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------west of Knocklong (Limerick) 1105 hrs

After most of the Welsh Division was overrun, Feldmlt. Krauss ordered one of his brigades supported by a single battery of field guns to pursue the fleeing remnants of the division. He ordered the other brigade supported by the rest of his artillery to attack the now exposed left flank of the 11^th (Northern) Infantry Division. Shifting his artillery, esp. the howitzers, took some time nor was his relatively inexperienced men able to fully exploit their tactical advantage. Nevertheless this was a very stressful time for Gen. Hammersley the commander of the 11^th (Northern) Division. He had been advancing slowly against heavy resistance for most of the morning when he received word that his flank was now under attack. This was followed a few minutes later by a motorcyclist arriving at his HQ with orders from Gen. Wilson to immediately retire all the way to Limerick. Breaking off his attack, countering the enemy attack on his flank and making a speedy withdrawal proved taxing for a newly trained division still in its first week of combat. However the Austro-Hungarians were inexperienced as well. Gen. Hammersley also experienced some luck in the fact that the cavalry of Brigade Frauenau, which were potentially dangerous in this situation, were instead concentrating their attention on the Welsh Division not him. That let him disengage without losing any of his remaining artillery and only a fifth of his supplies.

------Kilmallock (Limerick) 1115 hrs

To the west the Lowland Division was having an even harder time trying to comply with Gen. Wilson's orders to withdraw all the way back to Limerick city. The right wing of the Lowland Division was curved well back in order to counter the repeated attempts by the 111^th Infantry Division to envelop them. Moreover the Germans controlled the main road leading to Limerick. The 111^th Infantry Division harassed the left flank of the Lowland Division while strongly engaging the meager and hastily organized Scottish rearguard. The Lowland Division lost a pair of 15 pounders, 5 machineguns and a third of its supplies during the withdrawal.

------HQ Ireland Command Curragh (Kildare) 1120 hrs

Gen. Hamilton was on the telephone with Gen. Maurice, the commander of the newly formed Northern Region inquiring, "Gen. Maurice, have you committed the 6^th Leicestershire yet?"

"Not yet, sir, but I am on the verge of using that battalion to reinforce our forces at Athlone. I have received word today that there is yet another rebel force of some size which arrived in County Longford late yesterday. This poses a new threat to our forces there."

"I understand your concern about Longford but I must inform you that I need that battalion sent to Nenagh as quickly as possible."

"I will do so immediately, general. Does this mean that there has been another, uh, 'setback' in Munster?"

"Yes that is correct. There has been a setback in Munster," Hamilton admitted without volunteering anything in the way of details.

"Uh, might I ask just how serious a 'setback' we suffered?"

Hamilton paused a few seconds before answering, "Serious enough, general. It's a complicated situation and I do not have the time right now to go into the details."

"Uh, I understand that, general, though it would help me to perform my duties if I had a better picture of what is going on."

Hamilton turned to his chief of staff, Gen. Braithwaite, who read the expression on his face and commented, "He is pumping you for information, isn't he? I told you Robertson ordered him to spy on us."

"What is that? I can't hear what you're saying, general," came Maurice's voice over the telephone.

Hamilton gestured with hand for his chief of staff to be quiet then answered, "Oh, Gen. Braithwaite was just telling me something that is not terribly relevant to this conversation. What is relevant is the situation in County Donegal. Are the rebels there still retreating back into Leitrim as your report indicated?"

"No, general, our latest intelligence shows them heading instead towards the northern part of Fermanagh. I am worried that while we stopped them at Donegal they may be planning to circle around and thrust into County Tyrone."

"Belfast is already short on food. If the rebels disrupt the agricultural counties of Fermanagh and Tyrone that situation will become much worse."

"Yes, I understand that general which is why I am moving the 3^rd Inniskilling Fusiliers back to Omagh. More importantly I have ordered the 1/7^th Highland Light Infantry to pursue and eliminate the rebels."

"Well then it looks like you have matters well in hand."

"This band of rebels, yes, general, but there is the unpleasant fact that with the partial exception of Galway, we have lost all communication with Connaught."

"We are well aware of that general, but once this rebel force in Donegal is eliminated and Athlone finally retaken, we are confident that pacification of Connaught can be accomplished rather speedily. Furthermore the fall of Limerick would go a long way as well to that end as it would make it very unlikely that the rebels in Connaught would be receiving any more arms."

"And exactly how is the siege of Limerick progressing, general? Are we into the city itself yet?"

"Uh, not yet but Gen. Wilson believes the German Marines to be on their last legs. The attack he has planned for this afternoon should do the trick."

"Huh, that sounds very promising, sir, very promising indeed. It will be simply smashing to see the Union Jack flying high once again over King John's Castle. And as you say it will go a long way towards straightening out our strategic situation. However it is my duty to suggest one other option for you to consider. We could permit the U.V.F. to assemble and use them to eliminate the rebels."

Hamilton rolled his eyes and sighed, "Gen Wilson suggests that option at least twice a day. There are political reasons against going down that road. The War Committee, Viceroy and Chief Secretary are all in complete agreement."

"General, I understand all too well that there would political consequences to arming the U.V.F. but to mind they are outweighed by the purely military consequences of failing to do so."

"We are not ignorant of the military consequences, general. The War Committee has again and again made it clear to me that they not us will decide if and when it is necessary to assemble and arm the U.V.F. It is bad enough that Gen. Wilson mentions this topic way too frequently. Do not emulate him."

-------House of Commons 1125 hrs

Walter Long was speaking, "It is all well and good to laud the War Committee for our recent victory over the German fleet in the Celtic Sea but I feel that it is my solemn duty to bring up the less than satisfactory campaign we have waged on the ground inside Ireland. How many times has the government told us that the fall of Limerick was 'imminent'? Quite frankly I have lost count. Now please do not get me wrong. If the German resistance at Limerick does collapse in the next 24 hours no one here will be happier than I. But I must ask what if tomorrow comes and the Germans remain ensconced inside Limerick? And what if their forces inside Cork manage to eject us out of the entire county? Yes, yes my dear colleagues I can see that some of you adamantly refuse to so much as consider that possibility. And again I must beg your indulgence, for again I must ask the horrible question, 'What if the enemy drives us out of County Cork while holding on to Limerick? How might this influence the rebellion?' Yes, yes, I know that we supposedly decapitated the rebellion at Dublin and we therefore want to believe that the rebels will simply lose heart and give up. Perhaps they will eventually but we have yet to see any sign of this. The government has very reluctantly admitted that a rebel force aided by an armored train took the key city of Athlone, which dominates central Ireland as any student of Irish history can attest. Have the supposedly disillusioned rebels surrendered there? No they have not."

