Major Leedfunk once again brought a team of troops to the camp in Squirrel Village. This time he came to promote Claude to military rank and award him a medal.
"You're such a lucky kid. I didn't expect His Highness to give you a knighthood." Major Leedfonk's face was full of envy and jealousy. Maybe Claude wouldn't sigh like this even if he was promoted to major. .
This time, as the officer-in-charge of the 1st Ranger Battalion, Major Liederfunk was also credited with a first-level meritorious service because of Claude's battle victory. As long as he achieved another first-level meritorious service, he could be promoted to lieutenant colonel. At present, taking advantage of the opportunity for follow-up reinforcements to arrive in the three southern counties, Major Liederfenko handed over the defense tasks of those local checkpoints and arteries to the local security battalions who had received reinforcements, and gathered two brigades of the 1st Ranger Battalion to attack them. In the past, rebel rioters in those places launched large-scale suppression activities, with good results and maintaining local order within the scope of garrison responsibility. By the end of the year, he should be able to add a silver crescent to his shoulder straps.
Claude was puzzled as to what this knight's medal was. In his opinion, this knight's medal was probably the same as the military merit medals in his previous life, and it might even be worth two cents. You must know that in the past life, I went to that country with my boss. The boss spent a lot of money to buy a former Soviet military uniform from a black market stall, with more than a dozen medals of the former Soviet Union hanging on it. I think of that stick country in the north. During their military parade, the generals’ uniforms were covered with medals. They were decorated like ancient armor. I wonder if they were bulletproof. I didn’t expect that there is such a thing as a medal in this world.
Major Leedfunk sighed deeply. He knew very well that Claude was ignorant and had no idea about the importance of the knighthood. It was inevitable. Who told Claude to join the army and go to the battlefield just over half a year later? Although he became a sergeant with a high starting point, he did not understand many common sense in the military.
Generally, those who have been in the military for five or six years and are determined to climb up will understand the value of these meritorious deeds and figure out how to obtain these meritorious deeds and get promoted. It has been nearly three years since the war broke out. It can be said that Claude has been at the grassroots level and on the front line. He has neither the time nor the leisure to know these common sense in the military, or in other words, no one can tell him.
Major Lederfonk had to first explain to Claude the meaning of receiving the Knight Medal, which meant that Claude had already stepped into the realm of the nobles of the kingdom. In other words, in the Kingdom of Ovelas, receiving the Order of Knights is more respectable than some hereditary nobles. Because the status of hereditary nobles may be passed down from their fathers, some mediocre people can also become nobles of the kingdom. However, the soldiers who have been awarded the Knight Medal have made unquestionable military exploits on the battlefield, and they have earned this honor with their own lives and courage.
The Knight's Medal was placed in a small flat box. When you opened it, you saw a black circular badge placed on the purple velvet. The pattern of the badge was a galloping gunner, aiming and shooting on the horse. The diameter of the badge is only about three centimeters, and it looks inconspicuous at all. It seems like an ordinary commemorative medal.
Major Leedfunk's eyes seemed to be glued to this black badge and he could not pull it out. He murmured that if he could get a knighthood in this life, he would be satisfied. Even if he looked back on his military career before his death, he would still be satisfied. There will be no regrets left.
Claude jokingly said that if he could present this knighthood medal to Major Leedfunk, he wouldn't be able to let him die in peace...
Unexpectedly, Major Leedfunk told Claude with a serious face that he could not say this in front of others, let alone make fun of the knighthood medal. Because of the provisions of the Kingdom's military law, the Knight Medal cannot be lent or given away, and can only be used by the recipient. Any act of counterfeiting the knighthood will be regarded as a stain on this honor. Violators will be punished by military law, with the minimum being ten years of hard labor and the worst being being directly hanged.
"This is a sub-badge. You can keep it or wear it on your chest." Major Leedfunk reluctantly handed the small box in his hand to Claude: "Only by wearing this sub-badge, others can Calling you Lord Knight is the same in the military and in local areas. But if you don't wear this sub-badge, then others can call you by your name directly without calling you Knight Claude."
"Wait a minute, sir, what does this chapter mean?" Claude asked.
Major Leedfunk laughed: "There is a deputy badge before the official badge. You wouldn't think that the knight's medal is such an inconspicuous thing, right? The main badge is as big as a child's palm, made of gold, and equipped with a purple and gold ribbon." But that will have to wait until the end of the year, when His Highness holds a ceremony to confer the medal. His Highness will personally hang the official medal on your chest. However, the official medal is not suitable for daily wear, it is too dazzling. Because the medal has been awarded You are not a nouveau riche, that’s why you have this substamp. Normally, it would not be so dazzling when worn on your chest, and it looks more low-key and subtle. Now that there is still half a year before the end of the year, I will issue you the substamp first to show that you have already Officially achieved knighthood.”
