Chapter 1359 Plague

On the streets of London, General Bruce sat in his car after a meeting, preparing to leave the center of the world at the beginning of the 20th century.

It is no exaggeration to say that London is the center of the world today. In terms of population alone, London, with a population of seven million, undoubtedly exceeds most countries in the world today. In terms of economy, politics, industry, and shipping, in addition to Outside of the environment, London has almost no shortcomings.

If London were a separate country, it would be among the best in the world. This is the so-called "one city equals one country".

General Bruce looked at the very crowded London and said to his secretary: "With the naked eye, the population density of London has reached a very terrible level. It is difficult for any city in East Africa to compare with it. That is Dar es Salaam. Compared with London, it looks like a large-scale village.”

His secretary Kovalie, sitting in the passenger seat, said: "It is estimated that only New York in the world can compete with London. Our East African cities still have a long way to go before they can develop to this scale."

"However, London has too many people, too dense buildings, too congested roads and poor air quality, which can scare even unseen country folk."

Bruce agreed and said: "Then I definitely prefer the cities of the Empire. However, when I first arrived in London, it was really shocking. The density of buildings is almost the same as a steel and concrete forest."

From the beginning, cities in East Africa have developed in a different way from cities in Europe and the United States. They have paid more attention to the problem of human settlements. Only in recent years have they begun to build some high-rise buildings. In terms of visual effects, they cannot be compared with cities such as London, New York, and Paris. .

After all, the urban environment in East Africa is more like European and American small towns in terms of details. It has many green belts, parks, water bodies and other landscapes that tend to simulate nature. However, due to design and planning reasons, it is not like European and American small towns. The town is so "pure" natural.

Kovalie said: "This also makes the traffic in London really bad now. The traffic jam is too serious. I don't know how long it will take us to reach the port."

The East African convoy has been submerged in the streets of London. It can be said that it is difficult to move. There are many people and buildings, and the roads are narrow and unreasonable in design.

Bruce looked at the crowded crowds and traffic and complained: "This is indeed a big pain point. It's no wonder that London was the first country to build a subway. There are so many people living in such a small place, and every inch of land is precious. It is very difficult to further transform it, which shows how much effort Napoleon III spent on transforming Paris in the last century.”

In this way, the two of them waited in the car for about thirty minutes before finally leaving Inner London and entering the so-called Outer London area. There were still many buildings around, but the atmosphere of life here was also stronger.

Bruce and Kovale chatted and chatted to relieve their boredom, but soon, Bruce discovered some problems.

Inner London, at least in terms of planning and management, is very good. After all, it is where the London government and wealthy people are concentrated. However, after entering the outer London area, the air quality and environmental sanitation become worse.

Bruce didn't pay much attention to the environment here. What he noticed was the situation of the British citizens living in Outer London.

Bruce found that pedestrians on the road would cough, sneeze and other symptoms from time to time, but so far this situation did not attract the attention of the surrounding pedestrians.

The frequent occurrence of these small details made General Bruce notice this.

His face became serious and he said to Kovale: "There should be a large-scale epidemic spread in London now, but it doesn't seem to have received much attention."

Kovale said: "Your Excellency General, you have been busy with meetings these days, so you have not paid much attention to the situation in London, especially Inner London, where we have meetings and live, where the environment and health conditions are much better."

"In fact, our people have long discovered that there may be large numbers of people infected in outer London, but it is probably only in the past few days that it is so common now."

"There may have been similar cases in London before, but they were very few. However, as an open metropolis, London has intensive exchanges with other countries, so people from the European continent will inevitably gather in London."

"Now it seems that the plague is finally about to break out in London. However, the British may not have the final vigilance yet. British newspapers are also focusing on several important international conferences these days and have no focus on this plague. mentioned."

It was not mentioned in detail, but it was mentioned, but the reports on the plague in some British newspapers were more of a mockery of East Africa and France.

