History, Politics And Current Affairs

A New Jerusalem Part 1

Berlin
March 10th 1945

How the mighty had fallen.

The shattered wreckage of the Reichstag rose from the broken and rubble-strewn streets like the smashed skull of a giant. The scorched scars of dragonflame and spellfire stood out amidst the devastation wrought by bombs and artillery. Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich had lasted barely a dozen years, not a thousand, yet its ruins had a nature that was more akin to that of giants than humanity; not that humanity was a quality that would be associated with them in any case.

The rays of the wan afternoon sun provided but little warmth, but none of the Allied troops found themselves in need on this day. For, after so many long years of pain, of toil and of suffering, they had victory. A Dreadnought slowly rumbled into the broken square of the Konigsplatz, brushing aside the rubble almost effortlessly as it inched on its way towards the Tiergarten and dwarfing the other tanks, even the hulking Cromwells, which now stood stationary, their war won. Oh, the fighting itself continued beyond Berlin, in the last spasms of the monstrous beast after its wicked head had been severed, but it was only a matter of time before the remaining German forces surrendered and there would be peace once again.

That much was the meaning of the huge red and white flag which now waved from the broken roof of the Reichstag. It was extremely fitting, thought Colonel Stanley Barton, that the Poles won that particular honour; the first victims of Nazi Germany sealing their fate had a grim symmetry to it, not to mention justice.

The big guns were silent as well and long may they remain so. Soon the surviving civilian populace of Berlin would hear that and the other signs and start to find their way forth to a new world of capitulation. Their luck could be worse, though. He had heard of some of the things the Russians were said to be up to out to the east; whilst the Allies had no love for the Germans after this long and bloody war, there was an ocean of difference between that and the other business.

“Sir?”

He turned to see his adjutant, Captain Halford, making his way up through the wreckage of battle.

“Ah, Halford. What news? Is it true then?”

“Yes sir. The German garrison have surrendered, unconditionally. It’s over.”

“What about the other rumour? Did they find anything?”

“It was a hell of business even getting across Unter den Linden; the Thirty-Sixers really gave it a plastering and there is nothing but a crater where the Brandenburg Gate was. I couldn’t find out anything for sure, sir - the Commandos and the Yanks have the whole area around the bunker locked up tighter than Fort Knox.”

“Very well. Get my Land Rover; I’m going back up to brigade. Make sure the men are fed and well watered - they’ll want to remember this day for a long time.”

The Allied push to Berlin had been the largest single operation of the War in the West, so much so that the Battle of Berlin had been given no single codename; this was the final battle and subterfuge had been left behind on the Rhine. General Eisenhower and Field Marshal Montgomery had hurled 60 divisions from five armies at the heart of Hitler’s Germany, spearheaded by the American, British and Canadian paratroopers of the Allied Airborne Army. More than 1.5 million soldiers from seemingly every nation among the Allies had been in here at the death, although the major weight had been borne by Patton and Bradley’s Americans, Campbell’s and Dempsey’s Britons, Simonds’ Canadians, Freyberg’s Anzacs, Giraud’s French and Sikorski’s Poles.

Hundreds upon hundreds of Centurions, Crusaders, Pershings and Shermans had lead the way into Berlin, behind more than fifty thousand guns. The resistance offered by the Wehrmacht had been ground down and blasted out by overwhelming and total force, with few units able to hold up the advance for more than hours, no matter how fanatically they fought. The five lines protecting Berlin had been penetrated in dozens of places, yet, even in the face of inevitable defeat, the fanatic Nazi remnants fought on, knowing that there would be no miracle for the Third Reich. In Barton's sector, the Waffen SS had fought particularly ferociously, but flame and steel and shell had their measure.

Just over a hundred miles away, the Soviet Red Army lay on the other side of the Oder, bringing their own destruction upon Nazi Germany, yet lying just a bridge too far away. Perhaps there has been some momentary consideration for a joint assault upon the final citadel of Hitlerism, but those matters lay well above Barton’s pay grade. It was a symbol, though, of the new world that lay after the war, one of two great and powerful blocs no longer united by a common foe.

The silence of the guns now matched the silence of the skies, where the American and British bombers now no longer flew on their voyages of dread punishment. The war had been won on the ground, but the overwhelming power of the heavies had been unmatched by Germany or any other foe or friend alike. Long before the tanks and guns and men had bought the war to the fascist capital, fighting their own Battle of Berlin a year ago, and thousands of USAF and RAF bombers had smashed its defences before this last battle. War from the air had changed so much during these last six years and promised to do even more; the fates of nations and empires were tied up in it.

Now, with the war in Europe on the verge of ending, these fates and the new world were coming together to create a future that was as uncertain as it was promising. Out of such destruction, such waste and such suffering, something better had to come. He had given thought to the matter on the road from Normandy to Berlin. How could Britain keep her place and make a brighter tomorrow for the generations to come? How could good come from such terror? Could swords be beaten into ploughshares? Was the future doomed to the dark and hellish as the battered ruins of Hitler’s capital?

Barton looked out over the ruins of war and ground his teeth as he scowled. Victory was here, but at a terrible cost to all. Even nature itself had been damaged by the horrors of this latest Great War. There had to be something else - there had to be a new world born out of the ashes of this devastation and terror.

And then he had a wonderful idea.

—————————————————————————

Berlin
March 10th 1965

Twenty years.

Strange to think of how much had changed in two decades. He never thought then that he would be back here, once the war was done, let alone under these circumstances. The view from inside the Reichstag was rather different from that of the square, which was to be expected.

“Prime Minister? They’re ready for you.”

“Right, lets get this over and done with.”

...............................................................................

“Chancellor von Sternberg, Members of the Reichstag. I stand before you as the third Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to visit your country and the first to address your ranks. This is not the first time I have come to Berlin, though. Twenty years ago, I was here as an officer of the Allied Expeditionary Force. We came then in war and were victorious. The world had been shattered by war.

In twenty years, Germany has come far, from the depths of destruction to a new and peaceful country. All of Europe and all of the free world supports you in this. All men deserve the right to live in peace, in justice and in freedom. That is what is at stake here in Berlin, that is what is at stake in Germany and in Austria-Hungary and that is what is at stake all over the world. For it is all over the world that free men are standing together in defence of liberty - in the trackless depths of African plains, in the searing sands of the Levant, in the soaring mountains of India and in the jungles of Indochina. That unifies us - the unshakable drive to protect the rights of man to be the master of his own destiny.

Today, I am here in peace, as a friend and as an ally. Together, the British Empire and Germany stand, alongside the other great nations of the free world. We stand, against aggression and oppression, against tyranny and wickedness and against the threat of communism from the Soviet Union. Britain stands and will continue to stand. We have given our word and we will keep it. Whatever needs to be done, we will do. Whatever price we must pay, we will.

As we go forward, we go forward together.”

All thanks to the Soviets. Nothing like a common enemy to have smooth things over.

In two words: Sort of.

If there hadn’t been a Soviet enemy, then it would be necessary to invent one like it, somehow. As matters stand, the enemy is the same as ever - a single Continental or Eurasian power threatening to extend its control over Europe.

