Ulugh II's Reign : Part 4
With the aid of some slightly stained pictures taken by spies, the defences of Kaffa were breached by the Horde in the second month of 1532. In the east the army met with similar success capturing Karaganda.
Inside Kaffa the scene turned ugly quickly. Ulugh was thirsty for revenge. He personally led bands through the city seeking out Crimean soldiers who were then brutally slaughtered in retribution for the destruction their nation had brought to the Horde's lands.
In one of the last corners of the city to be sacked by the invaders, Sa'adat's son Muhammed Giiray was found unarmed and trapped. Ulugh jumped at what he saw as an opportunity for perfect revenge. He personally slew the cowering Prince before mounting his head upon a stake.
As time went on though and Ulugh's blood cooled he became ashamed of his act of revenge. Feeling remorseful over killing such a defenceless person he decided to take pity on Crimea. Peace was granted to them in exchange for their money and Kaffa.
At last Kaffa is in the hands of it's rightful owners
Volgograd was captured by the Ottoman's in May. They were surprisingly merciful upon the inhabitants though, perhaps they weren't really interested in this war. After capturing it the main army moved back south to lay siege of Kouban.
It was now time to follow Kairwan's advice and strike at Shirvan. The army was regrouped at Astrakhan but moved there via Volgograd distracted the Ottomans who thought Ulugh was gonig to attempt to free the capital.
Regrouping for invasion
Abkhazia was successfully converted to Islam in April 1533. Taking this as a sign from Allah that the time was right Ulugh invaded Daghestan the heart of Shirvan.
Ulugh found himself almost grateful that Shirvan wasn't fighting on his side. Their army put up pitiful resistance. They were nearly tripping over themselves to get away from the Horde as they were routed in only a day.
Able to spare a good portion of his army from the siege of Daghestan Ulugh sent them back home to retake Volgograd.
1534 passed with only the sieges of the two capitals progressing. Until the end of the year that was. The Ottomans were not gonig to give up their hard earned gains so easily. They attacked the Horde besieging Volgograd. Despite having an army only a third of the size of the Hordes they were able to win decisively. Ulugh was dismayed by this, it was a story that had been repeated many times in the war. Defeat was not something the Golden Horde should know. From now on the Horde would be more committed to a better army.
The opportunity to focus solely on improving the army came in January 1535. Daghetan was captured. Shirvan now were desperate for peace as was shown by their offer.
At last
Ulugh was overjoyed at the prospect of getting the Ottomans out of his country. Of course he didn't let this show instead he appeared to accept the peace begrudgingly as if he were doing Shirvan a favour.
Finally the Horde takes control of lands it should have had a long time ago
Now was a time for peace. Over half of the country lay in waste as enemy armies had marched over it. Up north a typical Horde event was taking place
When does the rebelling stop
But it was soon crushed, in true Horde style, by thousands of hooves and arrows.
As peace returned to the country Ulugh came to see the beauty of the land when it was not trampled by marching feet. He wanted it to stay with way, the only land getting trampled should be that of his enemies. In order to help his dream he arranged a marriage between his son Bamtuden and Afet of the Ottoman Empire, it was a union that showed no grudges between the two nations even if relations were a little more strained than before.
But the situation changed dramatically in late 1536. It emerged that for some years now Crimea had been deeply in the sway of the Ottomans. Now the two nations became even closer, Crimea was annexed into the Ottoman Empire. Ulugh was not happy about such a move. The Ottoman's knew that north of the Black Sea rightfully belonged to the Horde but now they chose to openly defy them.
Ulugh became suddenly aware of the fact that friendly relations might not be enough and he felt the Horde needed allies, but who?
