War, war, and rumors of war
(Narration by Shaula)
The wind...
Immediately after we received Lithuania's declaration of war in March 1537, Hetman Samiylo Kishka ordered our forces to go to battle. He called our allies to help, though Georgia and Novgorod did not even border Lithuania (or Ukraine!) and Ryazan was too weak to contribute much. But Nech had reported that Novgorod did not even have an army, so Kishka hoped that being in a war, even only formally, would be enough to spur King Peter into shoring up his defenses. In this our Hetman was successful -- soon Novgorod boasted an army of 29 thousand.
The Lithuanians attacked on two fronts: Crimea from the south, and Donetsk from the north. I led our defense at Crimea, and we repelled the first two enemy attacks before we had to fall back in the face of a greater third wave as Crimea fell under siege. At Donetsk Kishka led our defenses, with much the same result. Two enemy attacks were defeated, but a larger third army forced Kishka into retreat. Our armies regrouped at Krementjug and Kishka and I together were able to drive the enemy out of Crimea, but their force at Donetsk was too strong for us.
Late in 1537 we split off a small force which raided and looted Lithuania's southern provinces Ukraina, Jedisan, and Bujak. A Lithuanian attack at Krementjug met with quick defeat.
In February 1538 I moved my army to begin a siege at Jedisan. Hetman Kishka stung the enemy at Donetsk and broke their siege at last. Krempsky arranged a loan so that we could rebuild our badly mauled and depleted army, while he attempted yet again to persuade the Lithuanians to drop the war. For the third time, the answer was no.
Through the late spring and summer the Lithuanians launched several small counterattacks against my army in Jedisan, but these were all defeated. Kishka broke another enemy attack at Donetsk, and then turned to raiding Ukraina and Belgorod. Meanwhile, Nech brought bad news: a large Lithuanian army had captured Ryazan. Our beloved Elizaveta (Kishka's wife, and the sister of the Prince of Ryazan) was almost fatally distraught at this news, but still worse, the enemy army moved south to attack Donetsk. Kishka's scorpions fought their hardest but lost the battle. However, the enemy forces had taken great losses, and they withdrew toward the west.
The next month, Krempsky brought an offer from Vilnius:
Our ruling council was torn over this. On the one hand, after 18 months of war it appeared that our forces had gained the upper hand. On the other, our margin was thin. Nech cautioned us that Lithuanian reserves were unknown, and even if they had none, they could easily finance a loan and recruit 20 thousand more. And Elizaveta implored her husband to accept the Lithuanians' offer in order to spare her homeland. So Hetman Kishka agreed. The Lithuanians' indemnity was split four ways, leaving only a very modest sum for us, but we were at peace.
Peace was exactly what our badly weakened army needed. We rebuilt slowly while saving up money to repay the loan we had taken. Meanwhile, Russia flexed their diplomatic muscles by claiming much of "the East" and parts of Poland-Lithuania. But the most interesting tidings during this period were from Nech.
Austria annexed Hungary in 1540, and whether because of this or for some other reason, the Austrians had some bad revolt problems. Soon Nech, Uncle Boris, Cousin Yuri, King Peter, and Cousin Alex (Georgia) all were in a frenzy of activity connected with the Romanian territory of Wallachia. In 1542 Nech finally explained to the rest of us what was going on:
"For many years," Nech said to us, "the Western Europeans have jealously guarded their military secrets. Their armies are equipped with weapons far more advanced and powerful than ours. But now the Austrians have blundered."
"You refer to Wallachia?" asked Krempsky.
"Exactly so. The rebels in Wallachia are funneling the Austrians' weapon technology to Orthodox nations in the East, including us. But you know Aunt Helga won't put up with that any longer than she has to. So we need to mine this vein for all we can get while it lasts."
Aunt Helga did indeed move quickly, reannexing Wallachia after some 18 months. Our technological boon was over.
...and the whirlwind
After four years of peace Hetman Kishka's brother-in-law in Ryazan sent a frantic summons for help in November 1542, for Russia had declared war. "No more subtlety from Uncle Boris," Nech said, "this time he means business." Russia and Suzdal opposed Ryazan, Georgia, Novgorod, and Ukraine.
Initially our armies were successful, as the bulk of the Russian and Suzdalian forces fought against Novgorod and Ryazan. We hoped our allies could hold while we applied what pressure we could. We waited until the spring of 1543, and then attacked both Vorones and Bogutjar. Small Russian forces in this area were quickly swept aside as Kishka and I pressed the attack. By September we captured Bogutjar, held a siege at Vorones, and defeated a small Russian army in Saratov (owned by Ryazan). Krempsky's rather optimistic proposal that Russia cede Bogutjar was rudely dismissed the next month as a larger Russian army broke our siege at Vorones, although we were preparing to withdraw anyway in the face of the oncoming winter weather.