Apart from WW2, WW1 and the mistaken path steered down by Willy II, Bismarck, Tirpitz and others from the late 1890s, there isn’t a traditional rivalry or enmity with Prussia or Germany, far from it. The changed circumstances represent a return to the old norm, in a way.

There are a fair few other Easter Eggs laid in the first part, as there are in the next 16 or so; I put great import on the provision of eggy nutrition for my readers.

A New Jerusalem Part 2

Whitehall
October 17th 1964

“How many of these have you done before, Sir Richard?”

“Formally, three. Effectively, though, it would just be the one back in 1945 with Richard Harcourt as the only de facto change of power. Even then, Harcourt and most of his ministry had been part of the Coalition Government through the war. Churchill in ‘48 didn’t need more than a brief outline of the major changes and Eden was already right on top of matters. Really, you’d have to go back forty years for the last real change of government.”

“Just a few things have changed in that time.”

“Rather.”

Sir Richard Hannay, Secretary of the Committee of Imperial Defence, sipped from his cup of tea and hoped that they would not have to wait for much longer. The Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms were far from the most salubrious of environments for any sort of meeting, lying as they did over a mile below the surface and being quite sparsely appointed apart from the round table in its centre. It always seemed to be altogether too cold in here, something that was accentuated by the only other occupants being the Chief of the Defence Staff, Lord Mountbatten, and the Director-General of the Intelligence Services, Sir Miles Cuthbertson, the latter being a fairly cold and controlled chap at the best of times.

He looked down at the precisely worded brief prepared on the new Prime Minister by the Cabinet Office. Stanley James Barton, aged 46. Born in Kempston, he had a grammar school education followed by work as an engineer and in a steel mill. Volunteered on the outbreak of war, assigned to the Royal Fusiliers and served in Norway, Spain, North Africa, Italy, France and Germany, rising to the rank of colonel, winning the MC, the DSO and being mentioned in dispatches four times. Elected to Parliament in 1945, he rose through the ranks of the Labour Party as a strong speaker favoured by the anti-communist Right of the party. Unexpected rise to power after the death of Gaitskell in ‘56 was followed by a purge of firstly the soft centre and then the hard left, with heavy backing from key unions and churches. Married with three children, but keeps them out of the public eye. Few if any friends. Stern, serious and taciturn to the point of grimness, extremely hard working and possessed of a profound sense of duty. Economic with speech but a fine orator. Viewed as a hard, reliable man with a powerful sense of justice.

“Who else are we waiting for?”

“Only Sir Obo Macinreish; he’ll fly out with us for the last part, which will be just you and the PM, M.”

The door to the briefing room opened to reveal the familiar figure the Cabinet Secretary; the latter being a flying monkey tended to stick out in most crowds.

“Good day, gentlemen.” ooked Sir Obo as he flapped across to his customary perch. “The Prime Minister will be down directly; his motorcade has just arrived back from the Palace.”

Sure enough, less than a minute later, the door opened, admitting the new Prime Minister, whilst his detail of Scotland Yard bodyguards and the military aid carrying the atomic Gladstone bag remained outside. He was a tall, powerfully built man with receding black hair and a heavy, stern brow whose deep blue eyes fixed all who crossed his path with a steady gaze. He took his place at the round table and looked down at the agenda.

“Good morning, gentlemen. This all seems rather straightforward, except for the last item. What could be so secret that even the code word is censored?”

“I don’t know myself, Prime Minister; that will be a matter for Sir Miles to discuss with you at that point. Now, if Sir Richard is ready?” Macinreish cocked his head towards Hannay.

“Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. The purpose of this meeting is to make you aware of the threats, deployments and emerging commitments facing the British Empire across the world and to provide your new government with the necessary information to form future decisions and policies. Admiral Mountbatten will begin with the current balance of power.”

"As of midnight, we have a total of 250 Blue Streaks, 320 Black Arrows and 238 Red Kings deployed operationally, the majority of those still being in the British Isles. RAF Bomber Command can field 638 Vulcans, of which 584 are currently operational, consisting of 132 with six Blue Steels apiece, 96 with 4 Skybolts each, 80 with four Grand Slams and the remaining 276 carrying megaton gravity bombs; 380 operational Vengeances and 68 Vindicators in the Pathfinder Force with Blue Steel and megaton bombs; and 360 Valiants carrying a mixture of Violet Suns, Blue Danubes and Orange Heralds. The other 16 Valiant squadrons are conventionally armed, with half deployed through the Middle East, Africa and the Med and the other half out in India and the Far East; they can be equipped with atom bombs, poison gas or germ weapons as needed. The Royal Navy has 14 ballistic missile submarines in service, of which there are four deployed on patrol in the Atlantic, two in the Med and two in the Pacific, each carrying 24 Green Knight SLBMs, whilst there are another 240 on the battleships, in addition to the 120 Supermarine Excalibur strike bombers on the aircraft carriers. The Army has 24 strategic guns, each with four megaton shells, and 240 White Knight medium range missiles."

"Can that force provide sufficient strategic firepower to destroy the enemy?"

"On current projections, yes, but with caveats. Even in the worst case modelling of 50% losses or failures, that still allows for sufficient coverage of the Soviet base of 896 DSTs, or Designated Strategic Targets, in the USSR and their empire. There are a further 287 in China, 69 in Ottoman Turkey and 42 in Indonesia. We are still in the process of coordinating our targeting with the Americans and French as part of the Allied Strategic War Plan, but we have to be prepared for the circumstances where we have to strike independently."

"Is that a realistic proposition, going to war without the Americans?"

"The strategic situation can change extremely quickly, Prime Minister, far more quickly than we can put an alternate force structure together. Think of 1960."

"Mr. Eden kept me fully appraised of our actions during the crisis, so I'm not ignorant of the possibility. Indeed, we might have to do so at some point. Do we have enough to do it, though?"

"Until perhaps 1970. Soviet advances in anti-ballistic missiles, SAMs and interceptors will degrade the effectiveness of our force, even as it shrinks with the retirement of the Valiants. We plan to counter that with more stand-off weapons for Bomber Command, the supersonic Supermarine Victory bomber, multiple warheads on the land and sea based missile force and strategic warheads on sea launched cruise missiles. They are building up the offensive capacity just as fast as their defensive efforts, though. Indeed, the threat posed by Soviet nuclear and conventional forces is of the gravest kind. The Soviet conventional forces in Poland and Eastern Europe are, in a word, formidable, but the Allied armies present in Germany and Austria-Hungary have an advantage at this time in equipment and relative power. Their tanks and planes are improving, but remain five years behind us. It is their nuclear threat that is much more concerning.

We currently estimate that they have upwards of 250 of their 600 SS-4s and SS-5s targeted on the British Isles, along with over 200 Blinder and Bounder supersonic medium bombers and at least 6 of their ballistic missile submarines. Now, the Royal Navy is quite confident that it can get every missile submarine within our defensive area and Fighter Command has an extremely capable defence against bombers and tactical missiles, but we won't have enough Violet Friends and other ABMs to have an optimum defence against Soviet medium range missiles for several years to come. Countering any Soviet LRBMs that are employed against us would be additionally difficult, as will any weapons launched from the Krasnya Oktyabr space battle station."

