Concordia Sinica: An Alternate Marshall Mission

Anwar Singh: Man Who Changed the World​

“Help us,” Singh said.

His telegrapher, also called Anwar Singh, nodded. “Help us,” he muttered, using the telegraph as he spoke. “There. Sent. To China and India, right?”

The Maharaja paused. “No, send it to China only. What have you done?”

Anwar had the feeling that he had done something important - something really, really important. Something that would forever alter the course of history.

That much was true. A Chinese army had arrived, though it was very small in comparison to the Indian force. It held several square miles of land past Aksai Chin, though it could barely control the land it had already grabbed. Zhou Enlai knew that its purpose was to gain an advantage over India in negotiations for Arunachal.

The Indian army quickly seized most of Kashmir from Pakistan, driving the Pakistanis across the borders. A Pakistani counterattack pushed the Indians back.

Kashmir%2Band%2BJammu%2BMAp.png

This is basically what Kashmir looked like

Although most of us have grown used to the fights between India and Pakistan, it’s important to note that both nations were still technically part of Britain at this time. However, it was obvious that Britain no longer exerted any control over them. Without further to do, Britain released the whole sub-continent on February 14, refusing to deal with ‘small issues like borders’.

The world would regret it.

China, meanwhile, had not been wasting its time sitting on Ladakh. They had brought reinforcements, and their army swept further west. An Indian counteroffensive against China drove them back almost to their original positions at Ladakh, but their line held.

A Chinese offensive at Arunachal Pradesh caught India off guard, and the province was easily taken. Still, India, China, and Pakistan would remain hostile to each other.

Anwar Singh’s mistake had led to the Triangular War, with China, India, and Pakistan all fighting each other.
 
Further south, in Malaya...​

“Those Chinese will take over Malaya if we let it go!”

“So? It won’t be our responsibility for much longer. Most of our colonies have stopped turning a profit, and we should just get rid of all of them as soon as possible.”

“But them rubber makers won’t be happy...”

“So what? It’s for the good of the British empire!”

“You know what they’ll say about it, right?”

operation-retake-british-empire_o_2819259.jpg


“...”

“...”

“...”

“Yeah.”

“The Malayan Union seems to be failing, though...”

“Doesn’t matter. Remember, we’ve got to get rid of most of our colonies in a short timeframe.”

“Immigration to here has been encouraged by the Chinese government, maybe to gain more political influence in Malaya. Some think that we should incorporate our parts of Borneo into Malaya-”

“Why bother? It’ll just push independence further back, since we would have to integrate the two separate colonies.”

“So is Singapore going to be independent, or...?”

The two men sat for a moment, thinking about the issue. It would push independence back to integrate Singapore and Malaya, sure, but Singapore would completely fail without mainland Malaya.

“No, they wouldn’t survive it,” Clement Attlee said. “I mean, I’m not very knowledgeable about these affairs, but even I know common sense.”

“If you say so,” Edward Gent said. “I mean, lots of the Malays here have begun civil disobedience, mourning the loss of the Sultans-”

“If the majority doesn’t like our new policies, I guess you could find a new majority!”

“Protests outside my office in Kuala Lumpur have become more vocal...”

“If it’s necessary, we’ll just make Singapore the capital of Malaya instead! I’ve told you before, I don’t care about the petty problems of Malaya. What matters is getting rid of our colonies. That’s what the Labour base wants to see - and that’s what I’m going to give them. Don’t get too attached to Malaya, now, since you’ll be leaving it soon.”

“What?” Edward squawked. “But they aren’t ready-”

“Promise whatever you need to. Infrastructure, lowered taxes, money - we need to get rid of colonies, Edward!”

Edward sighed. “So I’m moving to Singapore, now, aren’t I. Gwen will be so mad with me...”

“China has sent me news that they’ve been reigning in the Chinese,” Clement Attlee said. “But it’s your responsibility to reign in the Malay. I’ve heard that you’ve made friends with many members of the United Malays National Organization...”

Edward sighed again. “So what?”

“Edward, Edward, Edward... Have I not told you many times to not get involved in these petty ethnic disputes? The Chinese will be frustrated that we’ve been inciting the Malays, while they’ve been calming their Chinese down.”

“So what? The Chinese aren’t even a big threat. My goal is a better Malaya!”

“Edward. Do I need to move you to Burma?”

“Er...no...”

“Good, good. Remember, we’re leaving Malaya, and I’ve promised Zhou to give the Chinese relative autonomy and control in Malaya. Our trade agreements are dependent on this.”

Edward frowned.

“Do you understand, Edward?” Edward nodded. “Are you sure you understand?” Edward nodded again. “Good.”

Attlee left on a plane later that day, heading for New Delhi to make their independence finally official.
 
Is this another timeline I've developed writer's block on?

Soon, I might as well just give up.

I swear, I have this great idea
and then one or two years after the POD, my mind goes blank. Especially concerning independence of countries.
 
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