The next year did not bring good news. Novgorod was defeated and annexed in March. Ryazan's army was crushed, and while the Russians besieged the two Ryazan provinces they were able to move larger armies to the south against us. They began a siege to recapture Bogutjar in February, and this effort succeeded in May. Russia rejected our neutral peace offer.
Meanwhile we were faced with trouble on another front as Crimea declared war on Georgia in February. Not having a large enough force to counter the Russians, we attacked Azov instead as Crimea the nation besieged Crimea the province.
Having regained their province of Bogutjar, the Russians quickly turned the tables on us with a two-pronged attack at Donetsk and Lugansk. Kishka's army defeated the Russian attack at Donetsk, while I directed the siege at Azov. Our small force in Lugansk was beaten and retreated.
At this time Krempsky negotiated a loan for us, but we needed troops by the ten thousands and only could recruit them by the thousands.
Thanks to a timely scouting report from Nech we shattered a small Russian army in Bogutjar in September. But the rest of 1544 was filled with defeats. Crimea captured the province of Crimea and broke my army at Azov, ending the siege there. Kishka's counterattack against the Russians at Lugansk failed to break their siege. Not surprisingly, Russia angrily rejected another neutral peace offer from us in January 1545.
My defeated army from Azov regrouped and began a siege to recover Crimea (Crimea's army had moved back to Kaffa). We recaptured this province in June. But the war widened as Armenia declared war on Georgia. We faced greater internal problems as we had to break a marriage alliance in order to side with Georgia in this new war.
As Russia's siege at Lugansk appeared dangerously close to completion, Kishka launched a desperate counterattack to relieve the city. But our army was defeated again, and Lugansk fell in September. Krempsky secured another loan for us, but our shattered army was defeated again in Donetsk the next month.
By April 1546, however, our newly recruited army was ready to strike, and the Russians were unceremoniously booted out of Donetsk for good. We continued across the river, raiding Bogutjar and beginning a siege to regain Lugansk.
In June the province of Crimea was struck by a religious revolt, for the first time in decades. The nation of Crimea added more fuel to the fire by attacking this province in August. But in November Kishka's army inflicted a decisive defeat on the Crimeans at Azov and began a new siege there.
The reason Kishka's army was free to move against Azov was that Ryazan had capitulated in September. They paid a very small indemnity, but ceded Saratov to Suzdal. Our ally was now reduced to just their capital, and Nech did not dare tell Elizaveta what was likely to happen in just a few more years. Krempsky got Armenia to agree to a neutral peace at this time. We were facing Crimea exclusively, and though our army was depleted and our economy in ruins, this was a war we could win.
Unfortunately, the long years of war had taken their toll internally. Revolts began to flare, at Poltava and Krementjug in the spring of 1547. Our armies were spread so thinly that we could confront only one of these, at Poltava, and that after four months. We counted on the strong fort at Krementjug to buy us time while we worked to defeat Crimea. Azov fell to Kishka in August, and he moved on to besiege Kerch.
Yet for all our victories against the nation of Crimea, our own rebels were the really critical force. In the province of Crimea my army was unable to defeat the rebels in October, and that same month the fort at Lugansk fell instantly to a rebel group. Though we quickly redeployed an army to retake this fort, the rebels' siege at Krementjug succeeded in January 1548. Poltava was in flames in June, and in October 1548 Crimean rebels began to besiege Azov, only recently captured by our army.
At this fateful hour, it seemed that only in Donetsk did the populace remain unswerving in their loyalty and devotion to Ukraine. Knowing the desperation of our plight, a group of nobles freely offered a generous financial gift to Krempsky. The next month, Lugansk was recaptured. With the dawn of the year 1549 we crushed the rebels at Poltava and began a siege to recover Krementjug. During the next months we raced to finish the siege at Kerch so that Kishka's army could then turn to Azov and drive out the rebels who were besieging that province. Meanwhile, Crimea's sizable army was paralyzed at Kaffa, too afraid to attack us either at Kerch or at Crimea.
Unfortunately, the rebels at Azov were faster. In August Crimea regained this province through their victorious rebels. Furious and disheartened, Kishka pressed his men hard and Kerch fell at last in December. But this was a bittersweet victory. Having lost Azov, we had little negotiating leverage over the Crimeans. Worse, the province of Crimea burned in another revolt.
But worse still, Kishka fell. Our courageous Hetman, the Little Scorpion, who had led our army through countless battles against Lithuania, Russia, and Crimea, was killed by a Crimean archer at Kerch just before the fort surrendered to us. The Crimeans then sent a peace offer:
Broken by the death of our Hetman and discouraged by the constant rebellions, we agreed to accept Crimea's offer. The whirlwind was over. The reckoning had begun.
