The Capture of Kazan

Mikhail knew about the Japanese provocations in the Far East, but there was nothing he could do about them for the time being.

Until he won the civil war and became tsar of the Tsarist Russian Empire, he had no way of commanding the officials and troops in the Far East.

As long as the Japanese did not declare war directly on the Tsarist Russian Empire at this time, Mikhail had no intention of paying them any attention for now.

Once he became tsar, Mikhail would have plenty of opportunities to deal with the Japanese.

In particular, the great war a few years later would once again decide the fate of the Japanese.

Or rather, it would be another great war in which the Japanese staked their nation's entire fortune.

In the previous Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese had staked their nation's entire fortune. After winning, they had reaped enormous benefits beyond imagination.

And so, in their next war with the Tsarist Russian Empire, the Japanese would once again stake their nation's entire fortune.

The Japanese believed they would win again.

Well, in another time and space, the Japanese had indeed won the war. That had allowed them to join the ranks of the world's great powers.

But the Japanese had failed to obtain war reparations.

The Japanese had originally thought they could extort the Tsarist Russian Empire for all it was worth, just as they had extorted the Great Qing Empire.

To their surprise, Nicholas II had not the slightest intention of paying reparations.

He declared that if the Japanese refused to sign an armistice, the war could simply continue.

Even though the Tsarist Russian Empire had lost the war, it was vast and wealthy, with deep reserves of strength. It could easily continue fighting.

The Japanese, on the other hand, had long since piled up mountains of debt to wage the war. If the fighting continued, their own finances would collapse first.

The Japanese could only pinch their noses and accept it, giving up their demand for war reparations.

In this time and space, Mikhail would surely prepare for that war in advance after winning the civil war.

As long as he could defeat the Japanese in the coming war,

the Japanese Empire's rise would be cut short. Its dream and ambition of becoming a world-class power would also be shattered.

The future balance of power in the Far East would be completely transformed!

Of course, the most important task before Mikhail remained winning the civil war, ascending the throne, and becoming tsar of the Tsarist Russian Empire!

The Battle of Kazan had reached its final stage.

Under siege by large numbers of troops from the Caucasus Military District, the forces of the Kazan Military District and Orenburg Military District had suffered heavy casualties.

More than half of the city of Kazan had already fallen under the Caucasus Military District's control.

The troops of the Kazan Military District and Orenburg Military District had low morale and simply could not fight on.

The units that had surrendered to Grand Duke Mikhail were already too numerous to count.

General Afanasiy Klyuchin, commander of the Caucasus Military District, and General Vladimir Kosel, commander of the Orenburg Military District, had also run out of options by this point.

"Does His Imperial Highness still have no intention of sending us reinforcements? If no reinforcements arrive, I'm afraid we won't be able to hold out for even two more days." General Vladimir Kosel was furious.

He felt as though he and the troops under his command had become cannon fodder and chess pieces, abandoned by Grand Duke Nicholas.

"General, His Imperial Highness still wants us to do everything in our power to hold off the rebel attack. He is gathering his main forces to besiege the other rebel army. Only after annihilating the rebels led by General Brusilov will he send us reinforcements," General Afanasiy Klyuchin replied.

"My God! How much longer are we supposed to hold out?" General Vladimir Kosel was extremely angry.

"His Imperial Highness has ordered us to hold out for at least another ten days!" General Afanasiy Klyuchin replied.

"Bullshit! Forget ten days. My troops can't hold out for even one more day." General Vladimir Kosel had lost his patience and began to curse.

General Afanasiy Klyuchin likewise believed that Grand Duke Nicholas's demand was simply impossible to meet.

"There's nothing more we can do in this war. We've already done our utmost. We can't throw our lives away for Grand Duke Nicholas's ambition!" General Vladimir Kosel no longer made any attempt to hide his intentions.

General Afanasiy Klyuchin could not help nodding repeatedly.

They had originally thought that, with the support of many senior military officers, Grand Duke Nicholas would have a strong chance of victory.

But now it seemed far more likely that Grand Duke Mikhail would be the final victor in this war.

"Since things have come to this, I suggest we surrender to Grand Duke Mikhail. If we keep fighting, we still won't be able to hold off the rebels. We'll only let more people die in the war," General Vladimir Kosel suggested.

General Afanasiy Klyuchin hesitated briefly, but ultimately agreed to the proposal.

With all hope completely gone, no one would be willing to fight on.

The two then sent an envoy to request an audience with Grand Duke Mikhail and formally conveyed their desire to surrender.

Even at this point, however, they still wanted to do everything they could to keep their positions.

But to Grand Duke Mikhail, this was utterly unacceptable.

Since they had already sided with Grand Duke Nicholas, they could hardly expect to earn Grand Duke Mikhail's trust.

Besides, Grand Duke Mikhail had always intended to use this war to purge the Tsarist Russian Empire's senior military ranks and replace them with his own people, thereby gaining control of the empire's entire military.

Only then could he ensure Grand Duke Mikhail's control over the entire country.

Mikhail therefore agreed only that, if the troops of the Kazan Military District and Orenburg Military District surrendered, they could be forgiven for their offenses in this war.

However, all generals would be relieved of their posts.

Officers and soldiers could choose to retire or remain in the army.

But if they wanted to continue serving, they would have to undergo an assessment.

Only after passing it could they remain in service.

Generals Afanasiy Klyuchin and Vladimir Kosel were both unwilling to accept Mikhail's terms.

But the fact confronting them was that if they refused and Kazan was completely occupied, their fate was easy to imagine.

When that happened, they would probably be unable to save even their own lives.

In the end, to stay alive, they had no choice but to accept Mikhail's terms.

On the evening of May 12, Generals Afanasiy Klyuchin and Vladimir Kosel led the remaining troops stationed in Kazan in surrendering to Grand Duke Mikhail.

All of Kazan had fallen completely under Grand Duke Mikhail's control.

At the same time, the road to Moscow lay completely open.