Chapter 46: A Different Path
It had been a long time since I stayed up late writing. And the last time wasn’t with a quill and ink. All I could hear were the crickets outside, and the partially opened window showed only a glimpse of darkness.
I raised the parchment up against the candlelight. My cursive had been cursed back when I was John. But as Martin, my handwriting was immaculate—honed by years of writing ledgers and letters as a businessman.
That night, I wasn’t writing anything about the hacienda. The task had seemed impossible at first. But once I started, ideas and memories I thought were long forgotten returned, begging to be written down.
I let the ink dry for a few moments, then placed the sheet of paper on the small pile. I had just finished writing the final draft of the training regimen that would be undertaken by all recruits under my command. Tomorrow, it would be implemented.
I leaned on the table and mopped my face with my hands, massaging my weary old eyes with my fingers.
The 20th-century military doctrine I was taught in ROTC and in the field was far more sophisticated than the military knowledge current armies in this timeline operated on. But things were never that simple... sophisticated didn’t always mean better.
What if there were things I had learned that weren’t applicable or compatible with the 19th-century context? I wasn’t even particularly good at military history. I had little idea how wars were fought back then.
And even if the doctrine was superior—what if I wasn’t qualified enough to take advantage of it? Sure, I had been a good ROTC cadet, diligently taking notes during lessons and eagerly applying them. When the Korean War erupted, I was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant, and in the field, I observed with interest how our commanding officers led and strategized. Eventually, I became a commanding officer myself—planning and leading attacks on my own. At the end of the Vietnam War, I was a Major.
But I was still only one man. How could I possibly remember every important detail?