On the evening of September 23 in the first year of Longwu, the soldiers of Ganzhou Town, who had gone to conquer the thieves, finally returned to the station. When they saw the outline www.biquge.info of Ganzhou City, the soldiers were excited, not only rejoicing for returning alive, but also proud of the identity of the winner. Although Ganzhou Town, as a newly formed army, has suffered a lot of doubts and even disdain, the soldiers have proved their strength with hard work and blood, and told everyone who had doubts: This is an elite army that is maturing day by day!

At the gate of the city, the prefect Qian Lu, the commander Huang Wenyuan, and the officers of Ganzhou Town, such as Zhang Yunli and Shi Lang, who were responsible for staying behind, were already waiting there. Some curious people of Ganzhou also flocked to the vicinity of the city gate, wanting to see how much success this official army that had caused them to sleep hard in the morning had achieved.

In the face of the eyes of appreciation, curiosity, or admiration in front of them, the waists of the officers and soldiers could not help but straighten a little more, and their legs, which were slightly tired from the long journey, seemed to be re-energized, and their steps became extraordinarily neat and powerful!

"Huge man!" Before Pang Yue had time to dismount, Qian Lu greeted him with a smile on his face, and took a deep look, "On behalf of all the people of Ganzhou, Xia Guan is here to welcome the return of the soldiers!" This time, the huge number of people led the soldiers of Ganzhou Town to exterminate the thieves in one fell swoop in a few days, which is really a great achievement! This is the blessing of the entire people of southern Gansu! ”

Pang Yue laughed and stepped forward to help Qian Lu: "Lord Qian is serious!" Exterminating the thieves is just the duty of the soldiers. This expedition was victorious, and we have to thank Lord Qian for the timely collection of grain and grass! How can this credit be missing from Lord Qian? ”

"Don't dare, don't dare! This is just the work of the lower officials! Qian Lucheng waved his hand again and again in fear.

Subsequently, Huang Wenyuan, Zhang Yunli and Shi Lang also came up one after another and saluted Pang Yue. After Pang Yue exchanged a few polite words with them, he asked about the recent situation in Ganzhou City. When he learned that everything was normal in the city, that the officers and soldiers of the Taishan battalion were still training on time every day, and that the production progress of the Ordnance Bureau and the iron factory had not been delayed in the slightest, Pang Yue was deeply satisfied, so he exhorted a few more words, and then entered the city with them, Qian Lu and other officials.

"All of them! Stay in formation! Amid the loud commands of the officers, the soldiers also began to enter the city in an orderly manner, and the neat and powerful footsteps attracted the praise of the onlookers.

The next day, Pang Yue sent people to escort all the more than 200 thieves who had committed major crimes, including the two main leaders, to Ji'an and handed them over to the governor of Jiangxi. This also includes the military advisor Zhu Buru, because after Pang Yue's careful inspection, this "Mr. Bookkeeper" who claims to have never done anything evil has been responsible for the planning of several operations. According to the law of the Ming Dynasty, I am afraid that these people will not survive more than one-tenth. For the remaining 400 or so, Pang Yue ordered them to be sent to the Longjiagou mine for forced labor reform, so that they could use their sweat to make up for their previous mistakes. As a precaution, Pang Yue also specially sent an additional bureau of 100 soldiers to Longjiagou to supervise the transformation.

Next, there is the counting of the various loot. Good quality armor and weapons were put into the warehouse, while poor or substandard weapons such as maces and meteor hammers were sent to the Ordnance Bureau for repurpose.

Speaking of which, the harvest of Ganzhou Town this time is really not small, especially the gold, silver and jewelry left by Pang Yue, if all of them are converted into silver, it will be about 20,000 taels. Knowing this, and thinking of the more than half of them who were sent back, Shi Youliang began to shout secretly, saying how good it would be if they were all left. In this regard, Pang Yue only laughed and did not take it to heart. At present, it is true that Ganzhou Town is short of money, but some money is still willing to give up, and it is not possible to blindly monopolize it, after all, there is a gift to gain. As for what he could get after giving up those belongings, Pang Yue believed that he would be able to see it in a short time. …,

At the same time, all kinds of aftermath work is also in full swing. For the more than 500 soldiers who died in battle, Pang Yue ordered that their families be given pensions of varying sizes according to their registered places of origin and according to their positions. Due to the current limited conditions, the money is not very much, and it cannot save lives, but it can represent the attitude of the high-level leaders of Ganzhou Town: they will not forget any brother who gave his life on the battlefield.

