Expedition to Europe

On the vast sea, the wind rolled up the dark clouds...

Don't get me wrong, time has not returned to 1916, but has come to the first day of the Western calendar in 1919.

A fleet of four cruise ships is sailing 50 nautical miles off the coast of Tianjin, and their destination is Tianjin.

This fleet is the fleet sent by Qin Zhiyuan nearly two months ago to transport supplies from France to the Republic of China. The fleet transported a whole regiment of foreign legion soldiers, as well as a batch of heavy weapons and machinery, food, medicine and other supplies they escorted.

The regiment responsible for escorting supplies is the 32nd Regiment. The regiment commander Huang Li is one of the few Sichuanese in the foreign legion. He also has another mission on this trip, which is to get in touch with Sichuan Governor Qin Yunpeng and try to immigrate from Sichuan to Lan Fang.

Sichuan is located in the inland and has always been a populous province. The people are good at both working and farming, and they perform well in the army. There is a saying in China that "there is no army without Sichuan".

At present, the immigrants going to Lan Fang are mainly from the southeastern coastal areas. On the one hand, it is because the people in the southeastern coastal areas have the tradition of "going to Southeast Asia", and on the other hand, it is because the immigration of the northern population has almost reached a bottleneck. It is necessary to develop new population sources to speed up the pace of immigration to Lan Fang.

Since Lan Fang became independent half a year ago, its population has exceeded seven million, most of whom are immigrants from the Republic of China, and some are overseas Chinese who originally went to Southeast Asia.

This population seems to be large, but it is far from Qin Zhiyuan's requirements.

In Qin Zhiyuan's plan, Lan Fang should have a population of more than 50 million to fully play its regional radiation role.

However, immigration from coastal areas and northern provinces has entered a bottleneck period. If you want to increase the population, you can only turn your attention to the inland, especially Sichuan, Hunan, and Hubei, where the land pressure is still relatively large, and there should be a lot of immigration space.

Knock knock knock...

There was a knock on the door at the cabin door. Huang Li responded with "come in" and kept buttoning the last discipline button on his hand.

Wu Qing, the deputy regiment commander who pushed the door in, was from Hunan and had important tasks to do when he came back this time.

"Oh, you look very energetic. I thought you were still asleep, so I wanted to come over and wake you up." Wu Qing laughed happily. It felt good to be able to speak Chinese freely.

In order to learn French better, Qin Zhiyuan asked the officers and soldiers of the Foreign Legion to use French as much as possible when communicating, even if it was purely Chinese.

Now that the World War is over, it is naturally an overreaction to ask them to learn French, and this rule was naturally abolished.

"We will be home soon, and that son of a bitch can still sleep." Huang Li finally adjusted the two cents on his shoulders, straightened his hat in front of the mirror, and then turned around and said with a dignified manner: "How is it?"

Looking at the conceited Huang Li, Wu Qing looked at him with contempt: "Even if he is handsome, what can he do? You have already found a French daughter-in-law for your old man, and you dare to mess with those female students?"

Wu Qing and Huang Li have been working together for almost two years. They have been partners since they led the company, and they are very familiar with each other.

"Laohan" means "father", which is a Sichuan dialect.

"Hehe, don't provoke, it's comfortable to watch, isn't it." Huang Li was very proud.

Huang Li, who was still a bachelor when he arrived in Europe, has already married. His wife is a nurse in the Foreign Legion field hospital. The two met in the Battle of Fer-en-Tad-Noire the summer before last, and held a simple wedding in the winter. Now Huang Li's wife is pregnant, and this time she did not come back with Huang Li, but stayed in Corsica.

Senior officers of the Foreign Legion basically have a home in Corsica, and the same is true in Bali. This is one of the benefits of officers.

Qin Zhiyuan has never forgotten the bag of gems when he "made his fortune". Now that Qin Zhiyuan is rich, he naturally cannot treat these soldiers who have followed Qin Zhiyuan all the way badly. Among all the troops of the Allied Powers, the treatment of the Foreign Legion is the best.

Regarding those female students, Huang Li and Wu Qing have imagined countless times.

In Huang Li and Wu Qing's imagination, when they arrived at Tianjin Port, there should be countless flowers and beauties to welcome them. Perhaps those female students in the Republic of China were not as passionate and unrestrained as French women, but in the eyes of Chinese people, the more gentle and reserved Chinese women were more in line with the aesthetics.

The 32nd Regiment was the first unit to return to the Republic of China. Huang Li and Wu Qing wanted to appear in front of the people of the Republic of China with the most full spirit and the most strict military discipline. This was the first time that the Foreign Legion in Europe returned to the Republic of China. They had to prove that they were different from the warlords who were fighting endlessly in the country before they could successfully take root in the Republic of China.

"Go and call the brothers to get up, change into formal clothes, all of them. If anyone dares to be rude to me, I will punish him to sweep the toilet for a year, a fairy board." Huang Li's strict requirements.

Thinking of the enthusiastic scene when the Foreign Legion returned to Paris from Reims, the Parisian citizens welcomed them, and Huang Li's heart was hot.

In Paris, no matter how popular Chinese people are, even if some of them have chosen to become French citizens, they always feel out of place in that bustling city.

It is not their home, and everyone knows it.

