The bustling streets, the European-style buildings, the stone-paved circular squares, the statues and fountains of St. Ann, and the yellow-haired, blue-eyed, white-skinned pedestrians look more like a city in the middle or west of Europe than in the far, mysterious East.

Known as the jewel of the Far East in Germany's crown, it is said to be the most expensive and modernized of the many German colonies, but according to the Memorandum of Lend-Lease signed between Germany and China in early 1929, it will be returned to China in the fifth year after the end of the German-Japanese War, provided that there are no more large-scale wars in the entire Far East during these five years.

It is not known when the German-Japanese war ended, the conditions and location of the Far Eastern ports are not the focus of the struggle of all parties, Lushun changed hands three times (the rulers were the Qing government of China, Tsarist Russia, Japan, the Chinese Nationalist Government), Hong Kong was also occupied by the British and Japanese foreign invaders, although Qingdao has been ruled by Germany since the first change of ownership, the war in 1914 can also be called a big scene, if it were not for the Japanese army in the autumn of 1928 for Vladivostok and Sakhalin dragged down, I am afraid that this second Qingdao battle will not be inevitable!

When the outline of the port of Qingdao appears at sea level,

Indeed, although Qingdao is beautiful, it is an out-and-out land of right and wrong, but it is also its extraordinary that has created its high reputation in the world, which is not only the military town of the German army, but also the largest "concession" on Chinese soil, where the security is heavily guarded, the ratio of military police to residents can be called the world's largest, but it is a place frequently frequented by agents of various countries and where intelligence transactions are prevalent; Military supplies such as ordnance, medicine, and oil are strictly controlled by the authorities, but semi-military or military-related civilian materials are allowed to circulate. It is no wonder that a large number of businessmen from all over the world regard Qingdao as a "gold mine" with huge business opportunities, and even during the war, the number of people who came here to "pan for gold" continued unabated. It's been said that Germans, Americans, Frenchmen, British, Turks and Mexicans, as long as you're not a typical dwarf with an Oriental face, you'll find an opportunity to get rich overnight.

In such an atmosphere, when the coastline of Qingdao appeared at the end of sight, the people standing on the foredeck of the "Scud" could not help but cheer.

The Skader was a German Navy hospital ship named after the goddess of the mountain in Norse mythology. The hull is painted with the distinctive Red Cross emblem, and it is also a ship full of wounded German soldiers. Most of the soldiers on board belonged to the German Marine Corps, and now they are far away from the painful place where they were wounded, Okinawa, and Qingdao, Germany's largest military and commercial base overseas, has world-class medical equipment and medical personnel, and it is certainly much better to be able to come here for mid- and post-treatment than to go to a place like Manila. However, these German wounded are not just first-class doctors and nurses, although Christmas is still nearly a week away, they have been told that they will spend this year's Christmas in Qingdao, and during this time, they will receive a special reward from the German royal family, in addition to the overseas combat allowance and the wounded allowance corresponding to their respective ranks, as well as a special reward provided by the German royal family, the Royal Blue Knight Award.

Although this award has only been established for 5 years.

But because it was founded by the German royal family. About one-fifth of the winners will be fortunate enough to be received by the Kaiser himself, so it is a kind of war injury award with high "gold content" in the German ** team. The honour is only one aspect, and the winner will receive a royal Blue Knight medal along with a large amount of money. Because these winners were honorably wounded while fighting bravely on the battlefield outside their homeland, the amount of prize money is richer than other war wounded and battle merit awards. According to statistics, since Kaiser Wilhelm III ascended the throne in 1915, more than 600,000 German officers and soldiers have won the Royal Blue Knight Award, with a total prize of nearly 700 million European marks.

Of course, this is not much for the German royal family, which has a net worth of tens of billions, and it is only slightly more than 1,000 European marks for each winner, but this is a considerable amount for ordinary soldiers who receive a monthly allowance of tens of marks, which allows them to buy a small farm in the countryside or a small apartment in the suburbs. Or take the family and spend some time in a metropolis like Berlin or Paris. In addition, this kind of award does not ask about origin, military rank and military location, which means that everyone in the German ** team fighting overseas has the opportunity to win!