In the past two days, Pang Yue also visited the wounded who were being treated many times, and did his best to provide them with the best food standards and treatment conditions. After this battle to exterminate the thieves, there were more than 300 seriously wounded, although Pang Yue tried every means to save their lives, and even according to Lang Zhong's suggestion, after killing many horses, he used fresh horse meat to disinfect their wounds, but more than half of the seriously wounded eventually died due to the deterioration of their injuries. However, seeing Pang Yue taking such great pains, many wounded, especially the seriously injured, left tears. The feeling that the general soldiers of a town can do so for the sake of their soldiers cannot be described as just moving.

Subsequently, a major event, the post-war commendation conference, will also be held. In order to commend the soldiers who performed outstanding on the battlefield, Pang Yue introduced the medal system for the town of Ganzhou for the first time. The medals are tentatively divided into three categories, namely, the war participation medal, the battle wounded medal, and the war meritorious medal.

The medal is awarded to all officers and soldiers who have participated in a certain battle, and is in the shape of a small iron rectangle, with a five-pointed star on the front and the name of the battlefield and the nature of the operation engraved on the back.

The Battle Wounded Medal is a round shape with a sword-shaped emblem engraved on the obverse, and is available in three types: bronze, silver, and gold, and is awarded to officers and soldiers who have been wounded in valiant battles on the battlefield. Those who were wounded once or twice were awarded a bronze medal for war wounded; If he is subsequently wounded twice, or if he is injured in battle and has a severed limb or becomes blind, he shall be awarded a silver medal for war wounded; Those who have been wounded five or more times, or who have been severely disabled as a result of war, will be awarded a gold medal for war wounded.

The Medal of Merit is divided into two types: the Medal of Warrior and the Medal of Command. The Medal of Warrior is awarded to all officers and soldiers, with an axe-shaped emblem on the obverse, and is divided into four classes. Among them, the Order of Warrior of the Fourth Class is a bronze round medal, awarded to officers and soldiers who have killed two enemy soldiers or one enemy officer on the battlefield; The Order of Bravery, 3rd class, is a silver round and is awarded to officers and soldiers who have killed six enemy soldiers or two enemy officers; The Order of Valor of the Second Class is a silver-gilded round and is awarded to officers and men who have killed nine enemy soldiers or four enemy officers; The Medal of Warrior of the First Class is a gold oval in shape, slightly larger in size than the Order of Merit of the Second Class, and is awarded to officers and soldiers who have distinguished themselves in battle, such as capturing the banner of the enemy's army or beheading the enemy's commander-in-chief.

The Command Medal is awarded to officers above the general and general level, in the shape of a shield, and the sun and moon symbols representing the "Great Ming" on the obverse, which are divided into three classes, namely gold, silver and bronze. Officers can receive this medal even if they do not personally go into battle to kill the enemy if they command it properly. The criteria for awarding are based on the performance of the troops under their command and the strategic objectives achieved.

All officers and soldiers who have been awarded medals (except commemorative medals) will receive an additional bonus after the war, and the food treatment in peacetime will be a little higher than that of the same level of uniforms, in addition to other preferential policies, such as more settling-in allowances when demobilized in the future, and more pensions for family members who die in the first place.

However, Pang Yue also knew in his heart that the medal system he had formulated at present was extremely crude in terms of both the aesthetics of the medals and the awarding standards, and it could not be compared with the complete and orderly medal system of the later armies. Fortunately, talking is better than nothing, and the establishment of such a system can always have some incentive effect on officers and men, and as for some imperfections, it will be necessary to improve them in the future. …,

In addition, in order to make these commemorative medals and medals, Pang Yue also put a lot of effort into it, and on the second day after returning to Ganzhou, he summoned a large number of blacksmiths and jewelry craftsmen to work overtime, and it took two days and two nights to complete them all.

