Fight near the village of young people. Battle of Molodi: repeat of the Kulikovo victory

The Battle of Molodi (Molodinskaya Battle) is a major battle that took place in 1572 year near Moscow, between Russian troops led by Prince Mikhail Vorotynsky and the Crimean army Khan Devlet I Gerey, which included, in addition to the Crimean troops themselves, Turkish and Nogai detachments. ..

Despite double numerical superiority, 120 The thousand-strong Crimean army was completely defeated and put to flight. Only about 20 thousands of people.
In terms of its significance, the Battle of Molodi was comparable to Kulikovskaya and other key battles in Russian history. It preserved the independence of Russia and became a turning point in the confrontation between the Moscow state and the Crimean Khanate, which abandoned its claims to Kazan and Astrakhan and henceforth lost a significant part of its power...

Prince Vorotynsky managed to impose a protracted battle on Devlet-Girey, depriving him of the benefits of a sudden powerful blow. The troops of the Crimean Khan suffered huge losses (according to some sources, almost 100 thousand people). But the most important thing is the irreparable losses, since the main combat-ready population of Crimea took part in the campaign.

The village of Molodi became a cemetery for a significant part of the men of the Crimean Khanate. The whole flower of the Crimean army, its best warriors, lay down here. The Turkish Janissaries were completely exterminated. After such a brutal blow, the Crimean khans no longer thought about raiding the Russian capital. The Crimean-Turkish aggression against the Russian state was stopped.

“In the summer of 1571, they were expecting a raid by the Crimean Khan Devlet-Girey. But the oprichniki, who were tasked with holding a barrier on the banks of the Oka, for the most part did not go to work: fighting against the Crimean Khan was more dangerous than plundering Novgorod. One of the captured boyar children gave the khan an unknown route to one of the fords on the Oka.

Devlet-Girey managed to bypass the barrier of zemstvo troops and one oprichnina regiment and cross the Oka. Russian troops barely managed to return to Moscow. But Devlet-Girey did not besiege the capital, but set fire to the settlement. The fire spread through the walls. The entire city burned down, and those who took refuge in the Kremlin and in the adjoining fortress of Kitay-Gorod suffocated from the smoke and “fire heat.” Negotiations began, at which Russian diplomats received secret instructions to agree, as a last resort, to abandon Astrakhan. Devlet-Girey also demanded Kazan. In order to finally break the will of Ivan IV, he prepared a raid for the next year.

Ivan IV understood the seriousness of the situation. He decided to put at the head of the troops an experienced commander who had often been in disgrace - Prince Mikhail Ivanovich Vorotynsky. Both zemstvos and guardsmen were subordinate to his command; they were united in service and within each regiment. This united army in the battle near the village of Molodi (50 km south of Moscow) completely defeated the army of Devlet-Girey, which was almost twice its size. The Crimean threat was eliminated for many years.” History of Russia from ancient times to 1861. M., 2000, p. 154

The battle that took place in August 1572 near the village of Molodi, which is about 50 km from Moscow, between Podolsk and Serpukhov, sometimes called "Unknown Borodino". The battle itself and the heroes who participated in it are rarely mentioned in Russian history. Everyone knows the Battle of Kulikovo, as well as the Moscow prince Dmitry, who led the Russian army, and received the nickname Donskoy. Then the hordes of Mamai were defeated, but the next year the Tatars again attacked Moscow and burned it. After the Battle of Molodin, in which the 120,000-strong Crimean-Astrakhan horde was destroyed, Tatar raids on Moscow stopped forever.

IN XVI century Crimean Tatars regularly raided Muscovy. Cities and villages were set on fire, the able-bodied population was driven into captivity. Moreover, the number of captured peasants and townspeople was many times greater than the military losses.

The culmination was 1571, when the army of Khan Devlet-Girey burned Moscow to the ground. People hid in the Kremlin, the Tatars set it on fire too. The entire Moscow River was littered with corpses, the flow stopped... In the next, 1572 Devlet-Girey, as a true Genghisid, was not just going to repeat the raid, he decided to revive the Golden Horde, and make Moscow its capital.
Devlet-Girey declared that he was “going to Moscow for the kingdom.” As one of the heroes of the Battle of Molodin, German oprichnik Heinrich Staden, wrote, “the cities and districts of the Russian land were all already assigned and divided among the Murzas who were under the Crimean Tsar; it was determined which one should hold.”
Janissary

On the eve of the invasion

The situation in Russia was difficult. The effects of the devastating invasion of 1571, as well as the plague, were still being felt. The summer of 1572 was dry and hot, horses and cattle died. The Russian regiments experienced serious difficulties in supplying food.

Economic difficulties were intertwined with complex internal political events, accompanied by executions, disgraces, and uprisings of the local feudal nobility that began in the Volga region. In such a difficult situation, preparations were underway in the Russian state to repel a new invasion by Devlet-Girey. On April 1, 1572, a new border service system began to operate, while taking into account the experience of last year’s fight with Devlet-Girey.

Thanks to intelligence, the Russian command was promptly informed about the movement of the 120,000-strong army of Devlet-Girey and his further actions. The construction and improvement of military-defensive structures, primarily located over a long distance along the Oka, proceeded quickly.

Having received news of the impending invasion, Ivan the Terrible fled to Novgorod and wrote a letter from there to Devlet-Girey offering peace in exchange for Kazan and Astrakhan. But it did not satisfy the khan.

Battle of Molodi

In the spring of 1571, the Crimean Khan Divlet Giray, at the head of a 120,000-strong horde, attacked Rus'. Traitor Prince Mstislavsky sent his people to show the khan how to get around the 600-kilometer Zasechnaya line from the west.
The Tatars came from where they were not expected, burned the whole of Moscow to the ground- several hundred thousand people died.

In addition to Moscow, the Crimean Khan ravaged the central regions, massacred 36 cities, collected 100 - the thousandth is full and has gone to Crimea; from the road he sent the king a knife “so that Ivan would kill himself.”

The Crimean invasion was similar to Batu's pogrom; Khan believed that Russia was exhausted and could no longer resist; the Kazan and Astrakhan Tatars rebelled; V 1572 The horde went to Rus' to establish a new yoke - the Khan's Murzas divided cities and uluses among themselves.

Rus' was truly weakened by the 20-year war, famine, plague and the terrible Tatar invasion; Ivan the Terrible managed to collect only 20 -a thousand-strong army.

On July 28, a huge horde crossed the Oka and, throwing back the Russian regiments, rushed to Moscow - however, the Russian army followed, attacking the Tatar rearguards. The Khan was forced to turn back, the masses of Tatars rushed towards the Russian advanced regiment, which took flight, luring the enemies to the fortifications where the archers and guns were located - it was a “walk-city”, a mobile fortress made of wooden shields. Volleys of Russian cannons firing at point-blank range stopped the Tatar cavalry, it retreated, leaving piles of corpses on the field, but the khan again drove his warriors forward.

For almost a week, with breaks to remove corpses, the Tatars stormed the “walk-city” near the village of Molodi, not far from the modern city of Podolsk, dismounted horsemen approached the wooden walls, rocked them - “and here they beat many Tatars and cut off countless hands”.

On August 2, when the onslaught of the Tatars weakened, the Russian regiments left the “walk-city” and attacked the weakened enemy, the horde turned into a stampede, the Tatars were pursued and cut down to the banks of the Oka - the Crimeans had never suffered such a bloody defeat.

The Battle of Molodi was a great victory for the autocracy: only absolute power could gather all forces into one fist and repel a terrible enemy - and it is easy to imagine what would have happened if Russia had been ruled not by a tsar, but by princes and boyars - the times of Batu would have been repeated.

Having suffered a terrible defeat, the Crimeans 20 years they did not dare to show themselves on the Oka; The uprisings of the Kazan and Astrakhan Tatars were suppressed - Russia won the Great War for the Volga region. On the Don and Desna, border fortifications were pushed south to 300 kilometers, at the end of the reign of Ivan the Terrible, Yelets and Voronezh were founded - the development of the richest black earth lands of the Wild Field began.

