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Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd - M Love Ryan

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153 pages

English

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Peru, 2005. The towering mountains and deep, forested valleys of La Convencion Province provide sanctuary for a dangerous criminal organisation with sufficient military capability to challenge government forces. An elite unit of British SAS are tasked to implement a solution. Their ground-breaking new equipment offers a decisive advantage and enables an unorthodox covert approach, but its untested nature also brings complications. Soon the British team find themselves ensnared in a web of corruption and conflicting interest, where the only way forward is to elevate the crisis to a chaotic conclusion.The Jackdaw Detail weaves between political, tactical and financial motives, as soldiers and civilians alike are drawn into an ever-thickening plot.

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Thriller

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Publié par	Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd
Date de parution	30 novembre 2022
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781398420465
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0175€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

T he J ackdaw D etail
Ryan M Love
Austin Macauley Publishers
2022-11-30
The Jackdaw Detail About the Author Dedication Copyright Information © Prologue: 13 May 2005 La Convención Province, Peru Chapter One: Saturday, 21 May West Sussex, England Chapter Two: Monday, 23 May VRAEM Chapter Three: Tuesday, 31 May Herefordshire, England Chapter Four: Saturday, 4 June La Fábrica Chapter Five: Monday, 6 June London Chapter Six: Tuesday, 7 June Lima Chapter Seven: Friday, 10 June Lewes, England Chapter Eight: Wednesday, 15 June Herefordshire Chapter Nine: Tuesday, 28 June Cusco, Peru Chapter Ten: Tuesday, 5 July Stirling Lines Chapter Eleven: Wednesday, 20 July Cusco Chapter Twelve: Friday, 22 July Brecon Beacons, Wales Chapter Thirteen: Monday, 25 July Lima Chapter Fourteen: Tuesday, 26 July Lima Chapter Fifteen: Wednesday, 27 July Outpost Chapter Sixteen: 19:25 La Fábrica Chapter Seventeen: 20:00 Outpost Chapter Eighteen: 21:22 Drop-Off Point Chapter Nineteen: 22:38 Mountain Path Chapter Twenty: 22:51 Four Kilometres to Target Chapter Twenty-One: Thursday, 28 July, 01:44 La Fábrica Chapter Twenty-Two: 02:39 Green Chapter Twenty-Three: 03:06 Blue-1 Chapter Twenty-Four: 03:31 LS-1 Chapter Twenty-Five: 03:50 Apurimac Tributary Chapter Twenty-Six: 06:20 La Fábrica Chapter Twenty-Seven: 06:45 Lima Chapter Twenty-Eight: 09:07 Cusco Chapter Twenty-Nine: 23:45 Lima Epilogue: Tuesday, 9 August England
About the Author
Ryan M Love was born in Kent. Following an education in horticulture, he worked principally as a gardener until a keen interest in modern military history inspired him to begin writing fiction. Having a passion for the outdoor life, he is an avid mountain biker, snowboarder and trail runner. He currently lives in Wales, just outside the Brecon Beacons National Park.
Dedication
For Mick and Jane
Copyright Information ©
Ryan M Love 2022
The right of Ryan M Love to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781398420458 (Paperback)
ISBN 9781398420465 (ePub e-book)
www.austinmacauley.com
First Published 2022
Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd ®
1 Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5AA
Prologue

