. We need to know if we should prepare to assist the British in their search and rescue efforts. In the meanwhile, I want all personnel ready for possible combat. I also want to inform our destroyer escort and support ship commanders and recommend that they do the same in preparation for an immediate operation in or near Hong Kong. We need to prepare our shipboard Marine contingent to move to assist the British at a moment’s notice.” Captain Hawthorne ordered.
“Aye, Sir. I will get that started right away. Is there anything else that you need to have done?” Commander Littner immediately replied.
“Yes. Please contact the Australian task force that we were exercising with. Ask Captain Hawthorne if he will be able to offer any support. I also want you to quietly send a message to the commander of the militia at Derby. Ask him if he can talk to the Cavill’s about anything that they might have that could help us find and rescue the First Sea Lord and Prince Charles. Please do not let Admiral Harris know of my inquiry.”
“Aye, Sir. It wouldn’t surprise me if they had another toy or two of theirs that could make a difference here.”
HMS Ark Royal
Hong Kong Harbor
January 24, 1958
“Have we heard anything more from the kidnappers? It’s been over four hours since the First Sea Lord and Prince Charles were kidnapped.” Captain Stewart asked, the concern in his voice clearly evident.
“We received a message just a few minutes ago, Sir. The kidnappers have demanded that all British military personnel be immediately evacuated from Hong Kong and that the city be turned over to Nationalist Chinese military personnel and administrators. Failure to accomplish this will lead to the deaths of their captives. To make their point, the kidnappers chopped off the left hand of our negotiator before they sent him back to us.” Commander Collins bitterly replied.
“Bastards! What the bloody hell are we going to do? You know that the Queen will not stand to be blackmailed by terrorists. If we comply, then we will be facing the same damned threat again and again because every tinpot extremist group will look at kidnapping British citizens as a ticket to easily achieving any of their goals.”
“I know. But the Queen has entrusted us with the safety of the Heir to the Crown. We have to get him safely back, no matter what. We must do something soon. We certainly can’t go bombing the city or having King George V bombard it with her big guns to force the kidnappers to release the Prince.
I need options where we can go in on the ground and rescue our charge without getting him killed. I know that we have over a full company of Royal Marines aboard our various ships. They are among the best troops in the world too.”
“I know, Sir. But we need to find a target for them to go after first.”
“Have we heard anything from the Hong Kong Police Commissioner? We must know if they have made any progress in tracking down the kidnappers.”
“They are working on it, I’m sure Sir.”
“Have we heard anything from Admiral Harris?”
“He’s stayed quite remote out there on King George V, Sir. I suspect that he feels a bit helpless onboard a ship that can do little to help rescue the Prince and First Sea Lord. The last message that I have heard from him was to do everything that we can to ensure the safety of the Prince. What he hasn’t done was to give us any guidance on how to go about doing it.”
“I suppose that he is leaving any possible action to recover the hostages to us. After all, we are the ship carrying most of the Task Force’s vertical-lift aircraft.
Have we heard anything from the Australians, most importantly, the Cavill’s?” Captain Stewart quietly asked.
“We heard from Captain Hawthorne less than an hour after he was contacted. He is prepared to send several helicopters and Hummingbird tilt-wings full of their Marines and other armed personnel upon request.”
“What about the Cavills?”
“I did hear from them. They have agreed to send four of their remotely-piloted drones loaded with cameras and other surveillance equipment to fly over Hong Kong to search for our people.”
“Hopefully with all of the assets at our disposal, we can isolate the kidnappers so that we can get the Prince and First Sea Lord out of there alive.
I have been thinking a lot since the Prince was kidnapped, Mister Collins. I feel that our ship is horribly vulnerable sitting here in Hong Kong harbor. We just don’t know what else these bloody bastards might have planned against us. We a
lso can’t simply weigh anchor and leave while the Prince is still missing.
I want our Marines to go to the Armory and break out their machine guns to emplace around the ship to give us some local defense against small boats and swimmers. It would be a hell of a thing if someone were to put a limpet mine or two against our hull. Get some of our small craft into the water to extend our defensive perimeter too.
