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Book: The Target by David Baldacci

The TargetThe Target (Will Robie #3)

An okay read but not compelling. Official synopsis below.
The President knows it’s a perilous, high-risk assignment. If he gives the order, he has the opportunity to take down a global menace, once and for all. If the mission fails, he would face certain impeachment, and the threats against the nation would multiply. So the president turns to the one team that can pull off the impossible: Will Robie and his partner, Jessica Reel.Together, Robie and Reel’s talents as assassins are unmatched. But there are some in power who don’t trust the pair. They doubt their willingness to follow orders. And they will do anything to see that the two assassins succeed, but that they do not survive.As they prepare for their mission, Reel faces a personal crisis that could well lead old enemies right to her doorstep, resurrecting the ghosts of her earlier life and bringing stark danger to all those close to her. And all the while, Robie and Reel are stalked by a new adversary: an unknown and unlikely assassin, a woman who has trained her entire life to kill, and who has her own list of targets—a list that includes Will Robie and Jessica Reel.

Gun Emplacements at Castillitos

IMG_6234The route to the guns from Mazarrón has a small but hilly detour which takes you to an excellent view point up by the aerials. Unfortunately, it was a little misty today so the views were a bit hazy, but stunning nonetheless.

Returning from the aerials, we took the road to the right which led us to the Gun Emplacements at Castillitos. Rather than returning via Mazarrón we headed back through Cartegena, a more direct route on roads that were a lot better than we had thought.

IMG_6250These large guns were constructed between 1926 and 1933 as part of a sophisticated defence network which aimed to protect Cartagena and its important military arsenal. 44 elements covered every angle of attack and batteries were constructed in a ring which encircled Cartagena and out along the coast as part of the Plan de Defensa of 1926.

The guns, made in the UK by Vickers, were  the best in the world for anti-shipping defence at this time, and had a 35km firing range.

There are 2 different batteries at Cabo Tiñoso, La bateria del Jorel, which houses three 1923 model Vickers 152.4mm, 45 calibre anti-shipping guns, and the Bateria de Castillitos which has the enormous Vickers 381mm guns still in place, measuring 17 metres in length, which could fire a projectile weighing a ton over a distance of 35 km.