"I thought we had a firm edge on the Reds in space."

"An edge, yes, sir, but perhaps not a firm one. The Soyuz is a damn powerful spaceship and gives them a capacity to get around the ether very fast; they will have a second one of them within 3 years based on our information. If they pursue a militarised version of the Kosmos, this will be even more threatening. Up against them, we have the four topline battlecruisers of the RSF and the Dreadnought as our main strength in space, which is insufficient to cover three Soviet vessels, anything the Space Nazis have squirreled away and what we estimate as two Chinese craft."

“Wasn’t the main contention behind Dreadnought was that it was the equivalent of four other spaceships. It is certainly more than that in cost.”

“It is certainly that, Prime Minister, but it can only be in one place at once and space is awfully large, as you once said about capital ships on Earth.”

Barton grimaced and nodded. “Very good, Admiral, I know when I’m being hoist on my own petard. Carry on.”

“Elsewhere in the world, the Chinese are the next largest threat, although that is localised to Hong Kong, Burma, Tibet and India. Their fleet remains well behind ours in technology and firepower and their air forces are still dominated by versions of Russian planes. Apart from Hong Kong, our relations have been warming over the last few years.

Indonesia is an ongoing annoyance, but Moscow has tended to keep their more exhuberant tendencies in check. The current view is that they will push towards the edge of war, but really don’t have the capacity or desire to move beyond it. The Turks haven’t given a real threat in years, but are the closest thing to a real threat in the Near East; the Arabs don’t present a conventional security threat.

Around the globe, we have substantive forces engaged in counterinsurgency operations in Malaya, Vietnam, Borneo and the Congo. Of these, the most significant is Vietnam, which is shifting into a more high intensity conflict, but the most convoluted is the Congo. Africa looms as a new front in the Cold War, with the Soviets backing the ALF with arms and advisors.”

Hannay now broke in. “That view is reflected by the consensus of the CID, Prime Minister, particularly the Commonwealth members. With the focus of South Africa and Rhodesia drawn by the Congo and their own growing internal threats, a large part of our contingency strength is drawn away from the fulcrum of the Empire at Suez. That in turn draws us and the Canadians into that theatre in greater strength. The Indonesian situation is having a similar effect on the Australians and New Zealanders.”

“Even as more pressure is put on India by Moscow to turn in on itself. Well, we can never say that our enemies are stupid.”

“No, Prime Minister.” Sir Obo flew up from his perch, clutching at a pile of papers and his banana. “The Director-General will now conduct the final portion of the briefing alone, so by your leave, Sir Richard, Admiral Mountbatten and I will depart; I shall remain without to return with you to Number 10, as there are a number of further meetings and telephone calls that have been scheduled.”

“Very well.”

Barton sat awkwardly as the men and monkey left the room and the door closed behind them. After a moment, Sir Miles began to speak.

“There are a number of matters that are of the utmost secrecy, Prime Minister. I have been geased so that I cannot speak to you about any of these when there are others present. Let us begin with the simplest of them all, the case of our man in the Kremlin.”

That's reason for keeping secrets. I'm just hoping the information of our man in the Kremlin isn't too detailed.

That much is revealed in the first paragraph of Part 3. Spoiler: It isn't detailed, by design and further by the new PM's decision.

A couple of notes/eggs from this part:

- Sir Richard Hannay is the hero of The 39 Steps
- The DG of the Intelligence Services is a overarching position encompassing SIS/MI6, the Security Service/MI5, SOE, GCHQ and other, more clandestine services. His name is a combination of the first name of the canonical 'M' from the James Bond pictures and a last name beginning with 'C', as a hat tip to the SIS tradition established by Mansfield Smith-Cumming
- The Cabinet Secretary as a flying monkey is a long time touch I'm quite chuffed with
- Rather than a nuclear briefcase, the Prime Minister has an atomic Gladstone bag
- The British nuclear arsenal is larger than a minimal deterrent, on account of the need for coverage of the 1294 global Designated Strategic Targets, with appropriate redundancy accounting for losses, malfunctions, failures or other unforeseen events
- The forecast of the possible capability gap post 1970 does drive a lot of what follows in this storyline and the ones after it. The logical counters to ABM + more sophisticated SAMs (specifically the SA-5 and SA-6 combo and the anticipated SA-10 and SA-11) + MiG-25s are the standoff weapons (cruise missiles and more) for the Vulcans; the Victory as a penetrator (similar to the role of the B-70); MIRVs; and a larger distribution of a new generation of SLCMs
- The SS-4s and SS-5s are a threat, but aren't yet in their silo launched versions; that will raise their threat as it lowers potential warning time
- The salient line is that Soviet tanks and planes are considered to be 5 years behind their British counterparts
- Mountbatten anticipating issues in Vietnam and the Congo; in the business, we call this foreshadowing
- The Soviet strategy becomes plain: draw attention away from Suez and the Middle East through trouble in Africa and Indonesia and ramp up political pressure on India to 'turn in on itself'
- Having an agent in the Kremlin is the simplest matter...

New Jerusalem 3

Stanley Barton blinked once. This was not what he was expecting.

"Really?"

"Yes, Prime Minister. We have an asset very highly placed in the Kremlin, codenamed Backstay, who has been working for us since just after the war. The precise details of his identity are something that we've kept even from Prime Ministers Eden and Churchill, on account of Backstay being a member of the Politburo for the last 10 years. Our next most important asset is in the KGB's Second Chief Directorate, codenamed Lighter, who has been working for us since 1947. Additionally, we have two further sources close to the top of Soviet military intelligence and the First Chief Directorate of the KGB, Paragon and Dodo, each of which have given us an insight into Soviet strategic policies, decision making and secrets and, most significantly, the ability to independently verify the material passed on by the other three. It has been this intelligence that enabled us to prevent the Red Shadow Crisis of 1960 turning into a full blown war, among other achievements."

"Very well. I don't want to know any further details about them, just the codenames and the intelligence reports. I don't want to inadvertently give anything away while I'm meeting with General Secretary Stalin or any of his ilk."

"Certainly, sir. We also use them as channels to feed our own erroneous intelligence reports to the Soviets, moving our lesser agents higher up in their institutional esteem and influence. As of recently, we've had more success moving up our men through the Soviet Navy than their air force or the Red Army, although the latter remains our most penetrated service. In particular, they've bought our explanation that the North Sea Floating Fortresses currently under construction are for oil platform security; when the truth comes out, it will push up our agents in place. The Soviets are labouring under the impression that they have our intelligence services quite thoroughly infiltrated, but we've been feeding them product and false information through two circles of double agents since the middle of the war."

"Good. I only have one question - will we be able to get them out when and if the time comes?"

"I can't guarantee success, Prime Minister, but we will do everything in our power to do so."