Kovalie said: "The British think we are making a fuss and being afraid of death, and the early symptoms of the virus are indeed not outstanding, but the people of London will probably see the power of this plague next."

"According to the intelligence coming from our country, the mortality rate of the plague personnel quarantined by customs exceeds 4%. If this data is not interfered with by other factors, I am afraid that there will be big problems in the whole of London."

Hearing this, General Bruce said: "London is indeed a place of right and wrong. Let's leave as soon as possible! I heard that this flu is mainly spread through the air. I feel uncomfortable staying here now. If we stay here for a moment longer, we will get into trouble. The possibility is higher, it’s better to return home as soon as possible!”

As Bruce said so, the East African convoy accelerated its pace towards the dock, but it still took a long time in the congested London.

At the dock, East African personnel took Bruce and his party's temperature and carried out simple disinfection work. Two of them had abnormal body temperatures and had to be isolated. At the same time, the ship's doctor also suggested that Bruce and others be observed on the ship for a period of time.

The ship Bruce and others were on was a passenger ship of East Africa. The ship was equipped with professional medical personnel and related medical supplies. Of course, only East African officials such as Bruce could enjoy this treatment.

Just one day later, the passenger ship returned home urgently, with no intention of staying here any longer.

And just one day after Bruce and others left, the epidemic in London completely spread like a wild horse, and a large number of patients appeared on the streets of London. Because of the previous actions of East Africa and France, this deepened the panic of London citizens.

After all, before you and the people around you are not infected with the virus, you can naturally continue to live and work calmly, but when the crisis really comes to you, or even falls on you, it is another matter.

The content of the conversations among the citizens on the streets of London has also changed.

"Qiaosen, your condition seems to be the flu symptoms described in East Africa. East Africans don't tell the truth, do they?"

"Bowers, I feel so uncomfortable, I have difficulty breathing, a headache, and I have no strength at all."

"Qiaosen, maybe it's just a minor cold, you don't have to worry too much."

Having said this, Bowles still consciously took a step back. If it was only Qiaosen who was like this, Bowles might not believe in the existence of the so-called European flu. However, Qiaosen was not the first one, but one of Bowles' many acquaintances who might have contracted the flu virus.

"Qiao Sen, I think you need to rest or see a doctor. I believe you will get better, but I have something to do at home, so I won't chat with you for now. Goodbye!"

Boles simply chose to take a detour home and muttered in his heart: "This should be the fifth one. Could it be that the European flu really existed? It is likely to be so. The damn Sun said two days ago that the European flu did not exist at all."

"Now, it seems that the so-called European flu is not a rumor. I have to let others pay attention when I go home."

Soon, Bowles hurried to the door of his house, and Bowles's house was just a small house that was inconspicuous in the entire slum.

The surrounding environment is very bad. The road in front of the door is bumpy. There are illegal buildings everywhere on the street. Various awnings or temporary wooden houses are crowded together. Even such illegal buildings occupy more than half of the public road area.

And the materials of these illegal buildings are also strange. All kinds of wood, bricks or rags obtained from nowhere are combined with rusty nails.

These materials may come from the countryside, or they may be dismantled from abandoned ships, or brought back from a construction site.

The furniture in the shack is also very simple and worn out, and the source may not be clean. After all, London in the early 20th century was also a paradise for thieves, and the residents of London slums were obviously not very rich, so the source of many things was not asked.

However, as the richest city in the world in the early 20th century, most of the citizens in London had a good income. As for the slums, the residents here were obviously not real London citizens in terms of identity.

And Bowles was such an identity. He was also a countryman who had just arrived in London a few years ago.

So now Bowles's home is obviously not much better in London, but Bowles turned a blind eye to it.

He pushed open the door and said, "Alice, I'm back!"

A young British girl was making a fire and cooking in a narrow house. There was only one coal-burning stove in the whole house. Under the long-term effect of this stove, the walls and roof were smoked black.

