Chigakka : Part 1
Choosing between one more dead Khan and negiotiating with terrorists is like choosing whether or not to behead an uzbek. There's only one viable choice to keep the balance of things. And so it was that Chigishi 'sacrificed' himself for the 'prosperity and peace' of the Tatar people.
His son Chigakka ascended the throne. Coincidentally it was upon his decision that the uzbek demands were rejected, a move some claimed was made solely for his own advancement, a claim naturally denied vehemently by Chigakka.
Chigakka 'the Ambitious' takes the seat
As soon as he took power Chigakka began the recruitment of a large new army. They were bound to see action soon enough.
Join the Horde, see the world and the organs of many an enemy
The new armies were trained in warfare by fighting lumps of clay. Clay being the material best considered to match the uzbek for both speed and intelligence. With this specialised training completed the recruits headed to Astrakhan to receive their mission officially, for all were clear on their destination already.
Chigakka himself gave a stirring speech to his armies to really get them into the mood for good old fashioned uzbek bashing. The speech known as the 'Speech of Peace' became very well known and some believe it to have been a basis for future leaders.
"My father was a great man, a bright man. But he was targeted. Attacked by cowards because he was the brightest beacon for freedom this world has. Too long these uzbeks of evil have lived in our lands, taken our money, eaten our food. The time has come to expel them. We will take the fight to them, we will fight them in their hovels, we will fight them in their warrens, we will fight them on the steppes, we will fight them in their brothels, we will never surrender. The time has come to remove the scourge. Remember when they kill one Tatar it is a tragedy, when we kill a million uzbeks it is a damned good statistic"
And so the uzbek issue was at last dealt with competently
The uzbek world following the deportation of those lucky enough to survive
Chigakka's efforts were largely successful but the brutality of them shocked many in the Horde, even those use to beheading and there was some condemnation of the tactics.
News of the efforts soon spread beyond the Horde. Perhaps it this and a fear for a similar thing happening to the Ugrics of Kexholm that motivated to Sweden to make the declaration of war in the winter of 1665.
In true Swedish fashion the invasion came swiftly in the middle of winter. Some considered this to be a tactic to reduce casualties to the Horde by having their army freeze to death beforehand, but most just thought it further proof of Swedish stupidity.
As usual the subtleties of invading when there is no snow escape the Swedish commanders
Meanwhile the last of the uzbek insurgents were tidied up
The remnants of the uzbek people
The Northern front was relatively quiet as Chigakka let the snow and ice do his armies job. But the same couldn't be said for much further south. Apparently Fars was high on Sweden's hitlist.
Fars must have pissed off those Swedish big time
And that's when it got personal. No way would the Persians sit back and let such an insult pass them by. They quickly headed north for some revenge on the Scandinavian weirdos.
Throughout 1666 both Kexholm and Karelia were lost to the Swedish. Their next attempt at Olonets was repulsed easily and then pushed back into Kexholm where a total of thirty thousand Swedes were massacred in true Ulugh fashion. With Kexholm recaptured it was on into Finland virtually unopposed.
Too easy, clearly the Swedes didn't think this through