"Not good enough. If they risk their lives for us, we owe them a debt. It is a matter of honour, Sir Miles."

"Perhaps you mistook my apparent equivocation, sir. I refuse to guarantee success when it cannot be guaranteed. However, we have got some fair runs on the board in terms of getting men out of the USSR. It worked in '61 with one of our highly placed men codenamed Hero. Going back further than that, we have had some measure of success operating inside the Soviet Union under very difficult circumstances; we got Bukharin out of the Lubyanka in 1938 and we assassinated Stalin in 1956."

"We what?!"

"The death of Stalin was not an accident."

"That much is obvious! The Soviets have all but admitted to doing it themselves!"

"A face-saving farago, Prime Minister. He was killed by Sir Charles Ratcliffe at his dacha, right as he was trying to launch a general nuclear attack."

“No one mourned him then or now. What of the precedent? It doesn’t make for a very stable world if every power can go about killing off the other’s leaders.”

“Exactly, sir. To that end, there were four secret protocols agreed upon at the Stockholm Conference: not to target leadership in peacetime; not to take any overt action against strategic weapons or their delivery systems during peacetime; notification of atomic tests using approved back channels; and an agreement not to introduce atomic weapons onto the territory of another nuclear power using covert means. They’ve worked so far.”

“Sensible. What’s next?”

“On the issue of nuclear weapons, the Ministry of Magic has a very secret program underway to develop a high magic...thing... that would effectively counteract their effects.”

“What?!”

“I’m no wizard, Prime Minister, but Alcuin Spong has described it as the arcane equivalent of Tube Alloys and the Orion Program, combined. It would be an extensive combination of extremely complex and powerful spells, a huge network of amplifying focus items and a massive weapon. Their last report stated that their initial endeavours had refined the concepts down to five options, all of them based around a revolutionary combination of chronomantic, planar and solar magics. They plan to work them together into something that has never existed before.”

“That sounds promising. Will it work?”

“There is no way we can know, Prime Minister. Simply shielding individuals and very small locations from a nuclear initiation is currently possible, albeit something limited to only three archmages in the Empire. But our wizards are literally proposing developing a way to break the physical building blocks of the universe, which could have some dangerous results; no one has tried anything like this since the Nazis.” Cuthbertson paused meaningfully.

“Do you mean what I think you mean?”

“Yes, sir. Such a weapon can only be made with lives.”

Prime Minister Barton stiffened. This was too, too like the damned Nazis.

“No. There will be no blood spilt, no sacrifices. No.”

“They don’t mean blood magic, Prime Minister; only demonologists and necromancers would have truck with such horror. From what I’m given to understand, it refers to life essence willingly given.”

“It still smacks of witchcraft to me. Nothing is required yet?”

“No, Spong has said that they can’t put a timeframe on the effort yet.”

“Very well. Proceed, but there will be none of that business, no without specific permission.”

“Yes, Prime Minister.”

“There must be some things that distinguish us from the other side, Sir Miles. This is one of them. Besides, there are other more conventional defences under development. Next?”

“Several years ago, we came into a new source of information about the possible future actions and decisions of particular states, most specifically the Soviet Union, but also the United States. This intelligence is codenamed Lapcat and presented as if it is from a sensitive source within foreign governments. However, it is not.”

“Where is it from?”

“In June 1961, through means that we still do not understand, a young man appeared on the side of a road in Buckinghamshire. He was found, quite coincidentally, by a member of the intelligence services, and claimed to be from the year 2015.”

Barton stared steadily. “Was he?”

“Subsequent investigation revealed that the individual was telling the truth. Furthermore, it was deduced that he was from some sort of alternate universe. A decision was made to attempt to return him to his own world, but not until all available information was extracted; this compromise was reached on the basis of the distinct differences between the histories and geopolitics of the two worlds.”

Time travel. He was knowledgeable enough not to dismiss the phenomenon out of hand, having heard both the old stories and the very, very quiet modern accounts of ...anomalies..., but it seemed plain unlikely.

“How useful has it been?”

“With regard to immediately operable intelligence, not particularly. Frankly, it seems like some sort of perverse dystopian nightmare world in every respect. The most notable effect so far has been to decide Prime Minister Eden on a full commitment to the war in Vietnam, but there have been a number of commercial technological developments that have been passed along to British industrial concerns for exploitation and we have had some useful leads on natural resource deposits. All in all, it seems that Lapcat is rendering more results and advantages in an oblique fashion than a direct one.”

“You mentioned that it can offer information on the Americans as well as the Reds. Anything of direct use for my upcoming meeting with President Kennedy?”

“No, Prime Minister. On that world, he was shot last November.”

“I see. Well, put together whatever I need to see and continue giving everything usable to the relevant industries; the more advantages, the more economic growth we’ll get. The more growth we get, the more funds available for my Grand Design.”

“Yes, Prime Minister. On that matter, our final two items may have a bearing.”

“Go on.”

"Back in the early 1930s, a British party was exploring the Rub' al Khali in Arabia in search of a lost city. They found something out there, deep in the desert, not the city though - that was located a few years later. Through a freak occurence, they uncovered evidence of a massive meteor crater. Further examinations revealed immense deposits of meteoric gold, platinum and diamond. Mining operations began in 1937 under tight security and secrecy, using only the most loyal clans of dwarves that were direct vassals of the Crown. It ended up yielding almost £220 million a year through the war and played a very large part in us paying off the Yanks, much to their surprise. We estimate that it has another three decades worth of operations, all of which must be very, very secret."

"Why? I can understand security, naturally enough, but we've rarely kept mineral supplies secret, except for Tube Alloys. Was it just a matter of not letting the Americans know how deep our pockets were?"

"It is a matter of what else was found there, adjacent to the meteoric deposits. The remains of a mining camp of sorts, with some rather ancient skeletons."

"How old?" Barton asked, thinking that he had an inkling where this might be going.

"An estimated twenty-five thousand years, sir. With an average height of eighteen feet."

"I can see why now. That will be jolly handy for the Grand Design. Right, what's the last one of the crown jewels?"

"I'm afraid what I have to say may change some of your plans for the disposition of funds, Prime Minister. You are aware of the case of Colonel Fawcett?"

"I am."

"What follows involves what he found out in South America, material we have uncovered from scholars of the Maya and some very strange events that occurred at two places called Tunguska and Roswell."

...................................................................................................................................................................

Prime Minister Barton sat in his study at Number 10 Downing Street and brooded. The morning had not been what he was expecting, even if it had started in fine fashion with the audience with Her Majesty, who had put him at ease as was her want with all of her ministers. After the briefing, he had sat through a further explanation by the Chiefs of Staff on how to start a nuclear war, even though his mind was half elsewhere, and written his letters of last resort for the strategic missile submarines. That had been the easiest part of the day, as each letter consisted of a single word - "Strike".

The information that Cuthbertson had given him over that last half hour did not change anything, not immediately. It wasn't even a given, all things considered, and the contingency plans were quite substantive. It did change some aspects of what he had planned whilst in Opposition, but he had his duty and that was iron to him. Power had never been the intense driver for him as it was for others; he had only ever sought power to do good, but now the situation behooved him to do good to gain power. That is what would be needed.

