/kloc-what happened to the little-known Chinese workers who were sent to the European battlefield more than 0/00 years ago?

In the Spring Festival of 2002, an old man from Jiangsu died in La Roscher at the age of 106. After the news came out, the local newspaper commented: "His death marks the end of a period of history."

The old man's name is Zhu Guisheng. His life has experienced three centuries and a glorious history of more than one hundred years. ......

19 14, the first world war broke out on the European continent. The German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire form one side, while Britain, France and Russia form the other. They fought to the death on the European battlefield. In order to enhance combat effectiveness, almost all young and able-bodied young men were recruited to the front line to participate in the battle.

As a result, the gap of labor force in the economic industry and logistics in the rear areas of various countries is getting bigger and bigger, especially after the Battle of Verdun and the Battle of the Somme in19/6, the Allies suffered heavy losses, and their logistics supply lines almost reached the point where they could not be maintained. Britain and France were in urgent need of a large number of labor force.

They tried their best and finally set their sights on China in the East. At that time, the Qing government in China was overthrown in the Revolution of 1911, and the Beiyang government became the external spokesman of the country.

19 15 12. France sent a military delegation to China to negotiate with the then Beiyang government to recruit workers to serve in the British and French battlefields in China. They specially posted advertisements on the wall to recruit China workers:

Chinese laborers, as the name implies, are China laborers. As early as the late Qing Dynasty, many poor people in poor areas were introduced to foreign countries to work and earn money to improve their families' lives.

Zhu Guisheng is a farmer in Danyang, Jiangsu. 1896 was born in an authentic peasant family. 1At the end of the 9th century and the beginning of the 20th century, the motherland was in constant war and people's lives were very difficult. So is Zhu Guisheng's family. Seeing the recruitment notice in France, Zhu Guisheng was moved and wanted to work abroad to support his family.

There are many people like Zhu Guisheng, so countless people signed up as soon as the recruitment notice in France was posted.

19 16, 20-year-old Zhu Guisheng boarded a mail ship from Shanghai and prepared to go to the war zone. As a result, after the departure, the mail ship encountered a strong wind, and many Chinese workers, including Zhu Guisheng, drifted at sea for more than five months. There was only rice on board, so they ate a little rice for a meal. In this way, after a few months, I went through all the hardships.

More than five months later, Zhu Guisheng arrived in Marseille Port in the south of France by mail, and was later assigned to serve in the battlefield in Reims District of La Roscher.

It is reported that many Chinese workers will receive short-term military training after arriving in Europe, and then they will be assigned to the British and French Coalition forces to engage in battlefield operations and rear-end combat. At that time, more than 6,543.8+0.4 million Chinese laborers were brought to the European continent, of which 96,000 were assigned to the British, 37,000 to the French, and 6,543.8+0,000 were "loaned" to the American Expeditionary Force in Europe.

It is worth mentioning that among the more than 1.4 million Chinese workers who went to Europe at that time, about 1 10,000 Chinese workers came from Shandong. At that time, there was a severe drought in Shandong, and most of the crops planted by farmers failed. Life is poor and hard, but people must survive.

The treatment given by France to Chinese workers is domestic 10 yuan Ocean and foreign 10 yuan subsidy. You know, at that time, 1000 yuan could buy 1000 Jin of sorghum, which undoubtedly brought great hope to poor families, so many Shandong people chose to sign up for Europe.

Every admitted Chinese worker needs to cut his braid, take a bath, change clothes and have a physical examination. The French will give them a number. From then on, this number is their name. Zhu Guisheng's work number is 27746.

After coming to France, Zhu Guisheng was immediately taken to work in a flour mill near La Roscher. Because of the shortage of front-line logistics staff, Zhu Guisheng was arranged to deliver food and ammunition to the front. In fact, in France, Chinese workers like Zhu Guisheng are not bad.

Some China workers assigned to Britain were sent directly to the front to do the most arduous and dangerous work, such as digging trenches, building fortifications, digging and burying bodies, clearing mines and building roads and bridges. You know, bullets and shells on the battlefield are not long-sighted, and working on the battlefield often leads to death.

