In the crowded cabin, Zhou Yu asked the names of the laborers one by one and the skills they were good at.

The result made him a little disappointed, there were about 500 people here, but apart from him, only Lu Xiucai and a fortune teller were literate.

Among these people, Zhou Yu was more impressed by the Shandong Han Mude Pillar who sat next to him, this guy could grow to 1.88 meters in the era of lack of food and clothing, and he had to be said to be half a "giant".

"Lu Xiucai" was formerly known as Lu Jianren, with fame, but he was unlucky to catch up with the troubled times, and he changed the dynasty before he could find an official position.

There is also Wu Xiaolong, a dart master from Jinmen, who is good at making a nine-ring big knife, but unfortunately the knife was not brought on the boat.

Fortune teller Liu Huang, known as "Liu Banxian" by other laborers, can write and calculate in addition to bragging.

Although the little flower child dog baby is only thirteen years old this year, she is very clever and runs fast.

Hong Agui, who was born as a fisherman, has good water and can hold boats, but he doesn't like to talk.

Except for these few, most of the other laborers were farmers, coolies, and beggars, and there were really few skills that could be used at the moment.

"Listen, the place we are going to is dangerous, from now on try not to conflict with those foreigners, I will be responsible for communicating with them.

We can all take turns resting in two shifts, so we can't sleep well when we're huddled together, and we have to recuperate before we arrive in the war zone. ”

Zhou Yu didn't have any special good way now, so he could only wait for the ship to dock and then look at the specific situation.

The only thing he was worried about now was the whereabouts of this boatload of people.

Although the foreigners treated them very badly, it was better to stay in France than to follow England.

If the former is mere discrimination, then the latter is blatant servitude.

"Eat, you yellow-skinned waiters!"

It didn't take long for the canopy of the cabin to open, and the sailors outside poured a bag of potatoes over the heads of the crowd like a dog.

"Oops~"

The little barking flower child dog baby was hit on the head by a potato, and screamed in pain.

However, his attention was quickly attracted by the potato that had tumbled to the ground, and he hurriedly picked up one and ate it.

"Brother Zhou, there are potatoes, you can eat one too."

Lu Xiucai picked up a potato, wiped it on his clothes, and handed it to Zhou Yu.

"Thank you."

To be honest, Zhou Yu is now a little hungry with an empty stomach, and he is not polite at the moment, so he opened his mouth and gnawed down.

But as soon as he took a bite, he immediately spit it out.

"Phew! This potato is bad?! How do you ......?"

Zhou Yudu didn't care if the food here was clean or not, but he didn't expect that the smell of mold and rot would come from a bite.

However, when he looked at the others, he found that everyone was eating a wolf, as if they were swallowing some delicacies from the mountains and seas, not moldy potatoes at all.

Zhou Yu, who was talking about it, still didn't ask.

Before, he only saw something in books: "The people at that time were living in dire straits"; "There was a severe shortage of food during the First World War"; "The soldiers went to war hungry", something like this dry text.

But now it is different, the scenes recorded in those books have become reality, and he has a preliminary experience of what the real "troubled times" are.

After struggling inwardly for a moment, Zhou Yu still forced himself to eat a moldy potato.

The challenges that everyone is about to face are not daunting, and they can't let themselves go hungry in any way.

After floating on the sea for a few days, Zhou Yu was already able to call everyone's names and distinguish their origins, occupations and skills.

He found that his memory seemed to be much better than before.

In addition to understanding the companions who were in the same boat, Zhou Yu also gave them a science about the current situation in Europe in advance, and described the culture and history of these countries vividly.

Everyone was like listening to a commentary, and they pricked up their ears one by one to listen to it with relish.

They were surprised by Zhou Yu's erudition, and couldn't figure out how he knew so much about foreigners' things, even Lu Xiucai, who had a good reputation, was a five-body cast.

They felt that this young man, who didn't look like a weak crown, seemed to have an old master living in his body, who knew everything and understood everything, and this was definitely a prime minister in ancient times!

At a certain moment, with the large shaking of the hull, the boat that everyone was riding on finally stopped.

"It's here! We're here! ”

Someone in the cabin shouted excitedly.

"Remember what I said, from now on we will be one as one, and if we want to live, we will do what I say!"