His Grand Design remained his greatest motivation, though, not far off matters that may never actually occur. Increase national economic growth whilst paying down the debt would both increase the funds available for health, pensions, education and welfare and increase the prosperity of the ordinary everyday Englishman and his family. Together, they would build a better, fairer society, a new Jerusalem. The engine of this growth was to be spending on defence and industry on a level not seen since the Depression and exports to this world and beyond. Nothing had changed that.

He would do whatever needed to be done, just as he had sworn to himself back in the ruins of Berlin. From the bloody ashes of the old world would come a new land, better and brighter and strong.

For only from strength could there be peace.

A treaty that has a Fourth Protocol in it, eh?

Bernard Woolley wrote: ↑Sat Jan 20, 2024 3:40 pm A treaty that has a Fourth Protocol in it, eh?

Good as long as everyone follows it.

Bernard Woolley wrote: ↑Sat Jan 20, 2024 3:40 pm A treaty that has a Fourth Protocol in it, eh?

Well, the Stockholm Conference didn’t result in a treaty, but something closer to the 1975 Helsinki Accords. The four additional protocols were understood and accepted by all parties as binding, though. The main thing about the Fourth Protocol is keeping Pierce Brosnan far away from it.

It was the only logical place to slot them in, given that there is no hope in Hades for a nuclear non-proliferation treaty when by 1970, 27 countries have the Bomb and 14 others have active programmes (Austria-Hungary, Rhodesia, Mexico, New Avalon, Persia, Taiwan, Korea, Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela, Denmark, Bulgaria, Iceland and Albania). Luxembourg is next to go and (who knows?) maybe Monaco; we’ll try to stay serene and calm, when Alabama gets the Bomb!

Why does Mexico need a nuke?

Back in the 60s, Gene Roddenberry predicted large corporations would have nuclear weapons. I'm not sure why they would need them, but who knows.

Everyone else is getting them, it is thought by some that it will get the Americans to treat them with a tad more respect and their Emperor has a bit of a complex about wanting to be perceived as a Great Power.

The largest multinational corporations of DE 1973 range from Coca-Cola to the East India Company. Unless the Cola Wars go hot, there is little scope for the former.

A New Jerusalem Part 4

The position of United States Ambassador to the Court of St. James was a prestigious one, of that there was no doubt. However, that prestige and power bought with it more than a few challenges and, over the three years since he had been called upon to take up the role, Dean Acheson had faced his share. The Anglo-American relationship had waxed and waned since the war, providing the background to many careful negotiations aimed at shoring up the backbone of Western security. Chief among those had been the Newfoundland Talks, which had paved the way for the US-British Mutual Defence and Cooperation Treaty in the dying days of the Thompson Administration. He had thought then and still did now that altogether too much had been conceded to the British in exchange for nothing truly vital, but the general utility of the agreement had seemingly persuaded others. The British, whilst less comparatively powerful as in 1945, were still the most capable of the European allies and had a global reach well beyond that of France through their Commonwealth ties and influence. At least the new administration wasn't quite as Anglophilic as Thompson; that had already yielded more effective results since Kennedy took office, particularly on the Far East.

Eden had been relatively straightforward to deal with, as his primary foreign policy drive had always been to follow Churchill's dictum to 'keep the Americans onside', at least after the ...events...of 1956, that is. He hadn't been quite as forthcoming as his long-time Chancellor of the Exchequer, MacMillan, who had been cultivated and supported as a friend of the United States since back in the Truman years, but that particular horse had pulled up short. This new man was rather different, though. Stanley Barton had been on the radar of various parts of the US government, particularly Langley and State, since his emergence during the Korean War and had been supported in various tacit and back channel means during his efforts to rid the Labour Party of its more extreme socialist elements after he fell into power; such measures were very much in accordance with Washington's interests and positions, after all.

However, any hopes of developing him as a firm Atlanticist had been dashed shortly after that point, as his next actions had been to carve out a strongly independent position that married old imperialist tendencies with the rhetoric of social democracy, however much he labelled it as otherwise. The confidential briefing paper prepared by the State Department had described Barton as a reactionary operating in the clothes of a socialist and spouting the words of an English nationalist, but it did read like it had come from the more pink-tinged corridors of Foggy Bottom which hadn't all fallen before the scythes of McCarthy and HUAC which were not particularly fond of the more robust actors on the British political scene. Barton hadn't formally come out and declaimed his belief in Britain above all else, like some sort of English-speaking de Gaulle, but there was that ever-present note of antediluvian imperialist chauvanism to both men. That was the primary purpose of today's meeting - to get a decent gauge of Barton's positions on the most significant aspects of Anglo-American cooperation and relations prior to his upcoming state visit to Washington.

Acheson looked up to see one of the obsequious Downing Street aides awaiting his attention.

"The Prime Minister will see you now, Ambassador. If you will follow me."

They walked from the waiting room through a wood paneled antechamber into a small study. It was appointed rather starkly by the standards of British domestic formality, with the only ornate paintings adorning the white walls being the ubiquitous portrait of the Queen and four classical battlescenes. The Armada, Trafalgar and Waterloo were familiar from his previous visits, but he almost did a doubletake at the sight of what was clearly the Burning of Washington.

Barton rose up from behind his desk in greeting, noting the quick glance at the portrait by the Ambassador; it seemed his little gambit had worked, but now he would see if it had succeeded in putting the chap off his stroke.

"Prime Minister, it is a pleasure. Allow me to extend to formally congratulate you on your election."

"Most certainly, Mr. Acheson. Please, be seated. There is much to discuss, I'll warrant. I look forward to being able to similarly congratulate the President after his own forthcoming re-election.”

"Yes, Prime Minister. President Kennedy has requested that we discuss some of the groundwork for your upcoming visit to the United States. The most pressing of which would be confirming some of the standing arrangements between our governments."

"Naturally. Mr. Eden discussed a number of those with me in the immediate aftermath of the election. I'll spare you any dissembling, Mr. Acheson and put my position plainly."

Here it comes he thought.

"The Labour Government will continue in full with the agreement and order of Skybolt. We will approve the Dunmanus Bay and Fishguard submarine bases and the expansion of Holy Loch, and we will be open to negotiations on a homeport for the Eighth Fleet, provided it would be in Cornwall."

"This is most welcome, Prime Minister."

"Of course; all of those do work in our favour as well as your interests. The previous requests for suitable bases for additional bomber wings assigned to your Third Air Force and for Strategic Air Command are similarly without issue.” He paused to fix Acheson with his steady gaze. “However, there are some other areas where this government differs from that of the Conservatives. Firstly, for the Thor missiles, we will be seeking to discuss the exact control and command arrangements. Secondly, if we are to go forward with the proposed Phantom fighter deal, then there will need to be certain measures put in place to ensure that it does not have a negative impact on the British aerospace industry.”

