1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 147 Provisional Battalion

Just as the male reservists aspired to become regular soldiers, the deputy commanders of each battalion and company also hoped to be promoted to full-fledged officers.

Peng Gang's plan is to first temporarily organize five battalions to assist the regular battalions in combat.

Each battalion of the Left Army, when at full strength, consisted of 768 men.

Five battalions, totaling 3,840 men.

The number of personnel is just enough to cover the veterans who have received more than four months of moderate-intensity military training.

Since the two boat battalions are not located in Dachong and the boat battalions specialize in naval warfare, Peng Gang is not considering transferring deputy positions from the boat battalions for the time being.

These temporary battalions will not be given official designations for the time being.

Their temporary designations were Provisional Battalion 7 to Provisional Battalion 11.

Whether the "provisional" designation will be removed and these battalions will be given official designations will depend on their performance and subsequent circumstances.

The deputy commanders of each battalion and company are mostly first-term graduates, and so far only two second-term graduates have served as battalion and company-level officers.

One of them was Qiu Zhongliang, who ranked first in the second phase. Qiu Zhongliang brought his own funds and people to the mountain, and he was highly educated. Peng Gang would never let Qiu Zhongliang start from the bottom.

The other person is Xiao Maoling, the second place winner of the second phase, who is Peng Gang's cousin.

Xiao Maoling was serving as the deputy company commander of the third company of the first battalion, and he was in the courtyard at that moment.

As for Chen Picheng, who ranked third in the second phase, and Wei Da, who ranked fourth, they were both placed in the children's camp because they were still young.

Peng Gang's decision to temporarily form five new battalions to participate in the war was made at the General Staff Headquarters and had not yet been officially announced.

Upon receiving the order, the twenty deputy battalion and deputy company commanders who arrived in the courtyard one after another were still unaware of why Peng Gang had ordered them to assemble in the courtyard.

Several quick-witted deputy battalion and deputy company commanders, seeing that Peng Gang had summoned only deputy commanders this time, and combined with the widely circulated news that the Left Army was about to fight a major battle, had vaguely guessed Peng Gang's intention in summoning them.

"Deputy Company Commander Xiao, you have a close relationship with the general. Has the general recently given you any hints?" Cheng Dashun, the deputy battalion commander of the Second Battalion, leaned close to Xiao Maoling and asked indirectly.

"Like news about the upcoming military expansion?"

At the beginning of the Left Army, there was a phenomenon of verbal bribery of deputy officers. Many subordinates and ordinary soldiers who wanted to curry favor with their deputy officers would omit the word "deputy" when addressing the deputy officer's title in the absence of the officer in charge.

To prevent soldiers from not recognizing their officers, Peng Gang cracked down on this practice, repeatedly emphasizing the need to be realistic and to use the proper titles for each officer.

After dismissing two deputy company commanders and punishing dozens of smooth-talking soldiers, the phenomenon has not been completely eliminated, but it has improved significantly.

"I haven't heard of it, and don't ask me anything." Xiao Maoling quickly shook his head to deny it.

Upon hearing Cheng Dashun's words, the twenty deputies couldn't help but discuss the matter animatedly, their excitement evident in their words and their faces radiant with joy.

Are these deputies finally going to be able to drop the "deputy" title and get ahead?
The discussions in the courtyard were quite noisy, which annoyed Huang Bingxian, who was organizing and summarizing intelligence in the staff room.

Huang Bingxian rushed into the courtyard, blew his whistle, and shouted, "Silence! Attention!"

The Left Army currently does not have a rank system.

However, all five staff officers were top performers in the first and second phases of the liberal arts program, enjoying the treatment of a battalion commander, and were on equal footing with the battalion commander on a daily basis.

Huang Bingxian was still the chief of staff, so he could naturally keep these deputy battalion and deputy company commanders in check.

The deputy battalion and deputy company commanders, who were still gossiping a moment ago, immediately fell silent and stood obediently at attention.

