The next day, when the 4th Tank Brigade arrived at its destination, they could hardly believe that this was Moscow, which they had just left a few days earlier:

Long queues lined up in the streets and alleys, waiting to arm themselves with weapons and tools that had been distributed.

Soviet commissars or instructors with pistols at their waists stood on wooden boxes, waved their arms, and used a small horn to call out to the people nearby.

This was the formation of civil defense divisions, which are said to have recruited 100,000 inhabitants at once, who almost learned to shoot after just a few days of training and then were sent into battle.

In addition, there were separate battalions of workers, who were required to perform both labor and military service, that is, to pick up guns and train in between breaks, to prepare for street battles with the enemy.

Unable to fight, old people, women and even children were involved, digging fortifications for the second and final line of defense of Moscow...... Vyazma was originally the last line of defense, but after it was broken by the Germans, Moscow took advantage of the gap between the German encirclement and annihilation of several Vyazma armies to build a defensive line outside Moscow, that is, the Mozhaisk Line. (Mozhaisk is located west of Mozhaisk, and the road is only 96 kilometers long, which is why the train does not go to the front line and stops in Moscow...... The front line is too close to Moscow, and the train moving forward is vulnerable to enemy bombing)

They worked in three shifts, day and night, under the cold rain and even under the bombardment of the German army, they built anti-tank trenches, pulled barbed wire, built infantry trench barricades, and so on.

Almost everyone was mobilized, and the pedestrians who could be seen walking by were either carrying guns or shovels on their backs.

Therefore, when Shulka and the others got off the bus, the people were not surprised or welcomed by the soldiers who came down as usual...... Their mentality has changed: in the past, the soldiers who came from the railway station were defending Moscow, that is, protecting them. But now they themselves are defending Moscow, soldiers themselves.

It wasn't until the canvas on the flatbed was lifted and the tanks drove down that there was a little applause and cheers around.

However, this did not seem to be the same as the pure cheers before, they were like welcoming their allies.

Walking out of the train station, Shulka thought that there would be a car waiting for them as before, or rather a car assigned to the 333rd Regiment.

Mechanized infantry, of course, must have cars.

But soon he was disappointed.

With a command, the team lined up in a neat formation and followed the tank and walked in the direction of the barracks.

Cars were used for the strain of troops, supplies, and equipment, including transporting civilians out to build trenches and food for them.

So there will simply be no extra cars allocated to the 333rd regiment, and of course there will be no anti-tank guns.

That is, the 333rd regiment became a veritable infantry regiment the moment it stepped off the train.

The anti-aircraft artillery battalions were no exception, they did not get the anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine guns they needed...... Even if they got these, there were no cars to tow and transport ammunition.

"It won't make a difference!" Major Gavrilov comforted the soldiers: "Because the enemy is so close that we don't need cars to transport supplies!" ”

The soldiers laughed, but everyone knew that this was not true, even if the line of defense was close, the tanks needed cars to follow and transport diesel fuel and ammunition, and the soldiers should not be expected to push the oil drums forward!

Katukov also knew this, so he kept asking his superiors for a car from the moment he got off the train, and finally personally ran to the command headquarters to pester Zhukov, who had been pestering him for a while...... At this time, the 4th Tank Brigade was a direct unit of the Western Front and was directly under the command of the Front.

Katukov's efforts soon bore fruit, and the Front transferred 30 vehicles for the 4th Tank Brigade.

These cars were only enough for tank regiments.

For this reason, Uncle Alek was dissatisfied.

"What should I do?" Uncle Alek said, "If you don't have a car, do you still want me to pick up a rifle?" ”

Before the words fell, Major Gavrilov ordered: "The driver receives the rifle!" ”

"No!" Uncle Alek protested: "I haven't shot for more than ten years, I will only use my rifle as a steering wheel!" ”

"Take it, Uncle Alek!" Shulka stuffed the rifle in his hand: "I'm afraid that I won't even have a rifle later, you don't want to face the Germans with your bare hands, or use the steering wheel against them!" ”

Hearing this, Alek's big skin was silent, silently took the rifle and reviewed the shooting essentials.

While in the barracks, a very strange unit joined the 4th Tank Brigade.

It was numbered the 5th Light Infantry Company, which had a small number of troops, less than a hundred, but 108 dogs.

There are all kinds of dogs, shepherds, golden retrievers, Labradors......

"What do they do?" Shulka asked the instructor.

"I don't know!" The instructor shook his head: "Maybe it's for reconnaissance or something!" ”

It didn't take long for Shulka to discover that the dogs would drill into the tank chassis on command, and only the tank chassis...... The dogs were doing just that, gathering in groups under the chassis of the tanks, and then the soldiers gave them a shout of praise and threw them food.

Shulka and the instructor glanced at each other, and then they knew what the dogs were doing.

"Hey!" Shulka shouted to the soldiers of the light infantry company: "Do you guarantee that they will not burrow into our own tanks on the battlefield?" ”

"No, we can't guarantee it!" The commander of the light infantry company replied: "So you'd better turn off the engines when they come out!" ”

"Turn the engine off?"

"Yes!" The company commander explained: "We trained them on tractors, and they could only get food if they got under the tractor with the engine 'rumbling', otherwise they would starve!" ”

It's a good way to do it.

Shulka nodded...... It's just cruel to the dogs, who think they'll get food by burrowing under enemy tanks, but in fact they're waiting to be blown to pieces.

But this seems to be normal, people are dying at gunpoint and muzzle in patches, who cares about these dogs?!

Then Shulka and the others saw the light foot soldiers tying a saddlebag made of linen to the dog.

This saddlebag is like a saddle, except that there are two pockets on both sides of it.

Needless to say, what these two bags are used for, they will be loaded with high explosives or anti-tank mines during combat.

As for the detonating device, it is a four-inch wooden pole that stands on the dog's back and explodes if the explosive is bent.