The victory over the Tatars was achieved to a large extent thanks to arquebuses and cannons - weapons that were brought from the West through the “window to Europe” cut by the tsar. (?) . This window was the port of Narva, and King Sigismund asked the English Queen Elizabeth to stop the arms trade, because “the Moscow sovereign daily increases his power by acquiring items that are brought to Narva.” (?)
V.M. Belotserkovets

Border voivode

The Oka River then served as the main support line, the harsh Russian border against the Crimean invasions. Every year up to 65 thousand warriors who carried out guard duty from early spring until late autumn. According to contemporaries, the river “was fortified for more than 50 miles along the bank: two palisades, four feet high, were built one opposite the other, one at a distance of two feet from the other, and this distance between them was filled with earth dug out behind the rear palisade ... The shooters could thus hide behind both palisades and shoot at the Tatars as they swam across the river.”

The choice of commander-in-chief was difficult: there were few people suitable for this responsible position. In the end, the choice fell on the zemstvo governor Prince Mikhail Ivanovich Vorotynsky- an outstanding military leader, “a strong and courageous man and extremely skilled in regimental arrangements.”

Boyarin Mikhail Ivanovich Vorotynsky (c. 1510-1573), like his father, devoted himself to military service from a young age. In 1536, 25-year-old Prince Mikhail distinguished himself in the winter campaign of Ivan the Terrible against the Swedes, and after some time in the Kazan campaigns. During the siege of Kazan in 1552, Vorotynsky at a critical moment managed to repel the attack of the city’s defenders, lead the archers and capture the Arsk Tower, and then, at the head of a large regiment, storm the Kremlin. For which he received the honorary title of sovereign servant and governor.

In 1550-1560 M.I. Vorotynsky supervised the construction of defensive structures on the southern borders of the country. Thanks to his efforts, the approaches to Kolomna, Kaluga, Serpukhov and other cities were strengthened. He established a guard service and repelled attacks from the Tatars.

Selfless and devoted friendship to the sovereign did not save the prince from suspicions of treason. In 1562-1566. he suffered humiliation, disgrace, exile, and prison. In those years, Vorotynsky received an offer from the Polish king Sigismund Augustus to go to serve in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. But the prince remained faithful to the sovereign and Russia.

In January-February 1571, service people, boyar children, village residents, and village heads came to Moscow from all border towns. By order of Ivan the Terrible M.I. Vorotynsky was supposed to, having questioned those summoned to the capital, describe from which cities, in which direction and at what distance patrols should be sent, in which places the guards should stand (indicating the territory served by the patrols of each of them), in which places the border heads should be located “for protection from the arrival of military people”, etc.

The result of this work was left by Vorotynsky “Order on village and guard service”. In accordance with it, the border service must do everything possible “to make the outskirts more careful,” so that military people “do not come to the outskirts unknown,” and accustom the guards to constant vigilance.

Another order was issued by M.I. Vorotynsky (February 27, 1571) - on establishing the parking places for stanitsa patrol heads and assigning detachments to them. They can be considered a prototype of domestic military regulations.

Knowing about the upcoming raid of Devlet-Girey, what could the Russian commander oppose to the Tatars? Tsar Ivan, citing the war in Livonia, did not provide him with a sufficiently large army, giving Vorotynsky only the oprichnina regiment; The prince had at his disposal regiments of boyar children, Cossacks, Livonian and German mercenaries. In total, the number of Russian troops was approximately 60 thousand Human.
They went against him 12 tumens, that is, an army twice as large as the Tatars and Turkish Janissaries, who also carried artillery.

The question arose, what tactics to choose in order to not only stop but also defeat the enemy with such small forces? Vorotynsky's leadership talent was manifested not only in the creation of border defenses, but also in the development and implementation of a battle plan. Did another hero of the battle play a crucial role in the latter? Prince Dmitry Khvorostinin.

So, the snow had not yet melted from the banks of the Oka when Vorotynsky began to prepare to meet the enemy. Border posts and abatis were made, Cossack patrols and patrols were constantly running, tracking down the “sakma” (Tatar trace), and forest ambushes were created. Local residents were involved in the defense. But the plan itself was not yet ready. Only general features: drag the enemy into a sticky defensive war, deprive him of maneuverability, confuse him for a while, exhaust his forces, then force him to go to the “walk-city”, where he will give the final battle.

Gulyai-Gorod is a mobile fortress, a mobile fortified point, built from separate wooden walls that were placed on carts, with loopholes for firing cannons and rifles. It was erected near the Rozaj River and was decisive in the battle. “If the Russians did not have a walk-city, then the Crimean Khan would have beaten us,” recalls Staden, “he would have taken us prisoner and taken everyone bound to the Crimea, and the Russian land would have been his land.”

The most important thing in terms of the upcoming battle is to force Devlet-Girey to go along the Serpukhov road. And any leak of information threatened the failure of the entire battle; in fact, the fate of Russia was being decided. Therefore, the prince kept all the details of the plan in the strictest confidence; even the closest commanders for the time being did not know what their commander was up to.

Start of the battle

Summer has come. At the end of July, the hordes of Devlet-Girey crossed the Oka River just above Serpukhov, in the area of ​​​​Senka Ford. Russian troops occupied positions near Serpukhov, fortifying themselves with the Gulyai-city.

Khan bypassed the main Russian fortifications and rushed towards Moscow. Vorotynsky immediately withdrew from the crossings at Serpukhov and rushed after Devlet-Girey. The advanced regiment under the command of Prince Dmitry Khvorostinin overtook the rearguard of the Khan's army near the village of Molodi. The small village of Molodi at that time was surrounded on all sides by forests. And only in the west, where there were gentle hills, did the men cut down the trees and plow up the land. On the elevated bank of the Rozhai River, at the confluence of Molodka, stood the wooden Church of the Resurrection.

The leading regiment overtook the Crimean rearguard, forced it into battle, attacked and defeated it. But he did not stop there, but pursued the remnants of the defeated rearguard right up to the main forces of the Crimean army. The blow was so strong that the two princes leading the rearguard told the khan that it was necessary to stop the offensive.

The blow was so unexpected and strong that Devlet-Girey stopped his army. He realized that there was a Russian army behind him, which must be destroyed in order to ensure unhindered advance to Moscow. Khan turned back, Devlet-Girey risked getting involved in a protracted battle. Accustomed to solving everything with one swift blow, he was forced to change traditional tactics.

Finding himself face to face with the main forces of the enemy, Khvorostinin avoided the battle and, with an imaginary retreat, began to lure Devlet-Girey to the walk-city, behind which Vorotynsky’s large regiment was already located. The Khan's advanced forces came under crushing fire from cannons and arquebuses. The Tatars retreated with heavy losses. The first part of the plan developed by Vorotynsky was brilliantly implemented. The rapid breakthrough of the Crimeans to Moscow failed, and the khan’s troops entered into a protracted battle.

Everything could have been different if Devlet-Girey had immediately thrown all his forces into the Russian positions. But the khan did not know the true power of Vorotynsky’s regiments and was going to test them. He sent Tereberdey-Murza with two tumens to capture the Russian fortification. They all perished under the walls of the Walking City. Minor skirmishes continued for two more days. During this time, the Cossacks managed to sink Turkish artillery. Vorotynsky was seriously alarmed: what if Devlet-Girey abandoned further hostilities and turned back to start all over again next year? But that did not happen.

Victory

On July 31, a stubborn battle took place. Crimean troops began an assault on the main Russian position, located between the Rozhai and Lopasnya rivers. “The matter was great and the slaughter was great,” the chronicler says about the battle. In front of the Walking Town, the Russians scattered peculiar metal hedgehogs, on which the legs of the Tatar horses broke. Therefore, the rapid onslaught, the main component of the Crimean victories, did not take place. The powerful throw slowed down in front of the Russian fortifications, from where cannonballs, buckshot and bullets rained down. The Tatars continued to attack. Repelling numerous attacks, the Russians launched counterattacks. During one of them, the Cossacks captured the Khan’s chief adviser, Divey-Murza, who led the Crimean troops. The fierce battle continued until the evening, and Vorotynsky had to make great efforts not to introduce the ambush regiment into battle, not to detect it. This regiment was waiting in the wings.