It would also be a very good idea to contact the Flag on King George V and recommend that all of the ships in the Task Force implement the same local defense measures just in case.”
“Very good, Sir. I will pass along the orders and contact the Flag with our message.”
“I just hope that I’m not too late already.” A worried Captain Stewart replied.
Chapter Forty-One:
Wu-Chang Warehouses
Western Hong Kong
January 25, 1958
It was just after midnight in this largely industrial part of Hong Kong. There were few people walking around the area during this part of the night. The lack of traffic suited the kidnappers just fine. They didn’t want anyone to accidentally stumble over the group of armed men holed up inside the old warehouse with their captives.
“Have we heard back from the British concerning our demands? I don’t think that they will accept them, but I expect that they will try to negotiate for the life of their little prince still.” Choi Leung asked.
“Yes, they have contacted us. The British sent one of their representatives from the Crown office in Hong Kong. We gave him our demands and send him back. Of course, he did not return to his people in as complete a condition as when he arrived here.” The chief kidnapper’s lieutenant Li Wei said with a cruel chuckle.
“I trust that the British occupiers got the message that we were very serious about our threat to kill their prince if they did not comply with our demands.” Choi replied.
In a lower voice, Li Wei answered. “They do not know that we have no intention to give their prince back to them alive. The British will stall and negotiate in order to try to avoid complying with our demands. Of course, our demands are inconsequential in comparison to our ultimate goal.”
“Yes, crippling the British Navy at the same time that we destroy their belief in the power of their Monarchy will drive the British out of our lands. Then we will do the same to any other foreigners here.”
“Yes, we are playing a very long game, even working towards longer term goals than all of our adversaries dare imagine. Naturally, they think that we are civilized savages, brought to heel by their Western culture. We will teach the British and the rest of the West that we of the Middle Kingdom are far more sophisticated than they are.
I trust that our security for this location is sufficient to prevent the British from detecting us here?”
“Finding us will be as the English first said a long time ago like finding a ‘needle in a meadow’. We are in the midst of over four million people who all look just like us. I am quite confident that we cannot be found. This is one of the quietest parts of the city also.”
“Still, we must remain vigilant. Ensure that our guards are fully aware of this. They must not allow anyone to detect us or attempt to successfully rescue our hostage.”
“They will obey your commands, I assure you. We will honor our ancestors with our success here.”
Chapter Forty-Two:
Cavill Industries Headquarters
Derby, West Australia
January 25, 1958
“It is a shame that we cannot see objects from orbit with the precision that the Americans could do in the early twenty-first century. If we had that capability, we would have spotted the Prince’s location within a couple of hours of his kidnapping.” Sarah noted.
“Perhaps so. But we still have a lot greater capability than anyone else dares imagine. Hong Kong is a very busy, crowded city. But the kidnappers have no experience dealing with anyone with space-based orbital surveillance capability. If we can get any cueing from other sources like agents on the ground or perhaps an intercepted radio message. Our orbiting cameras can be focused on the suspect area. With a little help from IDA searching through the imagery, I think that we can figure out where the Prince is being held.”
“We will need to let both the British and Australians operating near Hong Kong that we are prepared to assist in the search. If they can pass on what they have learned to us, I’m sure that we can help.”
“Our surveillance drones are already on the way out to Hong Kong even now. They will add critical coverage that even our satellites cannot yet do.
HMS Ark Royal
Hong Kong Harbor
January 25, 1958
The lights of Hong Kong lit up the shoreline after a long stressful day of waiting for news about the kidnapped Prince and First Sea Lord. Dozens of sailors stood along the lower decks manning a variety of machine guns including the classic Bren gun and fifty-caliber M2 heavy machine guns. They were keeping a watchful eye for any swimmers or small boats coming alongside to possibly attack the carrier with explosive devices.
At the order of Admiral Harris, every ship in the Royal Navy task force was employing the same measures to provide close range security of their vessels. Nothing had happened all day until after the sun had slipped down behind the mountains to the west.
