Chapter 9: Marksmanship
With the indigo dye acquired and my curiosity piqued, we went to take a peek at what the Coronel was doing. Impressively, Vicente was able to follow the gunshots, and with his increasing skill at driving, got the carriage to traverse a tight, narrow trail until we ended up on the shore.
Maximo and his men were easy to spot with their bright white uniforms. I counted about fifty young men and recognized a few familiar faces. Those whose turn it was to fire lined themselves parallel to the shoreline. Tin cans placed on driftwood logs served as the targets.
Colonel Abad noticed us as soon as we emerged onto the beach, but we stayed at a safe distance until the soldiers stopped firing. They released a few more volleys, from which I learned a couple of things. They were using breechloaders and black powder cartridges. They were also horrible shots, with 90% of their bullets hitting nothing but air and water, and Abad was not doing anything to correct them.
"Don Martin, how nice of you to stop by?" the Coronel greeted us as we approached, removing his hat.
The soldiers, if not happy, were at least amused to see us there.
"I see our soldiers are struggling with their marksmanship," I said with a chuckle, hoping to blunt the comment.
The colonel chuckled in response. "Yes, they do. Fortunately, the Americans are much larger than these tins."
His comment garnered some laughter, including from Teniente Triviño. I only offered a tight-lipped smile. He must have noticed a hint of disapproval from me because a moment later, he gave what sounded like an explanation. "We can't waste too many bullets on marksmanship training. We'll need all we have if we are to fight a war."
"I disagree, Colonel," I said bluntly, and I was quite aware that I was behaving differently than what was expected of the mellow Martin. But the U.S. Army Captain in me was pumped up. "Poor marksmanship in battle will lose you more bullets. Without proper training, you will be firing blindly and startled, and all you'll hit is the air and the ground, which have done you no wrong."