Long paused to take in the reaction of the other MP's. There were no catcalls. Those whose facial expressions were clearly the most unhappy belonged to either the Labour Party or the Irish Nationalists. That did not bother Long as he fully expected intractable antipathy from both of those parties. He was only interested in his fellow Conservatives and to a lesser degree, the Liberals. He was very pleased to see no one in his own party upset over what was implicitly a sharp criticism of Bonar Law. He caught a brief glimpse of his potential rival, Balfour who as usual gave off an air of philosophical detachment. The Liberals were demonstrating a mixed reaction to Long's words. He knew that most of them would prefer Balfour as the next prime minister, but Long hoped to persuade some of them.

------SMS Blücher Western Approaches 1150 hrs

Blücher took her first prize of the day, a 4,100 ton freighter out of Colombo bound for Dublin with a cargo of tea. Adm. Maas, the commander of 2^nd Scouting Group, quickly decided that she was not worth keeping and ordered her sunk.

------Old Admiralty Building 1210 hrs

Adm. Oliver trotted excitedly down the hallway holding in his right hand a folder containing the latest work product of Room 40. "This one is helpful, First Lord, even though it does not cleanly spell out their intent. Here read it for yourself," he announced as he handed Carson the folder. Sir Edward thanked the admiral then opened the folder to read:

NAUTILUS ATTACKED BY SUBMARINE OFF MOUTH OF SEINE WHILE MINELAYING REPEAT NAUTILUS ATTACKED BY SUBMARINE OFF MOUTH OF SEINE WHILE MINELAYING STOP MINELAYING WAS NOT COMPLETED REPEAT MINELAYING WAS NOT COMPLETED STOP NAUTILUS WILL NOW ATTEMPT TO LAY MINES OFF CHERBOURG REPEAT NAUTILUS WILL NOW ATTEMPT TO LAY MINES OFF CHERBOURG STOP

Carson read it again then handed it to Adm. Callaghan while saying, "The Germans are doing a bit of minelaying. We should not be surprised by this development but right now we should consider this to be the least of our worries. We still do not have an inkling about what the Germans intend to do with their blasted troopships."

Callaghan handed the folder to Adm. Wilson then said, First Lord, "I see this latest piece of intelligence as a partial confirmation of my suspicion that they are indeed heading back to Ireland though they do not seem to be in as much of a hurry as they were last week. Cherbourg is on their route and Adm. von Ingenohl intends to take advantage of that to lay some minefields."

Wilson passed the folder to Adm. Jackson, then said, "That is one possibility but I would not dismiss the possibility of an invasion of England. The Germans could be planning to come ashore further west than we had previously anticipated---say at beaches of Brighton hoping to seize Newhaven to use as their main port. I would remind everyone that the coastal defenses are quite weak west of Eastbourne."

"And I must also mention that laying mines off Cherbourg could be intended to make sure that the line of communication to the B.E.F. remains cut while they land their forces at Dieppe," remarked Adm. Jackson.

"Oh wonderful, this wireless message not only fails to put to rest any of our nightmares but merely gives us one more problem to fret over," Carson commented, "We should at least warn the French about this."

Oliver frowned and spoke up, "First Lord, I would counsel waiting at least two hours before doing so and then being somewhat imprecise in what we tell them. If the French respond too quickly to this development it could make the Germans suspect that we've broken their codes."

Carson drummed his fingers on the wooden conference table at which he sat. After a half minute he said, "We seem to have the same conversation over and over Adm. Oliver. I do understand your concerns about ruining our great edge in intelligence by using too conspicuously. Nevertheless too much caution greatly degrades its utility. There has been too much friction between us and the French. They ask a great many questions and in all honesty we have been downright niggardly in providing them answers."

Oliver reddened at this criticism so Callaghan decided to mediate, "First Lord, I would suggest that we wait just one more hour then notify our French counterparts that we suspect that the Germans have laid mines off the mouth of the Seine and may be planning to do the same off Cherbourg."

Oliver opened his mouth to protest but then decided against it. Carson noticed this and asked, "Is there something you wish to say, Adm. Oliver?"

Oliver sighed deeply and shook his head then answered, "Uh, I have nothing to add at this time, First Lord."

"Then I take it that you have no objection to Adm. Callaghan's suggested course of action?"

He certainly but after a few seconds bit his tongue and said, "I have no objections to the admiral's suggestion."

"That is good because to my way of thinking it is if anything still a bit too indirect, but I don't want to waste any more time arguing about what we should tell the French. Is there anything that we should be telling the army right now? They are worrying themselves sick right now about a possible German invasion."

"There is still nothing definitive that we can tell them right now, First Lord, as we have not ruled out the possibility of an invasion of England," Adm. Wilson commented.

"I agree. We should wait until we have something more definitive before passing it on to Lord Kitchener," said Adm. Callaghan.

Carson sighed. He was not completely happy with that suggestion as well but unwilling to impose his will on the Sea Lords either.

------HMS Achilles off Sligo 1230 hrs

After not finding any rebels to hit near Donegal, the armored cruiser Achilles was then dispatched to shell the coastal town of Sligo, which was known to be in rebel hands. The cruiser anchored in Sligo Bay and used both its 9.2" and 7.5" guns. The shelling almost immediately caused pandemonium. People ran screaming from the town. Before long several fires were started. After 10 minutes the shelling stopped. The captain of the Achilles had been told to wait to see if there was any visible sign such as a conspicuous white flag that the rebels wanted to surrender. He did not see any and after 10 more minutes resumed the shelling. There were more casualties, mostly among the civilian population. The fires grew steadily worse.

Eventually the shelling stopped and the cruiser raised anchor. Once beyond Sligo Bay she headed northwest to rejoin the rest of her squadron. The city continued to burn. Eventually many of the adult civilians returned to join with rebels to work with them to extinguish fires and repair what could be repaired. And as they did more than a few decided to join the ranks of the rebels as well.

------Glenmalure Valley (Wicklow) 1320 hrs

Both Pearse and the O'Rahilly were softly singing,

"Lift MacCahir Óg your face, brooding o'er the old disgrace
That black FitzWilliam stormed your place, drove you to the Fern
Grey said victory was sure - Soon the firebrand he'd secure
Until he met at Glenmalure with Fiach MacHugh O'Byrne. "

In 1580 during the Second Desmond Rebellion a force of 3,000 English soldiers led by Baron Arthur Grey entered the Wicklow Mountains to take the stronghold of the rebellious O'Byrne clan led by Fiach MacHugh O'Byrne, which was situated at Balinacor in the Glenmalure Valley. Those of the Baron's military advisers who were experienced in Irish warfare, had warned against this move but he wanted to quash the rebellion before England's great rival of that time became involved. In the ensuing battle his relatively inexperienced soldiers found themselves frustrated by the steep valley walls and were slowly bled by snipers. Eventually they fled the valley in panic. During their retreat the Irish swooped down on them killing more than a quarter of the English soldiers with swords and poleaxes and forcing the rest to fight a rear guard action all the way to Rathdrum.

