Chapter 57: Ouyang Jianping of the Underground Party: Where on earth did this Shanxi-Suiyuan Base Area come from? The Establishment of the Women's Special Operations Unit

A month passed quietly.

The total strength of the New First Regiment had now surpassed five thousand men, making it a reinforced regiment in the truest sense of the word.

At this point, the New First Regiment comprised three infantry battalions, an artillery battalion, a cavalry battalion, the Snow Leopard Commando, and direct regimental units.

The Snow Leopard Commando and the direct regimental units were small in number, focusing entirely on elite personnel.

Consequently, each of the three infantry battalions, the cavalry battalion, and the artillery battalion had nearly a thousand men.

If this continued to grow, the strength of a single infantry battalion in the New First Regiment would soon rival that of other entire infantry regiments in the Eighth Route Army.

After all, a standard regiment in the Eighth Route Army usually only had a little over a thousand men.

The New First Regiment was now formidable in both manpower and martial prowess.

Inside the headquarters of the New First Regiment.

Looking at the latest troop strength data for the New First Regiment just handed over by Chen Qing, Li Yunlong wore a satisfied smile on his face.

"It seems our New First Regiment has indeed been developing quite well during this period," Li Yunlong said with a nod and a smile.

"If we keep growing at this rate, it won't be long before our regiment's strength catches up to that of an entire brigade."

Hearing Li Yunlong say this, Chen Qing hurriedly replied, "That might not be feasible."

"With the recruitment and expansion over this period, we've already drawn recruits from all the villages and towns within our base area. Wanting to continue recruiting from these places next is practically impossible."

"Who said I was going to recruit from these villages and towns?" Li Yunlong raised an eyebrow and smiled, "Now that our New First Regiment already has five thousand men... don't you think our base area is a bit too small?"

"So our next task for the New First Regiment is to expand the territory of our base area."

With that, Li Yunlong looked at the map hanging on the wall behind him and muttered, "A few rural townships are no longer enough to satisfy the appetite of our New First Regiment."

"Since we want to continue growing, making the county town our base of operations next is the best choice."

"County towns have large populations, and their industrial and commercial levels are far superior to those of townships."

"Donghua Town, which is closest to us, is a very good option. What do you think?"

Chen Qing was taken aback by this. He scratched his head and said, "The Regiment Commander is deliberately giving me a difficult problem."

"I'm not very familiar with the situation in Donghua County, so I wouldn't dare speak rashly."

"No matter." Li Yunlong waved his hand with a smile, "Our next target is Donghua County, but before that, we need to plan carefully."

...

That afternoon.

Ma Yunfei came to the New First Regiment headquarters to find Li Yunlong.

Ma Yunfei reported to Li Yunlong, "Regiment Commander Li, the training of the Women's Special Operations Team is complete."

"I must say, the women you selected are indeed all blessed with exceptional talent."

"In just one month, they have mastered everything we taught them."

"Give it time, and the comprehensive combat capability of this women's special operations team might even far surpass the five of us."

"Those seven, led by Xu Yihang, definitely possess the potential to surpass their masters."

Upon hearing Ma Yunfei's words, Li Yunlong's expression lit up with joy, and he smiled, saying, "Even if they truly surpass their masters, it is still thanks to the excellent teaching of you mentors."

Then, Li Yunlong stood up and said, "Let's go. I'll go take a look at them and test their current abilities along the way."

"I'm also quite curious to see if their abilities are really as formidable as your praise suggests, Ma Yunfei."

"Hahaha..." Ma Yunfei burst into hearty laughter, "They certainly won't disappoint Regiment Commander Li."

...

At the training ground of the Women's Special Operations Team.

When Li Yunlong arrived, all seven members of the Women's Special Operations Team had already assembled.

Looking at the seven familiar faces before him, Li Yunlong smiled slightly and said, "Not bad. In just one month, the aura about you has elevated significantly."