“Those seem like matters where some room for acceptable compromise could be found, Prime Minister.”

“I’m glad to hear it; these next ones might be a bit more of a stretch for you. It is the position of Her Majesty’s Government that we would like a direct understanding with the United States Government regarding the international trade in arms. To be blunt, we want a clear demarcation on appropriate spheres of influence and foreign markets.”

This was certainly not diplomatic language.

“The United States has a long held position in favour of free trade and this has been consistently reflected in our agreements related to the supply of mutual defence aid and necessary equipment for our regional allies and partners across the Free World.”

“Your advocacy of free trade doesn’t extend towards some of our products, such as the Concord.”

“There are of course some technologies and aircraft where it is of a vital national interest for the United States to have its own domestic capability, Prime Minister.”

“That much is natural. Same goes for us. You know our position. I’ll leave it to others to discuss the details in full, but I’m not going to sell British factories and British workers up the river for anyone. Having said that, I’m sure that we can reach an appropriate and just agreement that satisfies the interests of all parties.”

“I do hope so, Prime Minister.”

“Indeed. To that end, I’m glad to say that we can completely agree with and endorse all of the proposals for Allied Command Europe and the request regarding SACLANT command; symbols aren’t as important to us as the Tories. I’m even willing to push through the troop increases Mr. Eden planned for South Vietnam, at a minimum raising our force to a division.”

“That would be most welcome.”

“If you can back us up in the Congo, as has already been explained in our note, and continue to cover us and the Aussies with the Indonesians, then I’ll do more than that. We’ll stand alongside you, Mr. Acheson, just as we did in Korea when you called. To that end, it might be a useful idea if a session of the Combined Chiefs of Staff could be held, with appropriate publicity.”

“I shall pass along your suggestion, Prime Minister.”

“I do hope that you’ve found this little chat as useful and informative as I have, Mr. Acheson. I look forward to seeing the President next month; I’ve no doubt he’ll see off Senator Goldwater without too much fuss.”

“We can only hope so, Prime Minister.”

Acheson stood, shook Barton’s hand and departed in as business-like fashion as he had entered. The new Prime Minister wasn’t wrong; it had been an informative talk, however brief. If this was any indication of the future, Barton would be an interesting one to manage.

.....................................................................................

Every day, Barton would hear about wars of some description. The war they all strove to avoid, the hot war, and the innumerable cold wars around the world, raging in the brushfires of new nations and old empires alike. There was another war though, one just as vital and just as dangerous: the Secret War.

It spanned land, sea, air, space and more besides and on its success lay nothing less than the future survival of Britain. It encompassed the myriad projects of technology, espionage and sorcery that were undertaken to keep any edge possible against the baleful enemy to the east. It’s weapons were science, the arcane arts, human weakness and unspeakable bravery. Every day, there were thousands of men and women out there beyond the Iron Curtain putting their lives at risk so that others might live in peace. They were in Poland with the Home Army in the dark forests and grey cities, they were in the villages of Romania and the suffering prison lands of the Baltic and they were in the Red heart of the beast itself, in Soviet Russia. That vast imperial state was indeed a riddle wrapped in an enigma, with even the knowledge delivered unto them providing but a scintilla of insight into their path and their plans. The Secret Intelligence Service had a reputation as among the very best in the world at its game and his visits to the Circus had reinforced that strongly. He was intensely proud of those men out there in the shadows, as they were all heroes who would sadly never get their due.

Not even he knew where they all were for sure, nor Smiley for that matter, which was for the best. Of the current First XI, so to speak, Lothario was in the French Riviera, cultivating a female contact in the Union Corse; Cavalier was at his castle, preparing for the Brazilian expedition; Danger was in the West Indies with 17F; Chef was out in the South Pacific for some tests; Saint was in Geneva tracking down a Nazi scientist ring; Trotter was in Tokyo on a mission that only a mouse could do; Bonzo was in Dublin on the trail of that wicked woman; Galloper was out in exotic Angora running something in the Sublime Porte; Avenger and his girls were going after a drug smuggling racket in Lyonesse; Diamond was on the job right here in London; and Charlemagne was in Hollywood, ostensibly promoting his latest film whilst on the trail of Dr. Frankenstein. Whilst the codenames changed quite constantly, it was easier to envisage than the darned Double 0 system.

Another front was at home, where across the British Isles, the Security Services kept track of the many agents and illegals of the KGB who sought to bring down the state from within. There were 167 in London at last count, a number which suggested that the real tally could be quite higher, and more across the country. He had been quite surprised to learn that 29 had been quietly detained across the Empire since 1961 alone and a further 12 secretly tried and shot. Not inconsiderable parts of Britain remained off limits to all citizens of the Soviet bloc and indeed anyone who was not a British subject, all in the interests of security. This was not driven by paranoia, but the real threat posed by the grey men of the Red Army’s special forces, the Spetsnaz. The fates of the twenty five apprehended during the War of 1956 would remain buried with them in an unarmed lonely tract of the Highlands, but now the threat was much greater, according to…sources…in Moscow. The main defence against their threat was provided by the Scotland Yard’s Special Branch and Bomb Squad and the Security Service, including its highly clandestine Action Section, all backed up by the SAS as necessary.

The threat of enemy action, sabotage and subterfuge within the British Isles though, was quite minimal and contained, at least compared to the Empire at large. Here, the Secret War crossed over with the more visible conflicts in Africa and Asia and the grander struggle for the hearts, minds and souls of what was being termed the Third World. On such fronts, his chief weapon was the Special Operations Executive, which, along with its various subsidiary organisations, shell companies and mercenary groups, had proved just as adept as it had in the war to the hilt against Nazism. Plausible deniability was the name of their game and they played it ruthlessly, as well as being something of a bridge to the less conventional types who he’d met with earlier. Their foes were SMERSH, KAOS and SPECTRE, to name but three; there had apparently been some sort of discount for capitalisation while registering the names of their nefarious organisations, Barton chuckled to himself.

The latest reports from the USSR had been what had sparked today’s conference, what with the noticeable increase in the detection and cataloguing Soviet superheroes, adventurers and special talents. Something was afoot and now was the time to do something about it…

“If something can be done.” Barton said softly to himself.

“Indeed, that is always the question, Prime Minister. The answer does depend on how far we are willing to go.”

He looked up sharply at the sepulchral tones that disturbed his musing. There in the door of his study stood an extremely tall, gaunt figure clad in black robes and a heavy cloak drawn tightly around him. He doffed his capotain hat, revealing his characteristic long black hair and the sickly, almost green pallor that came from his labours in the dark places. His eyes shone with a burning zeal that seemed to go well beyond fanaticism into something not quite human anymore, but such was the cost of staring too long into the abyss and having it stare back until it blinked and backed away uneasily. His mouth was set in a mirthless grimace that seemed to sap mirth and joy from any room. This was a name and a visage that struck fear into the black hearts of those who had long since convinced themselves that they were beyond fear.

All in all, Barton quite liked the fellow.

“Ah, Witchfinder General! Glad you could make it.”

“I am gratified to be of service, as ever.”