It was now the 1/5^th Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers plus a contingent of constables that nosed their way into the valley. Unlike Arthur Grey they entered from the east not the northwest having marched down the Military Road which had not existed in the Elizabethan era. The battalion had suffered very heavy cumulative losses both from the Battle of Dublin and the subsequent fighting near the Sally Gap and so had an effective strength of about 550 men. Their commander, Lt. Col. Sir Winton Churchill was convinced that the rebels of Dublin Brigade were down to the last 200 bullets and was determined to finish them off before they could escape and disperse. In particular he wanted both Pearse and Rommel either dead or alive.

"Shhhh Stop singing and be quiet," Rommel ordered.

The O'Rahilly immediately stopped. Pearse though complained, "Come on now, Major. I dunna think the Brits will be hearin' us way up here and t'is a really fine Irish song about the last battle that was fought here. Good for the soldier's morale if---"

"---Shut up and be quiet or I will shoot you."

Pearse did not think Rommel was serious but he didn't want to find out for sure. He bit his lower lip, folded his arms and sulked in silence. After a few seconds he turned to the west and glanced up at Mt. Lugnaquillia where some of Dublin Brigade's best climbers had established an observation post just before noon. This had helped alert them of the approach of their British pursuers. The rebels were positioned in dense trees on either side of the lone road that snaked through the valley. The 3^rd Kerry Battalion, 5^th Dublin Battalion and the HQ company of Dublin Brigade were posted north of the road while the 1^st Dublin Battalion led by Commandant Heuston were to the south. In both cases Rommel ordered that most of the men be posted deep in the woods completely out of sight of the road with only a few of the best marksmen overlooking the road from partially concealed sniping positions at the edge of the woods where they had camouflaged themselves. The good news today was that they had received a large shipment of ammunition before dawn. Yesterday they had in fact been dangerously low on ammunition and that was one reason that they had withdrawn to the south.

The Royal Scots Fusiliers accompanied by some constables were now in plain sight below. A small advance party composed of both soldiers and constables had entered the valley a few minutes earlier. Rommel had ordered his men to hold their fire and to stay hidden. Rommel would occasionally glance at the enemy through his binoculars but not too often as he feared the enemy might catch a reflected glint off the lenses even though the sun was currently masked behind thickening clouds. He thought it very probable that there would be at least some rain before sunset. As long as it did not rain hard in the next few minutes he would be happy.

Both Heuston and Ashe had been ordered in the strictest terms to wait until the 3^rd Kerry Battalion where Rommel was located, opened fire. Rommel raised his binoculars and looked again. The column of British soldiers continued to march into the valley but he could see that many were uneasy about the possibility of ambush and were constantly turning to gaze up at the walls of the valley. As we was about to put the binoculars down again Rommel observed someone who looked to be an officer. He was obviously agitated and was pointing towards the south wall. The officer now dispatched two of his soldier to scramble up towards where he was pointing.

He probably spotted someone in 1^st Dublin Battalion thought Rommel still watching through his binoculars. He saw the column slowing then grinding to a halt. My measure of surprise is evaporating now is the time. "Ready! Aim! Fire!" he ordered while putting down his binoculars and taking up his own rifle. Only 19 rifles fired in the first few seconds but then the adjacent 5^th Dublin Battalion commenced firing and soon after that the 1^st Dublin Battalion. As this was going on, the riflemen, who had been held back inside the woods now sprinted forward to join in.

Down below Churchill had also begun to suspect a trap just before the firing started, but remained convinced that the rebels were nearly out of ammunition. The relatively few shots being fired initially reinforced his conviction. He therefore felt it would be a serious mistake to try to fall back. Instead he ordered his men to charge up the northern slope. Brandishing his sword he led his men yelling, "For King and Country!" Churchill was still not completely recovered from his wound in Dublin though and some of his soldiers pulled ahead of him. As the enemy rifle fire intensified one of the soldier ahead of him was hit and fell backwards. Churchill reacted too slowly and was toppled himself by the falling body. They both tumbledl down the slope as did most of other soldiers who had been hit---which was becoming all too common.

The fall knocked the wind out of Sir Winston and caused several bruises and scrapes. The soldier who had been hit lay on top on him not dead but twitching and moaning incoherently. He was also bleeding profusely. As Churchill struggled to regain his breath his soldier servant arrived and moved the severely wounded soldier off Sir Winston's body as quickly as possible. When he was done all three of them were covered with blood. "Are you hurt, sir?" asked the batman, "Should I summon a medic?"

Churchill shook his head as he wheezed and coughed. He found being speechless extremely frustrating. Finally he was able to gasp, "By all means call a medic, Dunbar, not for me rather but for this poor wretch here."

While the soldier servant fetched a medic, Churchill reevaluated his tactical situation. It was now becoming painfully clear that if the enemy did not indeed run out of ammunition very soon his battalion was in a tight spot. The attempt to storm up the northern slope had obviously failed and his battalion was now caught in a deadly crossfire coming from elevated positions. His battalion only had two machineguns, both old maxims instead of the superior Vickers. One had already set up and was firing up at the enemy. As Churchill watched the soldier operating this machinegun was hit in the head by a rebel round and promptly collapsed very probably dead.

A medic approached and asked, "Your batman told me you were injured, sir."

"No, no, no! I am not the one who's hurt. It's this poor chap here that needs attention."

The medic then examined the wounded man who had toppled Churchill. As he did Churchill then remembered his soldier servant. "Dunbar? Are you there, son? Where are you?"

"Colonel, your batman was killed seconds after he found me," answered the medic, "And this one on the ground here one will be joining him before long. There is nothing I can do for him. Are you sure you that you are not injured---"

"I have already told you that I am not injured! If you can't help this soldier then go find someone you can help! Go!" snapped Churchill. He had been fond of Dunbar, who had been an extremely helpful batman and it pained him that the man had perished. The former First Lord of the Admiralty suddenly found himself remembering his past failures incl. the Belgian campaign and esp. the fateful decision that led to the disaster at Dogger Bank. Now he again faced ruination. He actually found it comforting to think that if Glenmalure was to be another failure his death would surely spare him further disgrace.

The major who was his second in command approached crouching, "Colonel! I heard you were injured!"

"You heard incorrectly, major," replied an annoyed Churchill who nonetheless realized his blood soaked uniform would make that question nearly inevitable.

"We are being shredded in this position, sir. We must withdraw back to the Military Road immediately."

Churchill turned away from the major and stood up fully. He waved his sword high in the air with his right hand, and likewise waved his cap with his left hand. He bellowed at the top of his now recovered voice, "Rommel! Rommel! Here I am! What are you waiting for? Do it!"

The major was astonished by this and again wondered if his superior had been injured after all, just not physically. Seconds later a trail of bullets raked their position in the distinctive pattern made by a machinegun. Several British soldiers were hit but Churchill who was the most exposed was miraculously untouched.

