The French only partially modified the Normandy, mainly for the cabins below the first class, such as replacing the double-layer wooden beds in the guest rooms with four-tiered steel beds, increasing the number of sanitary and water facilities, adding simple ventilation ducts on the lower deck, and expanding the size of the kitchen and dining room to meet the living needs of the tens of thousands of French officers and soldiers on board during wartime transportation.

However, the French did not change the facilities and layout of the rooms above first class, and still retained the luxurious facilities and interior decoration originally enjoyed by high-class passengers, and provided accommodation for senior officers and VIPs according to their ranks.

After all, the French are not extravagant enough to really transform such a world-class ultra-luxury cruise ship into an ocean-going troop carrier. There are not many superships of the Normandy class left in existence, and the French are ready to wait for her replacement to enter service, then restore the ship to its original appearance and put it back into commercial operation.

Until then, however, France needed her to continue to serve her country, quickly connecting the mainland with the Far Eastern colonies, transporting vital supplies, military equipment, and troops to the East.

The ship was able to transport a light infantry division and its ammunition and equipment from France to Southeast Asia in a single voyage, and it took only about fifteen days to complete the journey, two of which were consumed by docking at ports for replenishment, which should be said to be quite astonishing in the forties.

When the Normandy returned from French Indochina, of course, it would not be empty, and in addition to the resources and commodities produced by the colonies, the Normandy also carried expatriates from the Asian colonies preparing to return to Europe, active troops who had been redeployed to the European mainland, and veterans preparing to return home.

When the European countries rebuilt their armies, they found that there was a large shortage of middle-level officers, and the training of officers was a systematic project, and the whole cycle time was relatively long, so the high-level officials turned their attention to the officers who served overseas, because these people received the most formal military education before the war, and at the same time, they had accumulated a lot of military management tips after serving overseas for a long time. Therefore, during this time, colonial officers were often transferred back to serve in the country, and basically these people were integrated into the reorganized army as mid-level officers.

Instead of anchoring at the port of Suez, the Normandy docked at the military dock next to the Kibilit air base, where more than 1,000 passengers disembarked and unloaded a large number of supplies, all weapons and ammunition produced by the Indian arsenal.

The British are currently forming a strong army in Egypt, preparing to deal with the anti-British trend that is spreading in the middle and lower strata of the Middle East, those desert chieftains who are behind the scenes think they are well hidden, but they underestimate the ability of the British intelligence services too much, the Imperial Military Intelligence Agency is not a dry fish and potato field, the British Empire has long had sufficient evidence of these people's activities, just wait for the time to be ripe to uproot this group of scum and wipe it out, this time the British will not be soft, In order to maintain the stability of the British Empire, they must use steel and blood to intimidate other rebels.

Two German officers and their French female companions walked down the ramp of the cruise ship in the bustling crowd, followed by several Indian handymen with white cloth heads, carrying their luggage on their shoulders.

"It's a nice day." Standing on a military dock paved with a large prefabricated concrete floor, Krieger builds a pergola and looks out at the blue sky.

"It's a good weather to fly, so we'll wait here first, and the telegram says someone will pick us up here." Horn pulled his purse out of his pocket, counted a few 5 pfennig coins (one mark for 100 pfennig), and stuffed them into the hands of the leading Indian handyman.

Because the local Egyptians were unreliable in their work, the British hired coolies from India to serve the army, and these Indian handymen who helped carry the luggage of the passengers were among them, all of whom were Dalits (untouchables who were classified outside the caste system). Ironically, with their English masters, they learned all sorts of modern knowledge and gained self-esteem that they had never felt in their homeland, so they worked quite hard and loyally.

German soldiers were not allowed to own civilian currency when Hitler was in power, and soldiers could only use the military currency issued by the army, that is, the notorious military tickets, and they could use military cards and military tickets to buy all kinds of special goods for the army in the commissary in the barracks or in the stores designated as serving the soldiers, which were generally much cheaper than those on the market, and some of them were ration goods that could not be bought with money outside.

