As far as the eye can see, the entire city is shrouded in a layer of gray sky.

From time to time, there are sporadic shelling sounds in the distance, and the word "peace" is obviously still some way from this land.

Because of the fact that the war was still going on, except for a few sick and disabled, the vast majority of men were conscripted to the battlefield, so the work of disposing of these ruins fell on women and children.

may have seen too many of this kind of scenes, and he was extremely calm in the face of life and death.

When Cheng Nuo was taking care of a Chinese worker, he saw a mother who didn't say anything when she learned that her child had died, but silently carried the body home, found a tree in the yard, dug a hole next to it and buried it, and then continued to talk and laugh with her neighbors as if nothing had happened.

"People are dying one after another, babies are refusing to be born, and in the years we have been in France, I have hardly seen a single doll born." A certain Chinese worker, as if he could read minds, knew Cheng Nuo's thoughts, and panted while carrying the bricks on the ruins:

"But in Marseille, there are always new faces to replace those who have disappeared, you know why?"

Cheng Nuo was still in the shock of the bereaved mother, and said stiffly: "Why? ”

The elder pouted to Nunu on the street not far away: "Well, isn't this a newcomer?" ”

Following the direction pointed by the other party, Cheng Nuo looked and saw some relatively more depressed people, pouring in from the countryside and surrounding towns, either carrying cloth bags on foot or driving carriages, piled up with all their belongings, all the way into the city in silence.

Paused occasionally, and shifted his gaze from under his feet to the distance, except for confusion and confusion.

"There is no greater mourning for a husband than the death of the heart, and death for a person is secondary.

There is no hope for the city at the moment, it is nothing more than jumping from one cage to another bigger cage, and such a scene, more than ten years later, the motherland, how can it not be everywhere, such mothers, similar fathers, can not be counted.

If you don't hurry up, it'll be too late! ”

Thinking of this, Cheng Nuo rekindled his mind, and while actively participating in the rescue work, he was also learning about various related military technologies during World War I.

Some of these technologies shocked the traveler, especially the American-built destroyer USS Ward, which took only 17 days to build, setting a new record for the speed of ship construction at the time, which was not broken until more than 20 years later.

What is the concept, for example, the construction period of the Matsu-class destroyers, which was built by the Japanese Navy at the end of World War II, takes half a year.

And this "Ward" is not a tofu scum project, before the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Ward was the first to discover a Japanese miniature submarine, and easily sank it, which is considered to be the first shot fired by the US military in the Pacific War, and the historical significance is not insignificant.

Although this incident did not attract the attention of the US Navy, nor did it cause any changes to the attack on Pearl Harbor, it is enough to prove the strength of US military technology.

"Yixuan, I see that this side has been almost settled, and I will leave France briefly in the near future and go elsewhere, so you will arrange it first."

Looking at the towering tents in front of him, Cheng Nuo felt a little relieved for the time being.

It's just that when he saw the gray sky, he was still a little worried, and patted Shi Yixuan on the shoulder: "As part of the spring offensive, the Luftwaffe began to bomb the northern battlefield in France, and 500,000 troops were redeployed to the Western Front, and the war became more and more cruel.

Logically speaking, it doesn't have much to do with us Chinese workers, after all, our contract says that we don't have to participate in any kind of military operations. However, the elongation of the battle line means that our Chinese workers are at the forefront of the battlefield and need to be very careful. ”

Shi Yixuan hesitated for a moment, but still shook his head, took a French newspaper scented with ink, pointed to one of the paragraphs and said: "Although the German army continued to bomb us during this period and took the lives of several of our compatriots, the shortage of labor in France is also an opportunity for us Chinese workers to perform.

Last time, you took a few Chinese workers to help clean up the rubble, and this French newspaper knew about it, and I admired your spirit very much, and just posted a compliment to you. ”

"I'll see." Taking the newspaper, Cheng Nuo said curiously.

Sure enough, it read:

[When the Chinese workers were in Paris, they behaved like Parisians in the French countryside, and their temperament was high and they looked very dignified.

They are as strong as oxen, and you will be amazed to see that three or four hundred pounds of wood or steel are like a stone on them, and they can carry these heavy loads on their backs......

When the Chinese workers came to Javier, France, the local French people cheered and cheered enthusiastically, and the citizens gathered to welcome the arrival of the Chinese workers......]

