The Cotton Spies

by Simon Glyndwr John

CHAPTER 23

  Generals McColl and Rixon always discussed the War Office views on Asiatic Russian matters in the latter’s office prior to attending the Eastern Committee meeting.

  McColl began, ‘a couple of very interesting articles have appeared in one of the Swiss German papers. One article said that a Swiss company acting for the German government has been trying to buy Turkestan cotton. If you remember we had a report from an agent about that. The other article says two things. First, the Germans are attempting to unify Russian Moslems. I doubt that will succeed and I’m not sure for what purpose the Germans want to do that.’

  ‘To threaten India and stymie the Turks who though allies of the Germans now, they may not be in the future,’ mused Rixon then indicated for McColl to continue.

  ‘Second, that Germans based in Tiflis, Georgia, are apparently collecting information about troop billets.’

  ‘Well that must be about Baku oil for there is no other reason for Germany to be in Georgia, there’s nothing for them there. So it’s even more important that we shore up the people in Baku who are anti-Turk and anti-German namely the Bolos. Using the old adage “The enemy of my enemies is my friend,” in this case the Bolos become our friends. Muncerforce is intended to do that shoring up, but is there something else we could do?’

  ‘Well I’ve told Meshed that we’d like them to send an intelligence agent as soon as possible to see what’s happening in Baku as we’ve lost contact with our agent there. I believe it is easier and quicker for an agent to get to Baku from Meshed rather than Basra because much of the journey can be by rail and they don’t have to meet tribes like the Jangalis en route.’

  Rixon grunted his reply. ‘So Muncerville is still finding the armed opposition in Persia slowing him down?’ When McColl nodded Rixon snapped, ‘Meshed will claim that they have nobody to send but I don't care they have to get someone to Baku, like it or not!’

  ‘I’ll send a telegram to Meshed ordering their immediate action. I’ll do this before you go to the Eastern Committee meeting.’

  At the meeting of the Eastern Committee everyone was reminded that the Caucuses were said to have forty-five different peoples in Baku alone. There was a history of ethnic violence and religious violence in the region because if for no other reason that was where Christian and Moslem worlds collided. The whole Caucuses situation was further exacerbated by the collapse of Imperial Russia that resulted in local peoples trying to gain political control of an area at the expense of their neighbours even though the Bolsheviks had succeeded the Imperialists in most places. The Moslems of the Caucuses however saw the Bolsheviks as being no different from their imperial predecessors - they were all Russians. General Rixon at that point mentioned the intelligence the War Office had about the Germans trying to unite the Moslems which provoked laughter, smiles and shaking of heads around the room.

  General Rixon continued with the War Office’s intelligence by telling the meeting that the Germans appeared to have active Georgian support for their movement east. Georgia is apparently preparing for the arrival of their co-religionists the Germans, with whom they have a historical link. The Georgians are petrified that the Turks will continue their current invasion of the country unless they have Germans support. We believe the Germans are already in Georgia and that their passage to the Caspian will therefore be quicker than if they had to fight their way through Georgia. Despite this intelligence, in the War Office’s view the Germans would be unable to arrive at the Caspian before the Turks as they were currently too far away.

  Intelligence indicated the Turkish advance towards Baku was gathering pace because the Turkish High Command, excited by the prospect of victory, were reinforcing their Caspian Army with troops withdrawn from fighting in Palestine. Meanwhile the Bolsheviks, who had seized power in Georgia in 1917, had retreated to Baku once the Turkish invasion had begun to threaten the Georgian Capital, Tiflis. The meeting then discussed who they thought would get control of Caspian oil- the Germans or Turks. The consensus was that enmity between the Turks and the Germans, over the oil, could occur and that cheered everyone up.

  Rixon then reminded everyone that the Baku Bolshevik Government was controlled by an Armenian majority, by tradition the natural enemies of Moslems whether local Caucuses tribes or invading Turks. Currently exacerbating this natural state of affairs was that the Baku Armenians had recently massacred a village of local Muslims. This massacre the Armenians knew would lead them to expect harsh retribution from the advancing Muslim troops of whatever tribe or nationality if and when they captured Baku. It was to be hoped that the prospect of Muslim retribution would lead to a stiffening of resolve amongst the Armenians to defend Baku vigorously. Rixon then stated that despite its current difficulties in Persia he was confident that Muncerforce would reach Baku before the Turks and would encourage the resolve of both the Armenians and the Bolsheviks to fight.

  ‘Thank you general, ‘said Foreign Secretary Arthur Ballard, ‘apart from the military matters we do need to realise the importance of oil to both Germany and Turkey. We have statistics kindly supplied by our Board of Trade. Before the war we only got about 7% of our oil from the Caucuses so in that respect the loss of Baku would not greatly affect our oil imports. However, we are increasing our oil imports at about 1,000,000 tons a year since 1915 so perhaps what I just said may be misleading. The Baku oil was exported from the Caucuses through ports on the Black Sea. One of the reasons why we wanted the Dardanelles to be open to the Russians in 1915 was to enable them to export both oil and wheat. That attempted opening failed. Currently the advance of the Germans through the Ukraine to the Black Sea will give them, with Turkey’s support, control of that sea. If they control the Black Sea then they control the export of the oil from the Baku and Grozny oilfields. These Caucuses oilfields will comfortably supply all Germany’s and Turkey’s needs. We believe in the Foreign Office the Bolsheviks will be prepared to sell the Germans the oil they need. If the Bolsheviks do not sell oil to Germany and, or, Turkey, one or other of those countries will try and seize the fields. We cannot allow that to happen.’ He looked at Rixon who was trying to get his attention.