On August 1, both troops were preparing for the decisive battle. Devlet-Girey decided to put an end to the Russians with his main forces. In the Russian camp, supplies of water and food were running out. Despite the successful military operations, the situation was very difficult.

The next day a decisive battle took place. The Khan led his army to Gulyai-Gorod. And again he was unable to capture the Russian fortifications on the move. Realizing that infantry was needed to storm the fortress, Devlet-Girey decided to dismount the horsemen and, together with the Janissaries, throw the Tatars on foot to attack.

Once again, an avalanche of Crimeans poured into Russian fortifications.

Prince Khvorostinin led the defenders of the Gulyai-city. Tormented by hunger and thirst, they fought fiercely and fearlessly. They knew what fate awaited them if they were captured. They knew what would happen to their homeland if the Crimeans succeeded in a breakthrough. German mercenaries also fought bravely side by side with the Russians. Heinrich Staden led the artillery of the city.

The khan's troops approached the Russian fortress. The attackers, in rage, even tried to break the wooden shields with their hands. The Russians cut off the tenacious hands of their enemies with swords. The intensity of the battle intensified, and a turning point could occur at any moment. Devlet-Girey was completely absorbed in one goal - to take possession of the Gulyai-city. For this, he brought all his strength into the battle. Meanwhile, Prince Vorotynsky managed to quietly lead his large regiment through a narrow ravine and hit the enemy in the rear. At the same time, Staden fired a volley from all guns, and the defenders of the walk-city, led by Prince Khvorostinin, made a decisive sortie. The warriors of the Crimean Khan could not withstand the blows from both sides and fled. Thus the victory was won!

On the morning of August 3, Devlet-Girey, who had lost his son, grandson and son-in-law in the battle, began a rapid retreat. The Russians were on their heels. The last fierce battle broke out on the banks of the Oka, where the 5,000-strong Crimean rearguard covering the crossing was destroyed.

Prince Vorotynsky managed to impose a protracted battle on Devlet-Girey, depriving him of the benefits of a sudden powerful blow. The troops of the Crimean Khan suffered huge losses (according to some sources, almost 100 thousand people). But the most important thing is the irreparable losses, since the main combat-ready population of Crimea took part in the campaign. The village of Molodi became a cemetery for a significant part of the men of the Crimean Khanate. The whole flower of the Crimean army, its best warriors, lay down here. The Turkish Janissaries were completely exterminated. After such a brutal blow, the Crimean khans no longer thought about raiding the Russian capital. The Crimean-Turkish aggression against the Russian state was stopped.

Laurels for a hero

The history of Russian military affairs was replenished with a victory that was the greatest in the art of maneuver and interaction of military branches. It became one of the most brilliant victories of Russian weapons and promoted Prince Mikhail Vorotynsky to the category of outstanding commanders.

The Battle of Molodin is one of the brightest pages of the heroic past of our homeland. The Battle of Molodin, which lasted several days, in which Russian troops used original tactics, ended in a major victory over the numerically superior forces of Devlet-Girey. The Battle of Molodin had a strong impact on the foreign economic situation of the Russian state, especially on Russian-Crimean and Russian-Turkish relations. Selim's challenging letter, in which the Sultan demanded Astrakhan, Kazan and the vassal submission of Ivan IV, was left unanswered.

Prince Vorotynsky returned to Moscow, where he was given a magnificent meeting. There was less joy on the faces of Muscovites when Tsar Ivan returned to the city. This greatly offended the sovereign, but he did not show it - the time had not yet come. Evil tongues added fuel to the fire, calling Vorotynsky an upstart, greatly belittling his participation and importance in the battle. Finally, the prince's servant, who robbed him, denounced his master, accusing him of witchcraft. Since almost a year had passed since the great victory, the tsar ordered the commander to be arrested and subjected to severe torture. Having failed to achieve recognition of witchcraft, Ivan IV ordered the disgraced prince to be exiled to the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery. On the third day of the journey, 63-year-old Mikhail Vorotynsky died. He was buried in the cemetery of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery.

From that time on, mention of the Battle of Molodin, its significance for Russia, and the very name of Prince Vorotynsky were under a cruel royal ban. Therefore, many of us are much more familiar with Ivan the Terrible’s campaign against Kazan than with the event of 1572 that saved Russia.

But time will put everything in its place.
Heroes will remain heroes...

(Why did they think that Vorotynsky was executed? Only Kurbsky, who had escaped by that time, wrote about this. Russian sources do not talk about this. The name of Mikhail Vorotynsky is not in the synodics of those executed, but his signature is on a document dated 1574... )
Well, about the “window to Europe”, which suddenly supplied guns and squeaks to Rus', it’s not funny.

Anonymous

It's painfully ornate and incomprehensible. The archers and guardsmen won. And it turns out that the main character is the author. Good luck, I imagined.

Forbidden Victory

Exactly four hundred and thirty years ago, the greatest battle of Christian civilization took place, which determined the future of the Eurasian continent, if not the entire planet, for many, many centuries to come. Almost two hundred thousand people fought in a bloody six-day battle, proving with their courage and dedication the right to exist for many peoples at once. More than a hundred thousand people paid with their lives to resolve this dispute, and only thanks to the victory of our ancestors we now live in the world that we are accustomed to seeing around us. In this battle, not just the fate of Rus' and the countries of Europe was decided - it was about the fate of the entire European civilization. But ask any educated person: what does he know about the battle that took place in 1572? And practically no one except professional historians will be able to answer you a word. Why? Because this victory was won by the “wrong” ruler, the “wrong” army and the “wrong” people. Four centuries have already passed since this victory was simply prohibited.

History as it is

Before talking about the battle itself, we should probably remember what Europe looked like in the little-known 16th century. And since the length of the journal article forces us to be brief, only one thing can be said: in the 16th century, there were no full-fledged states in Europe except the Ottoman Empire. In any case, it makes no sense to even roughly compare the dwarf formations that called themselves kingdoms and counties with this huge empire.

In fact, only frenzied Western European propaganda can explain the fact that we imagine the Turks as dirty, stupid savages, wave after wave rolling over the valiant knightly troops and winning solely due to their numbers. Everything was exactly the opposite: well-trained, disciplined, brave Ottoman warriors step by step pushed back scattered, poorly armed formations, developing more and more “wild” lands for the empire. By the end of the fifteenth century, Bulgaria belonged to them on the European continent, by the beginning of the 16th century - Greece and Serbia, by the middle of the century the border had moved to Vienna, the Turks took Hungary, Moldova, the famous Transylvania under their control, started a war for Malta, devastated the coasts of Spain and Italy .

Firstly, the Turks were not “dirty”. Unlike Europeans, who at that time were unfamiliar with even the basics of personal hygiene, subjects of the Ottoman Empire were obliged, according to the requirements of the Koran, to at least perform ritual ablutions before each prayer.

Secondly, the Turks were true Muslims - that is, people who were initially confident in their spiritual superiority, and therefore extremely tolerant. In the conquered territories, as far as possible, they tried to preserve local customs so as not to destroy existing social relations. The Ottomans were not interested in whether the new subjects were Muslims, or Christians, or Jews, or whether they were Arabs, Greeks, Serbs, Albanians, Italians, Iranians or Tatars. The main thing is that they continue to work quietly and pay taxes regularly.

The state system of government was built on a combination of Arab, Seljuk and Byzantine customs and traditions. The most striking example of distinguishing Islamic pragmatism and religious tolerance from European savagery is the story of the 100,000 Jews expelled from Spain in 1492 and willingly accepted into citizenship by Sultan Bayezid. The Catholics received moral satisfaction by dealing with the “killers of Christ,” and the Ottomans received significant revenues to the treasury from new, far from poor, settlers.

