Zhou Yu and the others, who gathered in a queue, didn't know that because of their unusual performance, they had been selected to become a task force of Chinese workers who went to the Somme River to support.

Just before all the Chinese workers on the other ships were assembled, Zhou Yu was notified to go out alone and take people to the square on the other side of the pier to assemble.

An officer with long thin cheeks and sharp eyes stood at the front of the team and said:

"You're Bruce Chow? I'm Williams, your commander, do you know what you're here for? ”

"Obey the command! Sir! ”

"Huh?"

The officer who originally wanted to teach Zhou Yu a lesson and use this to establish his authority was stunned at the moment, looking at Zhou Yu with a strange expression.

"Good, always remember who you are, you're just a bunch of ......"

"Cheap labor! Sir! ”

“......”

Officer Williams hadn't thought about the relevant vocabulary yet, but Zhou Yu helped him come up with one first.

This made Williams, who originally had the intention of killing chickens and setting an example, have nowhere to go, and he can't help but feel a sense of frustration at the moment.

"Don't interject! From now on, you are a member of Task Force C13! Will follow me to the Somme to build fortifications! ”

"What? Somme?! ”

Hearing these three words, Zhou Yu suddenly "chuckled" in his heart.

The word "Somme" is so famous for World War I that even if you are not a top student in the history department of the University of Uchi-Mi, even ordinary people who know a little about World War I know the brutality of this battle.

The Battle of the Somme is arguably one of the largest battles of World War I.

The battle cost both sides more than a million lives! It was the most tragic positional battle in World War I, and it was also the first battle in human history in which tanks were put into actual combat.

Seeing Zhou Yu's reaction, Williams turned sideways and asked, "What, have you heard of it?" ”

Zhou Yu quickly recovered, straightened his waist and replied, "There is no chief!" We'll go where you need us! Task Force C13 is always ready! ”

"Hmmm......"

Williams looked at Zhou Yu's statement and became more and more satisfied, and he even felt that this Chinese worker was more pleasing to the eye than his subordinates.

However, Zhou Yu's mind was in a hurry at the moment, thinking about what way he could avoid this inhumane battle.

In the face of such a dense rain of bullets, human lives will be turned into grass mustard, and these unarmed Chinese workers are not even as good as grass mustard.

But what can be done now? Helpless in a foreign land, they had no choice but to temporarily stabilize this group of English soldiers.

"Now, Private Bruce, follow with your men, we need to walk to the train station to catch the train to the Somme!"

"Yes!"

Zhou Yu was inexplicably given the title of "first-class soldier", which can be regarded as a promotion.

The others wanted to ask something, but they saw that Zhou Yu was talking a lot to the foreigner but couldn't understand a word, and they were anxious to scratch their hearts.

"Lu Xiucai, what did Mr. Zhou tell them? Why should we pick it out separately? ”

Lu Xiucai glared at the tall Mu Dezhu, and said angrily: "Who do you ask me and I ask?" Only Brother Zhou can talk to foreigners here, so we just have to wait.

You see, compared with the Chinese workers on other ships, only those on our boat were not beaten, and this is all due to Brother Zhou. ”

Mu Dezhu nodded in deep agreement, because he had just seen the laborers who had been beaten to the point of bleeding.

After a while, everyone saw Zhou Yu walking back with a gloomy face, and hurriedly asked in a low voice.

"Mr. Zhou, what do you say to foreigners? Where are we going now? When is the meal opened? ”

Mu Dezhu was the first to ask.

"Yes, Mr. Zhou, are we going into the factory you said or what kind of trench?"

Liu Banxian, a fortune teller, also rushed to ask.

"Mr. Zhou, you are talking~"

Others were curious, too.

Zhou Yu glanced at everyone and paused for two seconds before speaking.

"It's worse than I originally expected...... Looks like I'm going to have to find a chance to train you on trench considerations. ”

"What? Dig trenches as soon as you come? Skipping meals? ”

Mu Dezhu is still most interested in eating.

"Let's go, you can get on the train and eat, at least this journey is relatively safe......"

Zhou Yu patted Mu Dezhu on the shoulder and motioned for everyone to follow him.

