‘Sir, as a non-voting member of the Politburo I can get my hands on stuff very few others can. A lot of encouragement comes over our radio from the MCP representative in Beijing who passes on what the Chinese Communist Party advises the MCP to do. Records are made of conversations. When any peace talks start and the Chairman is out of the way I have a good chance to get the paperwork and bring it out.’ He looked up and saw the General staring at him, eyes button bright. ‘The snag is that, in such an environment at that time, the only man I can trust to give the paperwork to without any rumours spreading of what would be seen as my duplicity, is my friend Captain Jason Rance, now serving with 1/12 GR.’ He let that sink in before adding, ‘and were my colleagues to learn about that, my life would be in even greater jeopardy.’ He had another thought. ‘I can’t be easily contacted where I work, nor dare I come back here again so, if possible, I’d like to know your reaction before I leave.’
The General called in his MA. ‘Charles, a very fast ball. Please apologise to my next caller, ask him to come and see me at …’ and, biting his lower lip, ‘1530. Instead, give the Director of Intelligence a call and say I want him here now.’
The MA nodded and went to his own office and made the telephone calls.
The General then said to Ah Fat ‘Yes, I see your point. You have asked for something that is not an everyday type of request. It will have to be thought through most carefully. But before my Director of Intelligence, Colonel James Mason, comes I must ask you this. Are you sure Captain Rance will agree to undertake what could be a scary job and without doubt against regulations?’
‘Don’t worry, sir, I know it. He has already saved my life once when he himself could easily have been killed and, if necessary, I am sure he’d do it again.’ CC Too added, ‘Sir, not now but any time you want to know details of what has just been said, I can tell you.’
‘Yes, I’ll be interested. But for now let me think of the implications before Colonel Mason gets here. You two, if you want, discuss anything you may have on your minds.’
The General took a cigarette case out of his pocket and offered one to his guests. Both declined and, lighting one for himself, sat back, frowning. A chance I never expected, he mused. Will I still be here then and, if not, will anything we decide today crumble …
His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door and the Director of Intelligence was ushered in. He first saluted his superior and looked around. The two Chinese saw a tall, imposing man with an air of innate authority not always noticeable in army officers. The General stood up. ‘James, you know Mr Too but not our other guest, Mr Ah Fat.’
Hands were shaken. ‘Take a pew James, and listen to this …’ and he explained the reason for the sudden call. Apart from being given a preçis of Ah Fat’s and Captain Rance’s backgrounds, he was briefed on what had been offered and the difficulties of seeing so far ahead for any planning.
‘Yes, I can see the urgency in this, a most unusual and unprecedented situation. I’d like to ask Mr Ah Fat how is it that he has have been able to come to KL now?’
Ah Fat glanced at C C Too who gave him a nod. ‘I was given the name of a mole in Bluff Road by the Secretary General of the MCP who told me to visit her to see what she had picked up during her work. I was tasked by the Politburo to edit a newspaper, Red Tidings, and the Politburo’s plan was to print it on Government watermarked paper. It was thought that the only way to procure the paper was to get the mole to bring it from Bluff Road. I visited her as a member of the Politburo only after reporting to Mr Too and action was taken. Mr Too’s men managed to put a bug on her phone …’
‘Very successfully, too, if I am allowed to interrupt.’
‘… that gave me the idea of having two lots of watermarked paper, Government watermarked for the MCP and MCP marked for the guerrillas. I so to manipulate the text in the copies for the comrades in Malaya that they would lose heart.’
‘Neat, very neat,’ muttered Colonel Mason.
‘The Politburo sent me back to KL to see the mole to find out about any political future. It was later, when Mr Too and I were talking, after another visit to the mole, that I mentioned I could put my hands on material that would be kept quiet, so unknown, at any peace talks.’
The General, who had a soft spot for some types of eccentricity, butted in. ‘James, this is where Captain Rance comes into the picture. He is the only person Mr Ah Fat trusts to give the paperwork kept secretly by the Politburo. Mr Too has no other safe method of retrieving such material. Have you? How does all that fit in with any of your Intelligence plans and how do you see us actually putting it into action?’
The Colonel considered his answer for quite a while. ‘It is so vague, General, isn’t it? I don’t mean Mr Ah Fat’s plan but the whens and wheres of any peace talks. We have yet to have any intimation …’
C C Too interrupted. ‘Excuse me Colonel. I should have told you that my friend here has told me that the MCP Politburo have decided that they will send the High Commissioner, on the 1st of May, a letter under the name of Ng Heng, Representative of the Malayan Races Liberation Army, offering peace talks.’