According to historical records, a group of Chinese workers just arrived in the British battlefield and happened to be bombed by German bombers. They are all simple farmers with their backs to the loess. How did they experience these tragic wars and these high-tech combat weapons? Workers in China have never seen a plane, but they look at the sky curiously, only to be blown to pieces by bombers and sleep in a strange country forever.

In fact, many China workers died on the battlefield. Participating countries such as Britain and France always put Chinese workers at the forefront. On the surface, they are digging trenches. In fact, the trench where they work is very close to the enemy's trench. Workers in China stood in front of the trench and worked until the trench was dug. Foreign soldiers come in, so they are actually at the forefront and the most dangerous place.

Sometimes, the Germans will suddenly rush in. Those foreign soldiers are holding weapons in their hands and thinking only of themselves. In order to protect themselves, China workers who built trenches had to use their tools to fight the Germans. When reinforcements arrived, most of them were already dead.

Many years later, a student from South China University of Technology in Weihai, Shandong Province recalled:

There is also a man named Yan Zhensheng who recalls his life during World War I:

To be sure, these Chinese workers live a very hard life in a foreign country. Weak-willed people may even lose the idea of survival. Of course, more are China men who are constantly striving for self-improvement. They rely on their own strength to survive tenaciously in distant countries.

In order to survive, some Chinese workers organize various strikes and protests, pursue their own rights and interests, and even set up literacy classes and cram schools if possible. In order to live better abroad, they learned many skills.

At first, Chinese workers did the heaviest manual work at the bottom, but with the excellent quality of hard work and hard work in the ancient East, they soon became "first-class workers" in European factories, and they can be seen in ports, stations and other places where almost everyone in Europe comes and goes.

The commander-in-chief of the French army wrote in a letter to the French Prime Minister:

19181kloc-0/October, the world war, which brought great disasters to countless people, ended, but the work of laborers was far from stopped.

The place swept by the war was a mess, so workers were arranged to bury the bodies and clean up the battlefield. It seems that this is a "cleaning" job, but it is equally dangerous. There are many bombs that may explode at any time on the battlefield. Once the workers just clean up there, they will lose their lives.

After World War I, except for tens of thousands of Chinese laborers who died in the European continent, the rest of the surviving Chinese laborers ushered in a completely different destination. ......

1918165438+1October 1 1, the first world war officially came to an end. The British colonial secretary telegraphed to Lockhart, the chief executive of the British ahava Concession, to express his gratitude:

The "South China University of Technology Corps" with extraordinary combat effectiveness is a force that cannot be ignored on the battlefield. These visiting countries also know their importance. Of course, this thank-you also affirmed the contribution of South China University of Technology. Then at the post-war Paris Peace Conference, Japan, with the support of the United States and Russia, ignored the contribution of our working people.

1919 65438+1October 18, the 27 victors of World War I held a meeting in Versailles, Paris, France. At the meeting, Japan tried to seize all German rights and interests in Shandong Province on the grounds that China did not send a single soldier to participate in the war. The representative of our government headed by Gu Weijun was furious and refused to sign the Treaty of Versailles.

At the meeting, Gu Weijun sharply reprimanded those representatives who claimed that China did not take part in the war: "Our country10.4 million laborers fought bloody battles in the European battlefield. Who dares to deny their contribution? "

When Japan's unreasonable demands and the bad news at the Paris Peace Conference were sent back to China, Chairman Mao's patriotic enthusiasm, who was a teacher at Changsha Primary School, was suddenly aroused. Facing the students, he said passionately:

The failure of the Paris Peace Conference aroused the patriotic passion of countless aspiring young people, and the vigorous May 4th Movement broke out in history. After the Paris Peace Conference, the patriotism of countless people awakened, and after this conference, European workers also ushered in a turning point in their own destiny.

Some people choose to return to their motherland. Most of them returned to China at 19 19 and 1920 to start their lives again.

