Chapter 60: Decisively
Last Saturday, the first shots had been fired. And just yesterday, a ferocious battle erupted in Manila as the Americans pushed outward against the entrenched Filipino forces surrounding the city. Señor Alcantara didn’t have all the details, but word on the street before he left for Marinduque was that the Republicans had been driven out of their positions, suffering hundreds of casualties.
I had Señor Alcantara break the news at the conference the following afternoon, with all officers present—including the cadets and the NCOs in charge of training.
It shouldn’t have surprised me. I had always known it was only a matter of time before things took a sour turn. Yet it still did. The training had barely begun. Now I couldn’t help but wonder if I could field a ready force in time—or if the Republic would fall before I could do anything at all.
But I had learned over a lifetime that doubt only leads to indecision, and indecision makes you lose battles you haven’t even fought yet.
If anything, this was the time to act more swiftly and decisively.
I laid pieces of fabric on the table, while silence and a grim mood settled over the conference room. Isabela, with the help of her aunts and nieces, had finished what I asked of her in a matter of days. I hadn’t thought I would be using them this early, having planned to take them out two or three weeks later.
One by one, heads turned as the officers slowly recognized what they were. The embroidery on the straps glistened under the candlelight.
I had tasked Isabela with creating the officers’ shoulder straps. I consulted Dimalanta for the design, and as it turned out, the patches for Second Lieutenant up to Coronel only required an increasing number of silver and golden stars.
Most of the patches were red—the same color as the ones on my own shoulders, signifying infantry. But a pair of black patches stood out from the lineup. The navy of the Republic was almost non-existent, and Luna had yet to come up with naval insignias. So, I decided to create my own.
"Most of you would not know Señor Alcantara," I broke the silence, "but he owns and operates a steamship... a vessel that he has now offered to the service of the Republic."
I smiled as I saw the mood shift quickly inside the room. Señor Alcantara, seated across from Colonel Abad near the head of the table, perked up at the mention of his name. He returned the smiles and nods headed his way.