Expedition to Europe

Since the French overthrew the rule of the Bourbon dynasty, France has become a model of democracy for the whole world.

There was a time when democratic and free France was a holy place in the minds of people who yearned for freedom all over the world, and the French National Assembly system became the pride of the French, just like Notre Dame de Paris and the Eiffel Tower.

At the beginning of its establishment, the National Assembly system was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and its efficiency was relatively high at that time, so France's social economy entered a period of rapid development.

But like all two-party or multi-party systems, the National Assembly soon became a market where people argued for the sake of arguing.

In fact, for soldiers, this flat-structured social system is far less efficient than the pyramid-structured social system, especially during war or when large-scale disasters occur and decisions need to be made quickly, the disadvantages of the flat-structured social system are becoming more and more obvious.

Just like now, it is clear that the Germans are still occupying the French land, and it is time to unite and confront the outside world. These parliamentarians still have the mind to intrigue and tear down the corners, which really makes Lyaute impatient.

"Louis, although I shouldn't interfere in the affairs of the military, I still want to ask, why do you prefer to trust those Chinese rather than those Americans? In your eyes, are the Chinese more important than the Americans?" Paul Panlewei had to say something. His original intention was not to get Lyautey out of office. The French army had enough things going on now, and now was not the time to make trouble.

"Mr. Chairman, there is no such thing as who is more important than who, but who is more willing to bleed and sacrifice for France. The Americans are indeed worthy of attention, but according to General Pershing, the Americans can only be counted on next year, so what should we do before that? Should we tell the Germans to stop the world war for a year, and wait until the American troops gather to 3 million, all armed and trained, and then resume the war?" Lyautey was determined and would not change his mind because of a few words from others.

"Then can those Chinese be trusted?" Donahue asked again.

In just one month, the Americans in France have gathered more than 100,000 people. The Americans have demonstrated their unparalleled delivery capabilities. Pershing promised that tens of thousands of American soldiers will arrive in France every month in the coming year.

Compared with the Americans who have strong sea transportation capabilities, Qin Zhiyuan's manpower delivery speed is much slower. Now Yimin Company and Huang Bohan's people are working together, and only less than 20,000 people can be transported to Corsica every month. This is already the limit and it is impossible to increase it further.

But it is precisely this difference in power that makes the contribution of the Foreign Legion look even more precious.

"Regarding this question, I have a telegram here, which General Qin Zhiyuan just sent me. In the sniper battle of Fer-en-Tadenois that ended this morning, the 1st Division of the Foreign Legion and the 32nd Division of the French Army fought together, and fought fiercely with the six divisions of the German Crown Prince William Corps and part of the German 17th Army in Fer-en-Tadenois and Tadenois. In the four-day battle, the 1st Division and the 32nd Division killed more than 13,600 German soldiers and captured more than 98,900 German soldiers. Among the captured German generals, there was General Fritz Rosenberg, Chief of Staff of the Crown Prince William Corps, and..." Lyautey took the telegram, looked around the audience with a confident smile, and dragged out his voice, whetting everyone's appetite, and then solved the mystery: "And Prince William himself."

Prince William?

Prince William was captured by the French army!

The members present, whether from the Socialist Party or the Democratic Republican Party, were stunned. It took a full 30 seconds before they burst into thunderous cheers.

Along with the cheers, piles of printed materials flew into the sky. These were originally used to impeach Qin Zhiyuan and Lyautey, but no one cares about them now. As long as Lyautey and Qin Zhiyuan can beat the Germans, it doesn't matter if Lyautey equips Qin Zhiyuan with all the weapons in the Renault factory. Let those impeachments go to hell!

As for Pershing, who is still in Orleans, everyone will forget about him now.

You know, the French have always looked down on the nouveau riche Americans. When they need Americans, the French can treat them as guests of honor, but when they don't need them, the United States at this time is not indispensable to France at this time.

At least the French think so.

The World War has not yet ended, and the French are still unclear about how much money they owe the Americans. Their understanding of the United States is still before the World War.

As Lyaute announced the news, all doubts against Lyaute and Qin Zhiyuan disappeared. The news of victory spread like a virus, spreading to every corner of France and even the world through countless telephone lines and airwaves. The newspaper printed a special issue temporarily, and the French tricolor flag and the Beiyang government's five-color flag were hung at the door of the restaurant. Countless people flocked to the Beiyang government's temporary residence in Paris, crowding the place. They thanked all the black-haired and black-eyed Orientals.

The French government decided on the same day to raise the diplomatic relations with the Beiyang government from the "minister level" to the "ambassador level", and the embassy was moved from the second floor of the narrow and remote cinema to the Champ de Mars, where the Paris City Government allocated a 50-acre land for the construction of the Beiyang government's embassy in Paris.

In the newspaper of the day, when describing Qin Zhiyuan's skin color, the Latin word "fuscus" was used. The meaning of this word is uncertain. It can usually be understood as dark or brown. Here it means darker skin color. With the large photo of Qin Zhiyuan distributed in the newspaper, it is indeed impossible to see the meaning of yellow.

Regarding this "yellow skin", its evolution has a process. In fact, in the early works and documents of Western travelers, the description of the skin color of Chinese people is usually "fair" or "darker". No one directly uses "yellow" to describe the skin of Oriental people. But in the 18th century, some so-called "scientists" who knew little about natural science began to classify races. The color of Asians was changed from "fuscus" to "luridus", which can be translated as yellow, light yellow, waxy, pale, deathly color, etc.

This classification is artificial and has no scientific basis.

In China, it is readily accepted to say that Chinese people have yellow skin, because "yellow" symbolizes imperial power and nobility in China. This is a cognitive difference caused by the different cultural heritage of Europeans and Chinese.

This work is organized and uploaded by Liujiu Book Bar~~

For Qin Zhiyuan, what happened in Paris was too far away for him, and Qin Zhiyuan could not take care of it for a while. Now Qin Zhiyuan's task is to appease nearly 100,000 German prisoners and guard against possible retaliatory attacks by the Germans.

Fortunately, Foch's work was effective. With Foch's inspection on the front line, the French troops gradually began to stabilize, and some troops began to restore their combat effectiveness.

After the news of Qin Zhiyuan's victory spread, it was like a shot of cardiac stimulant injected into the hearts of all French people. The confidence of the French began to recover, and the soldiers slowly calmed down from their impetuousness.

In mid-May, eleven French divisions stationed near Fer-Antoine began to gather in the Fer-Antoine area to prepare for possible German attacks.

Qin Zhiyuan's First Division and Bastien's 32nd Division were ordered to return to Paris. They were to participate in a huge celebration to commemorate this historic moment.