Ghost Force

colleagues.

In the end, it was General Brenchley who stood up, towering over the table of professional politicians, not one of whom had ever served in the military, not one of whom had ever had a proper job, outside of political parties, trade unions, or general public rabble-rousing. Maybe a couple of lawyers, specializing in human rights, or some such bloody nonsense. All of them, in the opinion of the military, were, generally speaking, either beneath contempt or hard on the border line.

And right now the military held sway. General Brenchley said coldly, 'Prime Minister, I feel I owe you an explanation. And I'm going to give it. You and your Chancellor, over the past several years, have made the following increases in government spending budgets: sixty-one percent for the International Development Department, whatever the hell that is. Sixty percent for the Home Office, that's several million more civil servants; fifty-one percent for Education, mostly trying to teach the unreachable; and fifty percent more for Health.

'Alternately, the Defense budget has been increased by three percent, which represents of course a massive net loss to us who try to serve in it. It used to be one civil servant for every eleven soldiers, it's now one and a half civil servants for every one soldier, which is, of course, bloody ridiculous.'

The words of the General absolutely stunned everyone around the table. But Robin Brenchley had the beleaguered Prime Minister on the run. And they both knew it. Right now, General Brenchley, Chief of Great Britain's Defense Staff, was unsackable, and he intended to make the most of it.

'Because you and your Chancellor for some reason regard us, disdainfully, as spenders of the nation's wealth, you have systematically undermined every branch of the armed services, all in the cause of your constant desire to seek savings. Your disdain for us has reached all ranks — their morale, their sense of self-worth, and their concerns for their future careers.

'Defense expenditure in this country has declined by thirty-five percent. One-third of our personnel has vanished. Our conventional submarine force has gone from thirty-five to twelve. The destroyer and frigate force is down from forty-eight to twenty-eight, our infantry battalions are down from fifty-five to thirty-eight. Our tank strength has fallen by forty-five percent. The number of effective fighter aircraft in the Royal Air Force remains at zero, where it has been ever since the Phantom was taken out of service.

'Prime Minister, five years ago, you and your Chancellor scrapped the only decent fighter-bomber the country possessed. Not only was it a highly effective all-weather interceptor, it could also operate as a ground attack fighter, a recce and probe aircraft, and as a ship strike aircraft. Furthermore, it could operate from the steel deck of an aircraft carrier anywhere in the world.

'I must tell you, Prime Minister, the loss of the Sea Harrier FA2 capability represents the loss of our fleet's ability to defend itself. This applies also to its associated land forces and their ability to defend against any form of sophisticated air attack.

'We have no new carriers in sight. Which means we are left with Ark Royal, which is small, twenty-five years old, with only ground attack aircraft and helicopters on its deck. And the Illustrious at three months' notice, and even older.

'We do not even have the air defense capability of Sea Harrier FA1, which we had in 1982. Today we face a greatly improved Argentinian Air Force. The FA2, which you so carelessly discarded, was, I must remind you, armed with a fully integrated missile system that could engage four aircraft, or even sea-skimming missiles, simultaneously, at ranges out to thirty-five miles, at speeds up to Mach 3.

'That little Sea Harrier effectively won the war for us in the Falklands in 1982.

'As you know, you and your financial ministers forced this brilliant little warhorse out of service, well before the planned date, purely because of cost. And with a statement we all regarded as madness, your Defense Minister—' Barely pausing, the General rasped, 'Not you, Caulfield' — and then continued, 'Your Defense Minister announced the Harrier's replacement would be the Harrier GR7 or 9. Understandable. That's the only fixed-wing aircraft we have left, which will operate from the deck of a small carrier.

'But, the GR7/9 is a small STOVL ground attack aircraft with no radar. It can carry two advanced short-range air-to-air missiles — ASRAAM — for strictly visual launch. That means daylight and good visibility only. And the damn thing flies for only one and a half miles. By the way, it was called advanced more than thirty years ago. Now the bloody thing belongs in the Victoria and Albert Museum.

'And you may require me to order the Navy into battle — with that? And I should remind you, we don't have even one fighter attack aircraft on the Mount Pleasant Airfield. And if we did, it would sure as hell be destroyed by now. So much for your economies. I suggest you stand up in the House of Commons later today and tell them what you have done.'

For the second time in just a very few hours, the Prime Minister of Great Britain thought it entirely possible that he might throw up. He felt as though he had been hit by a truck, and this bombastic damn General was walking all over him. Christ, he thought, if this man ever gets loose in the newspapers, he'll finish me. He could actually bring down the government.

But it was the newspapers and the television that really bothered him, and it was clear there was no sense arguing with the military. 'General,' he said, in his most conciliatory manner, 'I am certain that all of my colleagues understand your point of view…'

'Not a point of view, Prime Minister,' interjected the General. 'Just a few plain, simple, irrefutable facts.'

'Of course — nothing you say is in dispute. It's just that this has all been so damned sudden, it came at us all like a bolt from the blue…'

'Did it?' said General Brenchley. 'Did it indeed, Prime Minister?' His voice dripped with irony.

'Well, certainly it has tonight. And I think it would be wise for us to fight the battle we're in, rather than several battles that have been fought, won, and lost in the past. I mean that, of course, metaphorically.'

Peter Caulfield stepped in to save his boss. 'General,' he said, 'I think the Prime Minister is actually looking at a worst-case scenario. What happens if Parliament demands we go and retake the Falkland Islands with military force? We cannot just tell them it's impossible.'

'Well, it is.'

'General, I realize there are substantial difficulties. Of course, we all do, and most of them certainly not your doing. But if Parliament demands we act, is there any hope we could pull something out of the bag like last time, in 1982?'

'We have two old aircraft carriers and four active squadrons of the Harrier GR7/9. I suppose we could muster a naval force at least to go down there. The GR9 can fly off a carrier, but without the Harrier FA2 we have no Combat Air Patrols, CAPs…only last-ditch air defense for the fleet.

'By that I mean we have nothing to stop all incoming Argentine bombers, and some are bound to get through. I'm only talking about aircraft carrying two thousand-pound iron bombs, any one of which is capable of sinking a ship. They will explode this time too, like they did in HMS Coventry in 1982. She sank in twenty minutes.

'Our missile system has no time to do anything about it, except shoot down the A4, after it's delivered its bombs and is on its way home. By which time it's a bit bloody late.'

The General offered hardly a ray of hope. 'If we had the new aircraft carrier the government promised, and just a dozen of those Harriers, we'd probably beat them…high CAPs swooping down on the A4s before they could attack. If we had both the aircraft carriers, as promised, and two dozen Harriers, we'd wipe them out. But we don't.'

'Any chance of the new Eurofighter being advanced in time?'

'None. The bloody thing will be two years late, never mind one year early.'

'Will the Army have a view?'

'Yes, a very simple one…they will refuse to make a landing without air cover…and the only air cover they have is the GR9, which can't see anything in bad weather and carries a missile that flies only a mile and a half.'

'And we cannot provide anything else?' asked Eltringham.

'Not against those French Mirage IIIs. But Foreign Minister, in answer to the original question…yes, I suppose we could mount some sort of a show, although the soldiers don't even have decent boots, unless they bought them themselves.