It was almost noon at the Taohuaji training ground, and Zhu Ping'an's first assessment of the Zhejiang Army was coming to an end.
The last battalion is undergoing assessment. According to the Zhejiang Army's organizational unit, the squad will be assessed first, followed by the sentry, the headquarters, and the battalion.
This was the first formal assessment for the Zhejiang Army after more than half a month of training. This assessment not only assessed the training of the officers and soldiers, but also assessed the competence of each sergeant, sentry leader, captain, and battalion commander.
Although the overall level of the Zhejiang Army was only three or five points better than the report performance of college students after the military training, it generally met Zhu Ping'an's tone. Because after more than half a month of high-intensity training, the Zhejiang Army, which was born from bandits and mountain bandits, shed its banditry and initially took on the prototype of soldiers.
After the assessment, all the squad leaders, sentinels, captains, and battalion commanders were successfully promoted. Zhu Ping'an did not have high requirements for them. He just knew the names, strengths, weaknesses, diligence, and other conditions of the soldiers under their command. After more than half a month of eating, living, and training together, all the squad leaders, sentinels, captains, and battalion commanders met the requirements.
"Zhu Daniu, Lin Ergou, and He Xinlang, step out!"
After completing the assessment, Zhu Ping'an called out the names of three sergeants whose squads performed best in the assessment.
"arrive!"
Zhu Daniu, Lin Ergou and He Xinlang stepped out in response.
"Your third squad has performed outstandingly in this assessment, and your achievements are obvious to all. I hereby award you the title of the third squad. Zhu Daniu, your squad is named the 'Sharp Knife Squad' from today; Lin Ergou, your squad is named the 'Flying Arrow Squad' from today; He Xinlang, your squad is named the 'Armor-Breaking Squad' from today; in addition, the monthly salary of all of you in the third squad will be increased by 20%! I hope you will cherish the honor, keep up the good work, and achieve more success. Other squads should learn from them, train well, and perform well. I will not be stingy with rewards!"
Zhu Ping'an publicly announced the commendation for their group, which was not only honorary but also substantive.
"Thank you for the name, sir! Thank you for the reward, sir!"
Zhu Daniu, Lin Ergou, and He Xinlang were overjoyed and excited. They knelt down to express their gratitude, especially Zhu Daniu, whose mouth was almost grinning from ear to ear. Of course, the soldiers in their third squad were also similar to Zhu Daniu. They were all very excited. When they knelt on the ground to express their gratitude, their chests were held high, and their whole bodies exuded the aura of "I am so awesome".
Their three squads are the only three squads with titles in the entire Zhejiang Army, and this honor is unique to the three of them.
Not only that, the salary of each of them has increased by 20%, which means it is 20% more every month. If you calculate it this way, they can get more than two months more salary than others in a year, which is real.
So, how could they not be excited.
The other members of the Zhejiang Army looked at Zhu Daniu and his companions with envy, their saliva flowing with envy. They made up their minds to train well and surpass Zhu Daniu and his companions next time and get the reward from the adults.
After the assessment was successfully completed, Zhu Ping'an ordered the fireman camp to kill a pig, and added five large buckets of crucian carp and melon seeds caught with nets in the river in front of the camp as a snack and reward for the entire army.
"Thank you, sir!"
The entire Zhejiang Army cheered.
Soon, the aroma of meat wafted out from the Zhejiang Army camp, and the children in the nearby villages cried out of greed...
Zhu Ping'an was always the last one to get his meal, and this time was no exception. After all the soldiers had finished their meals, Zhu Ping'an was the last one to get his meal. He scraped a basin of leftovers from the pot, took three steamed buns, and randomly picked a squad and sat on the ground with them.
Zhu Pingan was not arrogant at all. He chatted and laughed with them while eating.
