Dmitriy VI – Part II The Eastern Wars
The nation of Novgorod, a longtime foe of Moscow, couldn't of chosen a more critical time to attack. What they had forgotten, however, was the legendary prowess of Moscow's generals and the vicinity in which their allies were. Paletskiy and his seven thousand were already heading north to take care of the rebellion, and as soon as the peasants were scattered (the leaders, of course, executed), Paletskij handled the usual routine of securing the borders and limiting food sources. Novgorod's army to the east did the wise thing and attacked Zavolochye, the area that cut them off from the rest of their land. In the same time Sjeremetjev was heading deep into the Hordelands, on a victorious streak, but slowly finding himself low on manpower. He managed to conquer Vorozneh in November 1442, with his usual assult technique, and after a week proceded onwards, his troops partially refreshed.
On the north, things were still not going overly well. Paletskij did turn half of the eastern Novgorod army in the east, but Beloozero was under siege. The news of chaos in the country started another peasant rebellion in Archangelsk, the people hoping to overthrow the goverment that taxed them and did little to protect them from Novgorod's hungry armies.
Sjeremetjev's military expertise was not enough to keep Vorozneh. Late in February, it fell back to the enemy forces. Leading his armies towards Crimea, which Poland had conquered, his armies were caught nearly by surprise in Zaporozhia, and he was forced to fight them. His mastery of strategy turned the battle into a draw, and the allied forces of Poland came to turn i tinto a great victory, but he was still stranded in enemy territory, with more armies of the enemy patroling nearby.
The remnants of the army in southern Moscow failed to defend Ninji-Novgorod from the Horde, and they were slaughtered, leaving Ninji besieged. Thus, the Golden Horde made their own push into Muscovite land while Andrei Sjeremetjev was too far to do a thing about it. The war in the north was turning too, when Oleg Turenin managed to slaughter Paletskij's armies in a sudden assault, and forced him to turn tail and run, in April the same year.
Paletskij was at least keeping them busy.
Sjeremetjev knew he had no more time to lose, and he decided to force a truce himself, knowing the king was not the... most intelligent of men, even past his few wise decisions. He would conquer Tambow by assault in April '43, and force the enemy to sign a peace that would be favourable for Moscow on the 3rd of June 1443, in the conquered province of Tambow. He would, he decided, return them their provinces in exchange for three coffers of ducats, to finance their campaign in the north, and forced them to cede their 'right' to Vladimir. Unfortunatelly, they still had claims of some sort on Nijni-Novgorod, and that would be the cause of the later wars.
Sjeremetjev would not have more Sunni territory to defend.
The defense of the northern half of the country left to the less able general, some losses were to be expected. A bit before the peace was signed, in May, Beloozero had fallen to the enemy forces. However, Novgorod itself, the foe's capital, was being assaulted by Pskovians, who claimed it was a part of their country and were ready to kill for that right. Archangelks' peasants were still besieging the area in August and it was on the very verge of falling. Paleskij had a good reason not to come to its aid, however, as Ustyug fell the very same month, and in the following month he would push Barashov's armies back and turn the war once again. It was in November, on the 26th or 27th that Sjeremetjev's eighteen thousand would come and save the garrison in Archangelsk, and commit the 'November Massacre', by the king's command, killing each and every rebelling peasants. They would continue to Beloozero, and thus started the Partition of Novgorod:
The first step of the Partition of Novgorod.
As soon as Poland heard Novgorod was also losing further east, they signed a peace, taking away Novgorod's access to the Baltic. The fact really did mean little to the current leaders of Moscow, as Poland did that without fighting a single battle. It would cause much border friction in the future, but that is a separate matter. Further peasant revolts were occuring, but Paletskij chose to ignore them, leading a push eastwards and winning still. In the west, Sjeremetjev had united his armies with those of Karl VIII Gustav of Sweden and crushed the remnants of Novgorod's army before starting sieges of all of Novgorod's land. The fact they were doing that caused problems – peasants took control of Kostorma in March 1444, and besieged Yaroslavl. With Viatka's fall in June, an army was to be assembled to take care of the peasants. It was then that Sweden commited the second step of the Partition of Novgorod.
No treasury left, and almost no free territory.
