Plans

Time has passed, and it has quickly become dark. Savana is like the desert, hot in the day and cold at night, as very few things would black the wind to make the sensation even more heartless than it is.

There was no issue of making fires. War resources include a lot of gunpowder and ways to make a spark. So it was enough for him to create multiple campfires to create a protective shield against the Jaguars, Snakes, or other insects that got any idea of getting near him.

Machetes are abundant, so it was not hard for him to chop down some dead trees and bring them back 40-50 meters away from the river. He was exhausted. Good thing he got himself a mule that was miraculously not shot down. It took him most of the day to catch the mule that had gone into hiding inside the rare vegetation of the Savanna. After that, he used the mule to pull on people alive but wounded, some were conscious, and some were not. He pulled around 40 people, a stupidly low number because there were approximately 23 thousand dead on the line extending hundreds of meters.

He just created the fires and fell exhausted beside a bone fire. He was sweating profusely, but it didn't matter. His consciousness instantly drifted the moment he felt gravity no longer pulling on his upper body.

--

The Next Day.

Waking in a cold sweat, he saw familiar faces already up and tending one fire. The other fires are no longer alive.

"Your majesty." He looked and saw a soldier looking at his face directly.

"…" He didn't say anything and just looked around and saw how many soldiers were getting near him to see if he was okay. Those are the people he pulled out of the massacre outcome.

He felt his stomach dry somehow. He had already drunk plenty of water, he should not be thirsty, but he quickly realized it was dire hunger, but the smell of rotten did no favour to his gut. The dead were rotting away way faster than expected.

He has killed the opponents that were alive. He has saved the ones that survived on his side. Nonetheless, he could not do it thoroughly, but the cold of the night would surely kill any wounded soldier. The blackbirds will eat them alive if the cold does not kill them. There were so many black bids that it felt unnatural. They are, after all, in the middle of nowhere. However, it becomes more natural knowing that the smell of said animals could reach dozens of kilometres.

"I don't know what god has seen in you all, but he has chosen to spare you, my friends," Felipe said as he chuckled at the soldiers. He was able to gather 10 thousand men. He, of course, has learnt his people skills from his father. Even though he knew a lot about the future and knowledge that would mark him as the devil if people were to find out, he was no leader. He was no general; he had to learn almost everything from scratch.

During his five years in the United Kingdom, he learnt from his father and books, or at least what he could as a 5 to 10 year of age.

The people present laughed but simultaneously felt their hearts sink as most of them were having survivor guilt.

"Your majesty, god has blessed you to win this battle and this war." A soldier explained that as he was pretty happy seeing the crown prince as easygoing, there were limits to their closeness. Still, they would be more than an authority level.

"There are no winners in a war, soldier, especially in this one; there are only losers. We compete on who has the lower losses. The closest thing to this battle is the battle of Alexander de Great that he fought when he defeated the Persians… The only thing is that this time we had guns, no survivors aside from us." Felipe shook his head as he received a boiled cantina of water that was already cold but not cold enough, but way better than contaminated water, not that it would make any difference. After all, he drank his belly worth in river water before returning to save survivors.

"Wise words, your majesty." A soldier said.

Felipe only nodded and looked at the horde of blackbirds drowning his words, and so the ones of the survivors. The dead are still dead, and the living is still feasting. "The others?" Felipe could easily see that there weren't 40 people he counted yesterday.

"5 died during the night, your majesty and 25 are preparing for a semi-permanent shelter." The soldier with an improvised arm holder explained, "The ablest men, that is."

Felipe quickly realized that the men before him had leg and upper chest body injuries. They were all benched due to either pain or inability to work.

"I see." Felipe got up and looked to the side of the trees, and he could easily spot the smoke that the others had created to boil water.

"Gentlemen… we have been chosen. I am sure your journey, blood and seat will not pass unnoticed by the holy father. Our opponents' souls and our brothers in arms' souls are now in heaven." Felipe said as he touched his head, the lower part of his chest, the right shoulder and then the left shoulder.

The soldiers instantly copied his actions as it was a sign of respect and religion. After all, they had a lot of known people in that army. They are weeping about their fallen soldiers. Even though they already did so while the crown prince was sleeping, they will not pass the opportunity to do so again.

Afterwards, Felipe looked at some of the things the soldiers had collected, muskets and bayonets, around 100 or so, lots of powdered bags and many more miscellaneous.

"After suppressing the rebellion of Venezuela, we will come back to bury them all, a proper burial, even though we would be just burying bones," Felipe said as he looked at the bloody blackbirds.

"Your majesty… as you said, we did not have many men… even if we arrive in Caracas, it is 20 days away… I am afraid we will not be able to accompany you." The soldier explained.

"What's your name, soldier?" Felipe asked as he put on a straw hat and was already preparing to travel to reach the men making the semi-permanent shelter.

"Alejandro, Alejandro Rojas, your majesty." The soldier explained he was Mestizo. He could see it by the tone of his skin and mannerisms.

During colonization, the Spaniards gave names to the new races of humans that appeared due to the exponential genetic pool increase. The children of white Spaniards and Natives would be called Mestizos. The children of Spaniards on both sides born on the American continent would be named Criollos, also known as tainted by the ground. Such discrimination against Criollos led to the revolution in the aristocratic level of society in the Americas. If not, they would have been good subjects of Spain. The Children of Blacks and Natives were called Mulatos.

The racism structure of Spanish America was so massive that even Mestizos would have fewer rights than a full native American, as the Roman Catholic Church dramatically condemns the union between races. Nevertheless, the majority of people of Spanish America were Mestizos, raped by the Spaniards, and spread the white gene far and wide. Racism and difference in ethnic populations sparked the revolution in Hispanic America.

"Well, soldier Rojas, we have just defeated an army of 13 thousand strong. Those people were left to defend the city of Caracas and the core of the rebellion. The ones that remain, what about them? They are not worth 10 of you. They are all cowards, inexperienced… the rest of the men are loyal to the empire and the emperor; they are in Santiago giving liberty to our brothers from the south, expelling the Spaniards like God expelled Lucifer from heaven. So even if we have a 35-strong army, it will be the same as having 350 strong… We must play our cards correctly." Felipe knows the power of bluffing; Genghis Khan would use it to take over cities with minimal effort.

"We will probably stay here 5-10 days; we must prepare for everything; the trip is long and treacherous. Time for you, my brothers, to heal and rest before we part is essential." Felipe explained, "The midday heat will scorch us in a few hours. We got to start moving to the shadow of the vegetation."

"Understood, your majesty." Rojas felt energetic after hearing their commander speak with righteousness and purpose. Even though their position could only seem grim, they are motivated to keep fighting.