Two of Don Alejandro's lancers were sent as scouts, and one was assigned to guarding the plaza. The others, as well as all the Governor's men were called to the tavern.
"The cavalry will ride in first, followed by the infantry." Diego began explaining his plan. "They will not be expecting much of a resistance. They might have even anticipated the Governor's decision to surrender to them.
"Therefore, all we have to do in order to win is to create enough doubt in their minds that they have the upper hand. Once they believe they might lose, they will not stand a chance!" He said that in the same way he would explain his plans to Felipe, letting his true self fully shine in public for the first time in a decade.
"In fact, if we quickly take down the cavalry, and create enough panic among their forces, we might have a very good chance to get many of them to surrender without so much as a fight." He continued.
"However," he added, "with an army so numerous, there will be four, maybe five, commanders. They are our chance to find out the details of the whole plot. Without them, we will have accomplished very little. They will be harder to capture, though, since they will probably stay away from the actual fight."
"Do you really believe we can win this, Son?" Don Alejandro wondered, unable to mask his skepticism.
"I do, Father." He replied, sure of himself, leading the old man to exchange a confused look with Victoria.
"Sergeant Mendoza," Diego continued, "I will need the lancers to bring here two barrels of gunpowder and two filled with drinking water. Once that is done, you and your men will make preparations for all the prisoners to be kept in your rooms in the barracks, under locks, making sure they are comfortable enough and given the chance to tend to their wounds and to those of their friends."
"In our living quarters?" Mendoza wondered if he had heard that right.
"You surely don't expect to put a hundred men in your jail, Sergeant?" Diego asked rhetorically.
"No, Don Diego… but if we give them our quarters, where will we be staying?" Mendoza inquired, upset at the prospect of sleeping on the floor.
"There are only five of you, Sergeant, and at least two will be needed to stay guard." Diego replied patiently. "The Alcalde's bedroom, which my father never used, will certainly do for a few days! The Governor's men will share the spare rooms at the tavern." He added, anticipating the need to also clarify this aspect, searching for Victoria's eyes to receive her approval.
With this solution, Mendoza did not protest further, and Diego was able to return to explaining the plan.
"You will also need to go to the De Soto Hacienda to bring the Doctor." He asked the Sergeant. "Her knowledge and skills will be needed once all this is over. But make sure not to offer any details. De Soto's presence will not be needed." He warned, knowing fully well how possessive a husband his former nemesis turned stepbrother was. However, under the current circumstances, Ignacio was the last man he wanted to see there. "Father, we will need the plans of the pueblo." He then added.
"Si, Diego!" The Alcalde submitted, and headed straight for his office, while Mendoza sent a lancer to bring Jessie.
"Now, Victoria," Diego addressed the woman he loved, "I will need empty bottles. As many as you can spare!"
"Empty bottles?" She asked, puzzled by the request.
"And paper!" Diego added.
At receiving all the materials he needed, part of them from the lancers, part from Victoria and some taken from the medical office, Diego proceeded in making several explosive charges under the amazed eyes of his father and the rest of the people gathered there.
"How do you know how to do that, Diego?" Don Alejandro asked, more and more convinced there was something about his son he seemed to have, so far, missed.
"It's all Applied Chemistry, Father! And you do know I have always had a passion for the subject!" He replied, continuing his work, confident that his father would not question him any longer since the old man had often complained about Diego's obsession with his "pointless experiments".
"Applied Chemistry?" Victoria murmured just for herself as the most outrageous thought was fighting, once again to surface in her mind. She, again, dismissed it.
As he finished with the explosives, he used the map to indicate to the soldiers how they should place them around the pueblo.
When Felipe returned with Zorro's things, some red-flame bullets Diego had created, and all the time-delay explosive devices they still had, Diego pretended he needed to look at some of the buildings and took him aside, making sure they were not overheard.
"Did you bring everything?" He asked and Felipe nodded, showing him two blankets, one containing Zorro's clothes and the other his weapons, as well as a large bag full of devices.
"No, Zorro's clothes will not be needed today, Felipe." Diego indicated. "The Governor's men will not accept to take orders from a masked outlaw they don't know and even suspect to be on the side of the enemy. Leave them in the usual place in the tavern. This time, I will fight as Diego de la Vega. After all, if I do survive this battle, I will also need to help Jessie with the wounded." He added and Felipe's eyes were struck with panic.
"You can't!" The younger man whispered in protest.
"I have to. It will be alright. Remember what that Indian woman told me a year ago? That the time would come when I will need to fight without the mask? I think that time is now, Felipe."
As his son nodded, concern still clear on his face, Diego called for two of the Governor's men whom he instructed to help his son place the time-delay devices at the entrance to Los Angeles from El Camino Real, the only way he knew such a large army would take.
Returning to the tavern, he then proceeded to explain the positions of the soldiers, dividing them into marksmen, cavalry and infantry. Five marksmen, selected by Sergeant Donato, were to be placed on the roofs, at the entrance to the pueblo, each armed with five loaded muskets and ammunition.
At this point Felipe, who had finished his assignment and returned to the taproom, asked to help and, after Diego realized he couldn't dissuade him, he made him the sixth marksman, placing his son, together with two of the soldiers, on the roof of the cuartel.
While quite astonished by his son's knowledge of military strategy, at hearing Diego's decision to involve Felipe in the fight, Don Alejandro felt he needed to intervene.
"Why Felipe?" Mendoza asked instead, having meanwhile returned with Jessie. "He's not a soldier! Surely my men could do the job better."
"No offense, Sergeant," came Diego's reply, "but your men are hardly good marksmen, while Felipe is an excellent one."