Thirdly, the Ottoman Empire was far ahead of its northern neighbors in the technology of producing weapons and armor. It was the Turks, and not the Europeans, who suppressed the enemy with artillery fire, and it was the Ottomans who actively supplied their troops, fortresses and ships with cannon barrels.

As an example of the power of Ottoman weapons, we can cite 20 bombards with a caliber of 60 to 90 centimeters and weighing up to 35 tons, which at the end of the 6th century were put on combat duty in the forts that defended the Dardanelles, and stood there until the beginning of the 20th century! And not just standing ones - at the beginning of the 19th century, in 1807, they quite successfully crushed the brand new English ships Windsor Castle and Active, which were trying to break through the strait.

I repeat: the guns represented a real fighting force even three centuries after their manufacture. In the 16th century, they could easily be considered a real superweapon. And the mentioned bombards were manufactured in the very years when Nicollo Macchiavelli carefully wrote out the following words in his treatise “The Prince”: “It is better to let the enemy blind himself than to search for him, not seeing anything because of the gunpowder smoke.”, denying any benefit from the use of cannons in military campaigns.

Fourthly, the Turks had the most advanced technology for their time regular professional army. Its backbone was the so-called “Janissary Corps”.

In the 16th century, it was almost entirely formed from boys bought or captured, who were legally slaves of the Sultan. All of them underwent high-quality military training, received good weapons and turned into the best infantry that ever existed in Europe and the Mediterranean region. The strength of the corps reached 100,000 people.

In addition, the empire had a completely modern feudal cavalry, which was formed from Sipahov - owners of land plots. Military leaders awarded valiant and worthy soldiers in all newly annexed regions with similar allotments, “timars,” thanks to which the size and combat effectiveness of the army continuously increased.

And if we also remember that the rulers who fell into vassal dependence on the Magnificent Porte were obliged, by order of the Sultan, to bring their armies for general campaigns, it becomes clear that the Ottoman Empire could simultaneously put on the battlefield no less than half a million well-trained warriors - much more than there were troops in all of Europe combined.

In light of all of the above, it becomes clear why, at the mere mention of the Turks, medieval kings broke into a cold sweat, knights grabbed their weapons and turned their heads in fear, and babies in their cradles began to cry and call for their mother.

Any even more or less thinking person could confidently predict that in a hundred years the entire inhabited world would belong to the Turkish Sultan, and complain that the Ottoman advance to the north was held back not by the courage of the defenders of the Balkans, but by the Ottomans’ desire to first take possession of much richer lands Asia, conquer the ancient countries of the Middle East. And, it must be said, the Ottoman Empire achieved this by expanding its borders from the Caspian Sea, Persia and the Persian Gulf and almost to the Atlantic Ocean itself (the western lands of the empire were modern Algeria).

It is also worth mentioning a very important fact, for some reason unknown to many professional historians: starting from 1475, the Crimean Khanate was part of the Ottoman Empire, the Crimean Khan was appointed and removed by the Sultan's firman, brought his troops on the orders of the Magnificent Porte, or began military operations against one of his neighbors on orders from Istanbul; there was a sultan's governor on the Crimean peninsula, and Turkish garrisons were stationed in several cities.

In addition, the Kazan and Astrakhan Khanates were considered to be located under the aegis of empires, as states of co-religionists, moreover, regularly supplying slaves for numerous military galleys and mines, as well as concubines for harems...

Golden Age of Russia

Oddly enough, few people now imagine what Rus' was like in the 16th century - especially people who have conscientiously studied a high school history course. It must be said that it contains much more fiction than real information, and therefore any modern person should know several basic, supporting facts that allow us to understand the worldview of our ancestors.

First of all, In 16th-century Rus', slavery practically did not exist. Every person born in Russian lands was initially free and equal with everyone else.

Serfdom of that time is now called a land lease agreement with all the ensuing consequences: you cannot leave until you have paid the owner of the land for its use. And that's it...
There was no hereditary serfdom (it was introduced by the cathedral code 1649 year), and the son of a serf was a free man until he decided to take a plot of land for himself.

There were no European savages like the nobility’s right to punish and pardon on the first night, or simply driving around with weapons, scaring ordinary citizens and starting quarrels. In the legal code of 1497, only two categories of the population are generally recognized: service people and non-service people. Otherwise, everyone is equal before the law, regardless of origin.

Service in the army was absolutely voluntary, although, of course, hereditary and lifelong. If you want, serve, if you don’t want, don’t serve. Sign the estate over to the treasury, and you’re free. It should be mentioned here that the concept of infantry was completely absent in the Russian army. The warrior went out on a campaign on two or three horses - including the archers, who dismounted only immediately before the battle.

In general, war was a permanent state of the then Rus': its southern and eastern borders were constantly torn by the predatory raids of the Tatars, the western borders were disturbed by the Slavic brothers of the Principality of Lithuania, who for many centuries disputed with Moscow the right of primacy to the heritage of Kievan Rus.

Depending on military successes, the western border constantly moved first in one direction or the other, and the eastern neighbors were either pacified or tried to appease with gifts after the next defeat.

From the south, some protection was provided by the so-called Wild Field - the southern Russian steppes, completely depopulated as a result of continuous raids by the Crimean Tatars. In order to attack Rus', the subjects of the Ottoman Empire needed to make a long journey, and they, being lazy and practical people, preferred to plunder either the tribes of the North Caucasus, or Lithuania and Moldova.

Ivan IV

It is in this Rus', in 1533 year, and the son of Vasily III Ivan reigned.
However, he reigned - that's too strong a word.

At the time of his accession to the throne, Ivan was only three years old, and it would be a stretch to call his childhood happy. At the age of seven, his mother was poisoned, after which the man he considered his father was literally killed before his eyes, his favorite nannies were dispersed, everyone he liked in the slightest was either destroyed or sent out of sight. In the palace, he was in the position of a watchdog: either he was taken into the chambers, showing the “beloved prince” to foreigners, or he was kicked by all and sundry. It got to the point that they forgot to feed the future king for whole days.

Everything was going to the point that before he came of age, he would simply be slaughtered in order to keep him in the country era of anarchy, - however, the sovereign survived. And he not only survived, but became the greatest ruler in the entire history of Rus'.

And what is most striking is that Ivan IV did not become embittered and did not take revenge for past humiliations. His reign turned out to be perhaps the most humane in the entire history of our country.

The last statement is by no means a reservation.

Unfortunately, everything that is usually told about Ivan the Terrible ranges from “complete nonsense” to “outright lies.”
“Complete nonsense” includes the “testimony” of the famous expert on Rus', the Englishman Jerome Horsey, his “Notes on Russia”, which states that in the winter of 1570 the guardsmen killed 700,000 (seven hundred thousand) inhabitants in Novgorod, out of the total population of this city at thirty thousand.

To “outright lies” - evidence of the tsar’s cruelty. For example, looking at the well-known encyclopedia “Brockhaus and Efron”, in the article about Andrei Kurbsky, anyone can read that, angry at the prince, “the Terrible could only cite the fact of betrayal and violation of the kiss of the cross as justification for his rage...”.

What nonsense! That is, the prince betrayed the Fatherland twice, was caught, but was not hanged on an aspen tree, but kissed the cross, swore by Christ God that he would never do it again, was forgiven, betrayed him again... However, despite all this They are trying to blame the tsar not for not punishing the traitor, but for the fact that he continues to hate the degenerate who brings Polish troops to Rus' and sheds the blood of Russian people.

To the deepest regret of the “Ivan-haters,” in the 16th century in Rus' there was a written language, a custom of commemorating the dead and synodniks, which were preserved along with memorial records. Alas, with all the efforts to honor the conscience of Ivan the Terrible for all his fifty years reign no more can be attributed 4000 dead.
This is probably a lot, even if we take into account that the majority honestly earned their execution through treason and perjury.
However, during the same years, in neighboring Europe, more than 3,000 Huguenots were slaughtered in Paris in one night, and in the rest of the country, more than 30,000 were slaughtered in just two weeks.
In England, by order of Henry VIII, 72,000 people were hanged for being beggars.
In the Netherlands during the revolution, the number of corpses exceeded 100,000...
No, Russia is far from European civilization.