13 May 2005 La Convención Province, Peru
Major Hermano Reyes felt the solid crack of wood on leather as if he were holding the bat himself. His chest swelled with pride and a warm glow rushed to his cheeks when his twelve-year-old son struck a good drive for the junior-league cricket team he had just joined that day. It was only a friendly game, but the ball had gone for four and this was sufficient to bring tears to the doting father’s eyes. The smell of freshly cut grass, the babbling chatter from the stands: he could recall every sight, sound and emotion of that moment as he thundered above the dense forest canopy in the Sukhoi fighter aircraft.
Twin turbojets vigorously shook the airframe beneath him, the airflow over the cockpit passing with a flat whistle. The gauge showed his indicated airspeed as 290 knots. He navigated between the mountains, flying below the level of the tree line over an endless carpet of lush vegetation. The taller peaks surrounding him remained bare and rocky. He was to the east of Ayacucho, conducting a solo air patrol over the geopolitical region known as the VRAEM – the Valle de los Ríos Apurímac, Ene y Mantaro. These rivers ultimately made their way to the Amazon basin, and the surrounding topography stretched largely unchanged to the borders of Bolivia and Brazil. His eyes scanned for signs of other air traffic without result. He was alone in the sky.
Reyes had piloted the Soviet-built SU-25 for three years in the Fuerza Aérea del Perú − the Peruvian Air Force − and had already seen more combat action than many pilots would ever see. Accordingly, he had developed an exceptional level of flying skill. He was experienced at hunting low-flying aerial targets from a height just above the treetops, an endeavour that required both conviction and finesse. He mused over the relative aeronautical complexity of his role as he made his navigational checks. The American-made F16 Fighting Falcon could cruise to a location ten kilometres above its target, drop its munitions and fly home again. Major Reyes reckoned that an airline pilot could carry out this task. The F15 Strike Eagle could locate an enemy plane with its beyond-visual-range radar, then release a missile to score a kill without even changing course. This was not the case for Reyes. He needed to get in close to engage his targets – he had to chase his prey down.
When Reyes joined the FAP, it had been Shining Path, the communist insurgents, who were the enemy. The guerrilla group still existed but posed a greatly diminished threat since the capture of their leader Abimael Guzmán in 1992. Reyes first piloted the ageing SU-22 fighter-bomber, a relic left over from the Cenapa conflict with Ecuador, but his excellent service was rewarded with transfer to an elite division equipped with superior aircraft. His unit – Escuadrón Aéreo 115 – flew missions to combat the trafficking and production operations of the Peruvian cocaine cartels using the recently purchased SU-25. Designed for close-air-support of ground troops, these had proven highly capable in the role. Reyes was tasked with shooting down cartel transport planes and attacking overtly unlawful ground facilities. These enemies were not the peasant subsistence farmers prevalent throughout Peru’s history. They were armed, well-funded and highly organised criminal corporations, with military capabilities that could equal those of a small nation. The cartels were a cancer of his country, greedy and ruthless; they would murder, kidnap or torture in order to protect and nurture their parasitic industry. Their activities must be halted.
He never felt relish for the killing of an unarmed enemy pilot but nor did he feel any remorse. In some cases, where a state-controlled airfield was in range, he would clip the enemy plane with a short burst from the Sukhoi’s twin-barrelled 30mm cannon, forcing it to land and be captured. In most cases though, he would shoot the plane out of the sky to ensure the destruction of its illicit cargo. If the cartels were prepared to kill for their sordid purposes, then he was prepared to kill for righteous ones. Reyes’ shoulders were broad enough for the job at hand. He had proven this many times.
His eyes flicked momentarily over each of the instruments set into the pale blue coaming. He noted his fuel level and made a quick mental calculation; fifteen minutes of flight time remained before he would wrap up the patrol and head back to base. He would be happy to get out of the cramped cockpit. The pilot’s position was encased in a bathtub assembly of welded titanium plate that restricted his space and did nothing for comfort. He initiated a slow, banking-left turn to bring his heading around towards home when he caught a glimpse of movement below at his eleven o’clock, just above the treetops.
He straightened out the aircraft and scanned to reacquire the source. Visibility was limited in the SU-25 due to the low seating position designed for maximum protection, but his sharp eyes found their target quickly. Two kilometres away, flying within the trough of a shallow valley, was a twin-engine light aircraft – a cartel transport. Nobody flew that low without good reason. He adjusted course and depressed the radio talk button to call in the contact, then noticed the second aircraft almost directly below him. Following a few kilometres behind the transport was an armed escort, with camouflage paintwork that made it almost invisible against the jungle backdrop below. Reyes was lucky to have spotted it – it would have been positioned directly behind him if he’d moved in to pursue the leader. This was a cartel tactic. Now he was certain.
Reyes broke right into a wide turn to come around for a better view of his quarry. He couldn’t afford to lose his prey during the manoeuvre so he pushed his throttles hard forward to gain airspeed. The vibration within the cockpit intensified and the Sukhoi bumped and juddered as it sliced through the air. The new angle revealed the escort plane more clearly – an Embraer 314 Super-Tucano light attack aircraft, bristling with guns and rockets and painted in military colours. Several of these planes had been bought, stolen or otherwise liberated by organised drug traffickers across South America. Reyes had acquired a target.
He spoke into the mouthpiece contained within his mask: ‘ Estación Cero-Ocho , this is Comadreja Cinco . I have one light transport, one Super-Tucano escort; approximate grid square: one, eight, lima, x-ray, lima, eight, four; heading east-southeast; both aircraft using cartel procedure. Request identification, priority; over.’ Reyes would wait for confirmation before action, as per protocol. The response came immediately.
‘ Comadreja Cinco, this is Estación Cero-Ocho . Request acknowledged, priority. Stand by.’
Twenty seconds elapsed before the answer came, during which interval he completed the slow turn and lined up his jet fighter on the heavily armed escort plane.
‘ Comadreja Cinco, identification is negative – they are not ours. You are clear to engage subject to your own judgement; over.’ The instruction sounded crackly through the headset but was clear enough in meaning.
‘Acknowledged, engaging both aircraft