The rebellion in Guangxi is spreading. The rebel army under the command of Huang Xing fought a vicious battle with the troops of the general army Lu Rongting in Jiangzhou, east of Taiping Province, and both sides suffered heavy casualties. Jiangzhou was conquered by the rebels, and Lu Rongting retreated to the Taiping, but the rebels seemed to be exhausted, and the war turned into a stalemate.

Zhou Fu urged Long Qian to send troops to Guangxi every day, because Guangxi was also under his rule. After the establishment of the Tenth Town, this errand should have fallen on Zhou Yi's head, because his troops were in western Guangdong.

The Chin Cha also brought with him the order urging the newly established Tenth Town to send troops to Guangxi. After Long Qian arrived in Maoming, he instructed Feng Lun, who was appointed as the commander of the 19th Association, to immediately lead the 39th and 38th standards and the 6,500 people directly under the 19th Association to go west to Guangxi. This order was significant, indicating the fact that the Tenth Town was still under Long Qian's command.

Long Qian met with the main officers of the 19th Standard who had been ordered to rush to Maoming in Maoming, and in order to avoid the Qincha, the meeting was held secretly in the middle of the night.

Long Qian gave principled instructions on the Western Expedition. Long Qian believed that the Huang Xing Righteous Army was unable to last due to the supply problem, and the Qing Army in Guangxi was assembling it, and as long as it lost a battle, the Righteous Army would be defeated and retreat to the Sino-Vietnamese border. Therefore, the combat mission of the 19th Association is not complicated. Now that the rebels are gathered in the Taiping Mansion, you should not join in the fun, but climb over the 100,000 mountains, go straight to Ningming and Longzhou, and cut off their back roads! I estimate that the war should end after you occupy Ningming Longzhou, and the rebel army will be in chaos without a fight.

Long Qian clarified the command system, which was the most critical, and he told Feng Lun that after the troops advanced westward, the general operations consulted the head of the tenth town, and major issues consulted the headquarters (he used the word headquarters for the first time). This time, several radio stations were brought back from the United States, and the General Staff was urgently training wireless operators. I'll get you one first. This is a good thing, and you must protect the operators, the translators, and the machines, and there must be no mistakes. However, the wireless telegraph may not be so reliable in use, so the traditional communication cannot be abandoned, and the smooth communication must be effectively ensured......

After instructing the combat strategy, Long Qian said to Feng Lun, I know that you have long wanted to stand alone, and I will give you this opportunity now. After the 19th Association entered Guangxi, it was necessary to make a long-term foothold, rather than fighting and retreating. Let me remind you. The people of Guangxi are strong. Better than Guangdong. Guangxi soldiers bear hardships and stand hard work, are not afraid of death, and are the best source of soldiers. Because the ethnic groups in the area live together, the customs are different. You have to be truly aware of the strength of the people. We will respect the customs of the local people. Strict discipline and earnestly ensure that there is no offense in the autumn, and try our best to help the local people in need.

It is necessary to vigorously recruit the children of Guangxi to join the army, and the troops will have the blood of the children of Guangxi. It's much easier to integrate into Guangxi. In my eyes, Guangxi is more important than Fujian, and if you lay a good front station for the whole army of the 10th Town to advance westward into Guangxi, you will make a good start for our army to open its wings to occupy Guangxi, and it will be the first achievement.

You can't rely on Guangdong for your supplies, because of the shortage of funds, I will only bring you four months' military funds, and you will have to raise the rest yourself. With whom? Of course, it is from the Guangxi government, and the people must not be exploited. Feng Lun, you have the ability to fight, but the ability to do local work is poor, so this time you can exercise it...... What is ability, ability is the ability to solve problems, is the sense of proportion. It is not advisable to be too strong or too soft, and it is necessary to be reasonable, beneficial, and modest...... Before we have completely turned the other cheek with the Manchu court, we must maintain the channel of dialogue with the local government......

After speaking of this, Long Qian said to the officers at and above the battalion commander level of the 19th Liaison Battalion that the General Headquarters has drawn up regulations for awarding and receiving medals and awards, and that the medals and medals have been produced in Guangzhou, and that I will personally preside over the ceremony of awarding senior officers in the near future. Since the establishment of the army in Mengshan, we have stumbled through a arduous course of nearly nine years, and the troops have fought hundreds of battles large and small, so it is time to have a phased summary. You can't catch up with the award, and when you take Guangxi, I will personally go over to award you the medal!

Without having time to wait for the arrival of the communication group sent by the General Staff Office, Feng Lun, who was eager to make meritorious contributions, had already returned to Qinzhou with 39 bids, recruited guides, and deployed to climb over 100,000 mountains.

After Feng Lun left, Long Qian discussed the follow-up matters with Zhou Yi, Lan Xinzhi and others. After the completion of the formation of the 40th standard, the 40th standard was stationed in Lianzhou for training, and Zhou Yi led the 10th town and the 20th association directly under the team and the 37th standard camera to go west to Guangxi, so as to realize the strategic task of passing through Guangxi. It should be no later than early March.

