As early as the beginning of 1910, Long Qian instructed Wang Mingyuan, who had already served as Minister of National Defense, to take the lead in studying and formulating the military rank system.

This agency is located in the Propaganda Bureau of the Ministry of National Defense, and it is called the Rank Design Group. With Wang Mingyuan as the principal and Situ as the deputy, there were only seven or eight people at first, and then gradually expanded to nearly 100 people.

By the end of last year, the military rank design team led by Wang Mingyuan and Situ Jun came up with a plan with reference to the German Army, with a total of six levels and 18 grades, after collecting and researching the data on the military rank systems of various countries. The first level is the marshal level, and there are two gears, namely the generalissimo and the marshal; The second level is a general, and the fourth level is a general, a general, a lieutenant general, and a major general; The third rank is the school officer, and the third level: colonel, lieutenant colonel, and major; The fourth rank is a lieutenant, and the third rank is captain, lieutenant, and second lieutenant; The fifth rank is a non-commissioned officer, and the fourth rank is a sergeant, sergeant, and corporal; The sixth level is a soldier, and there are two grades: a senior soldier and a private.

At the same time, the military rank formulation team came up with the position corresponding to the military rank (the preparation of military ranks) and the evaluation criteria, which is very important, without which there is no way to evaluate the rank.

The military rank in the military rank scheme strictly corresponds to the position. The first rank of general is the basic military rank of Minister of National Defense, Chief of the General Staff, Commanders of the Services, and Commanders of Military Regions. The general is the base rank of deputy commander-in-chief, deputy commander of the service, and deputy commander of the military region, with lieutenant general corresponding to division commander, major general corresponding to deputy division brigade, colonel corresponding to deputy brigade regiment, lieutenant colonel corresponding to deputy regimental level, captain corresponding to battalion level, lieutenant corresponding to company level, and second lieutenant and sergeant corresponding to platoon commander. Sergeants and corporals correspond to squad leaders.

After the report was reported to Long Qian, the rank of generalissimo was crossed out, and it was obvious that this rank was reserved for him. Get rid of him, and no one deserves this rank. But he didn't think it was necessary.

After carefully reviewing the plan, Long Qian approved a paragraph: The establishment of military ranks should take into account the current situation and development of the national defense force. It is also necessary to consider the basic principle of reciprocal interaction with foreign forces. It seems that it is advisable to be strict and simple.

About before the Spring Festival, Long Qian convened Fang Shengyuan, Hong Yuecheng, Wang Mingyuan, Situ Jun, Shang Fengchun, Song Jinguo and others for a meeting to study the issue of military ranks. Regarding Fang Shengyuan's insistence on setting up a generalissimo, Long Qian said, "This military rank is obviously reserved for me, but it is not suitable. The Constitution already stipulates that the President is the supreme commander of the armed forces, and the award of Generalissimo to the President is repeated. Besides, the feudal system has been reversed by us, the democratic republican system has taken shape, and the future president may not be from a military background. For the long term. Don't let future generations be embarrassed. ”

As a result, the Generalissimo was removed.

After removing the generalissimo, the marshal is undoubtedly the highest military rank in the Wehrmacht, the highest honor for a soldier. For the marshal a gear. Long Qian talked about his views. The first set of marshals is necessary. But the standards should be strict. to preserve its sanctity. If the Wehrmacht comes up with dozens of marshals, it will not be marshals but cabbage. The second is that with the development of the national defense forces, the branches of the armed forces are becoming more and more subdivided. Is it necessary to have a military marshal? For example, field marshal, naval marshal, artillery marshal, engineering marshal...... If so, then there will undoubtedly be a marshal of the republic. This confuses me. If there is a marshal of the Republic, in that case, what is the difference between the Marshal of the Republic and the Generalissimo? In addition, he is not very satisfied with the setting of the first-class general, and the difference in the epaulettes of the collar emblem in the future is also troublesome, if there is a need for a transition between the general and the marshal, it is better to directly set up the rank of general.