"Hah! You missed Rommel! You missed!" taunted Churchill.

The single machinegun that Dublin Brigade still possessed had only half of a belt of ammunition left because the predawn shipment of ammunition Rommel had received did not include any belts. Rommel had therefore ordered that weapon be kept well out of sight in the woods and only be brought up once the battle was well underway. It did not fire long.

"Well would you look at that officer waving his sword at us like he doesn't have a care in the world," remarked the O'Rahilly, "Now don't that beat all."

"It is magnificent!" said Pearse with obvious deep seated admiration.

"But it is not war," replied Rommel as he fired his Lee-Enfield.

To this day historians have debated whether or not it was Rommel's bullet that struck Churchill. Whoever fired it, Sir Winston almost instantly fell back. The major managed out of sheer reflex to catch his body before his head could strike the rocky ground. There was a strange look on Churchill's face. "Warrender, give me back my dreadnoughts," he groaned feebly then slipped into unconsciousness.

The medic who had been sent off a minute earlier quickly returned and muttered with sardonic irony, "Well now, it looks like you were hurt after all, colonel."

"See what you can do with him," the major told the medic. The enemy machinegun had mercifully stopped firing. The battalion sergeant major and adjutant had approached in the last half minute. "We must withdraw as best we can from this bloody death trap," the major ordered.

The sergeant major interrupted, "Begging your pardon, major, but you might want to take a gander at what is happening on that tall mountain to the west."

------Clonakilty (Cork) 1345 hrs

After escorting the transports that delivered the 8^th Battalion Devonshire to Rosslare, the 2^nd Cruiser Squadron proceeded to escort two Isle of Man packet ships with supplies to Berehaven. On the way they stopped at the coastal town of Clonakilty taking care to swing wide around Cork, as there were disturbing reports of one or more German submarines being on guard near the harbor.

A party was sent ashore from the Natal. They were looking for the surviving remnants of the 16^th (Irish) Infantry Division, more half of which belonged to the 7^th Battalion Leinster Regiment. The last time there had been any contact with these units was more than a week ago so the anxious landing party was very unsure if they still existed or if they would find the enemy in control of this region. To their relief they found the remnants roughly where they had been previously. The naval lieutenant in charge of the landing party soon met with the commander of 7^th Leinster, who was the senior officer in charge of the survivors.

"What in blazes happened?" asked the Lt. Col., "It has been more than a week since we have had any contact with friendly forces, despite being told that we would be supplied by sea regularly. We were beginning to think that you had forgotten us."

"I am very sorry that we have not been able to get back to you sooner, sir," replied the Lt., "but the Royal Navy has been very busy these last few days, sir. I don't know if word has reached you out here but the Grand Fleet engaged the German battle fleet Saturday."

"So there was a naval battle Saturday? We have heard some wildly inconsistent rumors in the last two days about that. Please tell me that the version where most of the German fleet was destroyed is true."

The naval officer shook his head, "Oh, how I wish that I could, colonel. The battle was a strange one and did not last long. We sank a German dreadnought without losing any battleships in the gun battle though a German submarine sank a badly damaged predreadnought the next day. We consider the battle to be a victory but we acknowledge that is a modest one and that the German fleet remains very much a threat."

"Hmm well at least is a big improvement over Dogger Bank and Utsire, eh? Is the Grand Fleet off Ireland right now?"

"Uh, I am under strict orders not to discuss that topic, colonel."

"Oh and why is that? Is the great Royal Navy afraid that my men are a security risk just because they happen to be Irish Catholics?"

"Uh, I was not informed of the reasons behind my orders, colonel."

The colonel stared at him intensely for nearly a minute then shrugged slightly and sighed, "Of course not. And I suppose they forbade you tell us anything about the German fleet either?"

"Oh, I am allowed to tell you that most of the German fleet has left Ireland."

"Well that at least is encouraging, but it implies that some of the warships are still around, right?'

"I do not know for sure about that, colonel. All that I have been told is that 'most' of their fleet has gone home. You can make whatever inferences you choose from that."

The colonel thought that over and decided that berating the messenger for providing insufficient information was pointless, so instead he said, "Now that 'most' of the German warships have gone I take it that we can finally receive the steady flow of supplies we were promised a week ago and never received. My men are seriously underfed. The only reason the food situation is not still worse is that some of the local residents remain very loyal to the Crown. They provide us with some food and fodder but we could use more." He decided not to mention that most but not all of their providers were Protestants, who wanted protection from the local Catholics. This was very ironic given that his soldiers were overwhelmingly Irish Catholic.

"Again you must accept my apologies on behalf of the Royal Navy for---"

The colonel waved his left hand and interrupted, "---yes, yes, apology accepted. I am more interested in the immediate future than the past right now."

"Ah, well yes, colonel, we do expect to be much more regular in our deliveries now that the German fleet has departed. As soon as this meeting is concluded, my party will signal for supplies to be brought ashore forthwith."

The colonel smiled slightly, "That would be deeply appreciated. However I hope it will become unnecessary soon. What can you tell about what is going on at Cork? Last we heard VI Army Corps was making an attack intended to retake the city."

"Uh, that operation was not a success, colonel. Instead the Germans have steadily pushed our own forces north of Mallow."

"Mallow! That far north? And what about Limerick and Dublin?"

"I am happy to report that the rebellion in Dublin was crushed Monday, sir. As for Limerick the army changed it strategy and attacked through County Clare which at first made good progress but has had a tougher go of it as it approached the northern edge of the city. Still the army is confident that the city will fall either today or tomorrow. Once it does then Gen. Hamilton will be able to concentrate his forces on Cork."

"Hopefully he can do that before the enemy can concentrate their forces against me. Do you know if the enemy force includes some Austrians? Our patrols engaged some men in strange uniforms a few miles west of Kinsale Monday. Some of us believe that they were Austrians."

"That is correct, colonel. The enemy reinforcements that arrived last week are believed to contain some Austrians. I do not have any details about what the units are though."

The colonel snorted briefly, "Austrians in Ireland, eh? Curiouser and curiouser. Maybe the Mad Mullah will show up here before this bloody insanity is over. What do you think of that?"

"Uh, well I don't rightly see that happening, colonel," replied the lieutenant to what he hoped was a rhetorical question.

The colonel snorted again with a disturbing sense of irony, "I sure hope so. I have my hands full as it is. Not only is there a very unspecific number of Austrians at Kinsale but there is a rebel force at least equal in size to my own to my west. My men had skirmished with it on three occasions. Just yesterday we learned that they are called the South Cork Battalion. I have no doubt that man for man my soldiers are superior, yet the unpleasant fact is that each engagement has cost me casualties that I can ill afford right now. Nor could I afford to ignore the expenditure of precious ammunition in these skirmishes. I therefore resisted my ardent desire to mount a full scale attack to destroy this band of traitors. I have been worried the last two days that my soldiers will be crushed between the Austrians to the east and this rebel battalion to our west."