On September 26, Ganzhou Town once again ushered in an important moment, that is, the first post-war commendation meeting and award ceremony.

On the morning of that day, all the officers and men came to the school yard in the city early and lined up in a neat line to wait for the start of the commendation meeting. Among them, the officers and soldiers of the Gangfeng Battalion, the Trap Camp, and the Flying Tiger Battalion are all looking forward to it, after all, they are the main force of this expedition, and many of them will receive the first batch of medals issued since the establishment of Ganzhou Town. In contrast, the mood of the officers and men of the Taishan battalion could not help but be a little low. Although they also wanted to get the medal, they had no choice but to participate in this invasion and suppression of the thieves, so they could only watch the robes of the other three battalions win that honor, and silently looked forward to having their own share next time while blushing.

At three o'clock, the commendation meeting officially began. Zhang Yunli, deputy chief soldier of Ganzhou Town, who presided over the commendation meeting, read out a commendation proclamation issued in the name of Pang Yue, in which he highly praised the heroic performance and sacrifices of all the officers and men participating in the battle, and praised the officers and men of the Taishan Battalion who stayed in Ganzhou and fulfilled their duties. This was followed by the award ceremony, in which the officers and men who had been notified of their awards on the previous night stood up from their original queues and stood at the front and rearranged themselves into two phalanxes, one large and one small, with the officers in front and the soldiers behind. According to the original plan, the honorary officers will be awarded medals by Pang Yue himself. After the completion of the award of the officers, the award of the soldiers, this work will be completed by Pang Yue, Zhang Yunli, and the chief and deputy officers of each battalion.

"Zhou Ming, this time, your Flying Tiger Battalion can wipe out the most elite cavalry of the thieves in one fell swoop, which is really rare! Keep up the good work in the future! At the front of the officer queue, Pang Yue personally put on a second-class warrior medal and a second-class commander medal for Shi Youliang and patted him on the shoulder.

"Yes, my lord!" Shi Youliang straightened his chest and replied loudly.

Pang Yue nodded, came to Lu Qiwu again, took out a third-class commander medal and a third-class warrior medal from the wooden plate held by the soldiers behind him, and put them on him, and said: "This time to attack the thieves, your Gangfeng battalion first broke through the last pass of the thieves, and you have contributed a lot!" ”

Lu Qiwu hurriedly said: "This is all under the command of adults, and subordinates dare not be greedy!" ”

After patting Lu Qiwu on the shoulder, Pang Yue came to Cui Shoucheng again, put on a second-class warrior medal, a third-class commander medal and a bronze battle wounded medal, and said with a smile: "This time, Chengye personally went into battle to kill the enemy and was wounded, which is really a model for the soldiers. ”

"Where the responsibility lies, the subordinates should not be so praised by adults." Cui Shoucheng's tone was full of excitement.

Next, Pang Yue awarded them medals one by one in the expectant and excited eyes of the other officers. At the moment when the medal was hung on his chest by the chief soldier himself, almost everyone could not suppress the surging heart, and even they themselves did not understand why a small medal had such great magic.

After the officers were awarded, those soldiers who were bravely wounded or had made meritorious contributions on the battlefield were also personally awarded medals by the senior generals of Ganzhou Town. Compared with the officers, the soldiers were even more excited and speechless, and some soldiers even kept pinching their fingers to see if they were in a dream.

Pang Yue was very satisfied with the reaction of the officers and soldiers to the medal, which showed that in the hearts of the vast number of officers and soldiers, there was still the primitive thirst for honor of the soldiers. And this sense of pursuit of honor is exactly the essential element for an army to move from a rabble to a division of tigers and wolves! As long as there is it, there is hope for an army!

"Remember, honors and medals are earned by you!" After the award ceremony, Pang Yue ended his speech with this sentence.

Hearing this, all the officers and soldiers present suddenly burst into a thunderous cheer. Among them, there is not only the excitement of the officers and soldiers who have won the medals, but also the oath secretly issued by the officers and soldiers who have nothing to gain.