The fields of Kazan, once green and teeming with life, now lay soaked in blood and ash.
The rebellion in the Volga region, fueled by Ottoman gold and British advisors, had erupted into open war.
Warlords, ex-generals, and rogue Cossacks carved up villages and towns, declaring themselves "Princes of the New Dawn."
Mikhail's response was swift.
[Deployment: Iron Spear Armored Squadron + 3 Mechanized Infantry Divisions]
The Leviathan, Behemoth, and Fenrir roared across the riverlands, their guns spitting fire and steel.
Each armored train operated as a mobile command center, coordinating with the newly formed Mobile Logistics Units to maintain constant forward momentum.
Major Rostov, now promoted to Field Marshal, led the assault.
The first major engagement occurred at Tsivilsk.
The rebels had entrenched themselves along the riverbanks, expecting to bog down any advancing army.
They hadn't counted on the Iron Tsar's machines.
Cipher Corps agents infiltrated the rebel camps days before the battle, sabotaging artillery and cutting supply lines.
When the Leviathan's cannons opened fire, they shattered half the rebel defenses before a single foot soldier crossed the field.
[Battle Outcome: Decisive Imperial Victory]
Survivors fled into the forests, only to be hunted by Cipher tracking teams armed with steam-powered motorbikes—another of Engineer Volkov's innovations.
News of the defeat spread like wildfire.
Whole rebel bands surrendered without firing a shot, dropping their weapons and kneeling before Imperial banners.
In Kazan itself, the self-proclaimed "Duke of the Dawn" barricaded the city, refusing parley.
Mikhail ordered no mercy.
The siege of Kazan became a brutal demonstration of the Empire's new power.
Mobile artillery platforms bombarded the walls day and night. Mechanized infantry tunneled beneath fortifications, planting explosives.
After five days, the city fell.
Rebel leaders were executed publicly. The citizens were spared—but every town square now bore a towering bronze statue of Mikhail, clad in mechanized armor, holding the scepter of gears.
[Morale Impact: Empire +15% | Rebels -30%]
[Territory Secured: Volga Region]
Yet, in victory, seeds of future conflict were sown.
The brutality shocked foreign observers.
British newspapers decried Mikhail as "The Iron Tyrant."
Ottoman emissaries whispered of holy war.
And deeper within Russia, religious sects began calling the mechanized soldiers "abominations."
Mikhail stood on the precipice of greatness—or ruin.
He knew the storm had only just begun.
[System Notification: Imperial Standing – Unstable Ascendancy]
In the war room, as generals toasted their victories, Mikhail gazed silently at the maps.
South. East. Even across the frozen seas.
Enemies waited.
The Empire must strike first.
And it must strike with a fury no nation had ever witnessed.