Historically, after the German army conquered most of Europe, it wantonly used military tickets to buy foreign goods in the occupied areas, which is also known as the occupation mark, because it does not require any reserves and collateral, and it is a currency without any credit guarantee.

Historically, at the end of the war, German soldiers who only had military tickets in their hands began to use this kind of paper money to make purchases in Germany, causing serious chaos in the economic activities of Germany itself.

In fact, after the Allies occupied Germany, they also issued military stamps, which were called Allied Marks to the outside world, which could be exchanged one-to-one with the Reichsmark and the Ledenmark on the German market at that time. You must know that the Reichsmark is the gold standard currency, and the foreign exchange rate has not depreciated much until the defeat of the war, and the reason for the inflation in Germany is the extreme shortage of goods, not the over-issuance of the national currency, and the Reichsmark still maintains its original gold content. The Ledden Mark is a currency issued with land as collateral, and the exchange rate with the gold mark is maintained at one to one, so it can be said that the Allies relied on the issuance of the Allied Mark, and they really made a profit.

However, after Xu Jun came to power, he ordered that German soldiers should be prohibited from using military tickets in the occupied territories, and all officers and soldiers serving outside of Germany mainland were allowed to own and use locally issued or internationally accepted currency.

Of course, when German soldiers serve in the country, the original regulations still have to be observed, the German army issued internal use of military currency, mainly to allow soldiers to reduce contact with the people, to avoid causing economic disputes and other problems, and at the same time to facilitate the army's recovery and management of funds, just to control the soldiers' shopping channels, so that the army can get a stable source of money.

Horn's military pay during his overseas service was all Reichsmark cash, and when he set out, he also received an additional special fund from the high command, a thick stack of brand-new French francs, in French Indochina, he ate and lived in the barracks, basically did not spend much money, on the contrary, he also got a lot of oil and water in the jungle, he has no financial pressure at the moment, but the thrifty habits he has developed on weekdays cannot be changed in a short time.

"Looks like the guy who picked us up was late." Ensign Krieg looked at the busy scene around him, most of the passengers who had disembarked had already left, and now only the sailors and dock staff of the cruise ship were left on the docks, busy unloading military supplies from the ship's hold.

The two French beauties were sitting side by side on the suitcase of Ensign Krieger, holding a white parasol with lace lace, which should have been Miss Dewar's personal belongings.

"Maybe it's something delayed, a little patience, Krieger." Horn pulled the cigarette case out of his pocket and handed it to the two ladies first.

"What a gentleman you are." Miss Dewar picked up a cigarette from the box without looking.

"Thanks, I don't smoke." Miss Brown shook her hand and declined.

"Don't worry, it shouldn't keep us waiting too long." Horn pulls a lighter out of his pocket and helps Miss Dewar light a cigarette.

"The temperature is comfortable now, but in July and August, the outside temperature can sometimes reach more than 40 degrees." Horn handed Krieger a cigarette roll.

"Wouldn't that be dried in the sun?"

"No problem at all, if you can't hydrate in time."

"How's the water in Egypt, is it delicious?"

"The water quality is good in some places, but there are wells in the desert that the water quality is so bad that people can't swallow it, so they can only be used for livestock."

"Did you last go to Cairo in that heat?"

"Anyway, I went during the summer vacation." Two German officers were smoking cigarettes while chatting with two beautiful women about unnutritious topics.

"Look at the Captain, is that the car coming to pick us up?" Miss Brown said suddenly pointing in one direction, and several people quickly turned their heads along their fingers.

I only found an open-top classic car slowly driving towards them, looking at the style is really a few years old, with the gasping sound of the engine, the tail exhaust pipe still spews out clouds of black smoke from time to time.

PS: The first chapter is presented, and the second chapter of the code after eating, maybe it will be a little later, and friends who go to bed early can watch it again tomorrow.

At the end of the month, continue to ask for a monthly pass, the author needs more motivation, thank you for your support for this book.