Rao is Cheng Nuo knew that after the victory of the First World War, the gains of these Chinese workers were not proportional to their efforts, but at this moment he had to be proud of these Chinese workers.

Later, Cheng Nuo also learned that it was precisely because of the seriousness, rigor, hard-working, strong body and high work efficiency of the Chinese laborers that they were also recognized by the French Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Ordnance, which once only recruited Chinese laborers, and most of the cranes in important port fortresses at that time were operated by Chinese laborers.

But after the war, the former frontline areas were almost unregulated, and the nearest police station was often dozens of kilometers away, and the few who returned home mostly lived in bunkers or hastily built cabins.

These Chinese workers have become the ideal scapegoats for all unsolved crimes.

However, at present, due to the development of German artillery technology, the fierce shelling and bombardment have made there no safe area on the battlefield, and the Allies will launch a large-scale counteroffensive in the next few months, the victory or defeat is undecided, and the lives of the British Chinese workers are completely unguaranteed.

The Chinese workers who were promised not to commit themselves to military operations at the beginning essentially became cannon fodder in the war.

The most exaggerated point is to fill the crater of the airfield when German planes bomb it, and there is a risk of being bombed at any time.

Even at the end of the war, when everyone was basking in the joy of victory and preparing to leave, the British were still asked to clean up the mess left by the war, many of which were loaded with live ammunition, and to bury the bones.

The reason given by the UK is that the three-year contract has not expired and needs to be continued.

Thinking of this, Cheng Nuo has a deeper hatred for the British, and he must find a way to collect a debt from them.

But now, it's not the right time, there is still some time before the Allied counteroffensive.

After thinking about it, Cheng Nuo said: "Our pattern might as well be enlarged, isn't it to prepare a Chinese workers' newspaper, the readers who were envisaged before are their own compatriots, but when I went back, I thought about it carefully and found that it was not good enough, and the help and improvement of our Chinese workers' situation was very limited." ”

Shi Yixuan was a little confused, and wondered: "You mean, we want to expand the audience of the newspaper?" ”

Cheng Nuo explained: "Of course, our Chinese workers are down-to-earth, smart, hard-working, and no more powerful than the dozens of nurses in Little Japan, but people in Little Japan are willing to publicize, saying that we are uncivilized coolies doing manual work, and their action of sending female nurses has modern significance, and the two are not the same......

Before he finished speaking, Shi Yixuan directly reprimanded angrily: "This is obviously nonsense, saying that I don't know what their nurses are doing, obviously ...... Wow, we suffered a loss on this mouth. ”

Cheng Nuo said with emotion: "Now we are doing 10 points, only one point of publicity, the effect is very poor, people ignore the role of our Chinese workers, and the public can't count on it, so we don't have a unified feedback channel."

That's why I thought that the newspaper we prepared should not only show the style of our Chinese workers, but also actively send out the voice of our Chinese workers to the whole European world, even if it is only a five-point work, it must be publicized with great effect. ”

Shi Yixuan was excited, and he beat a little drum in his heart: "But introverted and moderation are our cultural characteristics, even if we set up the stage, without Chinese workers singing on it, the scene will not be too good-looking, right?" ”

Cheng Nuo smiled and shook his head: "Without investigation, there is no right to speak, how do you know that we, the Chinese workers, don't want to speak out, and don't want to have a taste of European 'bangzi'?" Just listen to me and do it, doing a good job is not only good for Chinese workers, but also good for our national image. ”

Shi Yixuan nodded with the attitude of treating the dead horse as a live horse doctor, and asked again: "Then do you want to name this newspaper?" ”

Cheng Nuo blurted out: "It's called "Workers' Weekly"!" ”

With Cheng Nuo's arrangement, the "Workers' Weekly" not only took into account its educational functions, but also added a lot of entertainment and recreational content to these newspapers and periodicals in order to enhance its entertainment and readability, to achieve the effect of relieving mental pressure and enriching cultural life.

At the same time, it also collects and reports on the living conditions and latest information of Chinese workers in various places, so as to enhance the connection and unity of Chinese workers from all walks of life.

In addition, there is also a leisure section, covering a wide range of topics from famous people and war scenes to daily life. There will also be a variety of fables and stories to illustrate profound truths, which can play a role in entertaining and educational, and avoid preaching.