Only then did Claude realize that there was such a special value in the knight's medal. In order to avoid making mistakes in the future, he simply asked Major Leedfunk to pin the sub-badge of the Knight's Medal on his chest, and remember clearly the position where the sub-badge was worn, so that he would not be indistinguishable from left to right. The common-sense mistake of wearing a deputy badge was eliminated.
Then there is promotion to the military rank. This is simple. Change the epaulette. The captain's epaulette has three black stars. As for the identity certificate and promotion procedures, Major Leedfunk has already completed them at the battalion headquarters. Claude only needs to sign. Finally, there is the bonus. Because of this victory and promotion, Claude received a total of more than sixty gold crowns. Major Leedfunk jokingly said that Claude can definitely make a fortune from war, he just needs to win a few more such victories.
After all of this is done, the next step is the promotion of Mark Chimmeride and the others. The eldest prince's reward decision is that all officers and soldiers participating in the battle will be promoted to the first level of military rank, plus all officers and soldiers of the first ranger battalion will be recorded with a first-level meritorious service. However, since Claude was directly promoted to the rank of captain, all the officers and soldiers participating in the war were promoted to the first rank and he had no part in it, but he still had the first-level merit record. As long as he achieves two more first-level meritorious services, he can be promoted to major.
Major Leedfunk brought a large group of troops directly from the battalion headquarters just to deal with the troublesome matter of all participating officers and soldiers being promoted to the first rank and recording first-level meritorious service. He will handle Claude's affairs personally, and the rewards and promotions of the following one hundred and thirty officers and soldiers will be the responsibility of those he leads. It took a whole day of work to get these things done, and everyone was very tired.
This time, in addition to Markchi, Murray Ed, and Diavid, three of Claude's subordinates were promoted to second lieutenants. Two noncommissioned officers were also promoted to second lieutenants at the same time, which made Markchi very angry. , thinking that the two sergeant team captains who were originally his subordinates simply stepped on shit when they went out, and their luck was ruined.
The reason is very simple. Originally, these two non-commissioned officer team captains have accumulated two first-level meritorious service. Now His Royal Highness the Prince has decided that all officers and soldiers of the 1st Ranger Battalion will record one first-level meritorious service. These two non-commissioned officer team captains have caught up and have received first-level meritorious service three times. Meritorious service earns them promotion to master sergeant. Then all the officers and soldiers participating in the war were promoted to the first rank, and these two caught up again, and suddenly they became equal to Mark Qi from subordinates, and also became second lieutenants.
Major Leedfunk and Claude held a battalion meeting. Since all the officers and soldiers participating in the war were promoted to the first rank, Claude's junior officers and veterans at the rank of sergeant major, sergeant, and staff sergeant were compared with other squadrons. About twice as much. These are the elite forces of the 1st Ranger Battalion. Major Lederfangke decided to transfer some of them to serve in other brigades and squadrons. Anyway, there are more officers and fewer soldiers here in Claude, so it is difficult to arrange them.
The current situation of the 1st Ranger Battalion is from conquering Black Maple Castle to exploring the Peak Mountains, and then to guarding the three southern counties. During this period, they have experienced local chaos and a battle on Claude's side. The injured personnel have not been replaced. It seems that the vacancy reaches more than 200 people, which is nearly one brigade. Now that reinforcements are coming from the rear, the superiors have issued a notice to replenish new recruits, but at the same time, a group of grassroots officers need to be mobilized to supplement the Blue Feather Legion who have retired from the front line to rest, and a list of personnel to be mobilized has been issued.
The strange thing is that all the junior officers who were to be transferred from the First Ranger Battalion were those who had not participated in the battle between Claude's command and the coalition of nobles from the two principalities. So now Claude's subordinates should be the place with the most junior officers in the 1st Ranger Battalion. As the battalion commander, Major Ledfunk needs to transfer those sergeants and sergeants from here to fill the vacancies of junior officers in other squadrons.
If Markchi, Murield, and Diavid, who were quelling local riots outside, were willing, with their rank of second lieutenant, they could also be transferred to other brigades to serve as squadron leaders. But the three of them simultaneously rejected Major Leedfunk's request, preferring to stay under Claude, because they said they felt more confident fighting under Claude, and they didn't have to worry about losing their lives in vain and being used as cannon fodder.
