After the skirmishes, we were tasked to be on hold while waiting further orders. So I called Pasco to call the others, to discuss on the findings previously.
With the current we have, we manage to get valuables which will divide equally. and as for ammunitions and rifles. it seems the american rifles which is the Krag–Jørgensen is quite different with current we usually used which is M1893 Mauser, a spanish rifle.
After a while, I made a decision. I had the men sort through the recovered weapons carefully.
We would keep the Mausers. Because we familiar with it compare to the Krags.
Eventhough, I allowed only one Krag–Jørgensen with its ammo to be kept as a backup weapon — just in case. Redundancy mattered. Wars were not won by perfect plans; they were won by preparation for when plans failed. And in terms of familiarity, it can be taught.
The remaining ammunition and usable spare equipment were gathered together.
"Pasco," I called.
"Yes, Kabo?"
"Since we will not be using it, give it to the Quartermaster."
He blinked. "All of it, Kabo?"
"Except the one we kept, yes" I corrected. "Also we already more than enough"
Pasco thought and accept it. He understood.
Although its not necessary but its important to know that we dont have hoard it. Well at least the other must be in need compare to my team.
Also, even among young officers, politics among armies is quite condensed.
Pasco slung the spare ammunition boxes over his shoulder and jogged toward the supply lines.
Behind me, Benito muttered quietly, "Our Kabo is strange."
"How so?" Julian asked.
"Well, most officers, even the Sarhentos, will keep it to themselves."
I pretended not to hear them.
~~
The camp settled into a tense quiet as dusk deepened into night. Fires were kept low. Voices lower.
An hour later, Pasco returned from the supply trench.
He wasn't grinning this time.
He approached me with a strange expression — somewhere between pride and confusion.
"Kabo."
"Yes?"
"The quartermaster asked whose sent the ammunition."
I kept my face neutral. "And?"
"I told him. He stopped counting for a moment."
Julian, sitting nearby cleaning his Mauser, looked up. "Stopped counting?"
Pasco nodded. "He said no one gives back ammunition. Not after a fight."
Benito let out a short breath. "Maybe he think we are stupid?"
"Or rich," Julian added.
Pasco shook his head. "No. He called for Alperes Mendez."
That made me pause slightly.
"And?"
"He want to know why"
The fire cracked softly between us.
I understood immediately.
It wasn't about generosity. It's on typical stereotypes and usually its weird to return it. Also, it is never happened and we are the first to do that. And it seems rumours does fly too high around us. Especially with the current situations on our progress.
Pasco lowered his voice. "Kabo… I think they're talking about us."
Before I could respond, footsteps approached from the darker edge of camp.
Alperes Mendez himself.
He stopped a few steps away, hands behind his back.
"At ease," he said quietly.
The men straightened anyway.
His eyes rested on me.
"You returned American ammunition to supply."
"Yes, Alperes."
"Why?"
"Because other sections are running low. And we still have enough."
He studied my face for a few seconds.
Not suspicious.
Not approving.
Measuring.
"Todri noticed your section did not request resupply during the engagement."
"Well, luck is on our side. Also I want my man to make shots worth."
A pause.
Then Mendez nodded once.
"Continue doing that."
He turned to leave — then stopped briefly.
"And Kabo."
"Yes, Alperes?"
"Next time…I prefer if you inform us first."
What he said, does have a point, in this current situation, rumours fly fast and things can get even bad.
Politics.
He walked off into the dark.
Silence lingered around the small fire.
Julian exhaled slowly. "Now they really know."
Benito glanced at me sideways. "You wanted that, didn't you?"
I didn't answer immediately.
Because reputation in an army like this was a blade with two edges, it can backfired if you miss.
"I wanted us to survive this war," I finally said.
But even as I spoke, I knew survival in war rarely stayed simple.
~~
Even with victory, it was on the cost of countless man died during the skirmishes.
Tenyente Todri stood with his sleeves rolled, uniform stained dark at the cuffs.
"How many?" he asked quietly.
Alperes Gregorio answered first. "Twelve dead confirmed. Six missing. Twenty-three wounded."
Another officer, Alperes Rivera, cleared his throat. "Of the wounded… seven are severe."
No one needed clarification.
A runner arrived, mud splattered to his knees.
"From the rear aid post, sir." Todri took the folded paper.
He read it once. Then again, his jaw tightened.
"Two more," he said finally.
Silence.
Alperes Rivera shifted uneasily. "From which section?"
"Left flank."
Gregorio muttered under his breath. "They ran low on ammunition before the second push."
"Yes," Todri replied flatly. "And when they fell back, they clustered near the trench lip. American shell landed clean."
The lantern flickered.
Outside, faint coughing drifted from the makeshift medical shelter.
There were no proper field hospitals. One of the younger alpereses spoke, hesitant. "Sir… we cannot keep fighting this way." No one rebuked him.
Because it was true. Filipino armies has courage, even numbers are many, but the most important is the military itself, the infrastructures, medical tents, equipments, it all lacked that.
Todri folded the casualty report carefully.