‘Now that certainly is interesting. Thank you for telling me. I think it is most important that we do get anything Mr Ah Fat can bring us but using a British army officer when I expect only a policeman in charge of any defence arrangements will be allowed anywhere near the area, is probably going to be too tricky.’
A quietness descended as the realisation of putting the scheme into action was considered.
Ah Fat said, ‘I have a suggestion.’
‘Let’s hear it,’ both officers said at the same time.
‘Make Captain Rance’s visit unattributable.’
That suggestion brought consternation to all three listeners. Ah Fat continued, ‘This is off the top of my head so please hear me out. Some of my key men are willing to serve him. I doubt I’ll be able to come back here for quite some time but my close escort, Wang Ming, known as Hung Lo, the Bear, has pledged to serve Captain Rance unconditionally, can meet up with him, maybe in KL around the time that the ceasefire talks take place, then take him to meet me, somewhere in the jungle of course, with the secret material at a pre-arranged secret place near the Thai border on the Malaya side.’
‘He’ll be court-martialled if he is found out,’ said Colonel Mason.
‘And my head will be on the chopping block if that happens,’ added the General.
‘Not necessarily,’ broke in C C Too. ‘Suppose he is asked to go north, say to Sungei Patani to give the Gurkha recruits or even a Police Jungle Squad somewhere around there a lecture on some particular aspects of guerrilla warfare and asks for a week’s leave afterwards and then, in plain clothes, meets up with Ah Fat’s Bear who will guide him to the chosen area.’
‘Who will arrange the Bear’s meeting up with Captain Rance? That is the tricky part, isn’t it?’ That was the General’s question.
‘Not really, sir,’ said Ah Fat. ‘The Bear can visit C C Too with the details of when and where in enough time and detail for a meet up to be possible. He is my deputy and we live in a different part of the camp from the others. His absence will not be noticed.’
‘To make sure about your friend, have you thought of trying to ring him while you are here in KL?’ the Intelligence Colonel asked.
‘No sir, but I’d like to. My worry is that phones are insecure and I don’t know where he is.’
‘Then when we have finished with the General, I’ll take you both to my office. Not only can I easily find out where your friend is but I also have a military phone that is more secure than any civilian one.’
A broad smile appeared on Ah Fat’s face. ‘That sounds just what I want. Thank you for the suggestion.’
The General looked at his watch and said, ‘I’ve only got a short time with you so I’ll say that we all have to take risks sometimes and the stakes are high so I’ll stick my head out and say “yes” in outline. There is, however, a proviso: the politicians will all be elected Malayans by the time the terms of an amnesty are agreed on, likewise if and when any peace talks are arranged, military activity in that area will indubitably be vetoed. That rather sadly means I mustn’t know any more about what we’ve being discussing. For now only we four in this room will know about it, other than Captain Rance, of course.
‘General,’ said the Colonel, ‘excuse me but there is one more person I believe should know about what I might call the “cover plan” and that is, surely, the CO of Rance’s battalion. You can override any doubts he may have. It won’t be the present man as he’s due for replacement at the end of July.’
‘Good point. Thank you, James. If nothing happens there’s no need to tell him. And as for you, Mr Ah Fat, you have my total support for all your magnificent hard work. You are one in a million. It’s a great pity there aren’t more like you and Mr Too.’
Both Chinese acknowledged the compliment. The meeting broke up and the Colonel Mason said, ‘Come along with me,’ and led them to his office, which was wired off from the others. Once inside he called for a Major subordinate and told him to look up details of 1/12 GR, find out where the rifle companies were deployed and which one was commanded by a Captain Jason Rance. ‘I have details of every unit in the country,’ the Colonel said, ‘so it won’t take long to find out.’
Indeed within a few minutes the Major reported that Captain Rance commanded A Company which was in Rompin and gave the telephone number. The Colonel dialled and, after a few rings, the answer came, ‘OC A Company, Captain Rance here.’
The Colonel gave the phone to Ah Fat who, in Chinese, said ‘Wei, Shandong Cannon, it’s Flat Ears here; sorry I can’t talk to you face-to-face but only by fighting with the electric speech.’
Jason’s roar of approval was heard by the others who grinned delightedly at Rance’s obvious joy at hearing his old friend’s voice.’
