The Pearl of the Orient

by coolmccool5

Margaret Thatcher is at the peak of her influence after the Falklands War when she is starting the negotiations for Hong Kong's return to China. What if the Iron Lady had run the gauntlet when Chinese Premier Deng Xiaoping had told her he could seize Hong Kong by force "within an afternoon"? Inspired by the campaign of the same name from Wargame: Red Dragon.

Prelude to Conflict

In June 1982, the Falklands War, Margaret Thatcher's war, ends in a complete British victory. The "Iron Lady" is at the top of her popularity and influence. Later on in September 1982, while on an official visit to Beijing, the British Prime Minister expresses Britain's wish to see the People's Republic of China extending the lease of Hong Kong. Chinese Premier Deng Xiaoping counters this by putting forward China's will to recover all of its territories that are still under foreign administration.

For a year, negotiations are pursued with no positive results. When they reach a deadlock, the Chinese Premier bluntly states to Margaret Thatcher that he, "could walk in and take the whole lot this afternoon".

Encouraged by her aura as a victorious war leader in the Falklands, the British Prime Minister takes up the gauntlet and orders the reinforcement of Hong Kong's garrison. In retaliation, China masses troops on Hong Kong's border, hoping to force Margaret Thatcher to reconsider Britain's position.

Six months later, the "Iron Lady" hasn't yielded an inch, and even convinces several Commonwealth States to stand alongside Britain.

Eventually, what it was unable to recover through diplomacy, China decides to recover by force. On April 19, 1984, at one minute past midnight, China recalls its ambassador from the United Kingdom after transmitting a last declaration of war.