"I see, sir. I should tell you now that I was instructed to get a written report from you before I depart. It would summarize your current strength and outline your tactical situation, as well as providing any information that might prove useful."

The colonel paused for a few seconds then nodded, "I would be more than happy to do that. For one thing I intend to include in it the painfully obvious fact that Ireland has completely gone to Hell."

------near Sixmilebridge (Clare) 1400 hrs

As Gen. von Jacobsen had promised the 1^st Seebattalion was thrust into action in the afternoon where it relieved a battalion of German Marines who had been whittled down to barely the strength of a company. This was just in time to fend off a renewed assault by the West Riding Division. This attack came on the direct orders of Gen. Wilson despite the misgivings of Gen. Baldock, the division's commander. The divisional artillery fired off all its remaining shells in support. The German Naval Division again declined to duel and waited for the British infantry. The 4 British battalions that made the assault were the strongest battalions Gen. Baldock had available and only one of them was currently more than half strength. They lacked even jam tin bombs and were attacking an entrenched enemy with superior numbers. The previous attacks had at least possessed some justification as attrition. This time the attackers were slaughtered in great numbers.

------Pettigoe (Donegal) 1405 hrs

Col. Heinrici halted the march of the Northern Ireland Brigade at the small town of Pettigoe near the border with County Fermanagh. During the day his brigade had gained 47 new members, including a handful from County Tyrone. Within the last hour his cyclist company warned him that a column of British soldiers were hard marching in pursuit. Heinrici decided to fight instead of trying to run. Lower Lough Erne protected his left flank. He guarded his right flank with one of his battalions and met the enemy head on with the other two. He did not have time to entrench but he was able to set up a few machinegun nests protected by sandbags and position most .of his men behind some cover.

His pursuers were the 1/7^th Battalion Highland Light Infantry, which he had fought the day before at Donegal, plus 90 constables. Their commander had interpreted Heinrici's withdrawal from Donegal as a sign that the rebels were a beaten force fleeing in disarray. He also continued to underestimate the size of his enemy. He sent one company and the constables to try to envelop the rebel right flank and cut off their retreat. He then attacked frontally with the rest of his battalion. This attack encountered rifle which was superior in both quantity and quality than expected as well as having some machineguns and an advantage in cover. The British frontal attack faltered and soon had to be called off.

Meanwhile the company of Highland Light Infantry sent to outflank the rebels had a tough time as well, running into an entire battalion that outnumbered them more than two to one. The company commander decided on a bayonet charge which he hoped would disperse the rebels. It did not and they mercilessly mowed more than half of his men. Those that were left along with the constables pulled back to rejoin the rest of their battalion. After both sides conducted patrols which generated a few skirmishes. Eventually Heinrici decided to move his brigade 4 miles east to the village of Kesh where he would spend the night, but warned his company commanders that the brigade would be on the march again well before dawn. They had acquired a small surplus of good quality horses now and Heinrici organized 33 men with both good shooting and equestrian skills into a small cavalry troop. Meanwhile every hour a steady trickle of local volunteers arrived to join the brigade.

------Laragh (Wicklow) 1440 hrs

Just before dawn the 4^th Dublin Battalion had eliminated the R.I.C. and militia guarding the railway station in the coastal town of Wicklow. Using explosives brought up from the Kynochs plant in Arklow they destroyed a section of railroad track. The rebels remained frustrated by the R.I.C. station and the coast guard base even though had received a sizable amount of badly needed ammunition as well as 100 more Moisin-Nagant rifles in the early morning. Adding to their troubles a British armed trawler shelled them soon after dawn.

Orders arrived from Maj. Rommel that Brugha was to desist from further operations in Wicklow town and move to the village of Annamoe, where he was to be as inconspicuous as possible. Soon after they arrived there they began to skirmish with two dozen constables sent by Churchill to reconnoitre Laragh. Brugha now saw that a bonfire had been lit on Mt. Lugnaquillia. This was the signal for 4^th Dublin Battalion to march on the town of Laragh as quickly as possible. It overwhelmed the constables and arrived at Laragh just ahead of still more constables followed closely by the 1/5^th Royal Scots Fusiliers, who were fleeing east from the rest of Dublin Brigade which was in hot pursuit. Seeing that their line of retreat was cut off the R.I.C. surrendered almost immediately.

The Royal Scots Fusiliers did not surrender---at least at first. Instead they charged the 4^th Dublin Battalion trying to break through. The 4^th Dublin Battalion mowed them down with a hail of lead. Caught between the hammer of 1^st Dublin Battalion, 5^th Dublin Battalion and 3^rd Kerry Battalion and the anvil of 4^th Dublin Battalion, what was left of the 5^th Royal Scots Fusiliers was soon obliterated. The rebels captured nearly 300 prisoners including constables, more than half of which were wounded. They also captured the 2 machineguns plus all of the supply wagons, which included some ammo belts for machineguns.

------Dublin 1455 hrs

Gen. Blackadder, the presiding officer of the military court in Dublin, called Gen. Lowe, the commander of the Eastern Region again. This time it was a little less cut and dry. "The court has deliberated and found the Countess Markievicz guilty on all counts, including the murder of the constables that tried to arrest her in Sligo. She did little to defend herself. In fact she tried to claim that she alone was responsible for the death of the constables in Sligo maintaining that Yeats and Pound were merely accomplices after the fact."

"A very remarkable woman to be able kill four armed men like that all by herself," remarked Lowe with obvious sarcasm.

"She is obviously trying to protect the poets, esp. Mr. Pound. Has a decision been reached yet as to when he will stand trial?"

"Gen. Hamilton has told that the Foreign Office is very much opposed to putting Pound on trial here. There have been some problems with bloody Yanks of late and the Foreign Office believes executing Pound will only serve to make things worse. Some believe he should be tried over in England not before a military court and not for another month. Others say we should have your court try him here but commute his death sentence to hard labor."

"Is there any chance then that you'll be commuting the Countess' death sentence?"

"Birrell has asked me to do that on account of her being a woman, but we all know that he wants a halt to all executions any way, and so is just using her gender as an excuse. London has made it clear though they have had quite enough of the Countess. There is a shocking number of women participating in the rising, and not just as nurses mind you, but actually bearing arms and fighting like a man. It makes one wonder what the hell is happening to the world. The Prime Minister has made it abundantly clear to Gen. Hamilton that his policy concerning treason applies to women as well as men."

"So should I schedule her for execution tomorrow morning?"

"Yes, let us get this unpleasant but necessary chore over and done with."

