Chapter 178 Taking care of
Shulka guessed right, Moscow also entered a pre-war state of martial law.
This is mainly because the Soviet government made an important wartime decision a week ago to withdraw some party and government agencies, diplomatic missions, and a large number of factories, enterprises, machinery, and more than 1 million workers and residents from Moscow.
This should be said to be a normal phenomenon, because Moscow has been bombed by the German fleet at this time, and Moscow needs to withdraw its industries to the rear to allow them to continue production.
On the other hand, if Moscow falls, even the machinery and workers for the production of guns and tanks will not fall into the hands of the enemy and be used by them...
France is the best counterexample. The surrender of France actually provided the German army with a complete system of industry and a large amount of manpower, injecting fresh blood into the German war machine.
The problem is that these actions will cause panic in Moscow.
Because everyone will be thinking, these people have withdrawn, does it mean that Moscow is going to be finished? The army intends to abandon Moscow and the Germans are about to hit here?
Then, just like what happened in Kyiv, the whole city spreads the horror atmosphere of the doomsday, and the shops are looted and all kinds of crimes rush to the front.
Then naturally, the National Defense Committee announced: "Moscow is under martial law! All spies, spies and enemies who incite civil strife are executed on the spot! Call on the people of the capital to defend Moscow at all costs!"
So, just like what Shulka and others saw on the train, it was almost empty.
Didn't see crowds until after the train came in...they were all waiting for the train and leaving Moscow.
Shuerka waited for the soldiers to get off the train, and they crowded onto the train with large and small bags, shouting, arguing, cursing... It was a mess, and Shulka and his party squeezed out from among them.
"These cowards!" The actor looked at them and spat on the ground contemptuously.
"Don't say that, Comrade Okunev!" The deputy instructor said: "They are workers and engineers needed by the factory, or other people who need to be protected by the motherland!"
"Yes, Comrade Deputy Instructor!" The actor replied.
But as soon as he turned around, the actor whispered to Shulka: "Look at them, are they really the workers and engineers that the motherland needs?"
Shuerka understood what the actors meant, and some of them were indeed not like workers.
But of course this is not what Shulka and others are discussing.
"Comrade company commander!" The actor then asked again: "What's going on with you and the deputy instructor, you've been..."
"Well, it's a long story, Okunev!" Shulka replied: "The assistant instructor saved me!"
"Saved you?" The actor was frightened by Shulka's words, but he seemed to guess something quickly, so he stopped asking.
Walking out of the train station, there were cars waiting outside. The troops boarded the cars one by one in sequence, and then the cars started to drive forward with a "boom".
The car didn’t have driving lights, and because of the state of martial law, the train station was empty as soon as it drove out, except for a few sentries who stood in front of the sandbag bunker and saluted the convoy.
At this time, the piercing air defense siren sounded, and Shulka's first reaction was to order the soldiers to get out of the car to cover, but the driver obviously had experience in this, and he took the first step to remind: "Don't be nervous, comrade! It's from the west. Air defense sirens, some distance away from us!"
Sure enough, after a while, the familiar whistling sound of German aviation bombs sounded in the distance, and then there were explosions. A series of searchlight beams like laser weapons were shot towards the sky from the ground, and then the anti-aircraft machine guns and anti-aircraft guns rang out in groups, and occasionally the flames bursting out of the sky could be seen... It should be that several German fighter planes were destroyed.
What puzzled Shurka was that in the bright light, Shurka vaguely saw densely packed airships in the sky, huge and clumsy stagnant in the air.
"Are we still using airships?" Shulka asked suspiciously.
Those things only existed during the First World War. Although they are still used by some people, they are mostly used for reconnaissance and artillery comparison, that is, artillery observers are placed in the sky to correct ballistics.
"What?" The driver looked up into the sky, then said "Oh", and replied, "Those airships are used for air defense!"
"Air defense?" Shulka didn't know what this had to do with air defense.
"Yes!" The driver explained: "There are steel cables between them. If the enemy plane descends and hits these steel cables..."
So Shulka understood that this would make it impossible for German bombers to carry out low-altitude and accurate bombing, otherwise the Kremlin would have been in ruins long ago.
The convoy turned left and right on the empty street for more than an hour, and finally drove into a military camp.
Then the order came down: "Use the company as a unit to receive supplies from the quartermaster!"
The soldiers received a brand-new set of equipment. Indeed, everything was new, from top to bottom, including armed belts and helmets.
Then another command followed: "Clean yourself up!"
The so-called cleaning is to take a bath in the public bath... It is a long, narrow and cold room with green paint on the walls, and a long row of faucets on one side of the room from left to right.
"Move fast, move fast!"
With a burst of urging, the soldiers all stripped naked and stood under the faucet.
Shuerka thought it would be hot water, and was about to relax his whole body to greet him... Unexpectedly, a biting cold hit his face, which almost made Shuerka scream.
You must know that September in Moscow has already started to get cold, and now it is a night with a low temperature. The sudden cold water made Shulka gasp and shiver a few times.
The other soldiers were not much better, so some people began to complain:
"Is this the capital Moscow? A capital without hot water?"
"They won't evacuate the workers who boil the water!"
"And we are here to resist the enemy's attack!"
…
But these complaints were quickly silenced by the order: "Shut your mouths! Want hot water? The sparks will make the Germans drop bombs on us, and you'll be 'hot' enough." Already!"
What he said made sense, so the soldiers stopped complaining.
And even this cold water bath is only for 3 minutes before the next batch.
Putting on the military uniform quickly, then buckling up the armed belt and picking up the rifle, Shulka felt much calmer.
"Then!" Shulka raised the rifle in his hand, and asked the assistant instructor beside him, "Do you know why this is prepared?"
If it is just for combat, there is no need for all the equipment to be new. The weapons may still make sense, but it is a waste to wear brand new military uniforms on the battlefield.
"You will know tomorrow!" The deputy instructor said: "I must emphasize to them again, it is a 'breakout hero'!"
(end of this chapter)