"Boles, you're off work!" Alice said.

Bowers said while lying on the bed: "Yeah! I've been burning the boiler all day, and I'm tired and hot, and I don't know when it will end."

The small house of Bowers' family has only one room, so all the furniture is here, and there is no concept of kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, etc.

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Living in a slum is not without its benefits. Although the environment is poor, it can save a lot of money, especially rent.

"By the way, Alice, are there many people in the surrounding neighborhood who have caught a cold or fever recently?" Bowers said to his busy wife.

Alice said, "Now that you mention it, it seems to be true. Mrs. Fore's family has caught a cold, and many people on the street have had the same problem recently."

Bowers said with embarrassment, "If that's the case, we have to be careful. According to what I heard from the factory, this is likely to be the European flu."

Alice asked, "What is the European flu?"

Bowers said, "It's a contagious virus, a terrible virus similar to the Black Death. The factory newspaper said before that this was just alarmist talk in East Africa, but, according to my judgment, it is likely to be true."

Hearing about the Black Death, Alice was shocked. Although she didn't know what the European flu was, the Black Death was well known to Europeans.

Alice asked in a panic: "Is this true? Is the European flu worse than the Black Death?"

Bowers shook his head and said: "I don't know whether this news is true or not, because this is only what East Africa and France say. Our government agencies have not mentioned this."

Alice asked: "Then what should we do?"

Bowers said: "If there is no special situation recently, you'd better not go out. We should stay away from the crowd as much as possible. This is the only thing we can do."

Alice said: "But you still have to go to the factory every day..."

Bowers said helplessly: "Yes, I have to work, this is unavoidable Yes, after all, how can we live without work? You have to go out to buy food. I can't refuse to work, but let's stock up as much food as possible while the food price is cheap now. "

"Besides, I'm in the boiler room of the factory, where there are almost no people. Maybe we can avoid this European flu. "

Alice sighed and said, "It can only be like this, God! When can these hard days end?"

No wonder Alice complained so much. After all, because of the war, the lives of ordinary British people were greatly disturbed. Now that the war is over, the plague has occurred again. It's endless.

At the end of January 1920.

The epidemic in London broke out completely. Just a few days later, the whole of London was almost full of patients infected with the European flu.

In addition to London, other places in the UK were also unavoidable. At this time, the British government in London began to panic.

At the same time, the situation in Europe was not optimistic. Even in France, which had made sufficient preparations, the epidemic had spread to the whole country.

And Germany, Austria-Hungary, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal and other countries have become epidemic areas.

On the other side of the ocean, a large number of cases began to appear in coastal cities of the United States, and other countries along the Atlantic coast were not spared, but because of the distance or degree of openness, the impact was different.

The epidemic is still spreading to the world, and the European flu "predicted" by East Africa has really come.

As the first country to announce the European flu, East Africa was also hit by the European flu, and the coastal areas of East Africa began to have an epidemic.

This means that East Africa cannot keep the European flu out of the country, but fortunately, the East African government is well prepared, and the people have a high awareness of prevention and rich experience in dealing with the epidemic, which makes the epidemic still within the control of the East African government.

When it comes to February, the horror of the European flu is really ushering in a peak worldwide, and a large number of infected people began to die, especially in super-large cities such as London and New York.

Moreover, most of the deaths are young and strong, which undoubtedly further caused panic in various countries, especially France. President Clemenceau held an emergency meeting and introduced a stricter epidemic control bill.

After all, for the French government, population is the most valuable asset. After losing a large number of people in the war, France's population structure has been seriously damaged. Now French leaders such as Clemenceau do not want to suffer another major population loss.

When France was preparing to launch a second round of anti-epidemic work, European and American countries had to learn from France and East Africa, because this flu was not only aimed at ordinary people, but also some politicians and businessmen began to be affected. This made people from various countries realize the horror of the European flu, and all countries had to follow up and adopt corresponding epidemic prevention policies.