------Meiszagola (Lithuania) 1540 hrs

The German infantry had suffered serious cumulative casualties as they methodically worked their way up the hill that dominated Meiszagola and the surrounding countryside. Finally a battalion of the 29^th Infantry Regiment succeeded in driving the Russians off the top of the hill. Those German soldiers that peered over the top of the hill saw confusion down below. The Russian artillery was limbered up and pulling out, abandoning their infantry. Some of the infantry were panicking but their officers were trying to rally them with mixed results. Meanwhile at the base of the hill Russian cavalry had arrived. They dismounted with a quarter of the riders being assigned the necessary task of holding the horses. The rest ascended the hill working their way around the retiring Russian artillery. Then they came under reasonably accurate fire from German light minenwerfers on the forward slope of the hill which now had observers on the top of the hill to spot for them. The attack by the Russian cavalry to retake the crest of their hill quickly failed while the German reinforced their presence.

A little more than an hour later the Russians made one more attempt to retake the top using both the infantry and additional dismounted cavalry. The German howitzers broke up these assaults as they formed up. The Germans then launched their own attack and made it halfway down the opposite slope before dark at which point the Russians finally stopped them.

------SMS Friedrich der Grosse northeast of Cherbourg 1545 hrs

The storm had dissipated two hours ago. Admiral von Ingenohl would have preferred that it had lasted longer as he now gazed through his binoculars at an airplane with French markings which was approaching the High Seas Fleet from the south. He hoped that it might try to bomb his warships giving his fleet's antiaircraft guns a good chance to destroy it. In less than a minute that hope was dashed as the plane banked sharply and turned for home.

------ Neuilly-L'Hôpital (Picardy) 1600 hrs

The weather cleared in the afternoon and Gen. von Fabeck ordered a resumption of yesterday's attack. The German artillery renewed their bombardment of the British IV Army Corps. Desperately low on shells the British batteries were unable to counter them and remained silent. Initially the Germans held back on their 7.7 cm field guns and minenwerfers. Their howitzers tore up the still incomplete British trenches with HE shells. The percentage of duds was somewhat higher than usual due to shells failing to explode in the soft mud resulting from the morning downpour.

------SMS Prinz Heinrich Western Approaches 1625 hrs

The only prize Prinz Heinrich captured this day was a 5,100 ton freighter out of Hong Kong bound for Liverpool with a cargo of silk. The prize was only capable of a sustained speed of 8 knots and it was decided to sink her after removing two boat loads of silk.

------ Neuilly-L'Hôpital (Picardy) 1830 hrs

In the last hour of the bombardment by Sixth Army the rate of fire quickened and both the minenwerfers and 7.7cm field guns joined in. The assault by 6 German battalions was handicapped by the muddy battlefield with the shell craters turned into large puddles. This slowed down the German infantry but IV Army Corps still had only 2 strands of wire up as barbed wire was one of the items currently in short supply in the entire B.E.F. (with the French providing on a fraction of what the B.E.F had asked) and in several places the wire had been cut during the shelling. A few of the British batteries now opened fire with shrapnel shells. A few British machineguns also opened fire. These inflicted serious losses on the German attackers, who found themselves trying to taking trenches that had become a virtual estuary of riverlets. In the ensuing melee combat many on both sides were killed by drowning.

The Germans eventually took a section of the British forward trench and managed to hold on to it when the British counterattacked. They were in no shape to continue their advance any further under these conditions. They dug in as best they could and tried to drain the water out of the trench. Machinegun nests were set up while minenwerfers were cautiously moved forward. After a while the German batteries resumed firing but more sporadically than before.

------Old Admiralty Building 1905 hrs

Capt. Hall delivered the latest German wireless message deciphered by Room 40. It was from Adm. von Ingenohl to Haulbowline.

WEATHER HAS IMPROVED REPEAT WEATHER HAS IMPROVED STOP ONLY MINOR ENEMY INTERFERENCE TODAY REPEAT ONLY MINOR ENEMY INTERFERENCE TODAY STOP STILL EXPECT TO RETURN TO CORK TOMORROW NIGHT REPEAT STILL EXPECT TO RETURN TO CORK TOMORROW NIGHT STOP YOU MUST CONDUCT THOROUGH MINESWEEPING TOMORROW AFTERNOON REPEAT YOU MUST CONDUCT THOROUGH MINESWEEPING TOMORROW AFTERNOON STOP DEPLOY ZEPPELIN TO SCOUT CELTIC SEA TOMORROW REPEAT DEPLOY ZEPPELIN TO SCOUT CELTIC SEA TOMORROW STOP

"So this finally makes it clear that they are in fact returning to Ireland," commented Carson, "So we can inform Lord Kitchener that his men can stand down from their state of maximum alert. Likewise we can tell Joffre and Sir John that the landing at Dieppe scenario was all a bad dream or something. The downside to all of this is that we must warn Gen. Hamilton that his enemy is about to be reinforced. That is, unless we send Adm. Bayly to intercept with the Grand Fleet. Right now the fleet is still anchored at Loch na Keal with steam raised waiting for orders."

"It is still extremely dangerous to commit the Grand Fleet in its weakened state, First Lord," replied Adm. Callaghan, "If the Germans did invade England risking the Grand Fleet might be justified but not to try to prevent reinforcements from reaching Ireland."

Carson sighed deeply with frustration then said, "So what this all boils down to is that England is much more important than Ireland."

Adm. Callaghan snorted slightly exchanging glances with Jackson, then said, "If you would permit me to be brutally honest, First Lord, that is quite true, but I would not misinterpret to mean that Ireland is unimportant."

"Just not important enough to risk another fleet action."

"Again I would be the first to admit that it sounds awful and that it does present us with some fairly obvious perils. It is true nonetheless in my estimation," answered Callaghan.

"Things will be different when Warspite joins the Grand Fleet, First Lord," Adm. Wilson remarked.

"And what is the latest on when that will occur? I have alternatively heard Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning."

"Unfortunately she is still experiencing problems with vibration at high speed, First Lord. We are hoping to have that corrected in time for her to join the Grand Fleet on Tuesday," answered the First Sea Lord.

"She does not have to make maximum speed," replied Carson, "What Adm. Bayly badly needs right now is her 15" guns. We both know that he intends to deploy her as part of 1^st Battle Squadrons just like he did with Queen Elizabeth which means that the most that will be required of her will be 18 knots."

"The vibration is only the most serious problem, First Lord. There are others," said Adm. Jackson, "Based on what we currently know I think we shall be telling Adm. Bayly to expect her to join him at the Isle of Mull at approx. noon on Tuesday. I would point out that two days ago we were content to wait until Thursday morning."

"That was back when we thought the German fleet was limping home to nurse their wounds in the 'yards," countered Carson, "We told ourselves that we had some time and it would be wise not to rush neither Warspite's shakedown nor Temeraire's repairs. Now we learn that the High Seas Fleet is escorting another round of supplies and reinforcements back to Ireland! This disrupts our plans to resume trade with France soon, not to mention those of Gen. Hamilton. So now we find ourselves in a situation where every day is precious. And what of Temeraire? Are her repairs still scheduled to be completed on Thursday?"