By the way, according to the suspicion of many historians, the story about the ruin of Novgorod is blatantly copied from the assault and ruin of Liege by the Burgundians of Charles the Bold in 1468. Moreover, the plagiarists were even too lazy to make allowances for the Russian winter, as a result of which the mythical guardsmen had to ride boats along the Volkhov, which that year, according to the chronicles, froze to the very bottom.

However, even his most fierce haters do not dare to challenge the basic personality traits of Ivan the Terrible, and therefore we know for sure that he was very smart, calculating, malicious, cold-blooded and courageous. The tsar was amazingly well read, had an extensive memory, loved to sing and composed music (his stichera have been preserved and are performed to this day). Ivan IV had an excellent command of the pen, leaving a rich epistolary legacy, and loved to participate in religious debates. The tsar himself handled litigation, worked with documents, and could not stand vile drunkenness.

Having achieved real power, the young, far-sighted and active king immediately began to take measures to reorganize and strengthen the state - both from within and its external borders.

Meeting

The main feature of Ivan the Terrible is his manic passion for firearms.

For the first time in the Russian army, detachments armed with arquebuses appeared - archers, who gradually became the backbone of the army, taking away this rank from the local cavalry. Cannon yards are springing up all over the country, where more and more new barrels are being cast, fortresses are being rebuilt for a fiery battle - their walls are straightened, mattresses and large-caliber squeakers are installed in the towers. The Tsar stocked up gunpowder in all ways: he bought it, installed gunpowder mills, he imposed a saltpeter tax on cities and monasteries. Sometimes this leads to terrifying fires, but Ivan IV is relentless: gunpowder, as much gunpowder as possible!

First task, which is placed in front of an army that is gaining strength - stopping raids from outside Kazansky khanates.

At the same time, the young king is not interested in half measures, he wants to stop the raids once and for all, and for this there is only one way: conquer Kazan and include it in the Muscovite kingdom.

A seventeen-year-old boy went to fight the Tatars. The three-year war ended in failure. But in 1551 year the king appeared under the walls of Kazan again - victory! The Kazan people asked for peace, agreed to all the demands, but, as usual, did not fulfill the terms of peace. However, this time the stupid Russians for some reason did not swallow the insult and next summer, in 1552 year, the banners at the enemy capital were again dissolved.

The news that far in the east the infidels were crushing their co-religionists took Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent by surprise - he had never expected anything like this.

The Sultan gave the order to the Crimean Khan to provide assistance to the Kazan people, and he, hastily gathering 30,000 people, moved to Rus'. The young king, at the head of 15,000 horsemen, rushed towards and completely defeated the uninvited guests. Following the message about the defeat of Devlet Giray, news flew to Istanbul that there was one less khanate in the east.

Before the Sultan had time to digest this pill, they were already telling him about the annexation of another Khanate, the Astrakhan Khanate, to Moscow. It turns out that after the fall of Kazan, Khan Yamgurchey, in a fit of anger, decided to declare war on Russia...

The glory of the conqueror of the khanates brought Ivan IV new, unexpected subjects: hoping for his patronage, the Siberian Khan Ediger and the Circassian princes voluntarily swore allegiance to Moscow. The North Caucasus also came under the rule of the tsar.

Unexpectedly for the whole world - including itself - Russia more than doubled in size in a matter of years, reached the Black Sea and found itself face to face with the huge Ottoman Empire. This could only mean one thing: a terrible, devastating war.

Blood neighbors

The dull naivety of the tsar’s closest advisers, so beloved by modern historians, the so-called “Chosen Rada,” is striking. By their own admission, these clever men repeatedly advised the tsar to attack Crimea and conquer it, like the khanates of Kazan and Astrakhan. Their opinion, by the way, will be shared four centuries later by many modern historians. In order to more clearly understand how stupid such advice is, it is enough to look at the North American continent and ask the first Mexican you meet, even a stoned and uneducated Mexican: is the boorish behavior of the Texans and the military weakness of this state sufficient reason to attack it and return the ancestral Mexican lands?

And they will immediately answer you that you may attack Texas, but you will have to fight with the United States.

In the 16th century, the Ottoman Empire, having weakened its pressure in other directions, could withdraw five times more troops against Moscow than Russia allowed itself to mobilize. The Crimean Khanate alone, whose subjects were not engaged in crafts, agriculture, or trade, was ready, on the orders of the khan, to put its entire male population on horses and repeatedly marched on Rus' with armies of 100-150 thousand people (some historians bring this figure to 200 000). But the Tatars were cowardly robbers, whom troops 3-5 times smaller in number could cope with. It was a completely different matter to meet on the battlefield with the Janissaries and Seljuks, seasoned in battle and accustomed to conquering new lands.

Ivan IV could not afford such a war.

The contact of the borders happened unexpectedly for both countries, and therefore the first contacts between the neighbors turned out to be surprisingly peaceful. The Ottoman Sultan sent a letter to the Russian Tsar in which he friendlyly offered a choice of two possible ways out of the current situation: either Russia grants the Volga robbers - Kazan and Astrakhan - their former independence, or Ivan IV swears allegiance to the Magnificent Porte, becoming part of the Ottoman Empire along with the conquered khanates.

And for the umpteenth time in its centuries-old history, the light burned for a long time in the chambers of the Russian ruler and in painful thoughts The fate of the future Europe was being decided: to be it or not to be?

If the tsar agreed to the Ottoman proposal, he would forever secure the southern borders of the country. The Sultan will no longer allow the Tatars to rob new subjects, and all the predatory aspirations of the Crimea will be directed in the only possible direction: against the eternal enemy of Moscow, the Principality of Lithuania. In this case, the rapid extermination of the enemy and the rise of Russia will become inevitable. But at what cost?..

The king refuses.

Suleiman releases the Crimean thousands, which he used in Moldova and Hungary, and points out to the Crimean Khan Devlet-Girey a new enemy whom he will have to crush: Russia. A long and bloody war begins: the Tatars regularly rush towards Moscow, the Russians are fenced off with a multi-hundred-mile Zasechnaya Line of forest windbreaks, fortresses and earthen ramparts with stakes dug into them. Every year 60-70 thousand soldiers defend this gigantic wall.

It is clear to Ivan the Terrible, and the Sultan has repeatedly confirmed this with his letters: an attack on Crimea will be regarded as a declaration of war on the empire. In the meantime, the Russians endure, the Ottomans also do not begin active military operations, continuing the wars already started in Europe, Africa and Asia.

Now, while the Ottoman Empire's hands are tied with battles in other places, while the Ottomans are not going to fall on Russia with all their might, there is time to accumulate forces, and Ivan IV begins vigorous reforms in the country: first of all, he introduces a regime in the country, which was later called democracy.

Feedings are abolished in the country, the institution of governors appointed by the tsar is replaced by local self-government - zemstvo and provincial elders elected by peasants, artisans and boyars. Moreover, the new regime is being imposed not with stupid stubbornness, as now, but prudently and wisely. The transition to democracy is carried out... for a fee. If you like the governor, live as before. I don’t like it - local residents contribute from 100 to 400 rubles to the treasury and can choose whoever they want as their boss.

The army is being transformed. Having personally participated in several wars and battles, the tsar is well aware of the main problem of the army - localism. The boyars demand appointment to posts according to the merits of their ancestors: if my grandfather commanded a wing of the army, it means that I am entitled to the same post. Even if he is a fool, the milk on his lips may not dry: but still, the post of wing commander is mine! I don’t want to obey the old and experienced prince, because his son walked under the hand of my great-grandfather! This means that it is not I who must obey him, but he who must obey me!

The issue is resolved radically: a new army is being organized in the country, oprichnina . The guardsmen swear allegiance to the sovereign alone, and their career depends only on their personal qualities. It is in the oprichnina that all mercenaries serve: Russia, waging a long and difficult war, is chronically short of warriors, but it has enough gold to hire eternally poor European nobles.

