Bravo two zero by Andy McNab Read Free Book Online

about antiaircraft capabilities.
        "Have you got any other information-as in maps?"
        "I was going to ask you the same question," I said.
        "No, we've got jack shit. If we can't get you there, where else do you want to go?"
        "All depends where you can get us to."
        The pilot would run the whole show from pickup to drop-off, even though he'd have no idea what the task was. We would trust his judgment totally; we would just be passengers.
        He left and we organized another brew before we tackled the tricky bit: how to attack the landlines and Scud.
        We wanted to work out how to inflict the maximum amount of damage with the minimum of effort. With luck, the cables would run alongside the MSR, and every 5 miles or so there would be inspection manholes. We didn't know if we would find a signal booster system inside the manholes, or what. But Stan suggested that because of the economics of laying lines, there might even be a land communication line inside as a bonus.
        More questions for Bert. Would the manhole covers be padlocked? Would they have intruder devices, and if so would we be able to defeat them?
        If not, would we have to start digging for the landline itself? Might they be encased in concrete or steel or other protective devices? If so, we might have to make a shaped charge to pierce the steel. Would the manholes be flooded to prevent attack? Strangely enough, this would actually be an advantage, because water acts as a tamping for explosives and would therefore increase the force of the explosion.
        We worked out that, depending on the ground, we'd do an array of four, five, or six cuts along the cable, and each one of them would be timed to detonate at different times over a period of days. We'd lay all the charges in one night, and have one going off, say, in the early evening next day. That would give one whole night when, at best, it was incapable of being repaired, or at least they would be slowed down, and they'd come probably at first light to fix it. They'd eventually find out where the cuts had been made and send a team down to repair them. It made sense for us to try and include these people in the damage if we could, thereby reducing the Iraqis' capability to carry out other repairs. Mark came up with the idea of putting down Elsie mines, which are small antipersonnel mines that work on pressure. When you step on them, they explode.
        If everything went to plan, the first charge would make the cut and when they came down, possibly at first light, to repair it, the technician or a guard would lose his foot to an Elsie mine. The next evening, number two would go off, but we'd have laid the charge without Elsie mines.
        However, the boys that came down would be very wary, take their time, or maybe even refuse to do the job. The following day, another would go off, and this time we would have laid Elsie mines. Maybe they'd be more confident, and they'd get hit again. The only problem would be that we couldn't place the Elsie mines too near the site we were blowing, or the explosion might dislodge or expose them.
        In the worst scenario, we'd have rendered the cable inoperable over six days. At best, we might have wrecked it for ever after the first day.
        It was a brilliant thought of Mark's, and we added two boxes of Elsies -twenty-four in all-to the equipment list.
        In essence, we would do as many cuts as we could with the ordnance and time available. It might be that we'd have to do cuts that were 12 miles apart, and take two nights doing it. I hoped we wouldn't have to blow the manholes to get at the cables, because if they checked other covers they'd be sure to find the other devices. To cater for that, we would put an anti handling device on all the timers. It would either be a pull switch or a pressure release, which would detonate the charge if they lifted it.
        I was starting to feel tired.