A few map changes
(Narration by Shaula)
Uncle Boris and Uncle Paul lose their grip
In August 1603 Crimea yielded Kerch to Ukraine and we were at peace. Farther north, though, the Russians were not at peace at all as they entered years of convulsion and turmoil, a period which came to be known as the Time of Troubles. The boyars' foolish and greedy enslavement of their peasants as serfs only poured more fuel onto the sizzling fires of revolt which soon spread throughout Russia.
Early in 1604 Russia and Poland settled their war; with widespread revolts in both nations they quickly patched up their differences in order to concentrate on internal affairs. But it was too late for that. Outraged peasants burned town after town and both nations were in serious trouble by the end of the year.
The first crack appeared in July 1605. The Russians were unable to control Alga and the Nogai Khan was more than happy to relieve the Tsar of this burden. Nech warned us that this was only the beginning -- if Uncle Boris could not regain control of his lands soon, the Russians might be wracked with a huge wave of defections and lost territory.
So intent was Nech on monitoring the growing chaos within Russia that the news from Poland caught us by surprise. In October 1605 their government collapsed, admitting defeat to legions of rebels. Lithuania was reborn with five provinces, including Kiev (Ukraina province).
Two months later, it was Russia's turn. Their collapse restored control of most of their territory, but Pskov revolted as a new nation. Worse than that, at least for Uncle Boris, was the reappearance of Novgorod in several northwestern provinces including the great trade center.
Farther to the south, the Turks had had problems with rebels off and on for decades. In 1604 their turmoil brought good news for us when Kastamonu defected to our Georgian allies.
Nech's assistants needed years to draw more up to date maps reflecting these tumultuous changes. By 1611 they had completed an accurate map at last:
Wars in the south
In November 1608 a phony war between Armenia and Ak Koyunlu was ended officially. The Ak Koyunluns, unwilling to grant leave to their soldiers, immediately attacked Georgia. Krempsky did not hesitate to honor our alliance call and Ukraine was at war once again. In January we appointed a new Hetman, Andriyevych, and he led our forces from Astrakhan to the relief of Daghestan, then under attack by Ak Koyunlu. The enemy was beaten and driven back to their capital, from where they regrouped and launched an attack on Trabzon in an attempt to avoid our army. But Andriyevych followed them, defeating their reinforcements in Kurdistan and then breaking their siege at Trabzon. At that point our Hetman calmly led our army in continuous raiding of Ak Koyunlu's home province of Kurdistan.
During this time our Crimean enemies had not been idle. They finally settled a war with Bulgaria at the end of 1608 and attacked Georgia soon thereafter. Since our Hetman was busy in the Caucasus, it was up to me to lead an attack against the hated Crimeans from our base in Kerch. By July 1609 both the Crimean army and navy had been soundly defeated and Azov was under siege. The Crimean capital fell to us a year later, at which point Crimea offered us 86 ducats to leave them alone. Krempsky agreeed to this since I would not even consider a naval invasion of Crimean owned Rumelia. Crimea was still formally at war with Georgia but our ally was at no risk since the Crimean army had been destroyed.
By February 1612 Ak Koyunlu was in trouble. Their entire army had been lost in vain attempts to dislodge Andriyevych's army from Kurdistan. Though we were not actually besieging this province, it was clear to our enemy that we had the resources to eliminate them if we chose to do so. Thus it was not surprising when Ak Koyunlu accepted Krempsky's demand of a 50 ducat indemnity. Just as with Crimea, Ak Koyunlu was still formally at war with Georgia, but Persia quickly moved in for the kill, annexing Ak Koyunlu the next year.
A strong hetman at last
As the year 1614 began, our latest bumbling hetman, Tyskinevych, was dismissed as a drunken fool. But for the first time in many years, a truly worthy candidate was at hand. His name was Petro Sagaydachny, born in 1592 as the son of former Hetman Kosynsky and Oxana Vishnevetskaya.
Hetman Sagaydachny inspired our people to some notable achievements. First, our long neglected navy at last received armament that could actually inflict damage upon enemy ships (naval tech 9). About two years later, our Hetman pushed the army into adopting a more modern and effective set of tactics (land tech 13). Sagaydachny's charisma led a group of wealthy nobles to pledge a gift to the state in 1617.
Petro married Alexandra, a lovely young noble lady from Georgia. Their son Bogdan was born in 1615, and they had a pretty little daughter, Mariana, in 1617.
Expansion plans
With the nation stable and our leadership strong, we considered our options for expanding the realm. Our prime target was Kiev, the ancient capital. For many years it had been held by Poland, against whom we did not dare to consider a war of conquest. However, with their collapse of 1605 Lithuania had arisen anew, and their hold on Kiev was much weaker. The Lithuanians owned five provinces, but these were in two disconnected groups. Only three provinces formed the part including Kiev. We would have clear local superiority.
