Chapter 153 Rapid Growth

"Yo, King Kong, Brother Pan, good to see you both."

A group of soldiers, dressed in their military uniforms but not carrying any weapons or equipment, sat upright in a room. When Gao Yuan entered, he saluted first before immediately shaking hands enthusiastically with two of the men.

"Long time no see, really missed you guys."

Both Li Jingang and Panxin stood up. They saluted Gao Yuan in turn and then shook hands with him.

Zhao Hui, as brigade commander, personally accompanied Gao Yuan to select the preliminary candidates for his team.

Actually, there wasn't much choice to be made. As a special operations brigade, it would not be an exaggeration to say that every commando in the brigade was one in ten thousand. Taking any squad out would definitely meet Gao Yuan's requirements. Moreover, these established squad members had been living and training together for a long time. Selecting individuals out of them wasn't as appropriate as pulling out an entire squad.

Zhao Hui chuckled and said, "Xiao Gao, there are sixty-six people here, four groups with eight teams in total. You can talk to them, and according to our plan, they are all supposed to enter Ji City. You can communicate with them first or tell me if you have any plans or requirements."

Gao Yuan looked around and then asked Li Jingang, "King Kong Brother, what's your specialty?"

"In the army, don't call me 'brother'."

After whispering an explanation to Gao Yuan, Li Jingang said loudly, "Name Li Jingang, age thirty-one, rank of level five sergeant, specialty in hand-to-hand combat!"

Gao Yuan turned to Panxin, who stood at attention with a serious expression and said loudly, "Name Panxin, age twenty-nine, rank of lieutenant, specialties in special operations command and military intelligence reconnaissance!"

From the responses of both men, it was clear that Li Jingang was a professional soldier with the rank of level five sergeant. But don't underestimate this sergeant; he received the treatment equivalent to a battalion commander.

As for Panxin, he had already been promoted. Although he was just a regular commando, he would definitely become a squad leader in the future. Once he was promoted to the rank of captain, he likely would become a squad leader. And for a sixteen-man team, one would have to be at least a major.

That's how impressive special forces are. In other units, a lieutenant could command an entire company, but Panxin, as a special forces operator, hadn't even made team leader yet.

As for the specialties mentioned by Li Jingang and Panxin, basic skills such as shooting, special driving, and communication were so naturally ingrained in them that they didn't need to mention them. It was a given that they were top-level skills for them.

Gao Yuan's face was blooming with a smile. He glanced at Zhao Hui and whispered, "Brigade Commander Zhao, I've not seen these two for a long time. Can I talk to them in private?"

Zhao Hui laughed and replied, "Sure, do you need a place to talk?"

"No need, we'll just step outside. It won't take long."

Upon the superior's order, Li Jingang and Panxin naturally complied. They followed Gao Yuan outside, and then Gao Yuan, unable to contain his urgency, said, "Well... I'll get straight to the point. What do you guys think about Brigadier General Wang Hu and Da Hong Third Company?"

"He's a real man!"

Li Jingang gave a thumbs up, then said with a puzzled face, "Why do you even need to ask? Who doesn't admire them? What's this about?"

Gao Yuan looked at Panxin and asked, "Brother Pan, what do you think about Fierce Tiger Brigade and Da Hong Third Company?"

"Good!"

Panxin only said one word but then added seriously, "From top to bottom, not a single weakling; they embody what it means to be Shenzhou's soldier."

Gao Yuan's smile was exceedingly friendly as he said, "You guys know that I'm the seed of the Fierce Tiger Brigade. Now that the chief has agreed with me, we'll restore as much of the establishment as we have people. You two..."

Both Li Jingang and Panxin seemed to understand, and then Panxin shook his head while Li Jingang reached out and said, "You don't need to say it. You want to pull us in, right?"

"Uh, yes, what do you think? Brother Pan, you would be the company commander if you join, and so would you, Brother Li. Up for promotion, thinking of becoming a company commander? Why don't you two discuss it? Anything works for me!"

Li Jingang looked resigned as he said, "Bro, I think you're overthinking this. It's not something you decide just like that."

"Just come over first, Brigade Commander Zhao has agreed as well. If you're willing to come over, he'll let you go."

Panxin sighed and said, "Gao Yuan, we understand what you mean, and we admire your ambition, but it's impossible for us to come over, because... you may be the seed of the Fierce Tiger Brigade, but we also don't want to leave our old unit. Let's drop it; I'm definitely not going."