This time Claude had a formal position, serving as the captain of the first battalion of the 1st Ranger Battalion. Major Leedfunk decided to reorganize the combat strength of the 1st Ranger Battalion and immediately appointed Claude to this position. Now that Claude has been promoted to captain, it is natural for him to take on this position. The reason for making such an arrangement is that Major Leedfunk is worried that if he is promoted to lieutenant colonel at the end of the year, he will be deployed elsewhere. In that case, as the captain of the First Battalion, Claude is qualified to act as an agent. The position of commander of the First Battalion.
Now the First Battalion is a strengthened brigade. In addition to its four squadrons, it also has an artillery squadron equipped with eight light infantry artillery pieces. Major Leedfunk handed over the entire defense of this mountain road to Claude. Just to be serious, this first brigade is still empty, except for three unsatisfied infantry squadrons of Markchi, Murieled and Diavid and a fifteen-man battery of three light infantry artillery pieces. , it will take about half a month to replenish the remaining personnel and weapons and equipment. At that time, the grassroots officers needed by the newly formed infantry squadron and artillery squadron would have to be dispatched by Claude himself from the following three squadrons.
When Major Lederfunk returned, he took with him two newly promoted second lieutenants, five sergeants, fourteen sergeants, and eighteen sergeants. Seeing the departing group of people, Mark Lord could only smile bitterly. He couldn't bear to part with these old subordinates because they had a solid camp and a smooth flow of soldiers. They had developed a tacit understanding over such a long time. But there was no way. The 1st Ranger Battalion needed to be reorganized and lacked grassroots officers and veterans, so he could only provide strong support. After all, the 1st Ranger Battalion belonged to him now, and he could not live up to the trust placed in him by Major Ledfunk.
It took more than a week for Diavid to return to the camp in Squirrel Village. This time he led the squadron to suppress local riots and lost more than a dozen of his men. However, the wounded have been sent to the treatment center at the battalion headquarters, and Major Leedfunk promised to make up for the missing soldiers as soon as possible.
It took more than ten days for the additional recruits and weapons and equipment to arrive. Now Claude's group was responsible for guarding the entire mountain road. The squadron that originally guarded the entrance to the mountain road was also recruited back by the battalion headquarters. Claude decided to let Diavid's squadron be stationed at the entrance of the mountain road, send a small team to station at Blackstone Village, and the rest were all concentrated in the Squirrel Village garrison camp for training. Markchi led a squadron to take care of more than 400 prisoners and let Murield be responsible for training the additional recruits. The artillery squadron conducted training in the nearby valley.
Time passed very quickly, and it was September in the blink of an eye. The three-month training for the new recruits in the camp was over. Everything in the camp was on track. The prisoners also opened up nearly 300 acres of mountain fields for Squirrel Village, and the mountain roads were also opened. Renovation arrived at Black Rock Village. Claude decided to continue letting the prisoners renovate the mountain roads. Since there was nothing to do, he simply renovated the mountain roads from Squirrel Village to the entrance of the three-county mountain road in the south. These four hundred captives were idle and could not eat bread in vain. Those who don't work feed them.
Since Squirrel Village now has an additional 300 acres of farmland, the village elder has become the richest man in Squirrel Village. Because he paid for the expenses of hiring prisoners to open up the mountain fields, these three hundred acres of mountain fields were all under his name. In addition, the business of the tavern was good, so the old man recruited three young people from several mountain villages. Women came to the tavern to work as maids to attract the soldiers stationed in the camp who liked the new and disliked the old to come to the tavern to spend money.
The villagers of Squirrel Village have also found a way to get rich, either by engaging in livestock and poultry breeding or by opening up mountain fields to grow vegetables for the canteen in the camp. Some villagers have also planted large fruit trees on hillsides that are not suitable for land reclamation, but this takes a long time, and there is no money sighting yet.
There are also clever villagers who go to other mountain villages to buy mountain goods and then sell them back to Claude or the village elder. Claude usually buys rare mountain goods, and after accumulating a batch, he lets McJack sell them to big trading houses in towns to earn some extra money by reselling them. The mountain products purchased by the village elders are low-priced ordinary goods, which are used as ingredients in the tavern.
Claude lived a relatively carefree life, because he never expected that there was a lot of artillery fire outside, but he was so peaceful here, as if he was in a paradise. Even the 1st Ranger Battalion did not receive any combat missions, as if the 1st Ranger Battalion had been forgotten by the superiors. Major Leedfunk requested combat missions from above several times, but the orders from the staff headquarters above said that it was the mission of the 1st Ranger Battalion to rest for the time being and maintain order and stability in the place.