  ‘We must not forget that if either country gets to Baku then India is open for invasion,’ Merson, said reiterating his hobby horse for the umpteenth time. He looked round, ‘anything else on this subject?’ Silence reigned, ‘Turkestan then, Foreign Secretary?’

  Arthur Ballard began, ‘the Foreign Office has a report that there is an American consul in Tashkent. I have heard that he was in London before he went out to Tashkent. The stated reason, by the Americans, for him going to Tashkent is to gather information about the cotton crop. Our thoughts are that Mr Compton is there for trade purposes and that the Americans are looking to penetrate the region commercially. As far as we know they have had little trading activity in Turkestan before now. I am quite clear that this area is firmly in our sphere of activity and not only the Foreign Office but also the Board of Trade want to keep it that way and we can do without American trade competition once this war is over.’

  There was a murmur of approval round the table that Ballard allowed to die down before he continued speaking. ‘Now, this Compton has suggested that we and the French send someone there as well. Naturally we don’t want the French anywhere near the place so we have not informed them of this suggestion. I am unsure whether the American State Department has been in contact with the French. I suspect the French are too bogged down in Europe at the moment to send someone – I certainly hope so. All I will say is this is that we send this intelligence mission, currently awaiting our final approval in Kashgar, into Tashkent if for no other reason that we must find out what the Americans are doing there.’

  Merson leaned forward nodding and as soon as Ballard stopped speaking he said excitedly ‘I have a proposal to make on hearing that.’

  After the Eastern Committee meeting ended Lord Surridge updated Grimes what he had learned that morning.

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��As always we have no idea exactly what is going on in Turkestan or Trans-Caspia.’ Surridge shifted his pen an inch on his blotting pad before he looked back at Grimes. ‘In their wisdom the War Office has just sent a telegram to Meshed telling them to send an agent up to Baku to carry out an assessment of the situation. The feeling is that the Bolos actually won’t want anyone other than themselves to hold Baku because of the oil. Quite where that leaves the Armenians is anyone’s guess, except to possibly drive a wedge between them and the Bolos, and then interestingly enough that in turn might drive a wedge between our enemies and hopefully fighting one another – though that is a slim hope.’

  Grimes nodded as he thought for a moment whilst gazing over Lord Surridge’s head at the King’s portrait then he spoke, ‘did the War Office ask us, or India, for permission to send someone to Baku, my lord?’

  ‘No. The reason given is that because of the importance of Baku oil it is seen as a Home Government issue, rather than an India Office or Indian Government issue.’ Surridge grudgingly added, ‘they expect India to provide the personnel to go to Baku from Meshed!’

  ‘Still it makes it a bit confusing when Baghdad and Meshed are basically under our control and the War Office just does what it wants without asking us first.’

  Lord Surridge sniffed before replying, ‘Yes. One thing I was reminded of this morning was that the Bolos have control of all the warships on the Caspian Sea. So if the Bolos do wave the green flag at the Hun and if the Germans can get enough sea transports then they will be across into Trans-Caspia before you could say “Jack Robinson,” and we cannot stop them. The thinking this morning is that only Germans would go east with Russian approval. The Russians wouldn’t want Turks in the country at any price because of past history. So Turkey once it has captured Baku to avoid that confrontation may head down towards Tehran and Tabriz. What do you think?’

  ‘The comment about the Russians and the Turks not liking each other is correct but it might be dangerous to assume that Turks won’t go east into Russian Turkestan because they might want to set up some grand Turkic confederation stretching from the Caspian to the Chinese border.’ Grimes thought for a moment, ‘there is a theory though no direct evidence that some of the unrest amongst the Moslems of the old Khanates like Bokhara before the war in Turkestan may have been stimulated by the Turks. If the Russians want to hang on to Turkestan they wouldn’t want the Turks invoking a religious war. I’m also sure that the Germans would not want to see the Turks too strong in Central Asia because that is where the German want to expand their trade.’

  ‘What you have just said confirms that some of the discussions and the conclusions that we had in this morning’s meeting were the right ones. It is nice to be singing from the same hymn sheet as the Foreign Office for a change.’

  ‘Indeed, my lord.’

  ‘The other bit of intelligence I learned this morning is that the Germans are not present in any strength in Tiflis at the moment. Our reports say they have maybe a brigade there. That is hardly enough men to be sent across to Turkestan and then onto India bearing in mind the long lines of communication. So it is doubly important that we know exactly what the German POW numbers are in Tashkent. We need this intelligence mission to Tashkent more than ever.’

  Grimes thought for several seconds, ‘I suppose,’ he said carefully, ‘that it is possible that the Germans might just send material instead of men.’