In addition, Ivan IV actively builds parish schools and fortresses, stimulates trade, and purposefully creates a working class: A direct royal decree prohibits the involvement of cultivators in any work related to getting off the ground - workers, not peasants, should work in construction, factories and factories.

Of course, there are many opponents of such rapid transformations in the country.
Just think: a simple rootless landowner like Boriska Godunov can rise to the rank of governor simply because he is brave, smart and honest!
Just think: the king can buy the family estate into the treasury only because the owner doesn’t know his business well and the peasants run away from him!
The guardsmen are hated, vile rumors are spread about them, conspiracies are organized against the tsar - but Ivan the Terrible continues his reforms with a firm hand. It comes to the point that for several years he has to divide the country into two parts: the oprichnina for those who want to live in a new way and the zemstvo for those who want to preserve the old customs. However, in spite of everything, he achieved his goal, turning the ancient Moscow principality into a new, powerful power - the Russian kingdom.

The Empire Strikes

IN 1569 year, the bloody respite, consisting of continuous raids by the Tatar hordes, ended. The Sultan finally found time for Russia.

17,000 selected Janissaries, reinforced by the Crimean and Nogai cavalry, moved towards Astrakhan. The king, still hoping to do without bloodshed, withdrew all the troops from their path, while simultaneously replenishing the fortress with food supplies, gunpowder and cannonballs. The campaign failed: the Turks were unable to bring artillery with them, and they were not used to fighting without guns. In addition, the return journey through the unexpectedly cold winter steppe cost most of the Turks their lives.

A year later, in 1571 year, bypassing Russian fortresses and knocking down the small boyar barriers, Devlet-Girey brought 100,000 horsemen to Moscow, set fire to the city and returned back.

Ivan the Terrible tore and threw. The boyars' heads rolled. Those executed were accused of specific treason: they missed the enemy, they did not report the raid in time.

In Istanbul they rubbed their hands: reconnaissance in force showed that the Russians did not know how to fight, preferring to sit behind the fortress walls. But if the light Tatar cavalry is not capable of taking fortifications, then the experienced Janissaries knew how to uncork them very well.

It was decided to conquer Muscovy, for which Devlet-Girey was assigned 7,000 Janissaries and gunners with several dozen artillery barrels to take the cities. Murzas were appointed in advance to the still Russian cities, governors to the not yet conquered principalities, the land was divided, merchants received permission for duty-free trade. All the men of Crimea, young and old, gathered to explore new lands.

A huge army was supposed to enter Russian borders and remain there forever.

And so it happened...

Battlefield

On July 6, 1572, Devlet-Girey reached the Oka River and came across a 50,000-strong army under the command of the prince Mikhail Vorotynsky(many historians estimate the size of the Russian army at 20,000 people, and the Ottoman army at 80,000) and, laughing at the stupidity of the Russians, turned up along the river. Near Senkin Ford, he easily dispersed a detachment of 200 boyars and, having crossed the river, moved towards Moscow along the Serpukhov road. Vorotynsky hurried after.

Huge masses of horsemen moved across the Russian expanses at a speed unprecedented in Europe - both armies moved lightly, on horseback, not burdened by convoys.

Oprichnik Dmitry Khvorostinin sneaked on the heels of the Tatars to the village of Molodi at the head of a 5,000-strong detachment of Cossacks and boyars, and only here, on July 30, 1572, received permission to attack the enemy.

Rushing forward, he trampled the Tatar rearguard into the road dust and, rushing further, crashed into the main forces at the Pakhra River. Slightly surprised by such impudence, the Tatars turned around and rushed at the small detachment with all their strength. The Russians rushed to their heels - the enemies rushed after them, pursuing the guardsmen all the way to the village of Molodi, and then an unexpected surprise awaited the invaders: the Russian army, deceived on the Oka, was already here. And she didn’t just stand there, but managed to build a walk-city - a mobile fortification made of thick wooden shields. From the cracks between the shields, cannons struck the steppe cavalry, arquebuses thundered from the loopholes cut into the log walls, and a shower of arrows poured over the fortification. A friendly volley swept away the advanced Tatar detachments - as if a huge hand swept away unnecessary crumbs from the table. The Tatars were mixed up - Khvorostinin turned his soldiers around and rushed into the attack again.

Thousands of horsemen approaching along the road, one after another, fell into a cruel meat grinder. Tired boyars either retreated behind the shields of the walk-city, under the cover of heavy fire, or rushed into more and more attacks. The Ottomans, in a hurry to destroy a fortress that had come from nowhere, rushed to attack wave after wave, abundantly flooding the Russian land with their blood, and only the descending darkness stopped the endless murder.

In the morning, the truth was revealed to the Ottoman army in all its terrifying ugliness: the invaders realized that they had fallen into a trap. Ahead along the Serpukhov road stood the strong walls of Moscow, behind the path to the steppe were fenced off the iron-clad guardsmen and archers. Now for the uninvited guests it was no longer a question of conquering Russia, but of getting back alive.

The next two days were spent trying to scare off the Russians who were blocking the road - the Tatars showered the city with arrows and cannonballs, rushed at it in mounted attacks, hoping to break through the gaps left for the passage of the boyar cavalry. However, by the third day it became clear that the Russians would rather die on the spot than allow the uninvited guests to leave.
On August 2, Devlet-Girey ordered his soldiers to dismount and attack the Russians along with the Janissaries.

The Tatars understood perfectly well that this time they were not going to rob, but to save their own skin, and they fought like rabid dogs. The heat of the battle reached the highest tension. It got to the point that the Crimeans tried to break the hated shields with their hands, and the Janissaries gnawed them with their teeth and chopped them with scimitars. But the Russians were not going to release the eternal robbers into the wild, give them the opportunity to catch their breath and return again. Blood flowed all day - but by evening the walk-town continued to stand in its place.

Hunger was raging in the Russian camp - after all, while chasing the enemy, the boyars and archers thought about weapons, and not about food, simply abandoning the convoy with food and drink supplies. As the chronicles note: “There was a great famine in the regiments for people and horses.” Here it should be admitted that, along with Russian soldiers, German mercenaries suffered thirst and hunger, whom the tsar willingly took as guardsmen. However, the Germans did not complain either, but continued to fight no worse than others.

The Tatars were furious: they were accustomed not to fight with the Russians, but to drive them into slavery. The Ottoman Murzas, who had gathered to rule the new lands, and not die on them, were also not amused. Everyone was eagerly waiting for dawn to deliver the final blow and finally smash the fragile-looking fortification and exterminate the people hiding behind it.

With the onset of dusk, Voivode Vorotynsky took some of the soldiers with him, walked around the enemy camp along the ravine and hid there. And early in the morning, when, after a friendly volley at the attacking Ottomans, the boyars led by Khvorostinin rushed towards them and started a brutal battle, Voivode Vorotynsky unexpectedly struck the enemies in the back. And what started out as a battle instantly turned into a beating.

Arithmetic

Defenders of Moscow on a field near the village of Molodi All the Janissaries and Ottoman Murzas were completely slaughtered, and almost the entire male population of Crimea died. And not only ordinary warriors - the son, grandson and son-in-law of Devlet-Girey himself died under Russian sabers. Having, according to various estimates, either three or four times less strength than the enemy, Russian soldiers forever eliminated the danger emanating from Crimea. No more than 20,000 of the bandits who went on the campaign managed to return alive - and Crimea was never again able to regain its strength.

This was the first major defeat in the entire history of the Ottoman Empire. Having lost almost 20,000 Janissaries and the entire huge army of its satellite on the Russian borders in three years, the Magnificent Porte abandoned hopes of conquering Russia.

The victory of Russian weapons was of great importance for Europe. At the Battle of Molodi, we not only defended our independence, but also deprived the Ottoman Empire of the opportunity to increase its production capacity and army by about a third. In addition, for the huge Ottoman province that could have arisen in place of Russia, there was only one path for further expansion - to the west. Retreating under attacks in the Balkans, Europe would hardly have survived even for several years if the Turkish onslaught had increased even slightly.

The Last Rurikovich

There is only one question left to answer: why don’t they make films about the Battle of Molodi, don’t talk about it in school, and don’t celebrate its anniversary with holidays?