The establishment of a medal and medal system has long been planned, and Long Qian even personally designed the style and rank of the medal. At first, there were no production conditions, but later there was an industrial base in Shandong, and it was no longer a problem to suppress silver and bronze medals, but because of the eyes and ears of the imperial court, things have been delayed.

Most of the officers of the Mengshan Army did not understand the significance of the medal system to the army. In fact, it is an important means to maintain the morale of the military, establish a sense of honor and belonging, and assist in improving the promotion channels.

After the main force of the Mengshan Army entered Guangdong, the anti-Qing Dynasty entered the countdown. Long Qian's previous disguise was peeling off layer by layer, and the implementation of the medal system was put on the agenda. After the establishment of the Political Department, Long Qian dictated to Cao Minzhong his guiding ideology for establishing a system of awarding awards and awards, and entrusted Cao Minzhong to begin to improve the relevant regulations; after soliciting the opinions of Situ Jun, Wang Mingyuan, and others, he specially asked Cao Minzhong to take the draft to Hong Yuecheng, who had not completely left the newspaper business, to solicit his opinions, and finally finalized the provisional system of awarding awards and awards.

The medal is divided into three grades: gold, silver and bronze, and each class is divided into two to three classes.

The Gold Medal is also known as the Order of Excellence. It is divided into two grades, and is generally awarded to officers at or above the regimental level who have made outstanding contributions to the development and growth of the Mengshan Army. The Silver Medal, also known as the Heroic Medal, is divided into three classes and is open to the whole army and is awarded to officers and soldiers who have made meritorious contributions in battles. This rank is awarded only for combat merit. The Bronze Medal, also known as the Medal of Outstanding Service, is awarded to officers and soldiers who have performed well in training, local service, emergency rescue and disaster relief activities.

The gold medal is a five-pointed star in the shape of a military flag in the center. The Order of Excellence of the First Class is one size larger than the Second Class and is of exactly the same style. It is worth mentioning that the Order of Excellence is not pure gold, but gold-plated.

The Silver (Hero) Medal is designed in a circular shape with a double sword cross in the middle. Grades are distinguished by size.

The bronze (Distinguished Service) is also divided into three classes, and the medal is in the shape of a triangle. In the center is the shape of a mountain peak, which symbolizes not forgetting the foundation of Mengshan Mountain.

The texture of the style is just a formality, and the key is to establish a whole system of medals. The treatment, the conditions of the award, and the organ that confers it must be clearly stipulated.

According to the finalized regulations on the awarding of the medal, the organ for awarding the gold medal is the headquarters of the Mengshan Army, and the specific undertaking department is the Political Department. The first-class silver medal is awarded to the town (division) headquarters, the second-class is the association (brigade), and the third-class is the standard (regiment). The first class of the bronze medal is the organ of the association (inclusive) or above, and the second class is the standard (regiment). The third class is the battalion.

Statute of Honours. Prizes are awarded at the same time as the medal, and the winners are also eligible for priority promotion.

In addition to medals, Long Qian also designed medals and commemorative medals. The former is to give general recognition. The latter is a form of credentialing. The former comes with an amount of rewards, while the latter does not. For example, the officers and soldiers who participated in the Mengshan Army. All of them received the commemorative medal of the Mengshan Army. Officers and soldiers who participated in King Gengziqin. The Xigu Battle Medal was awarded. Officers and soldiers who participated in the Wuding flood fight will be awarded a commemorative medal for the Wuding flood fight, and the officers and soldiers of the troops who participated in the battles of Hunan and Jiangxi and Lingshan will be awarded. You will also receive a trophy.

In addition to the medals, the medals and medals were all designed by Xu Si, who has good painting skills, the former is a red and white semicircle, and the latter is a flat square with pressed handwriting.

All medals, medals, and medals were produced by the Guangzhou Mint, which made a small fortune.

There was a ceremony to be held for the awarding of medals, medals, and medals, and of course Long Qian had to wait for the Qin Cha to leave and choose an opportunity to do it.

Subsequently, the Qincha team followed Long Qian back to Guangzhou, and on behalf of the Ministry of the Army, approved Long Qian's relevant appointment on the reconstruction of the fifth town, with Feng Guozhu as the ninth co-ordinate, under the jurisdiction of Yan Shulin's seventeenth and Guo Haichang's eighteenth two bids, the seventeenth standard remained unchanged, and the predecessor of the eighteenth standard was the supplementary standard of the ninth association; With Du Sanli as the tenth co-ordination, the nineteenth standard of Kang Sisheng (the number remains the same.) Kang Sisheng was originally the commander of the second battalion of the 19th standard), the 20th standard of Gu Xiaolin (Gu Xiaolin was the chief of the guard of the fifth town, and the standard was newly built).

The directly subordinate teams basically remained unchanged, among which Gong Kaichen and Chi Chunxian were transferred to the 10th Town to serve as artillery standards and cavalry standard commanders, and the construction of the special forces in the 10th Town was strengthened.

After the Qin mission returned to Beijing, Long Qian issued instructions one after another, and the troops quickly turned into the wave of army expansion and reorganization.

