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62.44% Commonwealth Crimson Age / Chapter 134: 133 Relatives

Chapter 134: 133 Relatives

Ten days later, all the Cossacks and supply wagons were ready to march. Our first destination was the city of Azov. Located just over 500 kilometers southeast of Zaporizhia, it was there that we were to join forces with Khan and move further south towards the border of the Ottoman Empire, and the next stage of the journey will be getting to Trebizond (Trabzon), a town on the Black Sea coast and an important center of trade on the silk route... unfortunately that meant another 1,000 kilometers to go. It was there that we intended to establish our permanent camp and it was here that I intended to gather all the loot, people and everything that was useful, an additional advantage was a port and access to the sea.

It took us two weeks to get to Azov... and what I saw there exceeded my expectations. Thousands... no, tens of thousands of tents were spread around the city... hundreds of thousands of people, hundreds of thousands of horses... One thing I was sure of, I would never command a larger army than I am right now. I sent one of the messengers to the Tatar camp to announce our arrival and several minutes later I saw that Shahin Giray accompanied by a few men came out to greet us... after the initial polite greetings, we headed towards the camp.

"Khan has promised 200,000 warriors, but I can see there are many more people here." (MC)

"They are mostly camp servants, but also a few merchants, craftsmen and whores... they always have a good income following the army." (Shahin Giray)

I knew about such practices, but did not understand them. War has its own rules and a soldier does not pay for certain things, including food and women... both of these things fall under the category "captured goods".

"Were there any problems with the preparations?" (MC)

"Several families did not know where their loyalty should lie, and my brother had to remind them... otherwise, no problem and Prince, Chan sent his eldest son here to gain war experience. He is to take part in war councils and command part of the army." (Shahin Giray)

The presence of Khan's son did not make me very happy, giving command to someone who does not have much experience, even if he is to command a small part of the army, did not promise anything good.

"So the heir of the Khanate wants to show that he is already a man?" (MC)

"He's not yet the heir, only a candidate, he is the eldest son and has the best chance, but nothing is written in stone yet." (Shahin Giray)

It was good news, his position was high, but not too high. If a boy fucks something up and gets captured or dies, I don't have to worry about it ... Chan has more sons. Half an hour later, all the officers gathered in Shahin Giray's tent. I saw a few acquaintances and a few unknown faces, those I knew were mainly Tatars who were with me in Moscow, and then they led the slaves to the Crimea. One of the people, when he saw me, fell to his knees and bowed low... it took me a moment to recognize him.

"Selim, you have gained weight since we last met... you are having a good life." (MC)

"Effendi, Allah blessed us, we earned a lot of gold, the Sultan needed slaves badly, apparently there is a high mortality rate at the construction site." (Selim)

Then I was introduced to the other commanders and officers, including Khan's son, Islam Giray... but something was wrong for me. I knew history well, and Islam Giray was the son of Selamet Giray, not Mehmed... Maybe I was not an expert, but I was sure of that ... it turned out that Mehmed took in and adopted the two sons of the previous Khan.

Suddenly I also remembered that in the future Islam would support the Cossack revolts against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth... and now I was completely sure that our relations would not be good.

"How soon can we leave?" (MC)

"With such a large army, a few days, but it's hard to say how many." (Shahin Giray)

"Well, give the orders to start the preparations for the march. We don't attack anyone along the way unless they attack us, I don't want to waste time on insignificant fights... and one more thing, discipline." (MC)

(Emperor Ferdinand II / Prince of Bavaria Maksymilian I Wittelsbach)

"Your Imperial Majesty, we do not have enough strength to support the Poles, after the death of Johan von Tilly two years ago and the execution of Albrecht von Wallenstein in February..." (Maksymilian Wittelsbach)

"Don't say the traitor's name ... And I know our forces are limited, but we have to be in this war and drive the Turks out of the Balkans, there won't be a better opportunity." (Emperor Ferdinand II)

"The Swedes are now mostly in the north of the empire, maybe... it would be possible to send General Matthias Gallas and his army to the south, but I don't recommend that. The army itself is not a big problem, but we need a good commander in the north." (Maksymilian Wittelsbach)

"If necessary, I will lead the army myself... The Balkans are too important to leave them in the hands of the Turks, they are the gateway to Austria. If Austria and Vienna fall... and there will be no empire anymore. How big is his army?" (Emperor Ferdinand II)

"15,000 soldiers. Your Imperial Majesty, we can only send 7, maximum 10,000 soldiers to the south, more will be too dangerous. Trying to save Austria's future, we must not forget about the present, if the Swedes sense weakness they will attack again... Let us not forget that this is a war between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Ottoman Empire, we do not need to help them, we can only protect our interests. Let them take the greater burden of fighting on themselves." (Maksymilian Wittelsbach)

"You're right. We cannot forget about the Swedes, but since the death of Gustav Adolf, a little girl has sat on their throne, and the royal council rules on her behalf... It is a mistake to underestimate an opponent's capabilities, and it is also a mistake to overestimate them... I heard that your wife is not well." (Emperor Ferdinand II)

"Unfortunately, Elizabeth... all in the hands of god." (Maksymilian Wittelsbach)

"Amen... I hope everything will work out, but the Duchy of Bavaria needs an heir to the throne, and Elizabeth has not given you a heir ... If your wife dies, you will marry my daughter and your niece Maria Anna." (Emperor Ferdinand II)

(End POV)

In the evening, I sat in the commander's tent prepared for me, enjoying the taste of oblepicha (sea buckthorn, sandthorn), no one prepared this drink better than the tartars and it was a great hangover remedy, along with Saddat... I even wished I had a hangover.