“Very good. Now, your report was quite informative, but there were some queries I thought worth going through together here rather than dragging you away from the dungeons at Baynard.”

“Of course, Prime Minister. I am loathe to put aside duty for too long, but the battle between light and darkness requires knowledge as well as zeal.”

“Quite. Now, have a seat if you will. Good. Now, Witchfinder General, the section on the threats as your Office sees them was quite illuminating, but I was wondering if you could provide a more direct assessment - what are the significant threats and what are those of lesser import? What should be our priorities in this other secret war?”

“Very well. I would begin by saying that it appears that the dark is rising. All six of my field Chapters are the busiest they’ve been since the last war, the Wild Hunt has been abroad and men have seen Herne the Hunter walk the forests. Fell are the days and feller yet may come if we do not have care. Abroad, we see similar portents - the return of the Aztec curse, the business in the Congo and the whispers of an ill wind in China.

Now, as to the first question, consider it as a pyramid. At the base are the smaller groups and individuals who pose the least threat to the state, although their deeds merit response - the baser witches, the foolish Luciferian diabolists, the Hellfire Club dilettantes and the fools who dabble with the lower levels of necromancy. We deal with them quietly and quickly when we discover them in our usual fashion. Of an equal low threat are those who come here from without - the Voodoo cultists from the Caribbean, the Kali worshippers from India, the Egyptianites and those curious Viking revivalists. The Chapter for the Scouring of Heathenry has their measure. In all of these cases, whether they are domestic or foreign in origin, they ultimately threaten neither the physical security nor the spiritual protection of the realm.

Above them in the second rank are the more pernicious menaces, which assault us on more than this plane alone. Dark magic of genuine might is chief among these, as there is ever a cost that must be paid for such knowledge and power, not to mention the threat of opening the gates to beyond like the thrice-damned Nazis managed to do. The forces below in the Underworld are ever a concern on a more direct physical level to the Paladins and Templars, but our interest lies more in their other capacities. And of course, there is the evil plague of vampirism, which is on the increase. Eleven cases in this last year alone presents a significant rise from four in 1963. The evidence points towards the presence of a master vampire in England, perhaps two.”

“Could it be…Count Dracula?”

“No, Prime Minister. Our defences remain strong against that one. This is the work of another. I would like permission to consult with others - the Greeks, the Vatican and the FBI; the Americans have their issues with taking the Dark seriously, but their Infernal Affairs Branch is sound. In any case, it appears that there is a pattern to the fiends and their threat that is not confined to our shores.”

“You have it.”

“Excellent, Prime Minister. It is well for us to cooperate as there is much at stake, as it were. Finally, at the apex of threat lies those of both power and malice: witches and warlocks of the higher levels and even stranger groups of the dark. The Chapter for the Suppression of Vile Cults has been uncovered two most wicked groups in the last five years, both seeking to summon and worship a thing from beyond. Monumental fools, all of them, but they play with powers beyond their ken; should they succeed in opening some sort of portal, the Chapter of Forbidden Lore Research says that we would need to use a hydrogen bomb to seal it. Some sort of energy resonance apparently.”

“That is indeed serious, Witchfinder General, and something we cannot countenance. You are to pursue such groups and terminate their activities with extreme prejudice. Fire and sword.”

“That shall be done. On the matter of what our priorities should be? Do not give evil an inch in the daytime, for it will take whole yards at night.”

“Do we have any…indication…that this is linked to the Soviets at all?”

“No, Prime Minister. They have seen what Darkness and eschew it, even if not for the Light. Indeed, for these greater foes, they are in the same boat as us all. Setting aside our profane disagreements, there is evidence that they would stand with us against the fēond mancynnes when that hour may come.”

“Interesting. Light from the East, even.”

“Well, it has happened before.”

Strange times indeed.

Much food for thought.

Some notes on Part 2:

- Hannay’s observation on the irregularity of governmental change serves to point out how significant this first Labour government is from an in-universe perspective.
- Miles Cuthbertson is an amalgam of M and Control.
- His role comes as a reaction to the events of 1960 and is an intelligence equivalent to the CDS.
- Sir Obo was turned into a flying monkey in a magical accident.
- The Vulcan armament loadout reflects the changing nature of enemy defences. There is a longer term aim to combine newer variations of Blue Steel with gravity bombs and longer range stand off weapons (ALCMs, Grand Slam or Skybolt).
- The Vengeance and Vindicator Pathfinders have a role of “kicking in the door” or hitting SAM defences, radars, fighter airfields and fighters to clear the way for the Vulcans and Victorys.
- The Victory will take over the true penetrator role when it enters service.
- Britain has reached its maximum ICBM force size, but there will be some further coordination with Commonwealth forces.
- The 560 MRBMs have an advantage of speed and propellant over their Soviet counterparts, whilst the Soviet strategic cruise missiles/flying bombs have a slight edge over the current variants of the Red King.
- Actual Soviet targeting on Britain consists of 154 MRBM, 8 x Golf SSB (16 x SS-N-4), 4 x Whiskey SSG (8 x SS-N-3), 60 Tu-95 (60 gravity bombs), 100 M-50 (100 gravity bombs), 120 Tu-22 (120 gravity bombs) or 594 warheads.
- As a matter of interest, some others of their targets in 1964:
China: 126 MRBMs, 180 Tu-22 (180 gravity bombs), 90 M-50 (90 gravity bombs), 45 M-4 (90 gravity bombs),
France: 72 MRBMs, 45 M-4 (90 gravity bombs)
India: 48 MRBMs, 45 M-4 (90 gravity bombs)
Japan: 50 MRBMs, 4 Golf SSB (16 x SS-N-4), 45 M-50 (45 gravity bombs)
- Fighter Command has a very strong level of defence against Soviet bombers, with a ratio of 10 fighters to every bomber and an excellent SAM network.
- The balance of power in space is an interesting one...
- Mountbatten’s assessment on the lack of a real threat beyond the Soviets and Chinese reflects the gulf between Britain and the Turks, for example. A third or fourth tier nation cannot hope to take on a superpower in a conventional conflict.
- The Soviet grand strategy of the 1960s is to pull apart the Commonwealth and Empire through regional conflicts, even as it seeks to drag down France with Algeria and Vietnam. This is because the 1950s strategy of Middle Eastern penetration did not go so well
- The Soviet Bomber Conundrum: As of 1964, only really the M-50s stand much of a chance of getting through a 5 layered fighter defence (very long range Avro Arrows over Scandinavia and the Norwegian Sea, Fairey Delta IIs, Hawker-Siddeley Merlins, Supermarine Sunstars and then the English Electric Lightnings) along with a triple layered nuclear SAM defence, all of which is coordinated by airborne warning and control skyships and is planned to be augmented with a further naval ring of defence.Soviet approaches are limited to running the gauntlet over Scandinavia, which is close to suicidal, or coming in from the Kola bases, which channels them through a different killing zone.Attrition is not in favour of the attacker in that case unless they either massively increase the number of bombers or massively increase the capability and threat posed by them
- The other big issue is that the Grand Fleet’s wartime operating area is off Northern Norway, right in position to interdict approaching bombers. If they get through that, then there are the outer two fighter layers, then the Faeroes-Shetlands-Trondheim Area of fighters and SAMs, then the Orkneys Fighter Area protected by the RNAS, then they hit 9 Group of Fighter Command. That is the easier route compared to crossing the Baltic, Sweden, Denmark/Norway and the North Sea, which opens them up to AAFNORTH, naval carrier forces, a multi layered RAF defence of the North Sea and the Royal Netherlands Air Force pressuring them from the south
-

