The Chinese Labor Corps: A Coppersmith’s First World War

Name: The Chinese Labor Corps: A Coppersmith’s First World War
Author: Li Tiejun

华工军团：一名铜匠的第一次世界大战

by Li Tiejun (李铁君)

Status: Completed
Length: 527k Words
Genre: Historical
Subgenre: Unknown
Updated: 1y ago
Source: Fanqie

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Stats

14Chapters

466Reads

9.5Score

154Listens

55.9kReads · all time

Synopsis

【Cross-border romance + an underdog's rise + a hero of World War I + rural life + bandits】From a wedding hall in Shandong to the trenches of Europe, an epic expedition by an ordinary man! On the day of his wedding, Shandong coppersmith Li Zhongfu discovers that soldiers and bandits have joined forces to massacre Wuji Town, where his fiancée Su Huizhen lives. At the brink of life and death, Li Zhongfu saves the townspeople, but Su Huizhen disappears. After accidentally uncovering the secret behind the collusion between officials and bandits, he flees to Manchuria and on to Heilongjiang to escape the pursuit of officer Ma Changlin and the revenge of bandit Guo Fu. The flames of World War I sweep across Europe. Li Zhongfu is forced to join the 140,000 Chinese laborers sent to France. Eager to avenge himself, his enemy Guo Fu disguises himself as a recruited laborer and is assigned to the Thirteenth Chinese Labor Battalion alongside Li Zhongfu. They dig trenches under German artillery fire, endure abuse from British officers, and are drawn into a German spy's plot. From enemies to comrades, the two gradually reconcile amid mortal danger: Li Zhongfu saves a British officer during a bombing raid, while Guo Fu is injured fighting a fire and awakens to his duty to his country when China declares war on Germany. The war also tempers the human spirit. Li Zhongfu meets a Belgian girl named Fanny, but painfully parts from her to honor his promise to Su Huizhen. Guo Fu falls in love with Luan Pei, a Chinese girl, and becomes a true soldier. The Chinese laborers bring Eastern and Western cultures together in their New Year celebrations, and build a logistical lifeline with their flesh and blood. When the war ends, Li Zhongfu returns home with an amnesty order and reunites with Su Huizhen, while Guo Fu settles in France and joins the fight against fascism. Half a century later, in his twilight years, Li Zhongfu returns to the Chinese Laborers' Cemetery in Nolette, France, and stays by Fanny, who never married, until they die.

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