Eighth Section Whole Row Promotion

  Kang Daxun listened to Sun Congzhou finish speaking, and took a bundle of banknotes from the hands of his deputy officer beside him and handed them over to Liu Mingjiu, who had just stood up. Sun Congzhou continued to speak: "Now your organization is in disarray, we discussed it and decided to let Zhang Hua act as your fourth battalion commander, you act as deputy battalion commander and second company commander, and select people from the security team to supplement your troops. We will also allocate 20 Hanyang-made rifles and three big-bellied machine guns to your battalion, expanding it to 120 men. You should send the candidates for company commanders and deputy company commanders to the headquarters tomorrow."

  "Yes." Liu Mingjiu listened to Sun Congzhou finish speaking, stood at attention and saluted, then said: "Thank you, Captain, Chief of Staff, and Deputy Captain for your cultivation. I will do my best to help Captain Zhang restore the vitality of the 4th Company as soon as possible."

  "Alright, I'm leaving. You little rascal, honestly stay here and take care of your injuries. Let the brothers under you handle things outside. Tong Quan, Luozi, you two keep an eye on this kid, don't let him go out on the streets for a while now. Those bandits must have sent someone to inform Wang Xiaojie, don't let them get revenge on Little Jiu." Sun Congzhou smiled as he stood up and walked out of Liu Mingjiu's room.

  Actually, the bank draft that Kang Daxuan gave to Liu Mingjiu earlier was part of what Luo Xiliang had handed over. The bounty offered by the Beiyang Army is a well-known fact, and Liu Mingjiu already knew about the amount announced by Sun Congzhou, which was actually half of what Jiang Guidi, the governor of Rehe, had issued. That's why he got the reward so quickly. However, there's no need to fight over it; survival of the fittest has become a rule that can't be changed at will. After taking the bank draft and sending Sun Congzhou and others out of his camp, Liu Mingjiu returned to his room and asked Tong Quan to call another battalion commander, Wu Tongjin, into his room.

  After Tong Quan walked out of the room, Luo Xiliang helped Liu Mingjiu lie down on the kang and smiled at him, saying: "Jiuzi, you've made a small fortune this time. You can still get promoted, and in the future, our brothers' waists will be even harder."

  "A hard bargain, and it's only half a grade. Liu Mingjiu looked at Luo Xiliang with a nonchalant expression: "How much did you hand in? You didn't actually hand everything over, did you?"

  "Am I that stupid?" Luo Xi Liang sneered at Liu Ming Jiu, continuing to say: "The amount handed over was 8,000 yuan, and I still kept 4,800 yuan for myself. We brothers risked our lives to get it back, can I be so stupid as to give it all to those people upstairs?"

  "Haha, not bad." Liu Mingjiu laughed after hearing that. The military in this era is just like that, the warlord's troops don't have any real integrity or unity, a group of people who can't even get a meal at home, why would they join the army? It's all about money, power, status and other things that can change their lives. To survive in this era, you either need to have money or guns, those who have both are the masters, while those who have nothing will be slaughtered. So after Liu Mingjiu saw through the world he was living in, he also started to go with the flow.

  Tong Quan found Wu Tongjin at this time, and the two walked into Liu Mingjiu's room together. In this campaign to suppress bandits, the entire second platoon suffered heavy casualties because they had followed Liu Mingjiu up a tree, with eight deaths. The other two platoons did not suffer significant losses, so Wu Tongjin was one of the few lucky ones in the whole platoon who were unscathed. As soon as he entered the room, he stood at attention: "Wu Tongjin reporting for duty."

  "Everyone, please sit down. The battalion commander has just formally ordered me to act as the deputy company commander. Zhang Hua will take over as the company commander, which means that our 4th company will need to promote three acting platoon leaders, three acting platoon deputies and a new platoon leader to replace you. I called you here to discuss this matter." Liu Mingjiu looked at Wu Tongjin, who was also an 18-year-old second-generation soldier from the same age group as himself, and explained the purpose of calling the three of them.

