Story
Chapter 5 Attempt!
The lush and green Malaysian landscape passed by as Tun Abdul Razak sat in his car, on the way back to Kuala Lumpur after a political speech in Shah Alam, 20 miles west. The winding road certainly gave the driver a lot of impetus to concentrate on driving and silence pervaded the drive back, with nothing but the hum of the engine to attenuate the volume of Razaks thoughts. The Federation was running pretty well now, in fact. Practically every event had been a blessing for the nation and his popularity.
Singapores loss had actually been a boon for the Alliance government in Kuala Lumpur because it was always a hotbed of Lee Kuan Yews socialist viewpoints. Now with him not being able to pull any weight in Parliament, it was practically dominated by Alliance members now and many laws could easily be passed when previously, it would be stopped by PPP representatives, by preventing the two-thirds vote necessary.
The unexpected gains made in Indonesia were even better as Malaysia would get a piece of the pie which was quickly being torn apart by the Australian attack. Soekarno is probably pissing in his pants now, Razak thought with a not-very-diplomatic grin. As the car meandered through the windy Old Klang Road which linked the port and Kuala Lumpur, Tun Abdul Razak began thinking up of what to announce on the radio again.
Suddenly, as the car began taking a sharp right corner, the rear right tyre blew. The huge Jaguar swerved as the driver lost control. The car hit the divider and began a series of flips
Once
twice
land-and-sky, land-and-sky
And it was over. The car was a wreck and blocked the entire two-lane trunk road. Onlookers began to rush to the cars aid, oblivious of the passenger it had carried and they were shocked. Tun Abdul Razak opened the back door and walked out in a total state of daze. Seeing their Prime Minster, more people rushed to help. Every single possible form of communication was used to convey the news.
Someone had tried to kill their Prime Minister!
Chapter 6 Propaganda Revisited
Tun Abdul Razak was once again, in front of the radio microphone. He didnt look any different from the first time he was here; announcing the nuclear war to his nation, save for the additional swathes of bandages on his arms. Razak was certainly blessed for he had escaped a catastrophic car crash with nothing worse than glass bits in his arms and some whiplash. The driver, however, hadnt been as lucky and bled to death from a severed artery before the Kuala Lumpur Hospital ambulance could arrive. And such was the story. Preliminary investigations on the car had proven that someone had tried sabotaging the car but inserting a small explosive in the tyre. How it was controlled, no one knew. There werent sufficient bits of tyre to make a proper analysis. But a bomb, it certainly was. And he definitely knew who it was that sanctioned it.
His hands held a letter sent out by Soeharto, his spy in the Indonesian government. It was delivered too late to save the life of the driver. But his actions would save the lives of many Malaysians and Indonesians. And just like the times before this, Tun Abdul Razak began his radio broadcast: -
Once again, people of Malaysia and Indonesia, I speak to you over the radio. The last time you heard me, I had mentioned that Soekarno, the Indonesian President, had threatened war for no reason with Malaysia. I am glad that it has not occurred. I also regret the Australian assault against your territories so I make you this offer. If any remaining Indonesian forces lay down their arms and surrender to Malaysia, requesting asylum, we shall protect them and their lands. Each of the administrative regions which surrender will be given a full status as a state in the Federation with full citizenship rights, representation in Parliament and their own jurisdiction for State affairs as it is for the 14 states in Malaysia, with the latest addition being the people of Irian Jaya. I call out to each province by name, Acheh, Sumatera Utara, Kalimantan Barat, Kalimantan Timur, Kalimantan Tengah, Kalimantan Selatan, Sulawesi Utara, Sulawesi Tengah, Sulawesi Selatan, Sulawesi Tenggara, Gorontalo, Maluku. All of you are offered membership as states in the Federation of Malaysia, with all the benefits available, including our national education programs and economic plans.
Perhaps you may be unwilling to join. It is understandable. How different am I from Soekarno or the Australians, you may ask? Let me tell you this. For one, I am not using military force. All states which join Malaysia do so under their own free will. And as you can see from the case of Singapore, you are free to leave the Federation if you want to, although we would request that you give us at least six months notice.