During the year 1617 I began to gather forces together along our western border, in Poltava and Krementjug. Krempsky was about to send a messenger to the Lithuanian capital with our declaration of war, but just then Nech ran up to us in great distress.
"Mayday! Mayday! Abort! Abort!"
"What do you mean? What on earth is the matter?"
"Lithuania is allied to Poland now!"
"How did that happen? I thought they were fighting each other!"
"I don't know! This must have been a monumental intelligence failure. I can't imagine how we missed their changed status with Poland, but we did. And now we have to stop before it's too late!"
Hetman Sagaydachny immediately agreed, and our messenger was recalled to Kharkov. Lithuania would have to wait.
Meanwhile, our Russian neighbors were hard at work trying to contain the damage from their Time of Troubles. Their government had fallen again the previous year, and though that ruined much of their investment, at least it did put a stop to all the revolts, if only for a moment. But by 1618 Uncle Boris's men had contained the rebels at last, and no longer was Russia convulsed in turmoil. Boris celebrated this victory by annexing their longtime ally, Suzdal. The Russians then turned their attention toward the east by declaring war on Sibir. Eventually this gained them the province of Kurgan, though not for four years.
This led us to reconsider our focus. We had lost the chance to take Alga to the Russians earlier, but luckily Nogai had reclaimed this province during the Russian revolts. With Russia occupied against Sibir, we figured this may be our last chance to take Alga before Uncle Boris moved in that direction again. Knowing that Nogai was in a large Asian alliance (Nogai, Uzbek, Khazak, Chagatai, Dulkadir, and Nubia), we spent some time building up more forces. By the end of 1620 we had an army of about 14 thousand at Astrakhan and a slightly smaller secondary army at Volgograd. Another 10 thousand men guarded Kaffa and Kerch, still prone to occasional revolts. With these forces in position Krempsky sent our declaration of war as the year 1621 began.
On the positive side, our army was much more advanced than any of our opponents. On the other hand, there were a lot more of them, and they had centuries of tradition of excellence in cavalry. The result, I am sorry to say, was a very difficult war in which thousands of brave young Ukrainians lost their lives. Losses among our enemies were also very high, and their men fought no less bravely than our own.
I led the army from Astrakhan, quickly defeating a small Nogai army at Alga. But then the enemy counterattacked with a much larger combined Nogai-Khazak force. My army was badly mauled and we were cut off from retreat. Only a small group of survivors followed me into Irgiz with the Khazaks harassing us every step of the way.
Hetman Sagaydachny's army led our secondary strike at Alga but they, too, met with defeat at the hands of a very large army from the Chagatai Khanate. The Chagatai followed our army back to Astrakhan as Sagaydachny retreated to Volgograd in order to regroup with additional reinforcements.
The months of June to August brought a turnaround. Our Hetman with his regrouped army crushed the Chagatai in Astrakhan and sent them reeling back to Alga. Sagaydachny pursued, while I led my small surviving army from the other side and caught the Nogai and Chagatai in a sandwich attack at Alga. At this point Krempsky persuaded the Chagatai to accept an honorable peace and exit the war.
In September Armenia declared war on Georgia. We in Ukraine honored our alliance of course. Fortunately very little fighting took place and we did not have to involve ourselves. Georgia made a small payment two years later and that was that.
In the Nogai territory Ukraine was becoming dominant on the battlefields after the Chagatai's exit from the war. Nogai counterattacks at Alga were not effective and this city fell to us at the end of 1621. Sagaydachny and I both led the siege, which progressed very well. But our attention was focused on the enemy fort and the Khazak border. We did not see the Crimean assassin who carefully sneaked across the Caspian and infiltrated our rear. Hetman Sagaydachny was murdered in December 1621, having reigned for only eight years. He left behind a grieving widow, two young children, and a nation in mourning.
Though we were furious with the Crimeans, we could not really hurt them because of their hold on Rumelia. So we took out our anger on the Nogai. The enemy capital at Emba was attacked, assaulted and captured in June 1622. Two months later Ust Urt met a similar fate, and Bouzatchi not long after that. Burning with rage against our enemies, we pressed very demanding terms upon them: ceding Alga and becoming our vassals, plus taking their treasury. Not surprisingly, the Nogai Khan angrily rejected these demands, holding out hope that his small force in Orsk could somehow turn the tide.
It was not to be. Orsk fell to my army in May 1623 and again Krempsky sent a harsh treaty for the Nogai Khan to sign. But he still refused. The next month, the Khan responded with a counteroffer: 140 ducats plus Alga. We agreed to this proposal, saving final humiliation of Nogai for another time.
