Translated into English by Saravanan Karmegam.
Chapter 20: Kota Baling
***
After passing the qualifying examination at the Military Training school, Pandian took charge as Second Lieutenant of 4th Guerilla squad of Gangai Duva camp.
The camp was located in the middle of a forest that stood untouched in the eastern side of Alor Star- Singapore Highway. The forest area where the camp was located fell under the ninth military division of communist guerrilla forces of Anti- Fascist army. While going to attend the jungle warfare training, the troops of Indian National Army used to come face to face with those Guerilla forces. It was an unwritten, unspoken understanding between these two forces that they would recognize each other yet move away as if they were unfamiliar. There were occasional clashes between them on account of territorial dominance. Such petty skirmishes would be immediately resolved with the intervention of responsible elders and the usual practice of giving way to each other would be restored. But one day, a potentially big, unexpected trouble erupted in the evening.
A Japanese army major namely Aramakki along with his five assistants had arrived in there to impart special training in jungle warfare to the 4th squad of Guerillas who were getting ready for the battle field in Burma war front. It was decided that Aramakki and his team would leave along with one section of guerilla forces for forest to impart them the training.
On the first day the training went without troubles. On second day, while the squad that had gone to attend training was returning, bullets were fired at them from both sides near Kurankukal area. A Japanese corporal and a Punjabi soldier were injured. As the Japanese men were present on the spot, the team couldn’t meet the commanders of Anti-Fascist Army and thus allowed the situation go out of control which resulted in Indian soldiers firing at them back. The soldiers shot some rounds hiding behind bushes and trees for some time, and then got tired and resigned to their respective camps.
The camp commander Chotturam told the Japanese major that he wanted to keep the special training in abeyance for some time. Since that training was arranged on special request of the Supreme commander of the Indian National Army, Major Aramakki insisted that the camp commander should give in writing that he wanted to keep the training in abeyance so as to avoid nuisance of Chinese ‘monkeys’ roaming there. Since a very strict order had come from Netaji about training, colonel Chotturam didn’t want to limit himself with undue restrictions.
Having decided to hold a talk with communist guerillas, Chotturam sent a messenger to Pandian. Next day at about half past nine in the forenoon, Pandian and Havildar Nallamani went inside the forest. After reaching the banks of the stream where they usually came across the guerilla sentries, they went near to the dense vegetation of a fully grown Jati tree.
Pandian asked Nallamani to sing a song aloud. Nallamani sang his favourite ‘herding song’.
‘With these petty stupid seven songs
I can’t herd
this pack of two hundred thirty-six goats…
Do have Sandi Sinnan with you
O samy
Have him. O…O…O…”
“Ha…ha…ha….song…song….song…” a Chinese soldier sitting guard at the tree top laughed in broken Tamil.
“We are your friends” Pandian looked up and told him in Malay. “We have come here to meet our friends. Please get down” he added.
“Just a minute” The Chinese man in military attire spoke in clean Malay and jumped off. Three Chinese men appeared from behind the bushes.
They led those Tamil men, wrapping a cloth around their eyes, to a hut made in leaves and wood where the guerilla commander stayed.
With the scars of chicken pox all over his face, and tall frame, the appearance of that Guerilla commander exuded resplendence usually seen in men leading wars with confidence. They couldn’t assess his age. He must be from Hukka group. His words were very succinct.
“We don’t object to your coming into the forest and attending the training. But if you are accompanied by Japanese men, we will fire at you. All the Japanese men who have come to your camp must get out of this area by tomorrow evening. If they don’t, our firing will resume. Nothing more to discuss on this issue. You may go now”
Pandian returned to his camp and informed the Colonel.
Colonel asked him, “What are we supposed to do then?”
“We can take a chance to fight the Chinese. We can put an end to this problem as to decide who dominates whom.”
“If such skirmish comes to an end in a day, we can take a chance. We can’t afford fighting them daily. We are camping at a particular location almost known to everyone. Those men are roaming around all over the forest area almost invisible. They don’t have a fixed location. Even if we take a calculated risk of fighting them, what is our strategy to place our troops? Which is the center of attack? Another very important disadvantage is they know our strength whereas we are not very certain about their actual military might. How many of them are deployed? How many of them are armed and what type of arms they have? Now you may have an idea why the Japanese army is not very serious about confronting them face to face”
“I understand. We will make Aramakki believe that hundreds of guerillas have been deployed with a plan to demolish the Jimpon Bridge. He would surely leave for his Head-quarters to inform this”
“Do you think he’d believe this kid story?”
“No matter if he believes it or not. He’d certainly think it is his duty to inform his Head Quarters of this information that happened to fall into his ears. We can add up some spice to it telling him that the Chinese men fired at us as they had the suspicion of Japanese men spying on them”.
Next day, Major Aramakki and his men left the camp. In another two days, a message came from the Japanese Army Head Quarters that Aramakki had been assigned an important task elsewhere and he along with his men wouldn’t be able to impart special training in jungle warfare.
…
As he stood first with exemplary training records, Pandian was one of the 35 officers dispatched to the secret camp at Kota Baling to get trained in specialized warfare.
The Kota Baling camp was located in the interiors of jungles where even monkeys didn’t dare entering.
The camp commander was Colonel Kattaragama. He was said to be born to a Sri Lankan father from Yaazhpanam and a Japanese mother. There were two trainer officers to assist him: Captain Jiro Matchudaira and Captain Kenji Yagawata.
The colonel and his two trainer officers put the trainees into an extremely backbreaking training for six months.
How to send the secret message to one’s troops from a forest area where the enemy troops are deployed? What are the measures of sabotage one must take in order to create internal chaos in the villages under the control of enemy? How to devise plans to hoodwink the armed enemy standing in the front? What are the swift steps one has to take in an unarmed combat? - these were the lessons taught in Kota Baling secret camp.
After the training, Pandian was promoted to a higher rank and was sent to the fifth Guerilla Unit functioning in Jarang Camp.
*** Chap 20: “Kota Baling” ended. ***
Chap 21: “Jarang Camp” will be published shortly.
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