The post you are reporting:
The last paragraph sums it up.
Behind the scenes, however, a secret Whitehall working group - codenamed MISC 57 - was established to lay the ground for the battle to come.
They began to buy land next to electricity power stations - which were nearly all coal-fired - so coal could be stockpiled to keep them running through a strike. They also started converting stations to dual-firing so they could run on oil if coal supplies were exhausted.
MISC 57 discussed using troops to move coal, although officials warned it would be a "formidable undertaking".
In a memorandum dated October 27 1983, PL Gregson at the Cabinet Office noted: "A major risk might be that power station workers would refuse to handle coal brought in by servicemen in this way."
The next day, however, a meeting of senior ministers chaired by Mrs Thatcher ruled that while they might be able to rely on existing coal stocks in the early stages of a strike, planning for the use of troops should continue.
"It was agreed that... it might be necessary at some stage to examine more radical options for extending endurance, including the use of servicemen to move pithead stocks to power stations," the minutes noted.
As the Government moved towards the general election of 1983, preparations for an expected conflict over pit closures was stepped up.
In January 1983, Energy Secretary Nigel Lawson said while the National Coal Board (NCB) was still not yet confident of winning a strike, they needed to be ready for a decisive showdown once the election was out of the way.
"While the board are currently thinking a national strike would last for two months, I believe it could well be longer," he wrote to Mrs Thatcher.
"If Scargill succeeds in bringing about such a strike we must do everything in our power to defeat him, including ensuring that the strike results in widespread closures."