Zhou Yu, who could already hear the chaotic footsteps on the deck, finally explained to everyone.

"Got it!"

In these days, Zhou Yu has completely conquered this boatload of people, and everyone is now obedient to him.

The hatch cover was opened again, and an interpreter shouted down in broken Chinese:

"It's time to get to the place, everyone comes up one by one in order! Don't make a lot of noise, don't ask too many questions, just follow the chief. ”

Everyone subconsciously turned their attention to Zhou Yu, and the latter was the first to climb out of the dim and damp cabin.

Going up to the deck again, Zhou Yu felt as if a century had passed.

He took a deep breath of fresh air and walked towards land led by a soldier.

Zhou Yu squinted his eyes and got used to it for a while, and then he saw that there were several ships around them arriving at their destination at the same time, and many Chinese workers in ragged clothes and yellow muscles were moving their feet like walking corpses.

If calculated according to the size and number of ships, the number of Chinese workers arriving on this trip will never be less than 40,000!

The docks where the ships docked were filled with soldiers with rifles on their backs, scrutinizing the newly arrived laborers with blank expressions.

Zhou Yu quietly looked at them and found that these soldiers didn't seem to be much better than Chinese workers, with the same yellow face and thin muscles, the same ragged clothes, standing there crookedly, without any of the demeanor that a soldier should have.

"Is this war...... Are these the survivors of the most brutal Battle of Verdun in the history of World War I? ”

Behind Zhou Yu, Lu Xiucai and the others walked off the deck one after another, looking around with curiosity.

Although Zhou Yu had already told them what kind of country this was in the cabin, he couldn't help but be shocked after seeing it with his own eyes.

The towering buildings here were one after the other, and the shape was completely different from what they had seen before, and there was even a particularly tall and complex building, with a huge clock inlaid at the top.

There are many foreigners here, and their hair is also red and yellow, with high noses and blue eyes.

In such an unfamiliar environment, coupled with unfamiliar language, people can't help but feel nervous.

However, Zhou Yu's labor on this boat is relatively good, after all, he has already done his homework in advance.

The laborers who came down from other ships were not so calm, and it seems that many of them were beaten by the commander because they stopped looking around.

Those foreign soldiers either spoke English or French, or spoke a dialect that they didn't know anywhere, constantly insulting and shouting at the Chinese workers, driving them away like cattle, and Zhou Yu's brows were furrowed when he looked at him with a lofty appearance.

"What's your name?"

At this time, an interpreter on the ship pointed to Zhou Yu and asked.

"My name is Bruce Chow, sir."

The translator was stunned for a moment, but he didn't expect that the Chinese worker in front of him was so pure in English, just like an old gentleman from London.

"Well, your English is good, and you will be the representative of the Chinese workers of this ship in the future."

After speaking, the translator handed Zhou Yu a notebook.

"Can you write and read?" He asked again.

"Yes, sir."

Zhou Yu's reaction surprised and satisfied the translator, and he didn't even have a chance to lose his temper under an excuse.

"Very well, here is a list of your shipmates, you are responsible for verifying the number of people, and then report to Lieutenant Williams, who is your commander."

"Yes! Sir! ”

Zhou Yu learned from the scenes he had seen on TV before, and saluted the translator, but the latter was at a loss.

Zhou Yu's ship was the fastest, most orderly, and quietest, especially conspicuous on the chaotic docks.

He lined everyone up, began to roll call them one by one, and confirmed everyone's appearance again in the sun.

Zhou Yu also took advantage of the roll call to gather and concentrate on listening to the conversations of the soldiers around him, wanting to get some useful information.

From the words of those soldiers, Zhou Yu could basically judge that they had landed in France.

However, the more they worried about something, the more they came, and they were assigned to the English Expeditionary Force, and they were the most unlucky people to face the battlefield.

On the high platform not far from the port, a man in an officer's uniform looked in the direction of Zhou Yu and his party, and asked another person beside him, "Are those also Chinese workers?" How are they different from everyone else? ”

"Sir, they are indeed Chinese workers, but one of them can speak our language, which saves a lot of trouble."

"Hmmm......"

The chief squinted and thought for a moment, then spoke again, "Very good...... The ship's Chinese workers were assigned to Task Force C13 and sent to the Somme to dig fortifications. ”

"Yes, sir!"