Now, they are finally going to accept the enthusiasm from their compatriots, which makes Huang Li excited.

"I got up early. We have been waiting for you on the deck for a long time. We are waiting for you, the commander, to give a lecture." Wu Qing laughed.

"Why didn't you say it earlier, you immortal?" Huang Li picked up his gloves from the table, turned around and strode towards the deck.

On the deck, groups of soldiers were chatting. No matter which direction they were in, their eyes were always on the dark continent in the distance, where they had their homes.

"Squad leader, can I take a leave to go home when I go back? I heard that there was a fight in my hometown, and I want to go back and see." A young soldier asked the squad leader who was also young beside him.

They were all soldiers who had just arrived in Paris last year. If it was the year before last, most of them would have been officers, and at least they could have become sergeants.

"What's the point of going back if the fight has started? Are your family still in your hometown? Didn't you say that they should immigrate to Lanfang?" The squad leader suddenly had a headache and asked questions like a cannonball.

"We have moved, we have already moved, but, but..." The young soldier hesitated.

"Oh, what's wrong? Your lover is still in your hometown, right? Write an application and immigrate to Lanfang together. What's wrong with a house and land?" The squad leader was happy.

"It's not easy to write. Her family doesn't agree yet." The young soldier was worried.

"You are so stupid. You are not a man at all. When we get to Tianjin, I will go home with you to propose marriage. If that son of a bitch dares to stop me, I will squeeze his balls out." Huang Li's voice came from behind. Although the words were vulgar, they gave people unlimited confidence.

"Really? Captain, don't lie to me." The soldier's eyes burst into surprise, and he cried out without caring about etiquette.

"Cut it out, when has our captain ever lied to anyone? You stupid guy, can you still speak?" Before Huang Li could answer, the squad leader next to him scolded and praised him.

Yeah, this is a promising one.

The original text is available at Liu # 9 @shu/ba!

"Hey, you went to France too late. If you had gone a year earlier, it would have been great to marry a foreign wife like our regiment commander," the squad leader continued.

"No, no, my dad will beat me to death when he gets home." The soldier was horrified.

Not every Chinese can accept their son marrying a foreign wife. If she knows Chinese, it's fine. If not, do they have to communicate by gestures every day?

Fortunately, Huang Li's old man doesn't have to worry about this problem. Huang Li has been teaching his wife Chinese for the past two years. Now his wife has learned Chinese well and has no problem with basic communication. She has long since gotten out of the stage where she greets people with "Have you eaten?" when they come out of the toilet.

"Hahaha... you're wrong. Our regiment commander said that marrying a foreign wife will make her have a big frame and be able to give birth. If you have the ability, after marrying a foreign wife, you can also marry your lover at home. When a group of little ones are born and call your old man "grandfather", will your old man still have the heart to beat you?" Huang Li thought it through.

Huang Li did exactly that. He didn't let his wife come back with him this time because he had this idea. When his wife gave birth to the child, it would be a done deal. By then, his old man would be too busy caring about his grandson to care about his unlucky son.

Elders are all relatives of the next generation.

While they were talking, a small steamer came up in front of them. Tianjin Port had arrived.

"Line up, line up... No, stand on the slope, stand on the slope, stand straight for me..." Huang Li shouted loudly. Even though he was used to seeing life and death, he couldn't help but get excited at this time.

Hometown is more timid.

The soldiers quickly separated and ran to their respective positions according to the rules of the exercise.

Strictly speaking, the soldiers who returned to the Republic of China had already left the Foreign Legion, but they had not yet prepared their own uniforms. Qin Zhiyuan certainly looked down on the popular uniform style in China, but it would take time to design a new uniform, and Qin Zhiyuan was unwilling to let others do it.

So the soldiers still wore the uniforms of the Foreign Legion soldiers.

The soldiers' standing posture is also very distinctive. They don't stand at attention with their arms hanging down and their middle fingers close to the trouser seams, but stand with their feet shoulder-width apart, their hands behind their backs, and their left hand holding their right wrists, which is similar to a "straddling" posture.

Compared with standing at attention, this posture is not so serious and is more conducive to the soldiers' relaxation.

After all, the soldiers are not navy, but army, and it is not easy to stand at attention on the rough sea.

If any of them is shaken by the boat, they will become a laughing stock instead of pretending to be cool.

Tianjin Port is the gateway to the capital and the most important port in the north of the Republic of China. The masts and oars are like clouds, and the shuttles are like weaving, which describes this busy and prosperous.

But it is not quite the same as Huang Li and Wu Qing imagined. There are no lights and decorations in the port, no flowers and beauties, and even the merchant ships waiting to unload in front have no intention of giving way. As for the small steamer leading the way, since arriving at Tianjin Port, the small steamer has disappeared in a flash.

"This..." Huang Li was dumbfounded by this scene. He had imagined many scenarios, but he had never imagined such a deserted scene.

"Old Wu, go see if the telegraph operator forgot to send the message." Huang Li had a bad feeling in his heart, but he still thought about the good side.

"Impossible, I sent it myself, how could it not be sent?" Wu Qing was also dumbfounded.

Since the telegram was sent, it means that the officials deliberately neglected it.

Huang Li's fiery heart cooled instantly.