The fact is that the battle that determined the future of the entire European civilization took place during the reign of a king who was not supposed to be not only good, but also simply normal. Ivan the Terrible, the greatest Tsar in the history of Rus', who actually created the country in which we live, took over the reign of the Moscow Principality and left behind Great Russia, was the last of the Rurik family.

After him, the Romanov dynasty ascended the throne - and they did everything possible to belittle the importance of everything done by the previous dynasty and discredit the greatest of its representatives.

According to the highest order, Ivan the Terrible was destined to be bad - and along with his memory, the great victory, achieved with considerable difficulty by our ancestors, was prohibited.

The first of the Romanov dynasty gave the Swedes the coast of the Baltic Sea and access to Lake Ladoga.
His son introduced hereditary serfdom, depriving industry and the Siberian expanses of free workers and settlers.
Under his great-grandson, the army created by Ivan IV was broken and the industry that supplied weapons to the whole of Europe was destroyed (the Tula-Kamensk factories alone sold to the West up to 600 guns a year, tens of thousands of cannonballs, thousands of grenades, muskets and swords).

Russia was rapidly sliding into an era of degradation.

Battle of Molody or Battle of Molodinskaya- a major battle that took place between July 29 and August 2, 1572, 50 versts south of Moscow, in which Russian troops led by the governor Prince Mikhail Vorotynsky and the army of the Crimean Khan Devlet I Giray, which included, in addition to the Crimean troops themselves, Turkish and Nogai detachments, came together in battle. Despite the significant numerical superiority, the Turkish-Crimean army was put to flight and almost completely killed.

In terms of its significance, the Battle of Molodi is comparable to Kulikovo and other key battles in Russian history. Victory in the battle allowed Russia to maintain its independence and became a turning point in the confrontation between the Russian Empire and the Crimean Khanate, which abandoned its claims to the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates and henceforth lost most of its power. The Battle of Molodin is the result of the longest military campaign of Turkish troops in Europe.

Since 2009, a reenactment festival has been held at the site of the events, dedicated to the anniversary of the battle.

Political situation

Expansion of Muscovite Rus'

However, Devlet Giray was sure that Rus' would not recover from such a blow and could itself become an easy prey, moreover, famine and a plague epidemic reigned within its borders. In his opinion, all that remained was to strike the final blow. For the entire year after the campaign against Moscow, he was engaged in forming a new, much larger army. The Ottoman Empire provided active support, providing him with several thousand soldiers, including 7 thousand selected Janissaries. He managed to gather about 80 thousand people from the Crimean Tatars and Nogais. Possessing a huge army at that time, Devlet Giray moved towards Moscow. The Crimean Khan repeatedly stated that “ goes to Moscow for the kingdom" The lands of Muscovite Rus' were already divided in advance among the Crimean Murzas. The invasion of the Crimean army, as well as the aggressive campaigns of Batu, raised an acute question about the existence of an independent Russian state.

On the eve of the battle

This time the Khan's campaign was incomparably more serious than an ordinary raid. On July 27, the Crimean-Turkish army approached the Oka and began to cross it in two places - at the confluence of the Lopasny River into it along the Senkin Ford, and upstream from Serpukhov. The first crossing point was guarded by a small guard regiment of “children of the boyars” under the command of Ivan Shuisky, consisting of only 200 soldiers. The Nogai vanguard of the Crimean-Turkish army under the command of Tereberdey-Murza fell upon him. The detachment did not take flight, but entered into an unequal battle, but was scattered, however, managing to inflict great damage on the Crimeans. After this, Tereberdey-Murza’s detachment reached the outskirts of modern Podolsk near the Pakhra River and, having cut all the roads leading to Moscow, stopped waiting for the main forces.

The main positions of the Russian troops were near Serpukhov. Gulyai-Gorod consisted of half-a-log shields the size of a log house wall, mounted on carts, with loopholes for shooting, and arranged in a circle or in a line. Russian soldiers were armed with arquebuses and cannons. To distract, Devlet Giray sent a detachment of two thousand against Serpukhov, while he himself with the main forces crossed the Oka River in a more remote place near the village of Drakino, where he encountered the regiment of governor Nikita Romanovich Odoevsky, who was defeated in a difficult battle. After this, the main army moved towards Moscow, and Vorotynsky, having removed his troops from coastal positions, moved after him. This was a risky strategy: it was assumed that the khan would not want to put his army in “two fires” and, since he did not know what the Moscow garrison was, would be forced to first destroy the Russian army “clinging to its tail.” The siege of a well-fortified city, even with a small garrison, but with numerous cannons, is a long undertaking and the khan could not leave a strong enemy in the rear threatening convoys and small detachments. In addition, there was the experience of the previous year, when the governor Ivan Belsky managed to lock himself in Moscow, but could not prevent the burning of the suburbs.

Composition of the Russian army

According to the regimental list of the “shore” regiment of Prince Mikhail Vorotynsky, the Russian army had in its composition (according to there was also a left-hand regiment on the Lopasna River: governors Prince Ondrei Vasilyevich Repnin and Prince Pyotr Ivanovich Khvorostinin):

Progress of the battle

The Crimean army was fairly stretched out and while its advanced units reached the Pakhra River, the rearguard was only approaching the village of Molodi, located 15 kilometers from it. It was here that he was overtaken by an advance detachment of Russian troops under the leadership of the young oprichnina governor, Prince Dmitry Khvorostinin. A fierce battle broke out, as a result of which the Crimean rearguard was practically destroyed. This happened on July 29.

After this, what Vorotynsky hoped for happened. Having learned about the defeat of the rearguard and fearing for his rear, Devlet Giray deployed his army. By this time, a walk-city had already been developed near Molodei in a convenient location, located on a hill and covered by the Rozhaya River. Khvorostinin’s detachment found itself face to face with the entire Crimean army, but, having correctly assessed the situation, the young governor was not at a loss and lured the enemy to Walk-Gorod with an imaginary retreat. With a quick maneuver to the right, taking his soldiers to the side, he brought the enemy under deadly artillery and squeal fire - “ many Tatars were beaten" In Gulyai-Gorod there was a large regiment under the command of Vorotynsky himself, as well as the Cossacks of Ataman Cherkashenin who arrived in time. A protracted battle began, for which the Crimean army was not ready. In one of the unsuccessful attacks on Gulyai-Gorod, Tereberdey-Murza was killed.

After a series of small skirmishes, on July 31, Devlet Giray launched a decisive assault on Gulyai-Gorod, but it was repulsed. His army suffered heavy losses, including the capture of the adviser to the Crimean Khan, Divey-Murza. As a result of large losses, the Crimeans retreated. The next day the attacks stopped, but the situation of the besieged was critical - there were a huge number of wounded in the fortification, and the water was running out.

Aftermath of the battle

Foundation stone in memory of the victory in the Battle of Molodi.

After an unsuccessful campaign against the Russian kingdom, Crimea lost almost its entire combat-ready male population, since according to customs, almost all combat-ready men were obliged to participate in the Khan’s campaigns. In general, the battle of the village of Molodi became a turning point in the confrontation between Muscovite Rus' and the Crimean Khanate and the last major battle between Rus' and the Steppe. As a result of the battle, the military power of the Crimean Khanate, which had threatened Russian lands for so long, was undermined. The Ottoman Empire was forced to abandon plans to return the middle and lower Volga region to its sphere of interests and they were assigned to Russia.

Devastated by previous Crimean raids of 1566-1571. and natural disasters of the late 1560s. , Muscovite Rus', fighting on two fronts, was able to survive and maintain its independence in an extremely critical situation.

Serious research on the topic of the Battle of Molodi began to be undertaken only at the end of the 20th century.

see also

Literature

• Buganov V.I. Documents about the Battle of Molodi in 1572. // Historical Archive, No. 4, pp. 166-183, 1959
• Buganov V.I. The story of the victory over the Crimean Tatars in 1572 // Archaeographic Yearbook for 1961. M., 1962. S. 259-275. (The Battle of Molodi is presented day by day)
• Burdey G.D. Battle of Molodin 1572 // From the history of inter-Slavic cultural relations. M., 1963. P. 48-79 Uchen. zap. . T. 26
• Bulanin D. M. The Tale of the Battle of Molodi.