"However, what I want are strong soldiers capable of annihilating the enemy on the battlefield. Show me your current strength."

"Let's see if you have the capability to complete the missions I will assign to you in the future!"

Hearing Li Yunlong's words, the eyes of Xu Yihang and the other six instantly lit up.

The seven of them were raw talents discovered by Li Yunlong; he was their benefactor.

Now that the seven were well-trained, they naturally wanted to show Li Yunlong what they were capable of.

"Regiment Commander, how do you want to test us? We're ready for anything!" Xu Yihang stepped forward first and said.

"Good, that's the spirit." Li Yunlong nodded gently and said, "In that case, let's start by testing your close-quarters combat skills."

As soon as Li Yunlong said this, the fighting spirit radiating from Xu Yihang and the other six began to surge.

Li Yunlong swept his gaze over the seven present and commanded, "Xu Erhang and Ouyang Lan, step out of the ranks. The two of you, spar!"

Hearing this, Xu Erhang and Ouyang Lan stepped out simultaneously and acknowledged the order, "Yes!"

What followed allowed Li Yunlong to truly witness how terrifying women could be when they became ruthless.

Xu Erhang and Ouyang Lan each took up a wooden short blade specifically designated for sparring and training, assuming their stances.

Immediately afterward, the two pushed their agility and flexibility as women to the absolute limit, rapidly entangling in close combat.

Although the two women looked gentle and delicate, every strike they threw was a lethal move. Their techniques were flexible and ever-changing, completely bypassing the weakness of having less physical strength by winning through agility.

Thud, thud, thud, thud...

Xu Erhang and Ouyang Lan's wooden blades clashed repeatedly in the air, locking them in a fierce, unyielding struggle.

Even with wooden blades, it was very easy to inflict injuries during such intense sparring.

Ultimately, after a three-minute grapple, Xu Erhang's movements slowed by a fraction of a second, and Ouyang Lan seized the opportunity to end the match.

"Not bad," Li Yunlong praised immediately after watching the spar between the two.

"I can see that you've genuinely put your heart into close-quarters combat training."

"Next is marksmanship. All seven of you, come forward together."

Following that, Xu Yihang and the other six stood at the shooting range, each holding a Type 56 semi-automatic rifle.

At a distance of fifty meters, whether dealing with stationary targets or moving targets, Xu Yihang and the six others all scored maximum points, making Li Yunlong's eyelids twitch wildly.

These seven women were truly quite extraordinary.

Afterwards, Li Yunlong proceeded to test Xu Yihang and the others one by one in various skills, including making explosives, timed demolition, point demolition, cipher decoding, and foreign languages.

Xu Yihang and the seven women demonstrated exceptionally high proficiency and coordination.

Take demolition, for instance: among the seven, some were adept at manufacturing explosives, while others excelled at precision demolition.

In short, while the talents of Xu Yihang and the seven varied, they complemented each other perfectly to achieve seamless teamwork.

Having tested all the abilities of the seven members of the Women's Special Operations Team, Li Yunlong was naturally extremely satisfied.

"Not bad," Li Yunlong said, looking toward Ouyang Jianping and the other four. "Thank you for teaching them without holding anything back."

"The comprehensive abilities of these seven are indeed formidable. You have been remarkably successful as their teachers."

"It's only right," Ouyang Jianping replied. "Since we made a promise to Regiment Commander Li, we naturally had to give it our all."

"Now that our mission is successfully completed, I suppose it's time for us to leave."

"There are still many things waiting for us to do; we can't just hide out here in the New First Regiment slacking off."

"Very well." Li Yunlong nodded understandingly. "Let's have a meal at noon as a farewell."

...

That afternoon, the five members of the Number Five Special Task Group departed.

Just as she was leaving, Ouyang Jianping cast a glance back at the Jinsui Town behind them with a puzzled expression.

"When did our military develop a base area in Jinsui Town?" Ouyang Jianping murmured inwardly. "And it's developing so wonderfully well..."