Ulugh's Reign : Part 7
The war looked bad. Ulugh could not help but be worried for his country. It was a feeling new to a Khan of the Golden Horde. During his time in the army he had travelled to the Ottoman Empire on an official visit. In that time of more friendly relations he had seen drills of the Ottoman Empire, he had seen the destruction their modern techniques and firearms could inflict. As if that wasn't enough proof he had unfortunately been witness to bloody battles between the Horde and the Ottomans before. Most of the blood had been spilled by Horde riders.
This war though Ulugh had been advised by many. A wise plan had been formulated to make sure this war didn't turn into a walkover for the Ottomans. It involved striking at the weakest links in the whole enemy alliance.
But first a swift strike at the Ottomans and Shirvan was in order. Kairwan and Ulugh led the two pronged attack.
Golden Horde strategy - Strike first
The Ottomans though struck at the more vulnerable underbelly of the Horde, the south.
Ottoman Empire strategy - Strike hard
Sibir was a thorn in the north. Not much of a threat but enough of a presence to be an irritation. They had been ignored in wars before but this time Ulugh would not have it. An army of fifteen thousand headed for the small Khanate. But Sibir was protected by some of the most formidible terrain in the world. In winter its lands were windswept and frozen solid. But in summer the long days melted the ground into a mess of bogs and quagmires. The Hordes army were trapped by the swampy terrain and ambushed by Sibir who were far more experienced at moving in the terrain. Though outnumbered Sibir won the battle as the Horde's cavalry floundered around.
It was quite an embarrassment for Ulugh but he managed to keep any news of the defeat leaking out.
As the army reorganised for the second strike at Sibir scouts infiltrated the nation. There they followed Sibir's army as it moved. They uncovered a complex series of paths and roads through the swamp. They were twisting and concealed but much faster than travelling in the surrounding land. Using this knowledge the Horde rode again into Sibir. This time Sibir could not resist there army was crushed only a couple of thousand escaping into the bogs. The siege of Sergino began.
"What's all this creamy stuff around us?", said one soldier.
"I'm not sure", replied the other, "but I do know I won't go there until land tech 31, whatever that is."
The new year arrived with the winter. In Sibir things turned into a living nightmare. The only fuel for the fires of the besieging army was peat but that required fire to dry out in the first place. Many, many men froze to death in that winter as they tried to break the defenders.
Sieging Sibir is absolutely horrible
The news was better further south. In the relatively boiling climate of Daghestan the walls of the city were breaking, the end was in sight.
A new army of recruits was formed for the siege of Sergino in January. quality was not an issue for this what was needed was numbers. The new recruits were mere footsoldiers, something of a rarity in the horse oriented Golden Horde.
Dahestan was captured in February. With it the head of the enemy alliance too was taken. Peace could now be taken at any time but now was not yet the right moment.
April and May marked a turning point in the war. Prior to this time the chief part of the war had involved the Ottomans besieging the southern parts of the Horde while the Horde lay siege in northern provinces of the Ottomans. But during these months Elbruz and Bukhara were captured by the Ottomans while the Horde took Khwarizm and Belgorod.
Now the war became much more mobile and battle oriented. The Ottomans began sending armies north into the Golden Horde. There were numerous battles. Some went very poorly for the Horde. In June four and a half thousand Ottoman soldiers defeated an army three times their size easily. Such defeats became common place for sometime. Then in November Kairwan captured Crimea and went on show Ulugh why he was chief of the army.
With his army of twenty five thousand riders he struck at the unsuspecting Ottomans in Donetsk. The enemy was completely annihilated. Not even letting his men rest he rode on to Krementjug where the same scene was again played out. Now there remained only one enemy army in the western Horde, ten thousand heavily armed men besieging Jedisan.
Kairwan was not put off. From a vantage point overlooking the siege of the city across the river he planned the attack. The Ottomans were encamped all about the city with guns at the ready. But they had one weakness. Their leadership was encamped on the far side of the city where they least expected to be attacked. But Kairwan liked to do what was least expected.
The diagram shows the battle of Jedisan July 15 1542. The main forces of the Horde led an attack across the river. The two forces there were evenly matched. But Kairwan personally led a small detachment around the hills to the north of Ochakov. They ambushed and completely overran the leadership of the Ottoman army. Once it was leaderless the enemy army quickly broke and retreated. But the survivors did not get far as they were relentlessly hunted down. Kairwan's only regret was that none would live to tell Suleyman of the magnificent strategies of Kairwan.
Kairwan's army rests after a very successful campaign
In the south the war was not so successful. A sixteen thousand strong Horde army was defeated by an Ottoman one a quarter of it's size. In the same month Tabaristan, Karabogaz, Khawarizm and Turkmenistan were lost to the Ottomans.
Fortunately the final part of the war came in October. Sergino at last fell. It was time for the last part of the advisors initial plans for the war. Peace was signed first with the now powerless Khan of Sibir. His nation was forced to give up 100 ducats and become a vassal of the Golden Horde. Next a peace was signed with the rest of the alliance. Actually only SHirvan were present at the talks but they were leaders of the alliance and probably much to the dismay of Suleyman they accepted peace. Shirvan became vassals of the Horde like Sibir and had to give up 150 ducats.
This left the two great powers in the region in an unusual situation. Both the Horde and the Ottomans were alone. They shuffled about for a little while and looked at their toes then the Horde said quietly to the Ottomans
"Will you, umm, will you ally with me?"
"Umm, ok" replied the Ottomans not looking up from her toes still.
The results of the war, an old ally returns, a new vassal and a former one comes back to the fold
To thank Allah for his good favour in the war, Ulugh spent much of the new found cash on attempting to convert Nizhgorod. The rest he wisely invested in fortifying Krementjug. There was no telling how long this peace with the Ottomans might last.