For All Nails #168: Pound Diplomacy
By Henrik Kiertzner
- The Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street
- London, Great Britain
- 3 January 1975
- 1400 hours GMT
The Secretary to the Cabinet walked into the Prime Minister's office, his demeanour grave.
"Prime Minister, we have received a response from the CNA via the M.A. at the High Commission."
"Excellent. In what form?"
"A verbal message, passed through General O Cellaigh."
"And it says ... ?"
"Um. It is curt to the point of outright rudeness. The text, as dictated, is: 'The Governor-General of the CNA is grateful for the advance warning of the aggressive intent of the United Empire and its associates, counsels these Powers against intervention in a Hemisphere not their own and urges His Majesty's Government to reflect upon the historical links between our great nation and the United Empire, the enormous debt of gratitude which Britain, in particular, should feel towards the CNA for its assistance during the late conflict and, finally, the extent to which the Imperial Monetary Fund is maintained in credit by direct subvention from the CNA.' Not altogether a helpful message, one fears."
Sir Geoffrey Gold leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingertips together in an unconscious mannerism. He shut his eyes briefly, his expression impassive. He remained perfectly still for thirty seconds or so before leaning forward again and opening his eyes.
"Call a full Cabinet for four o'clock. Full attendance, no excuses. I need you, the Foreign Secretary, the Minister for War, the Chief of the Imperial General Staff and the Chancellor of the Exchequer at three o'clock, here."
"As you wish, Prime Minister."
Gold nodded abstractedly and turned to look out into the bleak back garden of Number 10 Downing Street. There was a bedraggled pigeon perched on the leafless branch of one of the elm trees, he noticed, its silhouette black against the pale oyster grey of the winter sky.
- The Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street
- 1510 hours GMT
"So, we can stipulate that the CNA is in a position to do some harm to our economy. We depend to a limited extent upon the confidence which the backing of the IMF gives us as an element of collateral in international trade, to a slightly lesser extent upon the shared revenue from joint military projects and to a minimal extent upon the limited range of imports of luxury and consumer goods we allow from the CNA?"
"Precisely so, Prime Minister."
"So, in an ideal world, had we some alternative source of financial support for our economy, we should be effectively isolated from any potential ill effects of a CNA embargo?"
"Oh, assuredly. In fact, such an embargo, involving as it would have to, a withdrawal of both our overt cooperation and our covert support for the CNA Armed Forces' retraining programme, would certainly annoy the CNA more than us. However, in the absence of such a fairy godmother ..."
"Mmmm. Mmmmm. What of the military balance? Jock?
Field Marshall the Viscount Cawdor GCB ("Jock" to his friends), the Chief of the Imperial General Staff, was not a voluble man. He raised an eyebrow and lit his pipe before replying.
"Well, Prime Minister. The correlation of forces is at first sight not reasonable. The CNA is a large continental power in the Western hemisphere, with an effective air arm and an efficient Navy. Its Army is numerous and well-equipped. That said, its staff techniques are primitive, its cadre of commanders lacks experience, polish and sophistication, its Ground Forces are large but poorly-led and not trained in anything larger than unit-level operations and its combat experience is entirely in peacekeeping against its own or in the debacle in Porto Rico. Our Navy, in conjunction with our Scandinavian friends and our ... unexpected new friends from across the Channel, can certainly clear the Caribbean and the North Atlantic of their major combat units, our air arm, again with our friends, can sweep the skies over our forces clean of their aviation and we can certainly deal with any land forces they chose to project outside the North American continent with all despatch. We can not invade North America, of course."
"Nor would we ever want to. This is in the nature of a row in the nursery, rather than a fight, I think. Would the CNA military be aware of this?"
"Most certainly. We have been telling them ever since Porto Rico what is wrong and have only just begun teaching them how to do what is right."
"Thank you, Jock."
- The Cabinet Room, 10 Downing Street
- 1625 hours GMT
"....so, ladies and gentlemen, that is the position. I will now ask you all, individually, to endorse my request for 24 hours' breathing space to consult elsewhere before we reconvene to take a final view of our circumstances."
- The Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street
- 1707 hours GMT
"Pray connect me with the Embassy of the Republic of Taiwan. I wish to speak in confidence with the Commercial Attaché."
"Certainly, Sir Geoffrey. One moment."
Forward to FAN #169: Movement of Jah People.
Forward to 8 January 1975: One if by Land and Two if by Sea.
Return to For All Nails.