As for the major general directly to the colonel, Long Qian believes that it is very reasonable for the US military to set up a brigadier general, and the military rank should of course correspond to the military position, but the issue of seniority should also be considered. It is reasonable that each position should correspond to two military ranks, such as regimental commander, which can be colonel or lieutenant colonel. Long Qian's basic idea for the establishment of military ranks is to be low-level, because the Wehrmacht is still very weak in the world, and it is ridiculous to be arrogant, and there is no harm in low-ranking military ranks now. Then, the rank of major general is mainly reserved for the division post, and it is very good for some brigade officers to be awarded brigadier generals with old seniority, and in the future, they will also get some cheap exchanges with foreign armies, and they will have reciprocal exchanges, and brigadier generals are also generals. Therefore, Long Qian thinks that it is better to set the rank of general to the fourth level, with the brigadier general, the gold content of the few, medium and upper three levels will increase accordingly, and there is no need to set the first-level general or general.

Situ Jun agreed with Long Qian's opinion that he should be degraded to the military rank. But Wang Mingyuan thinks that high allocation is not necessarily bad. At present, the Wehrmacht is still very weak, and there are only about 20 divisions at full strength, and the size of 100,000 people is only 100,000 when it is fully armed. However, the size of the country determines that we will definitely expand the army, and the 20 or so divisions will not be able to meet the needs of national defense in any case. In the last Tangnu-Uliang crisis, all the elite troops were transferred to the north and could only barely cope with the northeast, and Xinjiang was still open to the north, how could this work? The military understands the president's strategy of putting economic development first, but for the sake of the country's fundamental interests, it is crucial to improve the treatment of military personnel and make outstanding young people regard joining the military as the first choice in life. The military rank system is beneficial to increase the superiority and pride of the soldiers, and I think that the establishment of the rank of general and the high allocation.

Long Qian affirmed Wang Mingyuan's opinion on improving the treatment of military personnel, "After the implementation of the military rank system, it is definitely necessary to revise the treatment of officers, which is higher than that of government officials." The principle is that the division corresponds to the provincial minister, the brigade commander corresponds to the city chief, and the regiment commander corresponds to the county chief. But slightly higher than the head of government. Mingyuan also mentioned that the country's economy is still very difficult and should not be too high. Taking into account the preferential treatment of servicemen in terms of housing, food, and clothing, we also need to raise the treatment of disabled and sacrificed servicemen, and the actual income of servicemen is certainly significantly higher than that of the localities. I have always believed that the main factor that reflects social status is economic status, and if we fight this combination, the morale of the military will not be unstable. Mingyuan's speech just now did not point out one major matter, that is, the issue of publicity. The General Political Department has been abolished and merged into the Ministry of National Defense, and it is necessary to pay attention to vigorously publicizing the heroic figures of the various battles of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the pacification of Outer Mongolia, and the Tangnu Wulianghai Campaign, vigorously publicizing Lushan, cultivating and establishing a martial atmosphere in the whole society, and making the heroic and exemplary figures of the military system become examples for young people to learn from and emulate. It is necessary to completely reverse the trend of emphasizing literature and suppressing military force in society since the Song Dynasty. This important matter has a bearing on the future of the country, and we must get a good grasp of it. Under this premise, the establishment and evaluation of the military rank system should be low and strict, and it should leave room for the officers to make progress. If there is a serious change in the situation in the world, and the Wehrmacht is engaged in a great war on a worldwide scale, we will revise the regulations on military ranks. ”

After the meeting. Long Qian forwarded the minutes of the meeting to the generals above the division commander to solicit their opinions. Generals and commanders such as Feng Guozhu, Cheng Erhu, Ye Yanbing, Lan Xinzhi, Hu Zongyu, Shi Dashou, Wu Nian, and Xiong Xun were all excited and looking forward to the upcoming implementation of the military rank system, holding that the implementation of the military rank system marks the progress of the regularization of the national defense force and is conducive to enhancing the sense of honor of military personnel. They also put forward their own views on the technical details such as the establishment of military ranks. However, the request for the establishment of the rank of generalissimo was unanimously put forward, believing that this rank was both the highest and the final military rank, and no one was eligible for this rank except the founder of the Mengshan Army. That is, this is a specific, one-time military rank.

