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.