On Lapcat:

A few of the technologies referred obliquely in Part 3:

Mobile Phones
Laptops
Flash Drives
GPS
Microprocessors
Personal Computers
The Internet
Laser Printers
Pocket calculators
Email
Kevlar
CDs/Optical discs
Lithium ion batteries
Wheeled luggage
Goretex
Barcodes
Stealth
Winglets

Now, that would seem to be an exceptional haul, but the more prosaic reality is that Sam Johnson's "memory bank" didn't contain any detailed information on how any of these work or are made. After all, Sam isn't a technician, but just someone with a layman's knowledge of the various technologies of 2015. I'm essentially modelling Sam's information on what I know, which isn't enough to really map out exactly how these things work. Of these, the ones that they have been able to tell the most about are barcodes and wheeled luggage - the former through a picture that Sam had seen recently and the latter through plain common sense.

The end result is that an oversight committee has given out the general ideas of some potentially useful technologies to a few British companies, but considering most of them are well beyond the general level of advancement of the early 1960s, not much can be done. Across the Atlantic, the base idea of what would become the Internet much, much later has already cropped up, but the only additional advantage that the British have is knowing generally what shape it could take, based on Sam's knowledge: it connects computers through modems and allows communication of ideas.

My general gut feeling is that pocket calculators and laser printers might occur a little earlier, but the other key tidbits are just too vague to be of any use for at least 10-15 years. However, given the right ideas, roles, pictures, “mined mind-data” and more, it presents a chance to get a jump of sorts.

I put this segment in to show that the best laid schemes of certain British mandarins end up yielding very little in practical terms; the somewhat heavyhanded approach ended up skewing things awry for them in some ways.

"So, what is the most useful thing we've managed to get from this highly protected national secret?"

"Prime Minister, prepare to be amazed! I give you...this!"

"It is a suitcase with wheels on it."

"And we have it, before the Russians and Americans!"

"How's the garden?"

jemhouston wrote: ↑Sun Jan 21, 2024 2:46 pm Strange times indeed.

Much food for thought.

Indeed. I’m reasonably happy looking back on this chapter, as it provided for a development scene with Acheson, a reasonable interlude on espionage and the WG coming in with his little report, concluding with the fact that the Soviets may not be the worst of the worst bad guys, in some ways.

Simon Darkshade wrote: ↑Sun Jan 21, 2024 3:28 pm

jemhouston wrote: ↑Sun Jan 21, 2024 2:46 pm Strange times indeed.

Much food for thought.

Indeed. I’m reasonably happy looking back on this chapter, as it provided for a development scene with Acheson, a reasonable interlude on espionage and the WG coming in with his little report, concluding with the fact that the Soviets may not be the worst of the worst bad guys, in some ways.

The Soviets seldom were. You have to wonder how many bad actors they kept in check to prevent them from causing an massive reaction from the West.

Quite a few in @, ranging from the less realistic state actors to the various terror groups.

And as a bonus, some more data:

British Strategic Targets:

USSR: 2648 warheads on 756 DSTs

184 Blue Streak ICBM
200 Black Arrow MRBM
120 White Knight MRBM
128 Red King GLCM

420 Green Knight SLBM (192 from 8 SSBN, 120 from 5 BBGN, 108 SLBM from 13 BBG)
72 gravity bombs from Supermarine Excaliburs

480 Blue Steel (80 Vulcans x 6 Blue Steel)
240 Grand Slams (60 Vulcans x 4 Grand Slams)
240 Skybolt (60 Vulcans x 4 Skybolt)
240 gravity bombs from 120 Vulcans

160 Blue Steel from 160 Vengeances
68 Blue Steel from 68 Vindicators

96 megaton shells from 24 atomic superguns


Eastern Europe: 884 warheads on 140 DSTs

100 Black Arrow MRBM
120 White Knight MRBM
72 Red King GLCM

144 Blue Steel (24 Vulcans x 6 Blue Steel)
144 Skybolt (24 Vulcans x 4 Skybolt)

160 gravity bombs/Blue Steel from 160 Vengeances
48 gravity bombs from 48 Valiants
72 gravity bombs from 36 Valiants

24 gravity bombs from Supermarine Excaliburs


China: 440 warheads on 187 DSTs

48 SLBM from 2 SSBN
16 SLBM from 2 BBG

16 Blue Streak ICBM
48 Skybolt ALBM (12 Vulcans x 4 Skybolt)
72 Blue Steel (12 Vulcans x 6 Blue Steel)
24 Red King GLCM

96 gravity bombs from 24 Vulcans
72 gravity bombs from 72 Valiants

24 gravity bombs from Supermarine Excaliburs

Turkey: 172 warheads on 69 DSTs

40 SLBM (24 from 1 SSBN, 16 from 2 BBG)

72 gravity bombs from 72 Valiants
48 gravity bombs from 24 Vulcans

Indonesia: 124 warheads on 42 DSTs

16 SLBM from 2 BBG
48 bombs from 48 Valiants,
24 gravity bombs from 24 Vulcans
12 Red King GLCM
24 Black Arrow MRBM

24 gravity bombs from Supermarine Excaliburs

Reserve:

120 Valiants
16 x Blue Steel Vulcans,
20 x Grand Slam Vulcans,
48 x gravity bomb Vulcans,
60 Vengeances

36 Black Arrow MRBM
96 Green Knight SLBM
50 Blue Streak ICBM


Notes:
- The Valiants are on their way out of the strategic game by 1967/68.
- Vulcan armament will change to reflect their stand-off role.
- The Pathfinders are designed to knock out every Soviet SAM site, radar, fighter field and associated target in Eastern Europe and the Western USSR.
- Battleship SLBMs are aimed mainly at the Kola Peninsula, Soviet northern flank and particularly to blow open a hole in Soviet arctic defences for SAC to break into Siberia.
- Submarine SLBMs are aimed at countervalue targets.
- The US has 254 DGZs in Moscow; Britain has 96.

- US targets are placed in three main axes: The big SAC path over the North Pole; the Western/European approach (itself split into the Mediterranean and Scandinavian routes) ; and the Eastern path in from the Pacific.
- British targets are primarily in the Western USSR, although the ICBMs have many Siberian targets.
- Australian Strategic weapons are aimed at Indonesia and China, South African weapons at Soviet Central Asia and Turkey and Canada has a big role in the Arctic and Soviet Far East, as well as certain Soviet missile fields in Siberia.
- Incorporating the French into this is very complex...