"If the commander does not become the generalissimo. It was a great blow to the morale of the whole army. Hu Zongyu wrote.

According to the opinion of the leading generals. The military rank system finalized by the Ministry of National Defense and the General Staff Headquarters is six grades and 17 grades, and the two military ranks of generalissimo and first-class general in the original plan have been abolished, but the brigadier general has been added.

On the third day after Long Qian returned to Beijing, he convened a high-level meeting on the theme of the military rank system, in addition to the Ministry of National Defense and the General Staff, the two main heads of the military, government, and military order system. The principal heads of government, parliament, navy, joint logistics headquarters and garrisons participated. Naturally, members of the Rank Assessment Panel also participated. Wang Mingyuan after the notice solicited opinions. Finally, the completion of the preparatory work for the establishment and evaluation of the military rank system and the awarding of military ranks was reported.

Setting up a sequence of ranks is the simplest, while assessment is much more complicated. After solving the sequence setting, the working group led by Wang Mingyuan has come up with a meticulous implementation of the military rank assessment. Based on the current position, both military age and military merit are taken into account. The focus of the meeting was to discuss the assessment rules.

Before the discussion began, Long Qian spoke on the implementation of the military rank system, and after expounding on the significance of the implementation of the military rank system, he made four points.

First, he expressed his gratitude to the working group on military ranks for its hard work over the past year, "It is very hard work, and it is also a matter of offending people. You have done an excellent job so that we can sit here and discuss it. I will give special awards to the comrades who participated in this work and give cash rewards. ”

Second, he will never take up the post of generalissimo, "This, absolutely no more, I know the feelings of most of my old comrades-in-arms, but the situation has changed, we are about to build a brand new country, the abolition of the tenure system is its main feature, and the army must adapt to this change." Therefore, there is no longer a generalissimo in the military rank system. I don't want this rank, and no one will ask for it in the future. ”

Thirdly, the living, not awarded the marshal. Many of the generals here have made great contributions to the birth of New China, and they are destined to be written into history! The bloody battle of Xigu against the Eight-Nation Alliance, the exploits of the Bailing Detachment at Heigoutai and Shendanbao, the Dezhou Campaign commanded by Shi Jun and Yan Bing, the Jinzhou Campaign commanded by Dashou, Xiong Xun, Fan Deping, Sheng Guang and others, the Changsha and Tingsi Campaigns commanded by Feng Guozhu and others, the pacification of the southeast by Wang Mingyuan, and the march of Lan Xinzhi and Wu Nian to the southwest and northwest laid the foundation for the national victory of the Mengshan Army. As for Situ, in the midst of strategizing, he won a decisive victory thousands of miles away, he is an excellent chief of general staff. There are also Song Jinguo, Lian Shupeng and other leaders of the logistics front, who are also outstanding meritorious workers. Should they be given marshals? Absolutely, Founding Fathers. However, I still do not advocate giving them the rank of marshal, why? Because our victory in seizing power is actually very small, and there are many big and bad battles ahead! You have to believe that when ten years from now, twenty Chinese New Year's Eve years from now, when we look back at our current achievements, they are actually very small and not worth mentioning. The rank of marshal will be reserved for you, and it will be awarded after you have made great contributions to the special national war, which will be more meaningful and convincing. But this time it is still going to be awarded to a marshal, to whom? I think you will not forget the Mengshan Mountain, and you will not forget the distant and desolate Tangnu Wulianghai, and I should be that the rank of marshal should be posthumously awarded to him. ”

Lushan! Wang Mingyuan, Ning Shijun and Cheng Erhu's eyes moistened, especially Feng Guozhu, who had served as Lu Shan's deputy for a long time, was immediately enveloped by a strong nostalgia. Lu Shan's military exploits, talent and loyalty to Long Qian should be the first of the generals of the Remon Mountain Army, but unfortunately God was jealous of the talent, and died on the Mongolian Plateau on the same day as the founding ceremony.