Li Jingang spread his hands wide with a helpless expression and said, "I'm really sorry, I truly can't help you with this. Maybe I can ask someone else?"

Gao Yuan looked at the two men, then with a dejected face, he said, "Forget it, I knew it, you guys really won't consider it?"

"Sorry."

"Let's forget about this one, I can help with anything else, but really not with this."

Gao Yuan sighed and said, "Alright, let's go inside; no need to talk more about this..."

With a sense of dejection, he re-entered the room. Gao Yuan looked around at all the people there, understanding that he had no chance of successfully poaching anyone. These special forces soldiers were too proud, asking them to leave their old unit was pointless; better not to speak and save oneself the embarrassment.

Gao Yuan opened his mouth and then said to Zhao Hui, "Commander Zhao, I know your men are formidable, they are much stronger than me. Um, actually, I think it might be better if I go on this mission alone."

Zhao Hui was startled and said, "What? Just you alone?"

Gao Yuan scratched his head and said, "Yeah, I still don't know the specifics of the mission yet, I can't really say, but I think it's better if I go alone. Having more people might actually be inconvenient."

Gao Yuan had already noticed expressions of discontent appearing on many faces.

Zhao Hui, with a serious face, said, "Do you understand the specifics of the operation?"

Knowing he had misspoken, Gao Yuan quickly said, "No, weren't we supposed to communicate with the scientists first? How about I get clear on the specifics and then discuss the details of the operation?"

He should have met with the scientists first, and then the special forces. But Gao Yuan, eager to meet Li Jingang and Pan Xin, had requested to come here first. And now? Not only had he failed to poach anyone, he had probably offended the special forces as well.

Feeling disheartened, Gao Yuan, accompanied by Shi Lei who was in charge of the operation, headed to where the scientists were waiting.

To retrieve the nuclear materials, one must know what they look like, right? And since there's radiation from nuclear materials, it's also necessary to understand how to protect against radiation. So, Gao Yuan's training was primarily about these scientific matters. Of course, Shi Lei, who was directing the operation, had to learn as well.

Sitting in the commuter vehicle, Gao Yuan heaved sighs. The accompanying Shi Lei couldn't help but say, "What's wrong, Xiao Gao? Why the sighs?"

Gao Yuan glanced at Shi Lei and said with resignation, "It's just too hard. I shouldn't have thought about poaching from your team. Commander Zhao agreed so readily because he knew I would never succeed."

Shi Lei chuckled and then whispered, "I think you targeted the wrong people. If the superior officer promised you a squad, you should be thinking about recruiting new soldiers, not poaching from other units. Think about it, who would abandon their old comrades to join you? You have to understand the mentality of a soldier; honor is best earned by oneself."

Gao Yuan thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Yeah, that makes sense, recruiting new soldiers is a better idea."

Shi Lei whispered even lower, "Right now the higher-ups will surely green-light your actions. You need to seize the opportunity. Aren't you close with Director Xiang? He's the ace drillmaster. You'd be foolish not to make use of such a 'God' and instead fumble on your own. He's currently not committed to a position; you should pull him over and then have him pick out new recruits for you!"

"Right!"

Gao Yuan, as if awakened from a dream, then wished he could slap himself for his foolishness. How did he not think about asking Xiang Weiguo for help?

Shi Lei continued, "I bet new soldiers will be recruited in a few days. When the recruits are not assigned to a company yet, you should ask the superior officer for personnel! Let Director Xiang select the promising ones for you; what could be better than that!"

"Right!"

Gao Yuan slapped his thigh again and then excitedly said, "When are we recruiting?"

"Uh, I don't actually know that, but I am aware there's a plan in place. You should ask the superior officer," Shi Lei responded.

"Yes, yes, that's what I'll do. Sigh, Captain Shi, are you very familiar with Elder Xiang?"

Shi Lei smiled and then whispered, "Director Xiang used to be my drillmaster, under his command, I... I experienced significant growth. Yes, under his guidance, one grows very quickly."

Growing quickly under Xiang Weiguo's command? Wait, there seemed to be more to that statement.

Gao Yuan looked at Shi Lei. After exchanging glances for a moment, Shi Lei nodded and said, "Indeed, Director Xiang is known as the Devil Drillmaster. Under his command, one... grows very quickly!"