Chapter 7: The Engine and the Anvil
Smoke rose from the Neva like incense from a steel cathedral. The clanging of hammers echoed from the outskirts of St. Petersburg, where the first state-sanctioned foundries had begun their awakening.
Mikhail stood on a scaffold above one such factory—Zavod No. 1, the prototype industrial zone birthed from his blueprints. Coal furnaces belched heat. Rail spines stretched outward like veins.
He smiled, though soot stung his eyes.
[System Update: Industrialization Tier I Achieved – Access to Early Manufacturing, Weapon Prototypes, and Trade Efficiency Bonuses] [Innovation Points +80 | Resource Control: Steel, Coal, and Tools Unlocked]
He walked the floor with inspectors, quietly noting inefficiencies, suggesting layout changes, implementing rotating shifts and incentive bonuses—concepts lifted straight from his previous life.
He knew it wasn’t just about machines.
It was about logistics.
He had already begun reworking the empire’s chaotic river barge schedules. He negotiated with Baltic merchants and German toolmakers, disguising military-grade equipment as agricultural implements.
In a drafty war ministry hall, he unveiled the blueprint for what he called the Arktikon Rail Spine—a lightning-fast, single-track military rail network connecting Moscow, Kiev, Tsaritsyn, and eventually the Caucasus.