Ten minutes later, the laborers on Zhou Yu's boat and the laborers on the other two boats converged to form Task Force C13 to aid the Somme.

The team was led by Lieutenant Williams, with one adjutant, one quartermaster, twenty-four medics and assistants, ten interpreters, fifty British corporals, and two hundred first-class privates.

If you add the Chinese laborers on the three ships, this C13 task force has a total of 1,977 people.

Under the command of the corporals and interpreters, the laborers of the other two ships followed in a wooden manner and began to move north of the town.

Zhou Yu observed the French towns during the First World War as he walked, and felt that the scene was completely different from the scene he imagined.

This small port town must have been quite lively if it should have been inhabited by hundreds of thousands of people in peacetime.

But nowadays, there are few pedestrians on the empty streets, and most of the occasional sights are the old, weak, sick, disabled and women.

They are numb and steady, often queuing up all night to buy a piece of bread, or selling everything they can.

The protracted war has long emptied the purse bags of these low-level residents, coupled with the shortage of materials and soaring prices, a large number of people are unemployed at home, and there is no economic source at all.

Moreover, the families in France are basically only widows and children, and all men are conscripted into the battlefield and die.

However, these are not the most terrible, the most terrible thing is that there is no end to this war at all! No one can give an exact time, as if it will continue to fight until a country is completely scorched......

As the team walked through the middle of the town, Zhou Yu saw a local girl who looked only eleven or twelve years old leaning against the corner of the roadside, talking to an English soldier.

After a while, the two seemed to have reached an agreement, and walked towards the back of the alley together.

"Mr. Zhou, what did the foreigner girl say? She looks quite pitiful. ”

The tall Mu Dezhu was also the most curious, and he squeezed to Zhou Yu's side and kept asking.

“...... Nothing, the girl was looking for help. ”

Zhou Yu didn't tell the truth, he didn't want to tell Mu Dezhu that the kid was soliciting guests.

And the price may be just a piece of rye bread mixed with sawdust......

After passing through the bleak and deadly neighborhood, the team finally arrived at the suburban train station.

The steam train was already waiting there, and with a slight adjustment, they lined up and prepared to sail for the Somme, an important ---front in north-western France.

The train appears to have been converted from a freight train, with a cramped, cramped interior and poor facilities, and the cinders left under your feet dance when the body shakes.

But even so, the environment here is as luxurious as a palace for the Chinese workers.

At the very least, each of them had relatively soft seats, and they were given a loaf of bread and a potato for lunch.

Zhou Yu was surprised to find that these potatoes were intact and not moldy.

It seems that these soldiers who came from England were treated much better than those in France, and at least they had serious food to eat.

However, he also realized that this meal should be the most sumptuous before they entered the Somme.

Once the battle starts, it is unknown whether you can survive or not, and you will have enough to eat? Let's wait until my life is saved.

"Private Bruce!"

A rude voice interrupted Zhou Yu's thinking, making him stand up on the spot and shout loudly: "Here!" ”

"This is your military uniform and equipment, distribute it to everyone and have a set, if you lose it, you will have to freeze in winter!"

"Yes!"

Zhou Yu walked to the quartermaster with a bitter and hateful face, called two people to help transport the equipment, and began to distribute it to everyone one by one.

He looked at it when he handed it out, and it included a winter coat, hat, socks, cotton shoes, water bottle, backpack, and shovel.

In addition to these, every 10 people will be equipped with an iron pot to make a fire in the field for cooking.

Zhou Yu found that on these patched clothes, there were occasional dark red blood stains that had not been cleaned, which were most likely taken from the dead people.

However, the laborers don't seem to care, as long as they have clothes to wear, it is better than freezing at that time.

The train blew its whistle and began to slowly accelerate away from the station.

Many first-time train workers screamed in excitement by the windows, seemingly forgetting that it was likely to be a one-way journey.

From this moment on, their fate has been in the hands of God.

However, Zhou Yu did not want to compromise on this, and he had been thinking about a way out for himself and the laborers on the same ship.

Maybe...... Escaping to the New World of North America is a good option.