Huang Bingxian glared at them and said coldly, "Can't you understand military discipline, or have you never practiced marching drills? You're disorganized and undisciplined! The cadet camps that Mr. Xiao and Chen Yucheng and Wei Da manage are more disciplined than your bunch of deputy battalion and deputy company commanders!"

Huang Bingxian compared these deputy battalion and deputy company commanders to the Boy Scouts, which made them very unhappy.

But they were indeed at fault; they shouldn't have made a scene in the yard.

Despite their displeasure, no one dared to contradict Huang Bingxian. "Attention, everyone! Assemble and line up!"

"Take a break!"

After instructing the deputy battalion and deputy company commanders to stand in formation and rest quietly, Huang Bingxian returned to the staff room to continue leading his staff in their work.

"stand at attention!"

Not long after, Peng Gang, who had finished writing the letter of appointment, came out of the room, fanning himself with the letter. He then told the deputy battalion and deputy company commanders to stand at attention and said...

"I heard your discussion just now. Do you want to be battalion commanders or company commanders?"

"miss you!"

"A deputy who doesn't want to be the head of the department isn't a good deputy," the twenty deputies responded to Peng Gang's question with a loud shout.

"Since you're interested, I'll give you a chance!" Peng Gang said loudly. "After discussions with my staff officers and battalion commanders, I've decided that these five temporary battalions will cooperate with the regular battalions in this operation. You will temporarily serve as the battalion commanders and company commanders of these five temporary battalions. Do you have any questions?"

Provisional battalion? Temporarily serving as battalion and company commander?
They had guessed Peng Gang's idea to expand the battalions, but reality was somewhat different from what they, as deputies, had anticipated. The expanded battalions and the battalion and company commanders they were about to be appointed were only temporary.

"Reporting to the General! I have a question," Cheng Dashun said.

“Speak!” Peng Gang said.

"Will the five provisional battalions be disbanded after the battle? Will we have to return to our original units and take up our original positions?" Cheng Dashun voiced his question, which was also the question of all the deputies present.

"Whether the provisional battalion can be retained, or even upgraded to a formal standing battalion, depends on your performance and that of your subordinates on the battlefield!" Peng Gang answered Cheng Dashun's question, while looking around at everyone.

Do you have any other questions?

"Reporting to the General, are the five provisional battalions musketeers or pikemen? Will their treatment remain unchanged?"

This time, it was Chen Gan, the battalion commander of the fourth battalion, who asked the question in return.

"Apart from the 7th Battalion which was organized into two musket companies, the remaining battalions and companies were all rifle companies."

Before the provisional battalion's establishment is abolished, the officers and soldiers of the provisional battalion will enjoy the same treatment as those of the regular battalion.

Peng Gang patiently answered Chen Gan's questions, and then asked the others in return.

"Any further questions?"

The deputy battalion and deputy company commanders remained silent, indicating that they had no questions.

"Since there are no questions, I will now grant you temporary positions. Those whose names are called, step forward to receive your letters of appointment." Peng Gang took out a stack of letters of appointment and read them out one by one in order.

"Cheng Dashun is appointed as the battalion commander of the Provisional Seventh Battalion."

Xiao Maoling was appointed as the battalion commander of the Provisional Eighth Battalion.

Chen Gan was appointed as the battalion commander of the Provisional Ninth Battalion.

Zhu Deng was appointed commander of the Provisional 10th Battalion.

After the four deputy officers whose names were called came to Peng Gang one by one to receive their appointment certificates and return to their units, Peng Gang appointed sixteen more deputy officers as company commanders of the temporary battalions.

As for the vacancies for the battalion commander of the 11th Battalion and the company commanders of the remaining four companies, it wasn't that Peng Gang forgot about them.

His uncle, Xiao Guoda, had been clamoring to go to the front lines, and Peng Gang also needed to give those trainees who had long served as instructors in the male reserve battalion a chance to see that being an instructor in the male battalion also offered opportunities for advancement and hope for the future.

After all the deputy officers in the courtyard had happily received their appointment certificates, Peng Gang had Huang Dabiao bring over a mount, and rode off with these newly appointed provisional battalion and company commanders to the men's battalion to select soldiers.

(End of this chapter)