Chapter 177: Chapter 156: To War!

London, Great Britain
July 29th, 1832

"Prime Minister, the crowd is getting restless every day. They're calling for blood."

Duke of Wellington, the Prime Minister of Great Britain and her Empire, massaged his temple with his right hand, "Those damn newspapers spinning preposterous rumors of the incident should be shut down!"

The Cabinet of the British government sat around a meeting table in 10 Downing Street, adjourning for the fifth time in as many days to address the crisis at hand. After all the ruckus that was caused following the public's awareness of the "Oregon Incident," the British government was scurrying to come up with a solution that was acceptable to the public. However, the task was much more difficult than it seemed.

"It doesn't help that the sole survivor of the "massacre" was brought back to Britain and displayed that shirt in front of a mob," Foreign Secretary George Hamilton-Gordon, the Earl of Aberdeen mentioned. "Since then, the mob has gotten bigger and out of control."

"He shouldn't have been speaking to the crowd in the first place!" Prime Minister Wellesley spat, "He sauntered up to a group of rioters and held up a bloody shirt claiming that it "belonged to his father and the Americans killed him in cold blood." Now, look at what he has done! The press is claiming that the Americans invaded a British settlement in Oregon, raped several British women after massacring the men, and torched the settlement to the ground! And that daft man claimed that it all happened! No matter how much we deny his claims, they don't believe us!"

"We were close to a deal with the Americans as well," Secretary Gordon added.

"Of course we were! They were willing to accept responsibility for the incident and offered reparations. But the fact they refused to turn over the men involved to our courts..."

Home Secretary Robert Peel grimaced, "It was only a reminder to the public that the Americans did the same thing when those Irish bombers nearly killed our previous monarch."

Prime Minister Wellesley drank an entire cup of tea to calm down, "If we manage to convince the American government to turn over those men, then the public should be palpable to a peaceful settlement..."

"Your Excellency!" An aide rushed into the meeting room and immediately looked embarrassed at his intrusion, "I believe you should take a look at this."

The leader of the British government took a newspaper from the aide's hand and his eyes widened, "Impossible! I only received this message three days ago! How?"

On the front page of the newspapers The Times, a single headline screamed out that immediately grasped the reader's attention, "Yankee Warships heading towards Iceland, Prelude to an Invasion!"

"Sir," Robert Dundas, the First Lord of Admiralty, asked, "Is this true? Have they launched an invasion under our very nose?"

"Of course not. I have been reassured by Ambassador Canning that the Americans have sent out a routine patrol fleet to Iceland after it finished maintenance. But this information was only sent to me. How did the Times get this information?"

"I released that information, Mr. Wellesley."

The Cabinet turned to see George IV, the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover, quietly enter the room. He had matured significantly during his time as king, going from a spoiled and obese young man to a healthy, but aged monarch. Unlike his father, he was sane, but King George IV always had a slight maniacal look in his eyes. He constantly involved himself in the government's daily affairs and the members of the Wellesley Ministry knew that he harbored a deep hatred for Britain's "daughter" across the Atlantic.

The prime minister looked stunned before giving a gracious bow to his sovereign, "Your Majesty, I..."

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"How incompetent is your ministry that you ignore the evidence of the American atrocities and attempt to concede Britain's honor for useless land and money?"

"We are seeking to avoid a war, Your..."

"Not another word from you," King George IV glared, causing the Duke of Wellington to cower into his seat. He swept his hands across the room and the remaining Cabinet members, who rose for their monarch, sat onto their seats, "Now, all of you have seen what the Yankees are willing to do. They have massacred citizens of my realm, and believe they can settle this crime with bribes. Yet, all of you seem perfectly content to allow this to happen and left me in the dark about what was happening in this very room. Thankfully, it seems as though one of you was loyal enough to me to inform me just what was happening. Lord Chancellor, you have my undying gratitude."

Prime Minister Wellesley turned to the Lord Chancellor, the 2nd Earl of Rosslyn, in shock, "You?"

"It had to be done, Your Excellency. His Majesty needed to hear about our decisions on this crucial matter."

"And thankfully, Ambassador Canning sent me a similar letter he sent to you, Prime Minister. While you may have easily overlooked the details of the letter, it is clear to me that those... treacherous Americans are preparing for war. The timing of their "patrol fleet" is impeccable. Why would they send warships right next to our waters while this issue is ongoing? Does it sound sensible to you? To any of you?"

The room went silent as the king glared at every individual sitting around the table, "No, it is clear to me that the Americans are threatening our domain. They attempt to block us out of every opportunity. I have heard that those yellow monkeys are attempting to remove British traders from Canton. They have a dagger pointed at India. They prevented us from seizing South Africa, and I heard that there have been discoveries of gold and diamonds there. They enticed those Negros on Jamaica and swept into seize the island for themselves after we left. Which was the reason why the Whigs were removed from power."

"There was no evidence of their involvement and they have promised they will not allow such a thing to happen again..." Secretary Peel started before falling silent after King George turned to him.

"And you believe them? After all their actions? Their president," The British ruler spat the word out as if it was cursed, "Is a Negro. Do you think he will sit idle while our colonies in the Caribbean are filled with Negros, clamoring for rights? No. He will push us out of the Americas, just as his predecessors pushed Spain out of the Americas. And what comes next after that? Hawaii? Australia? India?"

"We will stop them here and show them the might of Albion! They have been upstarts for far too long, and it is time to put them in their place."

Putting on a brave face, the prime minister stood up to speak to the monarch, "Your Majesty, our military is not prepared to fight in a war against the United States and we can still push the American government to give up more concessions..."

"I will give you two choices: resign or war."

"But you can't..."

"I can, and I will. I will go up to Parliament and wave the bloody shirt of my dead subject myself if necessary. The public is crying for war. The demonstrations for the past week are proof. Now, what is your choice?"

Prime Minister Wellsley shuddered. The king's anger was almost tangible and he knew that he had no other choice on the matter. If he resigned, then Parliament would most likely choose a war hawk to take his place, considering the current public sentiment. Therefore, it was either he led the government during the war, or a more ambitious war hawk would, "War, Your Majesty."

"Then I expect Parliament to vote on the matter within a week, Prime Minister. Oh, and send the word out to our fleets in the Caribbean and elsewhere as fast as possible. They are to destroy the American Navy and crush them before they can even resist."

After the king left, the members of the Cabinet slumped into their chairs. They now had a war to plan out.

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