"Ilya and Ivan are spying on the Cossacks for me, you will do the same for me with the Tatars." (MC)

"Lord, don't you trust them?" (Saddat)

"Jesus trusted his disciples but one of them betrayed him, Caesar was killed by his adopted son, Cain killed Abel... sometimes you can't trust a family, let alone an ally." (MC)

"I understand, but what exactly am I supposed to listen to in the grass?" (Saddat)

"Information about Khan's son Islam and whether Mehmed actually got rid of all disloyal people from his ranks." (MC)

I had no reason not to trust the Tatars or Khan, we had a common enemy, it was just a precautionary measure on my part. A week later, the entire army and the accompanying servants were ready to march... the view was amazing, I lived in the 20th century and not a lot of things could amaze me... but almost 300,000 people and even more horses, it was breathtaking.


next chapter

Chapter 135: 134 Camp

Traveling with carts was always a pain in the ass, but this time we were accompanied by traveling brothels, which was even more annoying. One day I could no longer withstand this chaos and ordered the owners of these houses of pleasure to be summoned to me. Several minutes later, four men were kneeling on the floor in my tent.

"Effendi, it's an honor for us. Do you want a woman? We have virgins, or maybe a pretty boy? White or black? We are able to please everyone and fulfill even the most secret fantasies." (Wh.orehouse Owner)

Even the most secretive fantasies? I always had this problem in the 20th century, when browsing the internet I couldn't remember the title of a po.rn movie, or the breed of dog that appeared in it... I wanted to test them to see if it was some kind of false advertisement, but I doubt they would find a ginger dwarf, duck and whipped cream.

"You may not have noticed, but we're going to the war, not the market, if you delay the march... I'll make sure you serve the whole army and their horses with your ass.es personally... And one more thing... let each of you send to my tent tonight the best wh.ore from your stable. Just not virgins, they're so boring." (MC)

I tried to stay calm, although it was not easy, I also understood these men. They were in business and wanted to earn money, feeding and dressing hoo.kers, it costs too. Their faces were terrified... I just wasn't sure if it was due to the prospect of being fuc.ked by the entire army and their horses or the loss of income... because I wasn't going to pay for their who.res.

But spending the night in the company of four women turned out to be beyond my strength, I could hardly make it three times and I ordered the fourth hooker to clean the tent... I'm not a rabbit... but my method worked, the brothel owners had better discipline and marching pace than the rest of the army. It took us almost forty days to get to Trebizond...

Although it was not easy for me to admit it, Islam Giray was quite a capable commander. I sent him for scouts several times, hoping that something might happen to him, but he always came back safe and sound, bringing back valuable information... maybe I will have to find another way to get rid of him.

"Set up camp around town, then we'll send a messenger there. If the city surrenders, that's good, if not, it's good too and have a few troops scout the area, they can loot food and everything that is valuable, burn houses and fields." (MC)

(Sultan Murad IV / Grand Vizier Tabanıyassi Mehmed Pasha POV)

"Your Royal Highness, Protector of the Two Holy Cities..." (Grand Vizier Tabanıyassi Mehmed Pasha)

"Speak!" (Sultan Murad IV)

"Your Royal Highness, Lachy are attacking, we got a message that a large army is coming from the north, the Moldavian hospodar joined them." (Grand Vizier Tabanıyassi Mehmed Pasha)

"It's a bad moment, we're fighting the Persians, call the generals." (Sultan Murad IV)

"That's not all, a pigeon from Trebizond has arrived. In the east, the Tatars and Cossacks have crossed our borders and are besieging the city." (Grand Vizier Tabanıyassi Mehmed Pasha)

"That traitor !!! The unfaithful dog !!! I will destroy the entire Giray family. I will lead the army to the east myself, the Polish King must cross the Wallachian lands and the Bulgarians before he reaches the capital, and Constantinople will withstand the siege." (Sultan Murad IV)

(End POV)

A week had passed since our arrival in Trebizond, and within 80 kilometers from the city, no settlement, village or lonely cottage survived. Everything fell prey to the Tatars and Cossacks, our chests slowly filled with valuables, silk, tobacco and other goods.

Fortunately, we came to the Empire before the Sultan introduced his reform... in which he prohibited the consumption of tobacco and limited its production. Similarly with alcohol, which was surprising because he was an alcoholic and died of cirrhosis of the liver... well, people in power always keep the best privileges for themselves.

Selim walked into my tent, interrupt my attempts to fill the pipe with tobacco.

"Lord, a messenger has arrived from the city. They want to negotiate the terms of surrender." (Selim)

"Bring him in, we can't let our guest wait." (MC)

A few moments later a messenger appeared in my tent, accompanied by Selim and another officer for my safety... but it wasn't really necessary, it's not like he was hiding a bomb in his backpack.

"Heard you want to surrender the city?" (MC)

"We don't want to, we have to, Lord." (Messenger)

"Why? We're not attacking the city, we're not trying to capture it... we're letting you live." (MC)

"You want to starve us, you don't attack the city, but no merchant or food cart can enter the city either." (Messenger)

"I don't understand, you have a port that we don't block, you can bring food by sea, you can catch fish." (MC)

"Lord, as soon as you camped, all the ships left the port, and those few fishing boats won't feed the city." (Messenger)

"So you came to negotiate the terms of surrender, unfortunately you will be disappointed. If you have the terms, then we do not want the your city, your surrender can only be unconditional. Go back to town and deliver my words." (MC)

As an army of almost 100 percent cavalry, it was not in our best interest to occupy the city and then defend it if necessary. Of course, if they want to surrender, we will accept their surrender, but without any conditions.

As he was leaving, I threw an apple to the messenger. I didn't want the poor man to starve to death, or maybe he has a family and has to feed his children... Sometimes my heart is too soft and it will probably cause me problems in the future.


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