"That is correct, First Lord," replied Callaghan, "though to clarify the matter, we are already rushing both Warspite and Temeraire but only to that degree we deemed to be prudent."

"And again I will reiterate that we based those discussions on the assumption that the German fleet was going back to Germany."

"Yes we did, First Lord. However we are still very dubious about the ability of the High Seas Fleet to remain in Ireland for an extended period of time. It is very possible that once they deliver this latest round of reinforcements they will soon head back to Germany after all. So there is no reason to panic----"

"----I am not panicking!" thundered Carson slamming his fist on the conference table.

"Uh, I did not mean to suggest that you were, First Lord. If my clumsy phrasing made you feel that way then I apologize."

Carson glared hard at Callaghan for nearly a minute then relented with a deep sigh, "I have not been getting anywhere near the proper amount of sleep of late and it has apparently made me edgy. Let me shift topics because I have apparently become too emotional about Warspite. It now strikes me that with the High Seas Fleet returning to Ireland the large convoy we are organizing at Malta has become too dangerous. If the Germans detect this convoy in the Western Approaches the High Seas Fleet can easily destroy them along with their predreadnought escort."

"That is an excellent point, First Lord. Since late yesterday I have been thinking along similar lines," replied Callaghan, "I believe that all of us here are in complete agreement that the Malta convoy has now become too risky."

"So what would you propose as an alternative? Go back to routing the freighters with the most valuable cargoes to Inverness and Invergordon? The recent sortie of Seydlitz demonstrated the inadequacies of that policy."

"Yes it did, First Lord, but at present we have no course of action that does not present some measure of risk. I believe that we can make those two ports safer to use in the future by reassigning the Duncan class battleships to Cromarty Firth."

"Without a convoy to escort they can steam much faster but it would be necessary for them to make a wide detour around Ireland," added Adm. Jackson.

"That idea has some merit but returning to the freighters, what about those with more mundane cargoes, like food? Do we simply send them on their way and hope that the Germans can only capture a few and the rest make it?" asked Carson.

"I say that as long as the German fleet remains at Ireland that we hold them at Malta," answered Callaghan.

------Presidential Palace Mexico City 2035 hrs GMT

Gen. Obregon summoned Kurt Jahnke to meet with him. He was holding in his hand a letter which he handed to the German saying, "We have our response from Gen. Gonzalez."

Jahnke read the letter:

"Dear General Obregon,

I am very concerned about the recent illness of President Carranza, which has so completely incapacitated him. This sudden ailment poses a grave political crisis, perhaps even a new constitutional crisis. I am returning to Mexico City with my army as well as an extremely capable physician who I must insist on becoming the new primary physician for our ailing president to ensure that he receives the best possible care. To do otherwise would be irresponsible and could potentially have dire consequences for Mexico. Surely you must see the wisdom in this. To do otherwise would be terribly foolish."

Jahnke shrugged, "He is obviously suspicious but I do not think that he is certain. When he arrives with his army perhaps he will accompany this doctor inside the palace and we can take him prisoner."

Obregon shook his head, "I do not think Gonzales will be that stupid."

"It is at least worth trying---or do you have a better idea?"

"Only that we should be prepared to fight because sooner or later it will come down to that. Have you heard from senor Zapata? Is he going to honor his part of our agreement?"

"I have not yet heard from Zapata but I have no reason to see why he would betray us, general."

"Just like Carranza saw no reason why I would betray him."

"That is not the same, general."

"Oh and how is it different?"

Jahnke paused as he did not have a good answer to that question. Finally he said, "It is different because you did what needed to be done for the sake of your country."

"And maybe Zapata believes betraying me would be good for Mexico. Maybe he is still in communication with that hyena Villa, whom he regards as a fellow Marxist."

"We both know that Villa is an opportunist and a demagogue pretending to be an idealist. And besides you destroyed most of the Division of the North at Celaya."

Obregon made an ambivalent face, "He still has enough strength to cause us trouble, esp. if he has an ally. That is why President Carranza wanted me to chase him down."

"You should used to thinking of Carranza as the former president. You are president in all but name right now---and once Gonzalez is dealt with you shall have the title as well."

"Oh excellent, that will look nice on my tombstone."

------HQ Ireland Command Curragh (Kildare) 2050 hrs

Gen. Hamilton and Gen. Braithwaite examined together the latest telegram they had just received from London.

GERMAN BATTLEFLEET IS RETURNING TO IRELAND TOMORROW NIGHT BRINGING REINFOREMENTS AND SUPPLIES REPEAT GERMAN BATTLEFLEET IS RETURNING TO IRELAND TOMORROW NIGHT BRINGING REINFOREMENTS AND SUPPLIES STOP

"They give us no indication whatsoever of just how big these reinforcements are," complained Braithwaite, "If it is two more divisions, even if they are both Austrian, we are in a world of trouble."

"Even one more division would be very bad," replied Hamilton, "We must be reinforced as well. I understand that the possibility that the Germans might invade England has made the Imperial Staff reluctant to further weaken Britain's home defenses but this latest development should make it clear once and for all that Ireland is the German point of gravity and not an elaborate diversion intended to weaken England for invasion."

Braithwaite shook his head, "General, even if they had the will to do what is necessary, I do not see how they have time to send over anything more than two or three battalions before the Germans return."

Hamilton sighed, "I am forced to agree with that. Maybe the Grand Fleet can intercept the Germans before they get here this time. Having won one battle over the Hun fleet last week maybe they are now lying in wait to finish the job."

"Aye, that would be something, sir. I am going to pray long and hard tonight that the Good Lord will make it happen."

"But you don't think that will happen, now do you?"

"Well, sir, maybe I am becoming too pessimistic in my old age or maybe it's because very few of my prayers have been answered of late but I do strongly believe that we must prepare ourselves for the possibility that these additional reinforcements will make it here."

"Even if they do I still believe that the decisive battle remains what happens at Limerick tomorrow. I believe that Gen. Wilson is correct that the German Naval Division must be on the verge of a complete collapse but the indisputable fact remains that the West Riding Division has yet to penetrate into the city itself."

"Yes, general, that is all too true. We must be prepared for the possibility that not only does the enemy lands at least an entire division here Sunday but also that their Naval Division has still managed to hold on to Limerick."

"If that happens we would definitely need another division very quickly."

"That goes without saying, sir."

------Rotterdam 2105 hrs

With all British flagged merchantmen being held in port for the last week, passengers were forced to use neutral flagged vessels to travel abroad. The demand caused ticket prices on these ships to skyrocket and some of the major lines had waiting lists. To get to Rotterdam Clara Benedix was forced to spend an exorbitant sum to purchase cramped accommodations on an old Dutch tramp steamer whose captain doubled the number of passengers he carried to take advantage of this situation. The ship had run into heavy seas in the morning making most of the passengers incl. Clara very seasick and delayed their arrival.