The imperial court split the Fifth Town with the aim of breaking down Long Qian's strength. The towns of the New Army are directly under the Ministry of War, and after the establishment of the Tenth Town, Long Qian theoretically has no authority to command the Tenth Town. But for the officers of the old five towns, the time has come for another big promotion, with the formation of two new step standards, and a large number of grassroots officers are transferred to Wang Mingyuan's expanding security army, there are quite a lot of vacant positions! A large number of excellent soldiers were promoted to squad leaders, and squad leaders were promoted to platoon commanders, and then level by level!

The officers were naturally elated. Get rid of the few who have not achieved their goals, and the vast majority are excited and satisfied.

People are born with a desire for power and neglect their own abilities. It was a very small number of senior officers who were worried about the decline in combat effectiveness brought about by the rapid expansion of the Mengshan Army and the possible danger of splitting, and most of the middle and lower-ranking officers were happy with the formation of the Tenth Town, because they were about to be promoted.

So there were a lot of jokes. This is not inevitable for violent expansion. There is already a big difference between taking a company and a battalion, and the difference between taking a battalion and a target is even greater.

Due to Long Qian's interference, Qin Dahu, who was "accidentally" promoted from the post of battalion commander to the standard, spent a lot of space in his memoir "Conquering the World" written in his later years to describe the jokes and thoughts he made when he was promoted to the standard: When he was a battalion commander, he considered training and operations, and rarely considered logistics, at most he checked the company's food, but he couldn't be a standard! The logistical problems came all at once, and I almost confused myself! The standard (regiment) was the largest tactical unit of the Mengshan Army in that era, and the organs after the division and administration were readily available, not only to consider training and operations, but also to consider the ideological problems of the troops, and the logistical problems were pressed up like a mountain, especially the logistical problems, which seemed to be trivial matters, and each one of them affected the combat effectiveness of the troops, and none of them could be taken lightly, and the 39 standards that he took over were temporarily attached to the 19th Association on the way to Guangxi, and the troops were facing the threat of running out of food, and they were simply tormenting themselves to collapse! After becoming the standard, I realized that although there was only one level difference between Lu Dao and the battalion commander, the difficulty had more than doubled...... It was not until the establishment of the unit was further improved and a deputy regiment commander in charge of logistics was appointed that he was able to concentrate his energy on training......

In addition to the headache of logistical management, the ideological work of the troops is also extremely severe. It was a very grim period in the history of our army, and I didn't know it when I was in the post of battalion commander, but I felt it after I was promoted to standard. The 19th Association was already feeling the signs of separatism on its way out of Guangxi to cut off the rear route of Huang Xingyi's army......

The memoirs of Gu Xiaolin, who was promoted to the rank of standard commander in the Great Expansion Army, have a similar record. Gu Xiaolin wrote in his memoirs that many people thought that the commander-in-chief would have decided to go on a northern expedition in the first place, which would have avoided the subsequent disaster of Xiao Qiang. However, the parties who hold this point of view completely ignore the fact that after the formation of the 10th Town, the combat effectiveness of our army has not risen but has declined! There was a serious shortage of officers, guns and ammunition depended on the transportation of Shandong, and the local people did not support it...... Needless to say, there are still a lot of problems that seem to be small but are actually very troublesome, such as the language problem, on the one hand, we have to recruit soldiers, and on the other hand, we cannot understand the language, we Shandong veterans cannot understand Cantonese, and the Guangdong soldiers do not understand what the Shandong officials are shouting. The commander even took the lead in learning Cantonese and speaking Cantonese himself. There is also eating, Guangzhou flour is very short, and Shandong soldiers, who are used to pasta, are not used to brown rice for three meals a day, and complain a lot. The climate is also on the one hand, the winter is better, the summer is too hot to stand, and there are many heat strokes. As for the various diseases caused by mosquito bites, as well as field training to deal with snakes, it is very troublesome...... The main force of our army went southeast from the mountain, and later it was greatly evaluated by some self-righteous historians, and there was no debate about whether it was correct or not, and the southern expedition really tempered the adaptability of the main force of our army to the environment, and we, the grassroots officers, learned a whole set of methods for leading troops from the commander-in-chief during the southern expedition, trained in approximately the same thinking, and established the belief that as long as we use our brains, there are no difficulties that cannot be overcome. A few years later, the troops marched into Tibet, and the degree of difficulty was several times greater than that of the southern expedition, but the preparations made by officers at all levels were very sufficient, and the attrition was much smaller than expected...... There are several branches of our army, but it is indisputable that the units derived from the main force of our army, which has experienced the reorganization of the army in Guangdong and Guangdong, have always been the backbone of the national defense force.

Gu Xiaolin, who was born as a guard battalion commander, exposed the fact of factional disputes in the Wehrmacht in his memoirs. But he insisted that Long Qian's decision to ease relations with the Qing court by separating his family from the fifth town and leaving Guangxi with the tenth town west to gain a precious time was an extremely wise decision, and like most of the decisions he made in his life, it could withstand the test of history! (To be continued......)