"Felipe? An excellent marksman?" Don Alejandro wondered but suddenly remembered his adopted grandson had once shot and disarmed a bandit who had tried to kill him.
"Yes, Father!" Was Diego's only response as Felipe nodded his head, neither one of them willing to offer further clarifications.
As the preparations finished, the Governor was reassured he had made a sensible decision in accepting Diego's offer to help, and all men clear about what they had to do, a lancer came in, announcing that the army they were expecting was no more than fifteen minutes away from the pueblo.
"Lancers, make sure the people are taking shelter and all doors are barricaded, then return to the tavern, and be prepared to defend all entrances! Also, tell everyone to stay as far away from the windows as possible, since they may get in the line of fire!" Diego gave his final instructions to his father's men, and they rushed to comply.
"Ramon," he continued, calling Victoria's brother, who came holding his niece in his arms, "take Marisol, Victoria, Jessie and Doña Maria, to the cellar. You should be safe there.
"Sergeant, you take the Governor upstairs, and make sure he rests.
"I believe your daughter should also go into the cellars, Your Excellency!" He proceeded in advising him.
"Yes, you are right." The man agreed. "Take her as well!" He instructed Ramon, as his daughter tried to protest, but eventually decided to do as she was told.
"Father," Diego continued, "bar the doors and position the lancers before each entrance to tavern!"
He asked that, hoping the establishment would not really need guarding, but expecting it might. He also knew that, unless he gave Don Alejandro something important to do, he'd insist on joining the fight, and he did not want him out there.
"Alright, Diego! And where are you going?" The old don asked.
"As you emphasized earlier, the men are mine to command," he answered, "so I will be in the plaza commanding them!"
"You can't possibly be serious! You are not a fighter, Diego!" Don Alejandro tried to make his son see reason.
The tall caballero smiled, gazing down pensively. The Governor was still in the room, and he was still unsure how much to trust the man, but he didn't want his father to worry for him. Lifting his eyes, he turned and looked straight into his fathers'.
"I made you believe otherwise," he said "but Gilberto was right about me. I am exactly who he thought I was."
Don Alejandro tried, for a few confused seconds, to remember what Gilberto might have been right about and, as he realized his son was telling him he was Zorro, he just stared into Diego's eyes, his own emanating amazement, fear and, at the same time, assurance. Mouth half-open, Don Alejandro glanced at the Governor, then at Victoria and, as he returned his eyes on Diego's, the old don nodded.
Moments later, Sergeant Donato, who had been instructed by Diego to warn everyone when the army was visible from the pueblo, no more than ten minutes away, fired a red flame bullet.
"That is my signal!" Diego informed, turning his head for a second towards the plaza. "Sergeant, take the Governor upstairs!" He ordered and Mendoza hurried to comply, guiding the official to a comfortable bed in the only room overlooking the plaza, the same in which, on one of the beds, Dos Santos was peacefully sleeping. Pilar who had overhead the conversations downstairs through the partly-opened door, left the room and the Captain in Mendoza's care as the two men walked in, and followed the other women to the cellar.
Diego watched as Victoria's helper started climbing down the stairs, then glanced back at his father, trying again to offer him some reassurance, before he turned his sight towards the woman he loved.
She was still there, looking at him confused, preparing to follow everyone else to the best sheltered place in the tavern, but, at realizing Don Alejandro was no longer intent on stopping his son from joining the battle – a fight she was sure Diego had no chance of surviving - she decided to intervene.
"Diego," she said as she took his right hand, determined to drag him with her, "you have been most impressive today! But your father is right! You cannot go out there! They will kill you! This is not one of your novels, and you are no action hero just as you are not a military man! I really think you'd better come with us to the cellar. I would certainly feel much safer with you there!" She uttered that last statement as a courtesy to her friend, trying to avoid making him believe she thought of him as some weakling, and that made him smile.
However, unexpectedly, instead of having Diego follow her as she started heading for shelter, she found herself pulled into his arms, the caballero's blue eyes fixed on hers.
"If I never get the chance to do this properly, Señorita," he said as he stared right at her, "know that I love you! I loved you ten years ago, I love you now, and I shall love you till my dying breath!" As he said that and her eyes just grew wider at his confession, he bowed his head and reached to give her a kiss.
Surprised and confused by his actions, Victoria did not resist and, closing her eyes at the touch of his lips, it seemed to her that she was kissing Zorro, and that he had finally fulfilled his promise.
A few seconds later, letting go of the woman he loved, Diego turned on his heel, took the package concealing his belt and weapons, and asked the lancers to lock the door.
Victoria opened her eyes as he was exiting, to catch a fugitive last glimpse at the man she had finally understood was the love of her life, with and without a mask. Turning towards Don Alejandro as they heard a familiar whistle coming from outside and a similarly-familiar neigh, the look on his face convinced her that he had just reached the same shocking conclusion as herself.
Then, just as she was still coming to terms with what had just happened, Victoria found herself pulled by Ramon into the cellar, where she remained without saying a word, Marisol in her arms and tears in her eyes, praying Diego would live through the battle.
As for the caballero, he exited the tavern, put on his belt, then whistled for Tornado. He mounted the horse and used his whip to take one of the torches lighting the plaza. Then, he rode around the town igniting the fuses of the explosives the soldiers had positioned earlier according to his instructions. Once this was done, he returned through the main entrance, took out the fuses of the time-delay explosive devices, and headed for the public fountain, where Sergeant Donato was waiting for him. There he dismounted sending Tornado away to protect him from the gunfire.