"This is just a skirmish," he said quietly. "Not even a full engagement."
No one responded.
They all understood what he meant.
If this was the cost of a skirmish…
What would a major offensive cost?
Another runner approached, slower this time.
He removed his hat.
"Alperes Dizon's nephew, sir."
Todri didn't need the rest. He nodded once.
The runner left.
The officers remained where they were — not speaking, not moving.
In the distance, somewhere beyond the dark fields north of Manila, an American artillery piece thundered faintly.
A reminder.
To fight with one of major powers, it still hard and challenging.
Todri finally spoke.
"We hold until new orders from Malolos."
Todri only can do not much unless from waiting for orders from the central government, the generalissimo himself.
Hope was there.
But hope did not stitch wounds.
"Dismissed," Todri said quietly.
One by one, the alpereses stepped back into the humid night.
Behind them, from the medical tent, a young man began crying out in pain — the raw, uncontrolled sound of someone who finally realized he might not see morning.
No one turned back.
~~
They had simply pulled back toward their forward coastal outpost — a reinforced supply position near the tree line east of the creek, with access to naval support offshore.
"They retreat," Alperes Mendez muttered, "but not far enough."
Todri's jaw tightened.
"If we continue like this," he said quietly, "we will bleed slowly until there is nothing left to hold. Forget about that, we might even be the one that died first."
Teniente Todri pondered on the map of the current, as they had noticed, that the Americans had just retreated only to their outpost alongside the north to the coast.
Reports from other fronts were not encouraging. Even forces once led by Antonio Luna had struggled to maintain cohesion. Some provincial commanders had already fallen back toward their own territories rather than reinforce the central line.
"Unless...." Todri remembered of an individual who had unexpectedly, able to hold on their own without assistance, even they just a small unit but the way he administer is like he can self sufficient and thats a quality in which not all officers has.
"He can."
~~
Two days passed.
No major engagement. Just tension grew among both sides.
Even that happened, I decide to utilize it by giving my men some training, involving melee combats, especially the knives. Well, we do have parang but what i need is a silent kill, like every soldiers has issued a knife, but this time, I managed to scrape it from black market previously, just for this purposes.
During training,
He simply adjusted training.
"Rifles are loud," he told the to his men — Pasco, Julian, Benito, and Pablo.
"So what do we use when rifles are not allowed?"
They looked at one another.
Knives were issued tools, not preferred weapons.
I showed them on how to approach from downwind, to step where the ground is soft, silence grabbing and even some knowledge on human arteries. This is very important if we want to give a swift death to our enemies.
Well, Im not lying, it is a bit struggle, they even hold the knife awkwardly!!
Julian grimaced, "this is horrible, to kill it silent..."
I did not explain how I know these methods. Instead, I give them on how to do it correctly. Again and again.
And after 2 days, its not perfect but now, my men can do it, for a beginner, its adequate. for now.
Evening approaches, and a runner approached.
"Kabo Valerian, you have been called by Teniente Todri."
"Well about damn time." I fixed my hats, as I let my men on rest, doing their own work. And left.
~~
Inside the command tent, Teniente Todri did not waste words.
"It seems you are busy, Valerian"
"I have my own activities, train my men so they dont die in battlefield."
"That's a good way to make sure we Filipinos do not weak among the major powers" Todri acknowledge the notion. "Anyway, The Americans have a forward supply position near the eastern creek. It supports their probing operations. With our current skirmishes earlier, it did not affect much as long as that base still lying around."
He point to one location on the map.
"I dont want a grand battle, just a distraction enough to make it viable for our army to advance easily. Can you do it without been detected?"
"Hmm, if conditions allowed, then yes. Also, the moon will be dimming for quite sometime, so that would be plausible." I said.
"You understand," Todri continued, "if you succeed, we can disrupt their advance for weeks. Perhaps more. We force them to be on attrition."
"And if we fail?"
"You will not fail," Todri replied flatly. "But if you are discovered, you withdraw. I will not waste men for reputation."
There was a pause. Then Todri stepped closer, lowering his voice slightly.
"Kabo Valerian… if you accomplish this — cleanly — I will personally recommend you for promotion."
Valerian did not react.
Todri continued. "To Sarhento, immediately."
A slight shift of weight. "And," Todri added after a moment, "I will also suggest consideration for Alperes."
That made Valerian look up — not in pride, but in calculation "That was a jump, teniente". Todri noticed.
"Do not misunderstand," Todri said firmly. "Such a recommendation invites danger in its own. Some officers do not appreciate rapid rises. Especially in these times."
Politics even exist in everything that human lives with.
War was not the only battlefield.
"You will not only carry ranks, Kabo," Todri said. "You would carry eyes upon you."
I held my gaze, looking at the outside. Wondering, in a focused way.
"If the mission requires it, teniente… then rank is just secondary."
That answer, more than anything, confirmed Todri's instinct.
He nodded once.
"Prepare your men. You will leave tomorrow night."
I salute, and leave.
"Oh and Kabo, good luck on your hunting, you can ask the quartermaster for a relevant supplies."