With the borders with those countries about to be created, Dmitriy VI, already being called the 'Terrible' by some after the massacre, arranged marriage for his two daughters, to the princes of Sweden and Poland. Furthermore, the peasants were taken care of in August, a small force left as a garrison in Kostorma all that remained. But then the most horrible thing happened – peasants in Moskva rose, angry about the war and about the way they were treated. It was the biggest rebellion up to date, but for some reason it is nearly forgotten to this date. There were no less than eighteen thousand revolters, some even properly equipped, and all the king could hope for is that they would starve to death. The only good thing was the fact the king was not present in the capital at the moment, treking the land to reach Novgorod and sign peace himself.
They have HORSEMEN, damn it!
In the rest of Moscow things were not that grim. Kostorma was reconquered, Spyachy captured and Olonets had fallen. A large but seemingly poorly organized force of revolters rose in Beloozero, and the king did something that was rarely repeated during his lifetime – he would lead a force against them. Sjeremetjev did the same thing in the south, thinking he would free Moskva. Both failed miserably.
Sjeremetjev did somewhat good. Dmitriy just lost.
The best of news came on November '45 – Novgorod, the very capital, fell. Furthermore, one of the enemy officers, a most capable man, was the one who betrayed them from inside and joined Moscow's armies, knowing what was good for him. It was Juozapas Visiovieckis, the very man who kept the Novgorod's armies supplied and organized. This was the Golden Age of the Muscovite Court.
The Golden Age of Moscow.
The war did not stop with that event, even if the end was rather definite. Solikamsk, the easternmost province, lasted until April 11th 1445. A day later, the Prince, still grim from the battle he fled (unharmed, of course, a monarch would not lead a charge in those times) signed peace, for most favourable terms. That marked the last phase of the Partition of Novgorod.
Novgorod – The Capital and Novgorod – The Country now virtually mean the same thing.
The only thing left to do now was to bring order to his land. Dmitriy VI was not a man to pacify, and he would do that by bathing the country in blood. Each and every revolt would end in mass executions, instead of simply killing the leaders and giving the peasants the option to return and work for their feudal lords. He could now do it with far more efficiency, as Visniovieckis had reformed his army's cavalary and supplied them with more deadly equipment, similar to the weapons used by the Timurids, and importing arms from the west as well. With it, the land was progressing towards being rid of the rebelling scum, with the peak being the eventual breaking of the siege of Moskva in August, by Sjeremetjev's thirteen thousand veterans.
Some good news, at the very least.
His country at relative peace, he would try to centralize the state by making the courts controlled by the army officers, and as such making them high judges. His reforms would not sit well with Terentiy Tiesehusen (who styled himself Terentiy I), but as he was he had virtually no claim to the throne save through some long-forgotten line, he only managed to gather some two thousand unhappy soldiers, and right in the province where six thousand soldiers were kept. He did not survive for long. Terentiy Sjtjenjatvev died on the 3rd of October 1445, and the Golden Age of the Royal Court was to end soon.
Dmitriy VI seemingly ruled with an iron hand, but all he actually did was listen to his advisors and add a twist of cruelty to it. It waas indeed by their advice he financed a center of trade in Moskva, to take away a part of the Russian trade from Novgorod. Furthmore, it was them who, through diplomacy, persuaded the Lithuanian Archbishops to influence the Catholic Pope, who in return called a crusade against the Golden Horde. But with all those successes, e still ruled over a nation only seeking for a reason or mean to revolt. Not a year passed without at least six revolts.
Don't worry, it gets much worse.
Zavolochye was the critical point – a province the Sunni Golden Horde had converted to their own faith, and they rose to revolt twice. Finally, missionaries were sent to teach them the merrits of the Eastern Church and their beliefs.
In this period Visnioveckis climbed to fame with his marvelous work in Moscow, but he decided to stay in the Muscovite court. Furthermore, Danijel Kosaca was hired, a man from Montenegro who is most famous for writing down the peasants' tales. Outside Moscow, this period was marked by the decline of Lithuania. The south of their land was being conquered by the advancing Golden Horde, and Russian revolters were trying to free their lands and join the Muscovite state. Furthermore, in 1451, Danzig was formed in Memel, and they would call themselves a 'Constitutional Republic', a most idiotic concept of backwards democracy. The Russian patriots would fail in Lithuania, stopped in the last instant. Dmitriy VI had a plan, a plan his advisors said was not a good one. He would not listen to them, and he would start a new war. A war against a new foe.
EDIT: Here, have a map of Sweden
