Chapter 49: March
Their newly issued jackets and trousers, as well as the straw hats, had immediately found their use. After the lunch break, the recruits were ordered back to line up in the plaza under the sweltering heat of the midday sun. Now, the formation was no longer one large block of men. They had formed into four columns, each consisting of 25 to 26 men, with the NCOs of my escolta standing at the head of each as platoon leaders.
Meanwhile, in the relative comfort of the shadow cast by the Casa Real, I had the officer cadets, as well as Vicente and Dimalanta, form their own much smaller column. I also had them take the oath and issued them uniforms—with only a white sash to differentiate them from the other recruits.
"I thought you said we’d be trained separately?" Lorenzo Madrigal finally spoke up, after they had been standing for about thirty minutes.
"Firstly, from now on, you will ask for permission before speaking," I said, gesturing for my horse to be brought to me. "Secondly, yes, you are going to be trained separately—but you are still going to train."
"Permission to speak, Heneral!" Dimalanta, ever the exemplary officer, quickly set an example of how things were to be done. I had appointed him as platoon leader for the officer cadets.
"What is it, Teniente?" I grunted, stepping into the saddle.
"What exactly are we going to do next?" he asked.
Vicente beside him seemed to share the same question. Only Pedro and Maximo, as senior officers, knew what I had in store for the recruits. The inclusion of the cadets in the activity was, in fact, a last-minute decision on my part.
"You’re about to find out." I took the reins and nudged the horse forward.