Muyang took out another cigarette from the cigarette case and handed it to Wang Dazhuan, "Smoke as much as you want here, don't worry, I have already asked people to prepare cigarettes for you, even if the cigarettes can't be smoked open, the tobacco leaves are still enough." ”

"Really sir, thank you so much, don't you know, we want to smoke like crazy, just have tobacco leaves, no cigarettes, no cigarettes." When Wang Dazhuan heard Mu Yang's words, his face immediately showed a happy expression.

Wang Dazhuan lit a cigarette and continued to tell his story.

When we finally boarded the ship, it was the lowest bunk, a bilge filled with thousands of people, and three people slept on a single bed, and people were all close together like pancakes. After 10 days in Hong Kong, they converged into a fleet of more than a dozen boats and continued their departure to Singapore.

"Our ship stopped in Singapore for three days, and the people who loaded the ship with coal were people who were covered in pitch black, and everyone saw it for the first time, and then they found out that it was black, and they said it was African. Transporting coal to the ship is all baskets and baskets on the shoulder, which is also very hard, and it looks quite pitiful. "Wang Dazhuan still doesn't forget to pity others.

Then, he began a continuous sea journey for more than a month, during which there was no one to treat those who were sick, and when they died, they were carried out, and since then they have disappeared, and it is estimated that they were thrown directly into the sea.

These Chinese laborers disembarked at the British port, and then they were told by the British that they were going to the battlefield to carry supplies and clean the battlefield, at first some people spoke out against it, but they were soon suppressed, thousands of miles away in a foreign land, these people did not understand the language and writing, and they could not live on their own, so they could only follow the foreman.

First to London, then to France by ship, and so on. More than three months later, he came to this battlefield where the sound of artillery was still constantly filled, and he did the hardest, most tiring and dangerous work, and he did it for two years.

"You must obey military orders, and you will follow wherever the front line goes. It is necessary to ensure the completion of road construction, grain transportation, logging, trenching, fortifications, loading and unloading weapons, transporting ammunition, and cleaning the battlefield...... and other tasks, otherwise they are carried out by military law. ”

"When you come here, you can't run away if you want to, there is only one way - and that is to work hard."

That's what the British told them.

Most of the Chinese laborers were rural farmers, who first entered the barracks, did not understand anything, and were often reprimanded, punched and kicked by British officers, and some were even confined and corporal punishment.

Many times, German planes were overwhelming. Bombing, dive-strafing, and immediately turning the construction site into a sea of fire, the British troops retreated one after another, and the Chinese workers were not allowed to cover up, resulting in many Chinese workers being blown to the ground, or broken arms and legs, crying and moaning. The sound of groaning is terrifying.

Those fellow villagers of Wang Dazhuan. After two years, most of them have died. He was lucky enough to survive.

Wang Dazhuan left Muyang's office, holding two boxes of cigarettes and a box of matches given to him by Muyang, with a smile on his face.

This may be the so-called simple happiness, two boxes of cigarettes, for this man who survived the battlefield. I couldn't be happier.

In fact, in the real history, many Chinese workers are even more miserable than Wang Dazhuan described, 140,000 Chinese workers, or even more. In the end, less than 110,000 people survived and returned to China, and the rest, except for a few thousand, chose to stay in France, and the rest were buried in the ground.

According to later statistics, less than 2,000 people were able to leave their names, and the other tens of thousands of laborers did not even have a tombstone.

On the battlefields of Europe, they had to endure not only German artillery fire and bullets, but also abuses from British, French, and American soldiers. They did the hardest and most dangerous work, but they ate moldy bread, and their wounds were left untreated, so they could only wail for themselves, and they could only sleep in corners, without beds at all, and many were left dead from hunger and exhaustion.

In this way, those French people still deducted the wages of Chinese workers in the labor contracts that were set at the beginning, and even used shameful financial means on Chinese workers, taking advantage of the exchange rate difference to deduct the wages of Chinese workers.

Mu Yang thought about it for a long time, and he felt that he had to do something for his countrymen, those Chinese workers who were struggling with hunger and death.

Muyang took out the letter paper in the drawer and began to write.

"Dear Ferdinand. Greetings, Commander-in-Chief Foch, I am the company commander of the 1st Company of the 2nd Battalion of the West Yorkshire Regiment of the 21st Division of the 3rd Regiment of the British Army. Major Williams, first of all, I salute you. I'm going to talk about some things about Chinese labor......"

In the letter, Muyang told about what happened to the Chinese workers, and he hoped that Ferdinand. The Commander-in-Chief of the Voch coalition was able to give these Chinese workers normal treatment, since they were allowed to pick up their rifles, they should be treated like a soldier, even if he was only a transporter, he should have enough food and a place to sleep, and should not be treated like animals.

Even sometimes it is not as good as those livestock, at least those animals are still taken care of by breeders, and there will be no shortage of forage and bean cakes, while many of those Chinese laborers are working a hungry stomach.

After Muyang finished writing this letter, he thought about it and wrote it on the letter again.

He also gave the current commander-in-chief of the British army, Douglas. General Haig wrote a letter with roughly the same content, and Muyang hoped that his opinion would be taken seriously.

Mu Yang put the two letters in the envelope and wrote the names of the two commanders on the cover. Then he called his correspondent Ford, "Send them to the regimental headquarters and ask them to help me hand them over." ”

When Ford saw the name on the envelope, he was immediately shocked, but he didn't dare to ask, and ran to the regiment headquarters with the letter.

"Corporal, are you sure that these two letters are addressed to the two commanders?" The soldiers of the communications section of the regimental headquarters who received the letter asked Ford in disbelief.

Ford said very angrily: "Of course, you must know that our company commander is a nobleman and knows many high-level people, is there anything strange about writing letters to the two commanders." ”

"Okay, I'll transfer it to the division." The soldier who received the letter replied.

In the evening, Claire returned, bringing back Aite's letter with her.

Claire said with a happy face, "Company commander, Colonel Aite is very warm to me, and said that it is a pity that you did not go to him in person, this is Colonel Aite's reply." Moreover, Colonel Aite invited me to a feast, and there was a very good wine, which was said to have been cellared by the French, and it tasted really good. ”

Claire still had a faint taste of wine in her mouth when she spoke, and it seemed that this guy had drunk a lot.

"Okay Claire, I've worked hard for you, you go and rest."

Claire saluted and left, the smile on her face still hadn't faded.

Mu Yang took out the letterhead and looked at it, and after reading it, the corners of Mu Yang's mouth pulled a smile, Major Eugene, wait for me tomorrow. (To be continued......)