  "What's there to discuss? Zhang Hua is the company commander, they should at least take up two platoon leader positions. We were originally deputy platoon leaders, you got promoted and he naturally took over. Let Xiao Wuzi take over as deputy, his brain is sharper than mine, his marksmanship is more accurate, and he's more agile." Tong Quan was the first to express his opinion after Liu Mingjiu finished speaking.

  Luohai handed over a cup of tea and listened to Tongquan finish speaking before taking over the conversation: "If Jiuzi is your way of thinking, then there's no need for us to come and discuss it."

  "Jiuzi, what's on your mind? Speak up and we three brothers will figure it out together." Wu Tongjin was also a high school student who was pulled into the 18th Regiment as a supplementary soldier by his family elders. He was articulate and eloquent in daily life, quick-witted and smooth-talking when encountering things, and very agile during battles.

  Liu Mingjiu looked at the three of them and said, "Zhang Hua became the company commander relying on his seniority, but the people under him are either in their 40s or new recruits. If we let them take control, our fourth company will become no different from those security regiments. My idea is to have Lü go take over another platoon, Xiao Wuzi go to another platoon as deputy platoon leader, and Old Tong act as our platoon's deputy leader. Let Qi Quan, Meng Dashan, and Yin Baoshan take over the three squads of our platoon, and send Guan Yutang, Han Yi, Wu Yanming, and Deng Huiwu to other platoons as squad leaders. Only then can our fourth company move forward according to our own ideas."

  "Will Old Zhang agree?" asked Luo Zhenliang on one side, his dark face full of doubt.

  "Heh heh, no choice but to agree, didn't we leave some silver tickets behind? Tonight you'll accompany me, first to Wang Yingchang's place, then to the brigade headquarters to find Zuo Deputy Commander, Kang Chief of Staff, Lin Deputy Officer, and Ning Battalion Commander. From top to bottom, they won't dare disagree with my proposal." Liu Mingjiu said with a sly smile on his gloomy face.

  Four people quickly negotiated and three of them returned to their barracks. That night, Liu Mingjiu and Luo Xiliang brought Wu Tongjin along, and the three of them ran to six places in one night. The battalion commander Wang Qingquan and deputy battalion commander Xiao Ze each received 200 yuan from Luo Xiliang, while the deputy regimental commander Zuo Zhenyuan and chief of staff Kang Daxuan each took 500 yuan from Liu Mingjiu. Sun Congzhou's deputy officer Lin Youfeng and the guard company commander also accepted the 300 yuan sent by Wu Tongjin. The three men didn't return to their own barracks until the second half of the night.

  He also received Zhang Hua, who was appointed by Sun Quan in person. At this time, he finally gathered his left and right arms together to discuss who would do what job. However, he overlooked the biggest key point, which is that this army is like the outside officialdom, money is not omnipotent, but without money, it is absolutely impossible. All the people in his team put their money together, but they couldn't match Liu Mingjiu's wealth and prestige now.

  One night, he spent 2,000 yuan, and Liu Mingjiu wasn't just thinking of controlling the regiment. Lying on his bed, Liu Mingjiu began to think about what to do next. In this era, money and guns were the capital for survival, and now that he still had a total of 4,400 yuan left in his hands, how to use this money to gain more capital became the thing that Liu Mingjiu was thinking about.

  In the following days, Liu Mingjiu and Zhang Hua were still calling each other uncle and nephew on the surface, but in private they were trying every means to make their own faction come out on top. They spent their time plotting against each other. Zhang Hua and his subordinates were all old hands from the 18th Regiment, so they had a lot of influence when it came to relationships. However, when it came to key figures, they either met with evasive or ambiguous responses.

  Two days later, Zhang Huajian got up early and was washing his face when he was called to the 4th Battalion headquarters by Ning De, the battalion commander. Liu Mingjiu had already sat down on one side, while behind Zhao Zhengyi's original desk, surprisingly sat Chief of Staff Kang Daxuan, with Regimental Commander Wang Qingquan and Xiao Ze beside him.