"General Lu died in the national war, and he should be awarded the marshal." Situ Jun stood up and said, "I can't compare with General Lu, nor can I compare with the generals of Mingyuan, I can't afford the position of marshal, even the general is also higher." ”

"I agree with half of Chief Situ's words." Ning Shijun said, "None of us can compare with Lu Shan." The commander was very thoughtful. However, General Chief Situ not only assisted the commander in commanding the whole army, but also made great contributions to the establishment of military academies and the regularization of the army. The award of the rank of general is mandatory. If the chief of the general staff, the brain of the army, is not awarded the rank of general, few others are eligible for this rank. ”

"Okay," Fang Shengyuan said with a smile, "The words of the two generals are very true. But there is a rule, many high-ranking generals of the army hold important positions in the government, do they confer military ranks? ”

"That brings me to the fourth point. Anyone who leaves the army will not be awarded a military rank. Long Qian's expression was solemn, "For example, Deng Qinghua, he is an old qualification." In Mengshan, he is one of the main responsible persons of the General Staff Office. He assisted Lushan in the war in the northeast and had military exploits. But now that he is no longer in the army, he will not be judged. No one dared to predict that in the future, if Tsinghua returned to the army one day, it would still have to give the corresponding military rank. In the early days of the Tang Dynasty, the ministers were all in and out of the prime minister. Both civil and military. That's why there is a vigorous atmosphere in the Tang Dynasty. Why can't we learn from the ancients? I have always stressed that the senior generals of the armed forces should step up their study, not only in military affairs, but also in economics and civil affairs. Long Qian said.

"President." Hong Yuecheng stood up and said, "Many generals of the Beiyang Department have held important positions in the army after surrendering to Cheng, how can they compare with the generals of the Mengshan Army in terms of military merits?" If, according to the regulations on military ranks formulated by the Ministry of National Defense, they are awarded the same military rank as the generals of the Mengshan Army, will it have a bad effect? ”

Long Qian looked at Song Jiaoren, who lowered his head, "There is no need to argue about this." It will be done in accordance with the advice of the Ministry of National Defense. We can't go back and investigate the past, and change the way of thinking, if the Beiyang system does not surrender, how many people will die if it continues to fight? How much damage to the country's vitality? That's the credit. It is important to propagate this with confidence. Long Qian thought for a while, "Even after the founding of the People's Republic of China, they are also meritorious, Feng Huafu actively prepared for war training in the northeast, and Cao Zhongshan suppressed bandits in Sichuan, both of which did a good job." Cao Kun wrote to me that he was willing to lead troops into Tibet, and his momentum was very strong and his spirit was commendable! That's what qualifications are. ”

The council met intermittently for two and a half days and focused on the question of the ranks of senior officers. It was decided to confer the rank of generals on Wang Mingyuan, Feng Guozhu, Situ Jun, Fang Shijun, Ye Yanbing, and Shi Dashou. Song Jinguo, Lan Xinzhi, Hu Zongyu, Wu Nian, Fan Deping, Xiong Xun, Cheng Erhu, Zhang Zuolin, Feng Guozhang, Cao Kun, Li Yuanhong, Shang Fengchun, Zhang Yulin, Chi Chunxian 14 people have the rank of lieutenant general.

This is the first marshal, the sixth general, and the fourteenth lieutenant general awarded by the founding of the country.

Further down, 21 divisional officers, including Du Sanli, Jiang Cunxian, Han Ziying, Qu Hongxiang, Huang Jinhui, Gong Kaichen, Zhang Zhenming, Jiang Fangzhen, Zhang Xiaozhun, Ding Xiaofu, Yan Shulin, Hou Zhaodi, Cai Yi, Tian Shubang, Liang Huada, Gao Huzi, Guo Haichang, Xue Xiaocai, Li Zhun, Liang Junshan, and Jin Ruigong, received the rank of major general. Forty-five brigade-level officers, including Lu Guangda, Cheng Jianguo, Duan Xingmao, Yan Jindong, Qu Zhiyong, Gu Xiaolin, Chai Shouye, Wang Yao, Feng Ru, and Sun Wu, received the rank of brigadier general.

