The Rostov line was a marvel of engineering built over three weeks the defensive line stretched from the Sea of Azov to the Caspian Sea. The men who garrisoned it knew that if they failed the Russian Republic would burn for an eternity. The broken forces that had tired to hold Ukraine withdrew and reinforced the line adding some desperately needed experience and tactics to the conscripted men who had been used to fighting Guerrillas not the Imperial forces that were storming south. The problem with reassigning the forces fighting the Guerrillas to the Rostov Line was that the already troublesome Guerrillas started to ravage the supply lines and patrols of the Republican forces.

To the Imperial forces the Rostov line represented the last dying breath of the Republican forces it had been built hurriedly and in many places was little more then a series of Trenches. The Commanders of the initial assault assumed that they would be able to overwhelm the line with sheer numbers and perhaps by use of one of the Land-Ships. This failed miserably as the Lad-Ships had been designed with wheels and thus were unable to go over the trenches this was also the occasion of the first land-ship death in history. When Mannerheim heard of the failure of the assault, he immediately ordered all of the land-ships back for refitting.

The first assault on the Rostov line was a failure and was the bloodiest battle in the Russian Civil War with the reconstructed First Latvian Division being reduced to a Brigade from the casualties. But while the Republicans celebrated and launched an assault across the Sea of Azov to attack the Free Peoples State of Crimea. The Monarchists began to study their failure and learned what had gone wrong in the initial assault. They had assumed that the morale and number of the men would be able to overwhelm the trenches but against bullets and barbed wire morale does nothing. The land-ships had proven useful bit their wheels were unable to cross the trenches. Thus, it was decided that the land-ships wheels would be replaced with treads so they could cross the trench and led the Imperial charge.

The Free Peoples State of Crimea was hated by both the Monarchists and the Republicans as the Monarchists saw them as godless traitors who bowed to no master and the Republicans saw them as traitors to the Revolution in thrall to the Bourgeoisie. The Republicans attempted to retake the peninsula following their victory in the first battle of the Rostov Line. Operation Cromwell was the first, last and only use of the Workers Revolutionary Navy. Led by their flagship the Destroyer PRV (Proletariat Revolutionary Vessel) Freedom the Republicans attempted to land on the eastern end of the peninsula and march west to Sevastopol. The landings were successful at first capturing Kerch and striking as far inland as Theodosia before they were repelled in a series of battles. The attempted evacuation was intercepted by the newly formed Royal Airforce and the PRV Freedom was sunk by a pair of Death Gliders trapping the invading force in Kerch as they were slowly eradicated. The Monarchists fought against dogged resistance as they pushed over the Isthmus of Perekop. The battle of Perekop lasted for two weeks but the last defender fell in battle, and the interior of Crimea lay open to the Imperial advance.

-Extract from Into the Death an IBU documentary

The United States Presidential election of 1916 was divided between four major parties competing for the White House. Theodore Roosevelt continued on as the candidate for the Progressive Party and would continue with the coalition that had emerged during the last election with a Republican in the form of Joseph Gurney Cannon holding the Vice-Presidential position. The opposition to the Bull-Moose Party came in the form of the Democrats the traditional rival of the Republicans their presidential candidate of Thomas Roger Marshall and his Vice-Presidential Candidate of John Nance Garner drew the majority of their support from the South as was traditional. The other major opposition to the Progressives came in the form of the new American Conservative Party or as they were better known the Bison's they had been formed in late 1913 drawing members from both the Democratic and Republican parties. The Conservative's first Presidential candidate was Oscar Branch Colquitt former Governor of Texas while his Vice-Presidential candidate was Woodrow Wilson.

The election is considered to this day to be one of the most contested Elections in American history but not in the usual sense while everyone knew that Theodore Roosevelt would win the election a majority of the population was more interested in who came second. The Democrats had become known mostly as a southern party while the new Conservatives had become seen as the party that reached across America in unity against the Progressives. While many in the modern Democratic-Conservative Party have criticized the infighting between the two early on in their formation the majority of modern political scientists believe that it allowed the Conservatives to develop a unique identity beyond a northern version of the Democrats that stood them well in the next midterms.

-Extract from Hilary Roosevelt's book King Theodore I: The Founder of a Dynasty

The refitting of the Imperial land-ships took three weeks as the wheels were removed and replaced with tracks that allowed them to go over trenches in order to break through the Rostov Line. The land-ships were held back for another three weeks beyond that as the next two land-ships were completed bringing their total number up to five. When word came from Crimea that Dzhankoy had fallen to the Imperial advance Michael II authorized Mannerheim to use the land-ships to break through the Rostov Line Mannerheim was more than happy to comply. The land-ships gathered north of Rostov itself the final assault was about to begin.

The initial assault began at dawn when the land-ships led the charge towards the enemy line across the line the Imperial forces attacked while the guerrillas loyal to Michael II ambushed every patrol and supply convoy that they could find. The land-ships weathered the wrath unleashed by the Republican forces and even counter fired a few times then they reached the barbed wire. The tracks crushed the barbed wire and then reached the trenches they crossed the trenches raking along them with machine gun fire and the Imperial infantry stormed the trench. The battle of Rostov was a crushing victory for the Imperial forces the city fell and the Republicans were forced back across the line the final offensive had begun.

The Imperial forces main aim was to cross the Don river. If they did that, they had one less defensive position to take as the Don river represented one of the last great defensive positions that the Republicans held in their rapidly dwindling territory. The Republicans knew this and fought to the death at every position they could while they could never stand against the land-ships they could and did hold out against the land-ships long enough to allow the most important defenders to withdraw. It seemed that the Republicans would be able to withdraw to the Don river and hold off the monarchists. Then the Imperial fleet arrived as aid for the monarchists led by the IRS (Imperial Russian Ship) Sinop. The imperial fleet aided in the assault over the Don river by allowing the infantry men to board the ships and flank the Republican defenders. The Republicans were forced to cede the end of the Don river to the Monarchists and they slowly started to work their way south towards the mountain tops of the Caucasus and the city of Baku the residence of the Republican government.

-Extract from Chris Bowe's book War among the Peaks: The end of the Russian Civil War