  "Announcement of promotions: Zhang Hua, promoted to Senior Lieutenant and appointed as the commander of the 4th Company; Liu Mingjiu, promoted to Junior Lieutenant and transferred to the 8th Company as acting company commander; Luo Xiliang, promoted to Second Lieutenant and transferred to the 8th Company as acting deputy company commander; Wu Tongjin, Tong Quan, and Qi Quan were promoted to Acting Lieutenant and transferred to the 8th Company as platoon leaders; Meng Dashan, Yin Baoshan, and Han Yi were promoted to Senior Sergeant and transferred to the 8th Company as platoon deputies; Guan Yutang, Liang Shengchu, Zhou Zhimo, Ding Shaquan, Wang Boyong, Liu Ji, Liu Chenglie, Pan Yuishuang, and Zhang Cuntai were promoted to Senior Sergeant and transferred to the 8th Company as squad leaders; Liu Jiangshan and Yang Shusen were promoted to Junior Sergeant and transferred to the 8th Company as squad deputies." Kang Daxuan read out the final decision of the battalion with a poker face.

  Not only was Zhang Hua surprised, but Liu Mingjiu was also stunned by the appointment letter for a long time. Kang Daxuan looked at the two of them and smiled faintly: "You two don't be dazed, eight rows went to cooperate with the 16th regiment on the other side of Chaoyang three days ago, as a result, they were ambushed and only 21 wounded soldiers were left. The company commander, deputy company commander, platoon leader, and squad leader were all killed by them, so the brigade decided to transfer the 18 brave warriors of the second platoon together with Xiaojiazhi to reorganize the third battalion eight rows, under the command of Sun Congli, the regimental commander. The fourth row will be handed over to Old Zhang for reorganization and expansion."

  Liu Mingjiu first came to his senses and understood that this was a matter of balance within the group. He represented the second-generation soldiers of the 18th Regiment, and with a large amount of silver tickets opening the way, it would be unreasonable for these people to take his money and not give him a regiment. Zhang Hua, on the other hand, represented the old faction of the 18th Regiment, and in this era, qualifications and seniority were also important factors in the military, so the arrangement within the group was reasonable and expected.

  It's getting harder to expand, the second squad is fully dispatched, which means that a not-so-small strong force has been reduced. The ones left behind are all old soldiers over 35 years old and new recruits under 18 years old, and their combat effectiveness has also decreased by a large margin. So looking at Kang Daxuan, he asked: "Chief of Staff, if the second squad is dispatched again, there will be less than 30-40 people left in the fourth company. I don't know how the battalion arranges for the replenishment of troops."

  "This team leader has already thought it through, you and Xiao Jiu Zi will both go to the security team to recruit people. The limit for your 4th company's personnel and weapons is one hundred and twenty-one people. The 8th company is newly established, Xiao Jiu Zi, since you don't have much experience, so the establishment of your company should be within one hundred people. You can take personnel from the security team at will, or think of other ways to do it. The team leader's intention is very clear. He'll give you guns and military pay, treat the security team as your reserve team and go pick whoever you want, recruit whoever you want." Kang Da Xuan saw Zhang Hua finish speaking and clearly conveyed Sun Cong Zhou's meaning to the two of them.

  "Chief of Staff, is the 8th Company the one stationed at Linglong Tower? The dispatched company, this... can Xiao Shu do it?" Liu Mingjiu remembered that the three battalions were responsible for the defense of the towns outside the county seat to the north, and looked at Kang Daxuan's inquiry.

  Kang Da Xuan looked at Liu Mingjiu's surprised and unconfident eyes, and a teasing smile appeared on his face: "You little guy also has times when you're afraid? What happened to the vigor when you killed Hu Zi? Don't worry, you go reorganize the 8th Regiment, but for now, don't let you manage other local affairs, just focus on rebuilding the 8th Regiment and defending the safety of Lingjiao Tower. However, your task is not easy either. The Mongolian cavalry bandits often come to the grasslands, led by a man named Hasibala, who has been wearing a mask for years and is very mysterious. Their group has over 200 cavalrymen, but when they come to our side, it's not many. Jianping and Lingyuan are their main looting areas, so you don't have to worry too much, just focus on leading the new 8th Regiment well."

  The whole row was promoted, and a separate position in charge of military power was also assigned, and all his own direct descendants were transferred together. Although it is said that the Mongolian cavalry's horse beard will occasionally harass, Liu Mingjiu has been very satisfied.