In order to encourage the majority of Chinese workers to speak out, Cheng Nuo also set up a solicitation activity for each issue, with no restrictions on the subject matter and content.

Contrary to the expectations of Shi Yixuan and others, these Chinese workers enthusiastically submitted articles, were extremely eager to speak out, and their articles were quite insightful, not much inferior to those of intellectuals, from which they could experience their deep thinking about the future of the country, which greatly surprised Shi Yixuan and others.

In order to unite the local workers, in addition to providing a French version of the newspaper, the "Workers' Weekly" also deliberately serialized "Ben*" to promote new ideas, especially equal pay for equal work and reasonable arrangement of working hours.

Considering that in the current French military factories, in addition to Chinese workers, there are basically only female workers left.

The Workers' Weekly deliberately took women's emancipation as an incision, and completely won the love of local female workers, and although its circulation was not large, it finally took root in the soil outside the Chinese workers.

As for the education of night schools, they are also in full swing.

You only need to know 10 words every night, and you can learn more than 300 words after a month, and you can read and write normally after two or three months.

And their textbook was the current issue of the "Workers' Weekly".

Over time, the gifted ones not only learned Chinese, but also mastered some common English and French, and directly became trainee editors of the Workers' Weekly.

With all these efforts, the Chinese workers not only have a good impression of Cheng Nuo, but also are full of curiosity about the Academy of Sciences behind him, coupled with homesickness, they are faintly looking forward to the days after returning to China.

In their daily lives, Chinese workers also increasingly linked their words and deeds with national honor and disgrace, and many of them began to pay attention to the merits of French society, hoping to bring advanced technology and culture back to China, rather than just obsessing with the pursuit of personal interests, looking forward to coming to Sichuan to do a great job.

As for Cheng Nuo's side, he said goodbye to Marseille alone and quietly touched Germany.

Nothing else was interested, but Krupp's cannon technology haunted him.

Even when he came to Europe, he almost died under the cannon of "Big Berta", but he was still very obsessed with it.

In fact, what he was really interested in was the "Paris Cannon", which, unlike the howitzer of the Grand Berta, was the longest-range artillery in the world at that time.

The price of each shell was high, costing 10,000 marks, which was four times the price of a French 305-caliber gun in the same period.

The main reason is that this kind of artillery is like the ballistic missile that appeared later, and it is believed that although it is not suitable for attacking tactical targets, it can attack strategic targets in the rear of the enemy's army, so it has irreplaceable strategic value.

If the Germans had deployed more "Paris artillery", perhaps they would have been able to exert more pressure on the French government.

But if you think about it, it's actually not reliable.

In that era when there was no precision guidance, these cannons did not have any guidance equipment, and the projectiles could only fall randomly anywhere in the city of Paris, which could not be said to hit the so-called strategic targets at all, and hitting such targets as churches would only arouse the condemnation of international public opinion and bring about the opposite effect.

The reason why it was possible to hit the base where the middle range was was was made was because the Germans told a spy the location of each shell, who transmitted the information to the border by telephone.

Then another spy sent it out of France, and then someone telegraphed the information to the German High Command, the whole process took about several hours.

After each round, the axis of the gun shaft must be corrected to maintain the accuracy of the shot.

Time-consuming and labor-intensive.

But under so many shortcomings, why Cheng Nuo still insists is because of the industrial technology behind these types of cannons.

Until later generations, the 120-mm smoothbore gun of the American M1 "Abrams" main battle tank and the 120-mm smoothbore gun on the Japanese Type 90 main battle tank were developed on this basis.

And because after the defeat of Germany in World War I, many key technologies for the production of cannons were destroyed, such as the Paris cannon, and even a drawing and a piece of information were all destroyed, except for a seat part that was captured by the U.S. military, no parts remained, as if they had evaporated from the world and disappeared without a trace.

With a 36-meter-long cannon barrel, there are probably few large milling machines and large drilling machines in the world that can process such long parts.

At the same time, the range of the gun is the largest when the elevation angle reaches 50~60 degrees, and the projectile can quickly fly away from the dense atmosphere in the lower layers and reach the stratosphere of the atmosphere, so as to fly to a longer distance.

It is the same reason that the ICBMs of later generations should hit outside the atmosphere and then enter the atmosphere.

For other weapons research, even Sputnik is informative.

A cannon is not just a cannon, it is a great treasure.