May 1924
Allen had put aside a tour of the artillery where there was another squabble over something or 'nother that Dawes was likely to want weighed in on... he was probably looking for the opportunity to bring something in from Austria, but well this needed to be nipped in the bud sooner rather than later, which meant he could put off that for a day or two, "Now, what's this nonsense about American lead chinese troopers in the Philippines you've spun to my chief of staff?" He demanded of the sober englishman who had been starting to help himself to the tea. In a way he was springing on Percy quick, ambush even but if he needed to do damage control he wanted it done. The last thing he needed was some yarn to get spun off to Manilla and make it to Wood and have the old man hit there of... or worse make it to Washington.
Percy shuffled back, and Allen was reminded he was a bit taller than the slighter Englishman. "Thats not exactly what I said, I think." He paused, "its just, Curzon may be out but there were talks, and comments he had made."
Allen took a seat, but didn't pick up his own mug. He assumed he was Curzon, but hindsight suggested he might have quizzed his own chief of staff better about events. "Go on," Curzon as Foreign Secretary had been a minor nightmare for the man's tendency to step in it, but having MacDonald pull the job as well as be prime minister... that seemed odd to him, but more so bothered by the Labour party's leanings. Something he understood Percy's leanings to be of a similar mindset. The current PM was considered by the old China hands as something of a menace. Some of the still oldest hands had even retreated back to Victorian sensibilities that the frogs were the natural enemy of all of anglo-saxon stock, which some felt placed too much esteem on the French all together, but it was 1924... and he suspected that given the axe taken to the ranks some men were hoping a war might spark off and give them the chance to rise quickly in the ranks.
According to Daniel there were queer political grumblings in England as well, beyond just the bolshevik drivel... and never mind Italy.
Percy tried to leverage, "It was you I should remind you who went over with the men into Russia to save the Tsar... for which you brought your troopers."
"You're right." He replied seeing no reason to object, because yeah well if the Foreign Office was talking about things... "But That was twenty years after our war with Spain broke out." The Maine had gone up on the ides of February 1898, they had moved just ahead of independence day 1918 on Ekatrinbug. Allen flexed his hand, the memory calling before taking his mug "Now, I will be making a phone call to Leonard Wood in Manilla, and I suppose I will need to discuss these wild English rumors with the ambassador," His tone making clear this was a headache he didnt need, "What's Alston got to say on all this?" Allen knew he was pushing harder than he might have needed to... but he also knew that the Foreign office had it little jokes amongst themselves and he didn't care for the ones that he had heard.
"MacDonald pays no mind to those of us out here in the East."
"Thats not what I asked,"
"But it is John Allen. China's trade is important to the Empire. The House of Commons will much say so." Percy continued on winding on around back benchers and the like, and London's papers, "This is the stuff of adventure novels for whatever the duldrum of the work behind the scenes," Allen was all too aware that Daniel meant to marry the Romanov girl. That promised to be complicated. Daniel might not have had his fortune, but he'd gotten his share of the inheritance, and he'd made money at home before the war. It was not like he was without prospects. Percy heedless of an elder brother's concern continued, "Yuan Shikai would have done well to put you in charge of his army."
Allen shook his head at the change or attempt to change the subject, "No he wouldn't have. Not in 1914, I didn't have the skills for that. In ten years we have learned a great deal, but at thirty five I was not prepared to command half a million men." He also, for what would have been a great row between him, and Yuan been in agreement with Cao Kun that the forays south were wasteful of men and treasure for little gain especially with hindsight. "No if anything I'd have been a headache on the china station trying to build the railways." He probably had been a headache, still might be, in some quarters....
To that Percy shifted nervously, "That is true, even though I'd say your work and its scope are as impressive as making an army in china. You say you couldn't see sending an army to the Philippines?"
"No," Allen replied immediately, it was nonsensical, and yet he remembered all too well the French questions of Japanese troops for Europe, and that couldn't have escaped his staff officers, "Nor would I countenance an army to Europe." The topic shifted back again to the matter of the prime minister in power now in London, "So this came from Curzon then?"
"Only in sofar as to protect India there were talks of armies of allied states in Asia, which as I understand your General Staff would rather fight the Bolsheviks in the steppe than on home soil," Which was true Allen allowed, and indeed while a minority there was a small pro war party in the lower house which took the rhetoric further, "He left Alston with rather clear instructions, which Downing Street's most recent occupant has not seen fit to remand."
Curzon had before the European War spoken and written extensively on India and the relations between the realms of King-Emperor and Tsar and that game. "Now correct me if I'm wrong, but Curzon has never been particularly inclined towards the viability of a buffer state."
"My understanding of the Foreign Secretary's thinking at the time of writing is that states independent of Moscow and independent of European powers are the most reliable sort." There were no European powers any more, France did he amended to himself Cochin-china, but France, like Austria, Italy and especially Germany were too poor and too ruined financially to be involved... but Allen wondered if that was something else Curzon was too caught up in the before the war relations, perhaps explaining Curzon's insistence on dumping loads of weapons deemed surplus to requirement in Persia ,"Whether or not he was correct that territorial aggrandizement has a dominating effect on the Russian mind, well only time will tell if Lord Curzon is right there." To support this Percy claimed to have papers of various ideas on relations with Iran and a policy of erecting a cordon sanitaire in Asia against the Bolsheviks aimed at maintaining friendly relations with Japan.
It was no secret Curzon thought all russians immoral, slackers, and incompetents and that he had go to insist Lenin was more mongol, or hun than any sort of respectable gentleman. The problem of course with respectable gentleman was a label meant an english man which rather obviously Vladimir Lenin was not. Curzon shared Chamberlain's view on the British Race's acumen for governorship. The Lenin Government had been established by 'barbarian means', by a 'hunnish cabal of cutthroats', etc etc etc.
All of that was well and good Allen felt but, "Which is nothing substantive Percy," He replied, "And is why your implications regarding the idea of Chinese troopers in the Philippines is a vexing nuisance of story. I will be obligated to explain this flight of british fancy. Its the sort of things that leads to misunderstandings."
"However that might be, if the Bolsheviks are forced to split their meagerly equipped army in many directions then trade with Europe, especially with their current tiff with the Germans should keep them too divided to do anything. There should no way for them to resume hostilities." He wished could have Percy's confidence on such a matter. "Besides they're still cutting each other up."
To that he nodded, "Which we should be grateful for, their attention elsewhere buys us time," It bought them time to provision and shore up things ... create a buffer state between them and Moscow ... it was realpolitik. The General Staff had deeper ideas than what Percy was aware of, and they pushed their papers up as recommendations to the Cadre, particularly the men of the hundred holding commands in the army.