Take Wei Liu, a farmer from a remote village in Qingzhou, Shandong Province as an example. He is an ordinary worker in China with a population of10.4 million. In the summer of 65, 438+0, 965, 438+09, Liu returned to his hometown with the Chinese workers in his hometown and was welcomed by the whole village. His parents lost their minds because they were worried about their distant son. Liu knelt down in front of his parents, tears streaming down his face, and spoke all his thoughts.

On the day when the workers in China returned to the village, the crying almost spread all over the village. Before Liu left, he had two sons. He tried to save money in the European battlefield. After returning to his hometown, Liu sent his two sons to primary school with the money he earned by risking his life.

Hard work is like labor, which brings back little money. After the two children graduated, the money left at home was only enough for one person to study. After much deliberation, Liu decided to let his eldest son, Liu Renshan, be an apprentice in a drugstore in Yidu County, while his youngest son, Liu, continued to study. His father taught his two children to be patriotic and make contributions to the motherland.

Later, Liu Renshan, the eldest son of Liu, joined the New Fourth Army. With the medical skills he learned in the pharmacy, he became the dean of the field hospital and made painstaking efforts for the war of resistance. Liu's youngest son was admitted to Nankai University in Tianjin, where he stayed as a teacher and has been deeply engaged in academic research for many years.

It can also be said that the money Liu earned in the European battlefield changed the direction of this family's life, and there are many people like Liu.

Of course, some workers still choose to stay in Europe. At that time, the French government publicly announced:

So many people choose to stay in France to find jobs and settle down, and more than 3,000 Chinese workers choose to stay in France. Zhu Guisheng is one of them.

Zhu Guisheng settled in La Roscher, a seaport pier. With excellent skills, Zhu Guisheng found a job as a crane driver. Life is neither too good nor too difficult. At least he can solve the livelihood problem.

Before coming to France, Zhu Guisheng was still young and not married. In France, Zhu Guisheng met a French girl named batiste. She appreciated Zhu Guisheng's efforts and they fell in love. 192 1 year, Zhu Guisheng and batiste entered the marriage hall and established their own small family in France. After marriage, batiste gave birth to three children for Zhu Guisheng.

In 1930s, with the resumption of World War II, German fascists captured the Reims district where Zhu Guisheng lived. In the past, Zhu Guisheng suffered from war. Now, the wind is blowing again, and Zhu Guisheng did not hesitate to sign up for the army with his son and set foot on the battlefield again. Zhu Guisheng is a little old and is in charge of logistics in the army. His main task is to dispatch troops and horses.

Fortunately, Zhu Guisheng once again survived the cruel war years; Unfortunately, Zhu Guisheng's youngest son died on a warship, leaving his family with endless pain.

After the end of World War II, Zhu Guisheng's family still lived in La Roscher. He still worked in different jobs at the dock, including electrician and driver, until his retirement.

It is naturally impossible to say that he doesn't miss his hometown. Sometimes Zhu Guisheng works at the dock, and when he sees the freighter coming from Hong Kong, he will feel homesick. He also warmly invited the crew to visit his home, took photos with them and hung the photos at home all the time. For Zhu Guisheng in a foreign country, these people who have never met before are also "family".

Every time Zhu Guisheng's birthday comes, the newspaper in La Roscher will make some special reports on his life, and the mayor of La Roscher will go home to congratulate him.

In 2002, Zhu Guisheng, an old man from Jiangsu, died in France. He was the last worker to die. The local French newspaper commented: "His death marks the end of a period of history."

Indeed, Zhu Guisheng's life lasted for three centuries. From World War I and World War II to peacetime, he experienced a magnificent real history.

Of course, this great history, these Chinese workers who have experienced hardships should not be forgotten. 1998, the French government erected a granite stone tablet in Bodgul Park, a Chinese town in Paris 13. This stone tablet is dedicated to the memory of China laborers and soldiers who died for the French in the First World War.

In 20 17, the statue of Chinese workers in World War I was built in the village of Booth in Poplinger, Belgium. Mayor Poplinger delivered a speech:

My descendants will never forget that great history written with life and blood!