Perhaps it was the physical injuries that kept them idle all day, and before the ship could dock, the wounded men on the "Scudder" probably had already figured out how to use the prize money. As people know, Qingdao is not only known as the first military treasure and the first military port in the Far East. It is also a good place to "get rid of poverty and become rich". You can speculate in futures, you can go to antiques, or you can try your luck in the casino. As long as you want, you can even find a beautiful and virtuous Oriental wife to bring back to China.

"Major, this is your first time in Qingdao! Where are you going to go when you get off the boat? Whether it's the best hotel or the biggest casino in Qingdao, as long as you talk, I'm more than happy to show you the way! ”

He spoke as a German lieutenant colonel about 1.75 meters tall, with a somewhat fat face and body, his blond hair combed in a mid-length hairstyle, and a piece of duct tape about half the size of a palm on the left and right sides of his forehead. His right hand was wrapped in a thick bandage, and judging from the still good half of his face, his person had nothing to do with handsomeness in the first place, and now this situation could not be said to be broken.

In contrast, the officer opposite him was much more slender in both face and figure, and his black hair was combed quite neatly in three or seven parts, but the dull expression on his face weakened the spiritual feeling of his neat hair. He had a large adhesive tape on his left forehead and thick bandages on his left and right legs, and the wheelchair he was sitting in would be a necessary tool for him to recover from his injuries. In addition, his right hand was fastened to his chest by a bandage, and his chest was also wrapped around it when seen through the gap in his uniform.

"After disembarking? Don't we all go straight to the hospital when we get off the boat? ”

"That's right, Major!" The lieutenant colonel, who had combed his hair in the middle part, felt his left hand in the pocket on the left side of his clothes, and pulled out a box of cigarettes and a box of matches from inside. Because he was in the same cabin after getting on the boat, he also knew that the other party neither smoked nor liked to smell smoke, so he just knocked a cigarette out of the cigarette case and put it in his mouth, but did not light it.

"I think you're probably injured for the first time, Major!"

The major in a wheelchair was silent for a moment, without nodding or shaking his head.

"The first time I was injured, I had to recuperate in the hospital! Lieutenant Colonel, if you really want to smoke, just open the window for me to breathe! ”

"Oh......" Lieutenant Colonel stood up and took two steps as if to show off his legs, but stopped when he reached the porthole.

"But it must be very cold outside!" As he spoke, he took the cigarette off his mouth and put it in his pocket.

"Hmm!" The major seemed to be responding to the other party's words, but he seemed nonchalant.

The lieutenant colonel apparently did not mind the atmosphere, and he said with relish: "If you have ever been in the rear hospital, like me, you will know what a free place the hospital is!" Ah, free air, free time, free and unrestrained! ”

"I thought the hospital was a romantic and cosy place!" The Major's lips were struggling to form a smile, apparently because of his injuries, but in fact he was always the listener when his soldiers were making fun of certain subjects, the one farthest from the center of the crowd.

The lieutenant colonel shook his head disapprovingly, "That's the opinion of simple lads!" In my opinion, instead of fighting with others in the hospital for a slightly more beautiful ordinary nurse, it is better to go outside and enjoy it yourself! Besides, the food in the hospital tastes terrible, and I don't want to grieve my stomach when my body hurts! ”

"Oh!" The Major seemed to accept his views, but he had no interest in the "wonderful things" he depicted, and he was not interested in how he would enjoy the holiday, but when he would be able to recover from his wounds, and whether he would be able to return to the army after the injuries had recovered.

"Don't worry, food and money won't turn you away because of your current injury!" The lieutenant colonel thought that the other party was frustrated by his injury, so he persuaded him very kindly.

"Huh? Oh! But ......"

"Hey, don't believe what the doctors say, you can't eat anything and you can't eat that, the last time I was injured in San Antonio, those doctors said the same, but I'm still a big fish, and the injury is getting better faster than expected!" The lieutenant colonel said with a guarantee.

"Uh...... Lieutenant Colonel, I didn't mean that! As soon as the Major's words were spoken, the sound of the steamer's whistle was muffled, and before he knew it, the ship had sailed to the port.

Over the next half hour, both of them began to check whether their belongings had been put in their bags, and the lieutenant colonel, who had kept his head parted, became more and more excited, as if the gangway was the best paradise.

"Which one is Major Adolf Hitler?"

Just as the "Scudder" had approached the dock and the wounded had begun to disembark in an orderly manner with the help of the staff, an army major with a small group of soldiers appeared at the door of the cabin of the two officers.