Deng Qinghua, Lian Shupeng, and others were not awarded military ranks because they entered the government system. Fan Deping was enviably awarded the rank of lieutenant general because he was also the commander of the Shanghai garrison district. Tian Shubang is the director of the Military Intelligence Bureau, and because the Military Intelligence Bureau is subordinate to the General Staff Department, he received a military rank. Jiang Yun, Wang Zhifeng and other senior officers of the intelligence department who are eligible for military ranks can only be awarded police ranks in the future because they have left the military system and entered the police system.

There are a total of 86 senior officers above the brigadier general level in the whole army. Referring to the existing and potential size of the Wehrmacht, the gold content of the ranks is very high. However, there are very few generals in the navy and the air force that have not yet been formed, and this is a weakness that cannot be ignored by the Wehrmacht. In this regard, Long Qian said to the high-ranking generals who had arrived in Beijing one after another because of the conferral of titles, "In the future, we must vigorously strengthen the building of the navy and air force, and some people will change their careers!" You can't just engage in the Army. Even within the army, the building of artillery, engineering troops, communications troops, joint logistics systems, and other special services should also be strengthened. In addition, the work of military academies and academies should also be strengthened. This time, Jiang Fangzhen was awarded the rank of major general, and some people were not convinced, saying that he was not qualified at all. You go to the Baoding Non-commissioned Officer School to take a look and be convinced. I think Principal Chiang's rank is lower than higher. In addition, Liang Junshan, for example, is one of the founders of our army's communications system, and now everyone feels that the communication issue is important. There is also Dr. Feng Ru, who has made great contributions to aviation and aviation education. Objectively speaking, compared with the great powers, the Navy is not worth mentioning, and the Army is also a child, but the Air Force is ahead of it! We have built three aviation factories and two aviation schools, with more than forty aircraft! There are not many armies in the world that attach such importance to aviation as we do, and in the future it will prove the strategic significance of aviation in the military field! ”

Until the end of March. The work of appraising the ranks of the whole army has been completed, and the work of awarding titles has officially begun. On 1 April, a grand ceremony was held at Huairentang, at which President Long Qian conferred the rank of general on six people, including Wang Mingyuan, and Premier Fang Shengyuan conferred the rank of lieutenant general on 14 people, including Song Jinguo. Qiu Jin's General Administration of Press and Publication and the Propaganda Bureau of the Ministry of National Defense meticulously organized the photography, photography and publicity work of the award ceremony, leaving extremely precious historical materials for future generations. For several days in a row, the "National Defense Daily," "Zhonghua Bao," and other mainstream media have reported on the work of conferring titles on a large scale, giving detailed reports on high-ranking officers who have attained the rank of lieutenant general and above, interviewing all the senior officers who have arrived in Beijing, making special reports on them, and highly praising their outstanding meritorious deeds in building and strengthening the army and resisting foreign aggression.

The military uniforms specially made for senior officers above the brigadier general are warmly welcomed by the society, especially the young people. Aquamarine tweed fabric. The crisp style is worn with golden epaulettes, collar flowers, and a medal hanging on the left chest to show military qualifications, which looks extremely majestic and solemn. There are two types of rank insignia designed by the Propaganda Directorate of the Ministry of Defense. One is of a dress nature, and the other is a combat training suit. The ranks of the dress were distinguished by epaulettes, and the epaulettes of the rank of generals were decorated with a golden coat of arms and a gold star, and the brigadier general was a star. Major General two stars. Lieutenant General three stars. Admiral will be four stars. The rank of the training uniform was marked on the collar badge, and the hardboard epaulette was abolished. In addition, military ranks also distinguish between branches of the military. The dress is distinguished by the collar flower, and the different branches of the military such as infantry, artillery, and engineering are distinguished by guns, small cannons, axes, etc. Training uniforms are distinguished by color on the cuff trim: red for infantry, black for sailors, yellow for artillery, blue for aviation, brown for cavalry, green for logistics, orange for signal troops, and gray for engineers...... The implementation of the military rank system has greatly promoted the enthusiasm of young students to join the army, and according to statistics, the number of students who applied for various types of military schools in that year quadrupled.