Zhu Pingan admitted that he did this for show, but it was a "show" once or twice, but it was real if he did it every time. Throughout history, generals and soldiers eating and living together has always been a powerful weapon to win the hearts of the army, and it has always been successful. Zhu Pingan followed the example of the ancient sages and achieved good results.
After living together for more than half a month, Zhu Pingan knew the names, strengths and weaknesses of every soldier in the Zhejiang Army, and won the hearts of the soldiers. The soldiers of the Zhejiang Army all thought that Zhu Pingan was a good general who loved his soldiers like his own sons and cared for his subordinates, and they sincerely supported him.
"Report! Sir, there is an emergency report."
When Zhu Ping'an was about to finish his meal, a gatekeeper came with a roll of newspaper and had yet to report.
"Okay, let me see it." Zhu Ping'an said as he pressed the remaining half of the steamed bun into the basin, dipped it in oil and water, stuffed it into his mouth, and reached out to take the newspaper from the soldier.
Zhu Ping'an unfolded the newspaper and looked at it carefully.
This is an emergency bulletin with densely packed fonts, but there is only one title, which should record one event. Zhu Ping'an read it carefully from beginning to end.
The beginning of the Tangbao recorded that yesterday a group of about 150 Japanese pirates landed in Shangyu County, Shaoxing Prefecture, Zhejiang Province.
"One hundred and fifty Japanese pirates... Compared with the recent Japanese pirates who have numbered over a thousand, this group of Japanese pirates is a little small." Zhu Ping'an felt that this group of Japanese pirates was a little small after reading the beginning record.
Looking further down, the Tangbao records that this group of 150 Japanese pirates massacred the town of Funing as soon as they landed in Shangyu, and inhumanely massacred more than 300 households of villagers in the town.
Then, the Japanese pirates occupied a courtyard facing the river, and ate, drank and rested when no one was around.
Then, the prefect of Shaoxing Prefecture, Liu Zhifu, and the captain of the garrison, Xu Qianhu, led 2,000 soldiers to block the Japanese pirates in the courtyard.
Two thousand versus one hundred and fifty!
Seeing this, Zhu Pingan felt that the Japanese pirates should have been wiped out, and this should have been the end. Why were there so many words below? Was the elimination of 150 Japanese pirates worth so much praise? !
As he read on, Zhu Ping'an's pupils couldn't help but shrink as he was shocked by the contents of the newspaper.
Prefect Liu and Captain Xu led 2,000 soldiers to suppress the Japanese pirates, and later mobilized 800 reinforcements. With such a large force to suppress us, not only did we fail to wipe out the Japanese pirates, but we suffered heavy casualties, with more than 600 killed. In the end, the Japanese pirates were allowed to escape by crossing the river on rafts.
This passage does not record the casualties of the Japanese pirates. According to official practice, even if only one Japanese pirate was killed, it would be recorded in great detail. Now that there is no record, it is almost equivalent to saying that the Japanese pirates suffered no casualties!
After a fierce battle, more than 600 people died, but the Japanese pirates were completely unscathed? !
Zhu Ping'an was a little bit unconvinced. He read the text three times repeatedly, and finally had to accept the fact.
Looking down, Zhu Ping'an took a deep breath.
After the pirates left on a raft, they met the retired Imperial Censor Qian Jing on the Hangzhou-Shaoxing Highway. The Imperial Censor was killed by the pirates, along with his wives, concubines, and children. The fifty or so servants who accompanied him, as well as the one hundred soldiers and one hundred and thirty soldiers who were escorting him, were also killed.
Most of the officers were killed by the Japanese pirates. Only a dozen of them hid in the woods when it was dark and managed to escape with their lives.
Looking further down, the Tangbao recorded that a village along the Qiantang River was brutally massacred. After identification, it was also the work of this group of Japanese pirates.
At this point, the Tangbao came to an end, with only one line of words at the end: "So far, the Japanese pirates have disappeared. I hope that all units will pay close attention and be ready to fight at any time. Once there is an order, you must march immediately without any mistakes!"