Chapter 39: Plans
February 1886
Cebu City Siege
Renaldo's Army is currently sieging the fortress of Cebu, they currently number around 300,000 men that were accumulated while liberating the whole island of Luzon and most parts of Visayas, Cebu is the last Spanish Bastion standing in the Visayan islands and it will most likely fall in a day due to the continuous bombardments of Renaldo's artillery and Air Force.
As of this moment though, Renaldo is busying himself with the results of the Ilustrado's performance examinations, he is also aware of some of their member's dissent and their plans of overthrowing him with the use of their flowery words, which will definitely not work so Renaldo is currently toying with them and is just riding along with their fantasies, to entertain himself.
What he wants to focus about though is the ongoing projects of his Research and Development Department, they are currently trying to interpret the formulas for nuclear fission and fusion that Renaldo has given them, harnessing nuclear energy is one of the most crucial projects Renaldo is focusing on and it's not for making Nuclear bombs, Renaldo abhors that option as it is too primitive for a man that came from the future.
He wants to use nuclear energy as a source of energy for his Power Armor and his Warmachines, but it won't be the unstable nuclear energy used in atomic bombs and nuclear reactors, this energy will be harmless when disturb and won't cause radiation pollution and massive explosions, they will be the perfect source of unlimited fuel, and Renaldo estimates that it will be developed in around a few year's time.
The one thing that Renaldo wants to develop the most is his clone project, where various dna from other people is inserted into various vessels that are modified from their mother's wombs til the infancy stage, this dna is often the best trait from these people, be it strength, height, intelligence and other traits that makes the "perfect" human, it is one of the best breakthrough mankind has ever achieved in his time and he is a product of this project. This is the reason why Renaldo asked for that skewed type of immortality from the overseer instead of other things, because in his past life, it is just as it is, a clone project which achieves pseudo-immortality by making clones, but if Renaldo uses the ability given to him by the overseer, he can then achieve true immortality!
This project is one that Renaldo wants to finish the most and is also one of the most secured project of his, it is supervised by his best prodigy and it will be studied as soon as his prodigy is ready to handle such intricacies.
While Renaldo is writing about his future projects and his strategical plans that he will implement in his next liberation of the Mindanao Islands, a knock was heard from his door which stopped Renaldo from doing his stuff, he then ordered the person outside to come in.
"Reports from the frontlines sir!" The man formed an intricate salute and held his position, his eyes are clear and are obviously fanatical, as if seeing his God for the first time in his life. These people are the ones that Renaldo didn't bother to use his abilities on because they're so fanatical about him that they're willing to die for him.
After seeing this man, Renaldo inwardly chuckled, amused by the man's dedication towards him, he returned the man's salute and asked for the reports, which the man enthusiastically replied;
"Sir! The frontlines have reported that General Nicanor has successfully breached the Fortress and that General Bonifacio is currently asking for permission to get 150,000 men further South, to start the liberation of the Mindanao Islands."
"Tell Bonifacio to discuss that first with Nicanor and send a message to Sergio and Father if they'll be able to salvage some weapons used by the enemies in the north, and if they can, send them to us because the supply of our weapons is currently unable to meet the demand of our army because of our continuous expansion". Renaldo ordered the soldier.
"Sir yes sir! But sir, aside from those things, there are also a lot of people clamoring for benefits, some asking for lands in exchange for their contributions while some are asking for positions in the government to compensate for their financial losses. Ummm, excuse me sir for being out of line but I think these people don't have good motivations, they are probably just here for the profit and to save themselves from your wrath" The soldier told Renaldo while looking straight into Renaldo's eyes, as if telling him that these words came from the bottom of his heart.
Renaldo looked at the man and saw his determination, and as he looks into the man's eyes, he saw the past him, the man who gave his all for his country and suffered at the hands of the oppressors, he immediately judged the man as a potential candidate for being his apprentice, maybe it's just his whim or maybe he's just being emotional but after a few long minutes of just analyzing the man, Renaldo replied and said;
"I know their motives soldier, it doesn't take much thought as to analyze on what those greedy people really want, I can easily destroy them mind you, but that's not the solution nor will that solve the problem, they have the support of countless civilians, and that's their main bargaining chip against me, I cannot destroy them for that will weaken the hearts of those people who support them, it will create an air of doubt about my intentions and it will also create dissent among our ranks, as the leader of this order, I should always be the most exemplar example of what we should behave as a whole. But don't worry, I have plans for these people, especially those who wants lands, for I will never give them what they want, but I will instead take away from them."
As if enlightened by Renaldo's words, the soldier nodded and said;
"I understand sir, in the future, I will try to emulate your perspectives to help me see the grand scheme of things, I will now take my leave" The soldier saluted and turned around, full of vigor and with not one bit of hesitation, clearly happy to have a conversation with Renaldo.
Before the soldier left though, Renaldo called for him and said;
"Before you leave, write your name, age, and your rank down on the logbook just outside the room.
The soldier answered;
"Yes sir!" clearly overwhelmed about the current situation, the man almost jumped out of joy but restrained himself, as he wrote down his name;
Carlos Benjamin, 16 y/o, Private.
With that out of the way, Renaldo continued on planning about his next course of action, he contemplates on what infrastructures are the most beneficial for his country that is both great for economy and development but is not detrimental to the environment which is a very hard tast if he considers the current state of technologt available.
Renaldo analyzed for a long time yet the solution he found isn't about the infrastructure but is on the focus of the country's development. He realized that he was brainwashed a lot by the modern thinking of his past life and forgot that the current iteration of the Philippines is best suited for focusing on the agricultural side of things. Renaldo thought that focusing on agriculture and other natural resource focused stuff will benefit the country in the long run. Of course he'll develop several policies that limits the consumption so that his people can replace those that they have taken from the land, this will create a cycle that will benefit both humans and the environment while he reaps the financial harvest of such a cycle.
With two major islands at the whim of his hands, Renaldo is now ready to prepare the onset of the second stage of his plan and that is to accumulate his gains, consolidate his power and develop and renovate the country to make it through the years.
But for now, he'll focus mainly on his conquests and partially use his time polishing his development plans for the country.
With those things finished and jotted off his mind, Renaldo immediately went outside his room to make his rounds meeting various people in the morning and train using his body strengthening techniques from the afternoon til late at night.
Renaldo opened his door and proceeded to the outside world, his tent is currently stationed at the highest peak to help him oversee the war efforts and help him prepare his plans, of course he isn't nearby the camp but is still quite a distance away as he looked at his army's current situation. Renaldo cringed at the sight of some of his men not having rifles. This happened because of his lack of foresight and being too cocky and his over dependence on his tanks and armored vehicles' capabilities to finish the war by themselves, his strategy worked but what he didn't expect is the sudden influx of people joining his order, this presented a problem for Renaldo but it is a good problem to have for him because human resource will only become a burden if they lack the supplies but with his family's lands as the army's main supplier, including those he had his late grandfather bought for him, they can essentially feed 2 million soldiers for a whole year barring any kind of external interference especially those occasional attacks of both foreign and and local enemies that are lurking...
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