She was now ashore in Rotterdam and checked into a medium quality hotel where she freshened up. The nausea from the horrid sea voyage had subsided. She resisted the temptation to wait until tomorrow morning and called her control. His telephone did not answer on the first few rings and she was ready to hang up when he did finally answer.

"Dirk, this is Clara. I need to see you this night. It is very important."

"Clara? I did not expect to see you again so soon, esp. considering how hard it is to travel from England right now. I hope you had a pleasant voyage."

"No, I had a dreadful voyage on a filthy overcrowded boat sailing in a storm."

"Oh dear, you really must love me very much to have put yourself through that."

"Yes, and I cannot wait to see you, my dear." They had adopted a cover that he was her lover, though sometimes Dirk's flirtatiousness struck Clara as being more than a pretense.

"Well then can you meet me at the usual place in oh, two hours from now?"

"Yes I can meet you then, my love."

------Laragh (Wicklow) 2120 hrs

"Will he live?" Rommel asked the medical officer of the 5^th Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers.

"To be honest, I don't rightly know, major. He is in critical condition right now. I believe the edge of one of his lungs was pierced. He could easily die within the next hour or he could recover completely."

"I see doctor, and which would you say is more likely?"

"Neither, which is too say that my professional opinion is that he will most likely last another hour but die sometime before dawn."

"But you said it was possible that he might survive, ja?"

"Possible? Yes. Probable? No."

"Is there anything more that you do for him?"

"Not right now, major. I would want someone assigned to watch over him that can alert me immediately if he takes a turn for the worse."

"I will do that. You will now tend to my wounded men."

The medical officer merely nodded and left accompanied by an I.R.A. guard.. Pearse was in the room as well, and once the doctor had left remarked, "I am still amazed that we have this powerful politician and former First Lord as our prisoner."

Rommel shrugged, "I am not so surprised. He was removed from the Admiralty in disgrace. The British blame him for our great naval victory at Dogger Bank. He subsequently offered to serve as an officer in the army as a way to redeem himself."

"I see you have been reading the newspapers, major. Still I wonder if we can use him as a bargaining chip. Maybe the British would consider exchanging the Countess for him."

Rommel shook his head vigorously, "Gen. von François boldly offered to exchange Yeats for Gen. Lindley, a corps commander and nothing came of it."

"I am not so sure of that, major. Mr. Yeats has told me that after his trial his execution was indefinitely postponed. I wonder if that postponement was somehow connected with the possibility of an exchange."

"Listen, Padraig, I feel bad, very bad that we could not get her out when we abandoned Dublin. She saved my life when I arrived at Dublin so I feel myself to be in her debt. But as a dedicated officer with grave responsibilities I cannot afford to let it interfere with my judgment."

"War is as much about the heart and soul as it is about the mind, major."

"Still more of your sentimental blarney! I am not going to try to contact the British and suggest an exchange."

"I was only suggesting that you give it some consideration. If Sir Winston dies before dawn as the doctor thinks likely then it is all irrelevant, but if in the morning it looks like he is going to pull through we should reconsider it."

"Right now I am more concerned with the Count than the Countess. I plan to meet him and Schumacher in the morning."

------Drumone (Meath) 2215 hrs

The Cavan Battalion had skirmished twice with the R.I.C. during the day. The second time the constables had been present in greater strength. This convinced Commandant MacLoughlain that he should leave the camp even though he was receiving a steady stream of new volunteers despite the cordon. The question of where they go was not simple but eventually he decided to go south to the important communication center at Mullingar in County Westmeath. From there he would then make for Athlone, where there were other rebels. He further decided that just as they had done at Cavan it would be easier to infiltrate through the R.I.C. cordon around Oldcastle at night esp. since the sky was heavily clouded blocking out the moon. He loaded up as much food and ammunition as he could haul on his motley collection of wagons and carts and took all the internees with him including the dozen German civilians who protested saying they wanted to stay at the camp.

Near the village of Drumone he now encountered a detachment of 46 constables. The result was a confused night engagement in almost pitch black darkness. Before it was over both sides suffered friendly fire casualties. MacLoughlain ignored panicky advice from some of his subordinates that they should beat a hurried retreat back to Oldcastle. The constables took 23 prisoners of which 14 were unarmed German civilian internees but after that it began to become clear that they were sorely outnumbered and so they withdrew. Cavan Battalion along with the rest of the internees continued on towards Mullingar.

------Rotterdam 2310 hrs

Clara met Dirk, her control, at the safe house. "Well then what is so important that you had to return earlier than scheduled?" he asked her, seeing in her eyes that she in no mood for even the usual mild flirtation, "I have told you more than once that too many trips to neutral countries will make British counterintelligence suspicious."

"I have picked up some very good intelligence from my best source, that Irishman, Collins I was instructed to contact back in April. I feel that one item is exceptionally important."

"Oh, and what might that be?"

"The Royal Navy has broken most of the German naval codes. They have been deciphering German wireless messages!"

Dirk gasped. After a few seconds he said, "If this is indeed true it is shocking news and the Kaiserliche Marine must be warned as soon as possible. I will not wait until the morning but pass this information on to Rotterdam Station tonight and they will send it on to Berlin. However I must warn you that something this big is often viewed with suspicion. They are going to want to know details, starting with how Mr. Collins came by this information."

Clara bit her lip and sighed, "He has a source but did not tell me who or what that is. I suspect that there is some person inside the Admiralty he wishes to protect."

Dirk shook his head slightly and frowned, "On the one hand I can understand why he would do that, but on other it does nothing to help us to persuade Berlin."

"You have told me that some other information passed to me by Collins has corroborated."

"So I have. The problem is sometimes agents who have been turned pass on morsels of minor intelligence that are accurate to establish credibility then follow it up with major falsehoods. This could apply to either Collins or this source he is protecting."

"Arrgh! Espionage is such a perverted game!"

"Which is why perverts such as ourselves are the perfect people to play it."

Under other circumstances Clara might have chuckled at that and she replied tartly, "This is no laughing matter. If this is true it could affect the outcome of the war." She then unbuttoned her blouse and reached in. Dirk resisted the impulse to leer as he intuited what she was doing.

Clara extracted a sheet of paper and handed it to Dirk saying, "Since the British are reading our codes I thought it would be pointless to encrypt it. It has everything that Collins provided me. That includes the exact text of two German wireless messages that the British decoded. Hopefully Berlin will accept that as proof."

Thanks for the kind comments. May 22 will be rather complicated.

Thanks for the feedback. Churchill's previous wound was light which allowed him to return to action quickly . The latest wound is much more serious. I deliberately made his survival very iffy.

Tom