Five small motorized junks had already slipped their moorings an hour before sunset. They easily hid among more than one hundred other similar coastal craft in Hong Kong harbor. These five vessels hid scores of heavily armed attackers, some of them equipped with scuba gear and trained to set explosive devices.
The five junks all took separate paths through the harbor. But they were all working their way towards the same destination.
“Hey, Lieutenant. What the hell are those junks doing? There are three of them sailing right towards us.” One of the sailors manning a Bren machine gun on the starboard side yelled at the same time that a spotlight was brought to bear on the unannounced ‘guests’.
“We better get someone on the bullhorn to warn them away. We told everyone to stay at least a hundred meters away from our ships.” Lieutenant John Hawkins quickly replied.
“With all of the boats around here, that’s pretty hard to do. But I’ll get someone right away to warn them away, Sir.”
Within a few seconds, a Chinese-speaking Ark Royal sailor called over the bullhorn for the junks to turn aside. But the warnings seemed to have no effect at all.
“Bosun, what do you want us to do? These guys are still coming, plus I just heard that we have two more of them coming up on the other side.” The Bren gunner asked.
“Alright, laddie. Put a couple of bursts of machine gun fire across their bows. That should get the point across. Make sure that the same warning shots are used for all of those approaching boats.”
“Aye, Sir.”
“Several bursts of machine gun fire could be heard along the sides of the massive aircraft carrier. Fountains of water erupted a couple of meters in front of the bows of the leading junks. But instead of turning away, the small vessels suddenly accelerated. At the same time, automatic weapons fire flashed out from the incoming junks, striking the sides of the carrier. Screams of pain from a couple of wounded British sailors also began at the same time.
“Shoot those bastards with everything that we have. They’ve probably got mines aboard them.” Lieutenant Hawkins yelled out, his fingers bloody from holding his arms where a Chinese bullet had struck.
A fusillade of automatic fire erupted from all along the sides of Ark Royal, rapidly smothering the five incoming junks. Even the automatic six-pounders and the gatling guns were brought to bear on the incoming threats. Within five seconds, four out of the five little vessels were burning from all of the hits that they had taken. The fifth vessels continued onward, smoke issuing from its sides as a growing amount of fire from Ark Royal’s gunners.
Suddenly, the junk exploded with the force of at least four hundred kilograms of
TNT. A towering column of water rose in the air at the same time the shock wave from the detonation of a large mine shook the carrier. Everyone on deck was also soaking wet from the water that had sprayed upon them.
The two junks closest to the explosion were also sunk by the explosion. But the two disabled junks on the opposite side of the carrier were still afloat. A searchlight caught the movement of at least two figures going over the sides of the disabled Chinese junks.
“Those bastards looked like they were wearing diving gear, Sir.” An Ark Royal port side gunner called out.
“We can’t have them get up to the side of the ship. They might be carrying limpet mines. Go grab some grenades and toss them into water. The explosions should stun or kill any divers near our ship.” A senior Royal Marine NCO ordered.
Within seconds, dozens of armed grenades were tossed in the water between the carrier and the two smoldering Chinese junks. Explosion after explosion erupted in the water, though none were nearly as large as the detonation of the one Chinese junk only a couple of minutes earlier. Dead or stunned fish began to litter the surface of the water from all of the underwater grenade explosions.
An alert sailor called out after his spotlight focused on a floating body wearing scuba gear. Two more bodies were spotted floating in the water as continued volleys of grenades continued to be tossed into the harbor. One of the carrier’s small craft, freshly loaded with marines, pulled up to the disabled junks.
The Marines jumped onto the junks quickly, searching for any personnel who could still be alive and resist along with any more explosives.
“We’re all clear.” Was the signal called out by the Marines on both of the Chinese junks. Apparently the savage rain of automatic fire upon the small Chinese vessels had already killed or fatally injured all of their occupants other than the three divers before the Marines were able to board. A navy ordnance specialist accompanying the Marines disabled the explosive charges that were still there aboard the captured junks.