Expedition to Europe

The train went all the way north, not stopping at any station except to add coal and water. Even if the train stops, workers on the train are not allowed to get off.

Passing through Lyon and Auxerre, the train arrives at the Paris train station in the evening.

At the Paris train station, the workers transferred to freight trains and continued their journey north. Now there are no tables and chairs in the carriage, so you can only sit on the floor, or sit on various wooden boxes loaded in the carriage. Qin Zhiyuan recognized the French words on the wooden boxes. The carriage in his carriage was transporting artillery shells.

In other words, Qin Zhiyuan and the others were sent to the front line sitting on artillery shells.

Combining the direction of the train and the current time, Qin Zhiyuan has already guessed the workers' destination, Amiens.

In the Somme area about 50 kilometers east of Amiens, Britain, France and Germany have invested a total of more than 150 divisions. The First World War is ongoing, or it is the largest and most casualty war in human history. A battle. Known historically as the "Battle of the Somme".

After the train arrived at Amiens, the workers were divided into two. One part stayed at the Amiens train station to load and unload supplies, while the other part continued eastward.

Unfortunately, the six people in cabin 106 were divided into the team going east, and Qin Zhiyuan was also among them.

As the city closest to the front line, Amiens has become the base camp of the British and French troops. The pre-war square of the Amiens train station is full of British and French soldiers in military uniforms. The people wearing high hats or high military helmets and blue or yellow military uniforms are French. Wearing a wide-brimmed hat or a boat-shaped helmet, and wearing a khaki or gray military uniform, it is easy to distinguish the British.

There are also mountains of ammunition boxes piled in the square, covered with camouflaged canvas. All the houses near the train station have been requisitioned, and they are filled with wounded soldiers who have returned from the front line and are waiting to be transferred. Even so, all the wounded soldiers cannot be accommodated. Many wounded soldiers have to stay in the open square with poor conditions all day long. Wailing and waiting for death or an empty seat on the train.

These are not things that Qin Zhiyuan is worried about. Qin Zhiyuan and the others have now boarded the car transporting ammunition supplies and rushed to the front line with the convoy.

The road was full of troops heading to the front line, one after another, like ants, moving forward silently. They have only one direction, east, east, and east.

Most of the oncoming troops were wounded soldiers who could walk independently. Some had their heads wrapped, some had their arms wrapped, and some were leaning on crutches made of branches, and they were walking towards Amiens step by step with difficulty.

Perhaps it was an illusion, Qin Zhiyuan could not see the sadness of losing limbs on the faces of these wounded soldiers, or they were numb, or they were finally relieved. For them, the war was over.

"Brother, you think these foreigners are so stupid. If they don't sit in the car for us, they don't have to walk when they sit in the car." Gao Hongshi, who has an out-of-touch personality, curled his lips in contempt and looked down on the stiffness of the French.

"Come on, they don't take the car, so there are reasons why they don't take the car. Don't think that taking the car is a good thing. Do you know what we are doing under the butts?" Qin Zhiyuan looked at Gao Hongshi and shook his head cutely before giving the answer. : "Cannonballs, there are all cannonballs sitting under our butts. As long as one cannonball flies over, all of us in this car will be finished."

"Damn it, can we go down and walk?" Gao Hongshi touched the wooden box under his butt, suddenly jumped up and shouted.

"Don't worry, you have time to leave." Qin Zhiyuan looked at the bumpy road and sighed quietly.

After leaving Amiens, the road conditions were extremely bad. There were no roads at all. The original roads had even been destroyed by the passing cars. There were ruts more than one foot or two feet deep everywhere on the road. Sometimes you even encountered them in the middle of the road. With a crater two to three meters square, the speed of a vehicle, let alone speeding, is not as fast as walking.

The further east they went, the worse the road conditions became. Finally, the convoy stopped in front of a crater created by heavy artillery.

"Come down, come down, all come down, guys, your job is here. Fill this crater first, and then we can get on the road again." A French soldier with the rank of sergeant came over to inform.

"Brother, what is this foreign devil saying?" With Gao Hongshi's level of French, he couldn't communicate with others in spoken English like an aria.

"Get off the car, we have work to do." Qin Zhiyuan took off his backpack, picked up a shovel distributed in Amiens and jumped out of the carriage.

…

When Qin Zhiyuan and the others arrived at the crater, dozens of laborers had already started working. A French officer with the rank of second lieutenant was supervising the work next to him with a whip. Although he did not use the whip to hit anyone, he kept yelling curses. : "Damn it, hurry up, damn the Germans, damn the broken roads, damn the Ministry of Transportation, damn monkeys, hurry up and fill this damn crater for me."

"Hey! Watch your attitude, Mr. Lieutenant." Qin Zhiyuan couldn't hear the word monkey. Whenever he heard someone calling a Chinese worker a monkey, Qin Zhiyuan wanted to grab a handful of dirt from the ground and stuff it into that person's mouth.

"Ah ha, another group has arrived. Very good. This gentleman who can understand human speech, tell your guys to move faster, or I will let them have a taste of my whip." The second lieutenant did not restrain himself at all. A little bit worse.

"Watch your words, Mr. Second Lieutenant, let me remind you again." Qin Zhiyuan came to the Second Lieutenant with a shovel and threw the shovel heavily on the ground.

Qin Zhiyuan's hand was very strong and the shovel was also very sharp. Most of the shovel was submerged in the soil, which fully demonstrated Qin Zhiyuan's anger.

"What do you want to do? Are you going to disobey the military order?" The second lieutenant took a step back, cautiously pressed the holster on his waist, and waved the whip in his hand. A dozen French soldiers holding rifles gathered around him.

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"We are not soldiers, don't use your damn military order to order us." Qin Zhiyuan seemed unaware and approached the second lieutenant with a firm step; "Also, you can order us to do what we should do, and we will not be passive and lazy, but please correct your attitude and don't use insulting words to insult us. That will not make you more noble, but will only make the military emblem on your hat dim, understand sir?"

Qin Zhiyuan was not afraid at all, not because the surrounding laborers also gathered around him, but because he was sure that the French second lieutenant in front of him did not dare to shoot.

Europe needs fresh troops, which is the consensus of all Europeans. The Beiyang government sent laborers to Europe, which was achieved by Britain and France at a high price. If a large number of Chinese workers were killed or injured at the beginning, a small lieutenant might not be able to bear the consequences.

"What do you want to do? Incite your companions to strike? Have you thought about the consequences of your behavior? Now is wartime, I have the right to execute you directly without a court trial, and your country will not hold me responsible for it. Do you want to challenge my patience?" The lieutenant pulled out the revolver from his waist and pointed it at Qin Zhiyuan's chest: "Go to work, damn monkey, fill up that damn crater for me. If you can't do it, I will shoot you all and throw you into the crater to fill it up. Do you understand what I mean? Now, immediately, right away!"

From the eyes of this lieutenant, Qin Zhiyuan saw the impulse caused by shame and the madness after being enraged. Perhaps in the next moment, the lieutenant will pull the trigger.

According to wartime rules, if Qin Zhiyuan is killed, the lieutenant is indeed not responsible.

When Qin Zhiyuan first arrived in France, he encountered the biggest crisis since he came to this era.

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