The work of conferring the rank of officer below the rank of major general is organized by the Ministry of Defence. Four senior officers above the rank of lieutenant general who participated in the award of the title of Huairentang were absent: General Shi Dashou did not take a leave of absence to preside over military affairs in Northeast China, Lieutenant Generals Lan Xinzhi, Cao Kun, and Wu Nian took leave due to military tensions, Lan Xinzhi and Cao Kun were planning to march to Tibet, and Wu Nian did not attend the highly meaningful ceremony due to the unstable situation in Xinjiang, which was a lifelong regret.

Long Qian took Wang Mingyuan and Shang Fengchun to personally send the marshal certificate and military uniform (including epaulettes and collar flowers) to the home of Li Wenxiu, the bereaved family of Lushan.

After Lu Shan's sacrifice, according to Long Qian's arrangement, Li Wenxiu returned to Beijing with his only son Lu Dayong, Li Wenxiu and Lu Shan's mother (whose father has passed away) were arranged to live in Xiyuan, and Lu Dayong was also arranged to enter primary school to study, and Long Qian's eldest son Long Zhenhua was in the same class.

Long Qian said to Li Wenxiu, "This is the honor that Lushan deserves." Although he died, he will always be the marshal of the Wehrmacht, and he will always have his place in military history. You keep these things and pass them on to future generations, so that they will always remember the glory of their ancestors. ”

The great grief behind Lu Shan diluted Li Wenxiu's sadness, and she was very grateful to Long Qian and her husband's comrades-in-arms for their care, "Lu Shan followed the right person. If he hadn't followed the commander, how could he have today's scenery? ”

"Nope. The honor was earned by Lu Shan's own hard work. The death of Lushan in Tangnu Ulianghai is an irreparable loss to the country and to our young national defense army! I am responsible for his sacrifice, his subordinates are responsible, and he himself is responsible. Our high-ranking generals have not yet fully adapted to the changes of the times, and they should take the lead and should advocate this spirit, not the wrong approach! Fan Deping severely punished the relevant responsible personnel, I think it is right! That Shi Niankui could have been awarded brigadier general, but he was only awarded colonel, just because he had a strict responsibility for Lu Shan's death! This can't happen again! Wenxiu, in life, the country and the army will help you, bring Dayong, let him become a useful person, and take over his Lao Tzu's class in the future! ”

Behind the award of titles is the affirmation and praise of the merits of the military system. In 1911, the title of the whole army was conferred on the whole army, leaving endless topics for future generations to study the military history of Mengshan. Not only the study of their ranks, but also the ranking of the front and back has become a subject of special research. Song Jinguo, as the head of the General Joint Logistics Department, was originally qualified for the rank of general, and the initial assessment was also intended to be awarded to the founder of the logistics system of the Mengshan Army as a general. However, I thought that I had just done some auxiliary work, and insisted that I would not be able to resign as a general, and as a result, I was demoted to lieutenant general (ranked first among lieutenant generals). Du Sanli, who was awarded the rank of major general, was the commander of the 1st Division at the time, and it was completely okay to award the rank of lieutenant general to the 1st Division in the whole army and his qualifications. After all, Cao Kun, Feng Guozhang, Zhang Zuolin, Li Yuanhong and other "demoted generals" who were also division commanders were also awarded lieutenant generals. But Du Sanli was only awarded the rank of major general (ranked first). Some people say that Du Sanli killed too many people in the northwest, and the center was afraid of the feelings of various ethnic groups in the northwest so he was given a low rank. For this reason, Du Sanli was very dissatisfied and threatened not to wear a military rank.

Song Jinguo's move to give up the title was highly praised by Long Qian. thinks that it is the most human nature in front of high-ranking officials. Minister Song is a mirror of the whole army, those who think that their military rank is low, those who are in trouble because of the award, crying nose, go to compare with Minister Song, don't you feel ashamed? Of course, Du Sanli was severely criticized by Long Qian, and he asked Wu Nian, the commander of the Northwest Military Region, to tell Du Sanli that it was okay not to wear it, and even take off the military uniform for me! (To be continued......)