Malaysians, your efforts in improving our nation has worked beautifully. As you can see, we are benefiting from it all. The stock exchange has reached an all-time high and Malaysian industries are churning out excellent products for trade. Keep up the good work! Let me tell you one thing. For those who didnt already know, an assassination attempt was done on me this morning. Certain sources have proved to me that it was indeed the Indonesian President, Soekarno, who ordered the assassination. At first, I did not want to believe it. I didnt. But soon enough, there was enough proof that this was an attempt on my life by the Indonesian President. Is that the sort of government you would want in this area? No one simply kills people because they dont like them. What wrong have I done to Indonesia? Did I threaten them? Did I attack them? No! On the contrary, I aided the people, brought up their levels of education and more. My heart aches. But we shant go to war over this as this is a personal matter.
The matters of the state go before personal matters. That is my belief. And look where it has gotten us? By putting Malaysia before yourselves, YOU have benefited from it. Investors are making money, pay-rises are everywhere, and our soldiers are the best. We will come out of this strong.
Malaysia will come out of this strong.
And so ended, another radio announcement not only for the benefit of the Malaysian people, but also for the Indonesians.
Chapter 7 Adnan
One against three. That was going on in Kolonel Ibrahim Marzukis head as he piloted the brand new prototype tank onto the test range against two old Chi-ha tanks and one T-34, remnants of the war, not so long ago. The three units were radio-controlled from a bunker at the other end of the range and were apparently armed with live rounds, as was Ibrahims tank. And so it began, Ibrahim told the driver, Leftenan Lee, move forward.
In the brightly lit bunker, the controllers struggled to find the prototype and differentiate it from the rest of the terrain. It certainly wasnt easy and it wasnt as if
what was that? A flash from the trees and it was all over for one of the Chi-ha pilots. Immediately, the other two pilots began working together to sort out where the shot came from. Neither of them saw it, nor did they see even the tank.
Hull down, the low profile of the prototype made it almost unseen. Turretless, the only part of the tank that could be seen was the massive 125mm gun jutting above the slight hill-line. Chi-ha, left, HEAT. Both gunner/driver and loader acknowledged the command. Like a well-oiled machine, Leftenan Lee Yeow Siong shifted the tank to the left to bring the massive gun to bear and adjusted the elevation of the tank using a new pneumatic suspension on the front tracks. In the mean time, Sarjan Siva Supramaniam, the loader, grabbed a round and rammed it into the breech of the gun.
The fact that all three crew members were of different races did not escape Ibrahim. Even of different races, the three people were selected because they were probably the best tankers in the Army. And he had a reputation to protect.
Fire!
And another tank round drove straight into the second Chi-ha, blowing it up. The Chi-has were easy. Light Japanese tanks which probably couldnt survive most World War 2 rounds anyway. The T-34, however, would be a challenge
The prototypes flash suppressor worked perfectly. The Leftenan controlling the T-34 was sweating. He couldnt even see the enemy tank and decided to move around, both to disturb the prototypes aim and to find the damned prototype in the first place. As he drove the tank out of his hiding place, another round smacked at the exact point where he was. The prototypes crew could see him! And so, a game of chicken commenced. Although no more rounds were fired, the T-34 drove around the range, not knowing where the prototype was, but they were simply waiting
Waiting for a mistake
There! The T-34 stopped for a moment. Fire HESH! And the 125-mm calibre round spat out of the tank at supersonic speed, reaching the temporarily halted T-34 800 yards out in a mere two seconds. The T-34 was a master of engineering, with cunningly angled armour which could deflect most solid steel and tungsten rounds. But the HESH round was a lump of plastique explosive which splattered onto the tanks frontal armour before exploding, tearing a hole in the armour and probably killing the crew inside.
A cheer erupted in the bunker as the scientists who had worked for years to perfect the design saw their tank receive its baptism by fire and came out unhurt.
It was final.
Adnan was on the battlefield
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To the World,
Malaysia would like to announce that is has completed designing a brand new tank, the Adnan.
We are currently selling Adnan-E tanks to the world, armed with a 100mm smoothbore gun, capable of firing steel shot or HEAT shells. It has unmatched high-speed cross-country and has a very low profile, excellent for battle conditions.
We are selling the Adnan-E to the world at a rate of 2 ecos for 75 tanks and we accept orders from the world.
Yours,
Tun Abdul Razak,
Prime Minster of Malaysia.