  Surridge looked surprised. ‘Are you now a military man?’

  ‘There are two reasons why I think this way.’ Grimes held up his forefinger ‘first, obviously their POWs will not have any arms and if they are going to be the basis of an invading army then obviously they will need arms everything from rifles to artillery.’ Grimes grasped his middle finger, ‘second, thanks to our blockade we know that the Germans are struggling to keep their armies fully supplied in Europe so supporting this Tashkent army will be difficult and slow.’

  ‘Grimes unfortunately we sent a lot of arms and ammunition to help our Russian friends when they were our friends. All this material apparently is still sitting where it was landed up in the north of the country near Archangel. If, Grimes, the Bolos enable the Germans to cross the Caspian then they might also allow them to take our arms sitting up in Archangel. That would really be wonderful - our own supplies being used against us.’

  ‘Archangel is in Northern Russia, so it would not be easy to move it to the Caspian even though it is summer.’

  ‘Between you and me Grimes there are moves afoot to go and get the stuff back and to stop it falling into German hands.’

  ‘Sending soldiers into Russia, that sounds dangerous. The Bolos won’t like it.’

  ‘Whether we go ahead with that little job depends on our Allies and particularly the Americans. President Hickson thinks that everything we do is for the purpose of expanding the Empire. We know it is merely to protect it. Better us than the Germans.’

  ‘Or, the French,’ snapped Grimes which provoked a grin from Surridge, ‘I cannot believe the Germans have enough men to send into Turkestan because of their known losses on the Western front in March. As for the POWs we know they will need a lot of training before they can become an effective fighting force.’

  ‘Agreed, I suspect, Grimes, that they’ll have to have access to food first before they can be trained and where’s that coming from? Newly independent, German supported, Ukraine? The Bolos are fighting to get the Ukraine back as part of Russia and if succeed, will the Germans still be allowed just to take what they want or will the Bolos try to stop them doing that?’

  ‘I think these Bolos are only interested in power so they are prepared to leave the Germans to do what they want whilst they try and consolidate their hold on Russia. I think the Bolos grasp on power is weak and cannot possibly last much longer. But who will replace the Bolos as the government? What will the new government do about the German invasion of Russia? If it wasn’t for these Bolos and Brest-Litovsk I’m sure the general Russian population would want to continue the war on our side.’ Grimes shrugged, ‘we wait for sense to prevail.’

  Surridge leaned back in his chair before he leaned forward and picked up his glasses that he twirled round and round in his hand as he thought. Surridge eyes then focused back on Grimes. ‘Now what have you found out about the railway?’

  ‘According to our intelligence from Persia, Ashkhabad is held by the SRs – the Social Revolutionaries.’

  ‘Are they the same as the Bolos?’

  ‘Apparently not, though I think they are very similar. Even the Foreign Office doesn’t know what the difference is. Apparently the two groups join together to fight the counter revolutionaries, the so called Whites, but elsewhere they seem to fight each other.’

  ‘The world is an absolute madhouse at the moment, Grimes. I hope, that these Whites are our answer,’ he paused and reflectively looked over Grimes’ head into the distance. ‘People don’t really like change you know- I don’t. Do you, Grimes?’

  ‘Absolutely not.’

  Surridge began to shake his head. ‘As for the Foreign Office they can be so hopeless at times. It is their job to know the difference between the Bolos and the SRs. How can we tell our chaps who are going on this mission into Turkestan what to look for if we don’t know one political party from another?’

  ‘I suspect the Foreign Office is too worried about running all those crazy schemes in Moscow to think about how to differentiate these, no doubt, short lived revolutionary parties.’

  ‘I suspect you are right about that Grimes. We are getting into a mess with Russia we really are. Could we do anything from Persia about the Russian railway?’

  ‘There are troops in Meshed but dare we send them over the border?’

  Surridge leaned back in his chair and made a steeple with his fingers before clapping those fingers and making a hollow sound. ‘I suppose not. Yet, if we are to send troops into Northern Russia then why not do so elsewhere? We would have to think it thro
ugh very carefully and clear it with the committee. Must chat about it next time we meet.’ Surridge perched his glasses on his nose and looked over them at Grimes before he clapped his hands and pointed a finger and said briskly, ‘at the Eastern Committee meeting this morning Lord Ballard proposed that our mission to Tashkent should go ahead as soon as the Chinese gave their permission and that was agreed. That permission came from the Chinese Embassy this afternoon,’ he waved a piece of paper.

  ‘Great news.’

  Surridge leaned forward and dropped his voice. At the meeting the cotton and the POWs were mentioned as vital for the mission to investigate. Do you know what the final decider was for the mission?’ Grimes shook his head, ‘the concern about this American consul in Tashkent. The Foreign Office and others are worried about the Americans setting up commercial links in the area. The mission must find out what the Yanks are up to and then we can stop them in their tracks. Surridge sat back. ‘So Grimes, we can finally say ,after weeks of waiting, this mission has the blessing of, the War Office, the Prime Minister, the Foreign Office, The Board of Trade and us. Action at last my good fellow, action at last.’