• Andreev A. R. Unknown Borodino: Battle of Molodinsk 1572. - M., 1997,
• Andreev A. R. History of Crimea. - Moscow, 2001.

• Skrynnikov R. G. Oprichnina terror // Scientist. zap. LGPI named after. A. I. Herzen. 1969. T. 374. pp. 167-174.
• Kargalov V.V. Dmitry Khvorostinin // Moscow governors of the XVI-XVII centuries. / V.V. Kargalov. - M.: LLC TID "Russkoe Slovo-RS", 2002. - 336, p. - 5,000 copies. - ISBN 5-94853-007-8(in translation)
• Kargalov V.V. Mikhail Ivanovich Vorotynsky

July 31 - August 2, 1572 marked the 444th anniversary of the Battle of Molodi or, as it is otherwise called, the Battle of Molodi. The forgotten (or rather purposefully hushed up?) battle of the forgotten war, however, played a special and very significant role in the life of our country.

Its significance is comparable to the significance of the Battle of Poltava and the Battle of Borodino, and its successes surpass both of these battles, however, it is not customary to talk about it. There are still many questions left in the history of Russia to which we do not find answers in the official historical myth of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In particular, the period of the reign of Ivan the Terrible, during which the Battle of Molodino took place, remains one of the most controversial and shrouded in fog of all kinds of myths and fables, including those constantly generated by the so-called biblical “science”. We will try to open one of the pages of this time.

Presented to your attention is a map of Russia, engraved by Franz Hogenberg from the original by Anthony Jenkinson, an employee of the English Moscow Company. The original was performed in 1562. Jenkinson traveled to Bukhara in 1557 - 1559, and after that to Russia twice more. During one of these travels he reached Persia.

The vignettes are based on editions of Marco Polo's travels. They depict ethnic and mythical scenes, local residents in national clothes, and animals.

This map is so interesting that we provide a detailed description of it.

Text on the cartouche:

RUSSIAE, MOSCOVIAE ET TARTARIAE DESCRIPTIO Auctore Antonio

Ienkensono Anglo, Anno 1562 & dedicata illustriss. D. Henrico Sijdneo Walliei presidi. Cum priuilegio.

Description of Russia, Muscovy and Tartary by Anthony Jenkinson the Englishman, published in London in 1562 and dedicated to the most illustrious Henry Sidney Lord President of Wales. By privilege.

On the vignette in the upper left corner:

Ioannes Basilius Magnus Imperator Russie Dux Moscovie is depicted, i.e. Ivan Vasilievich (Basileus?) Great Emperor of Russia Prince of Muscovy.

Left edge, middle:

Hic pars Litu/anie Imperatori/Russie subdita est.

This part of Lithuania is under the rule of the Russian Emperor (http://iskatel.info/kartyi-orteliya.-perevod.html).

On this lifetime map of Ivan the Terrible, we see that the Moscow state borders on Tartaria, as we assumed earlier in the first part of the article. The question remains open whether Ivan the Terrible fought with Tartary itself, or with units that had already broken away from it (Circassian, Small (Crimean), Desert Tartary, which became other states), possibly pursuing an independent policy, and not in the interests of the population, but which we will talk about in more detail using the example of Crimean Tartaria.

In general, it should be noted that the map is not very accurate. And also to note the generally irrelevant fact that the Caspian Sea was much larger in those days, and the current Aral Sea is most likely just the eastern part of the Caspian.

FOREIGN POLICY OF IVAN THE TERRIBLE IN THE SOUTH

As we see on this Mercator map, dating back to 1630, Crimean Tartary included not only Crimea itself, but also the Black Sea region, what is now called Novorossiya. On the Mercator map itself, in addition to Crimean Tartaria, the words appear - Taurica Chersonesos and Khazaria, that is, there were grounds for calling Crimea Khazaria even in the 17th century.

Most likely, after Prince Svyatoslav cleansed the Khazar Kaganate, he did not disappear completely and continued his activities in the form of fragments, since Rus' could not control at that time all the territories remaining after him, in particular, Crimea. And most importantly, this is based not on genetic or linguistic characteristics of the Khazars, but on cultural ones.

After the final defeat of the Khazars in Crimea, however, there are still Karaites (possible heirs of the Khazars), trading posts of Genoa and Venice, and Byzantium and the Polovtsians are also present. Almost everyone is involved in the slave trade, as evidenced, for example, by the Arab historian Ibn Al-Athir (1160 - 1233), who wrote about Sudak (Sugdea):

“This is the city of the Kipchaks, from which they receive their goods, and ships with clothes dock at it, the latter are sold, and with them girls and slaves, Burtas furs, beavers and other items found in their land are bought (http://www. sudak.pro/history-sudak2/).

It was this force that Tsar Ivan the Terrible faced.

BATTLE OF MOLDIN

In the 16th century, almost all the time Russia had to fight with foreign invaders, and, above all, the West. Russia was constantly at war with Livonia, Lithuania, Poland, and Sweden. The Crimean Khan, taking advantage of the fact that Russian troops were in the West and the aggravated situation in internal politics, carried out raids on the southern borders of Muscovy.

After the burning of Moscow in 1571, Ivan was ready to give Astrakhan to the khan, but he also demanded Kazan, and was practically confident that he could conquer Rus'. Therefore, he prepared for a new campaign, which began in 1572. Khan managed to gather about 80 thousand people (according to other estimates 120 thousand); Turkey sent a Janissary corps of 7 thousand people to help him.

Devlet Giray demanded the return of Kazan and Astrakhan, inviting Ivan the Terrible, together with the Turkish Sultan, to go over to them “under control and in care,” and also declared that he was “going to Moscow to reign.” Simultaneously with the beginning of the invasion, an uprising of the Cheremis, Ostyaks and Bashkirs, organized by the Crimean Tatars, took place as a diversionary maneuver to weaken the Moscow troops. The uprising was suppressed by the Stroganov detachments.

On July 29, Summer 7080 (1572), a five-day battle began near Molody, 60 kilometers from Moscow, between Podolsk and Serpukhov, which became known as the Battle of Molody.

Russian troops - under the command of the governors of princes Mikhail Ivanovich Vorotynsky, Alexei Petrovich Khovansky and Dmitry Ivanovich Khvorostinin totaled:

20,034 people and the Cossacks of Mikhail Cherkashenin with the Big Regiment.

Following the beaten path, the Tatars, encountering virtually no resistance, reached the Oka. At the border outpost of Kolomna and Serpukhov they were met by a 20,000-strong detachment under the command of Prince M. Vorotynsky. Devlet-Girey’s army did not enter the battle. Khan sent about 2 thousand troops to Serpukhov, and the main forces moved up the river. The advance detachment under the command of Murza Tereberdey reached Senka Ford and calmly crossed the river, simultaneously partially dispersing and partially sending two hundred defenders of the cordon to their forefathers. The remaining forces crossed near the village of Drakino. Prince Odoevsky's regiment, numbering about 1,200 people, was also unable to provide tangible resistance - the Russians were defeated, and Devlet-Girey calmly proceeded straight to Moscow.

Vorotynsky made a desperate decision, fraught with considerable risk: according to the tsar’s order, the governor had to block the Khan’s Muravsky Way and hurry to the Zhizdra River, where he was to reunite with the main Russian army.

The prince thought differently and set off in pursuit of the Tatars. They traveled carelessly, stretched out significantly and lost their vigilance, until the fateful date arrived - July 30 (according to other sources, 29th) (1572). The Battle of Molodi became an irreversible reality when the decisive governor Dmitry Khvorostinin with a detachment of 2 thousand (according to other sources, 5 thousand) people overtook the Tatars and dealt an unexpected blow to the rearguard of the Khan’s army.

The enemies wavered: the attack turned out to be an unpleasant (and - even worse - sudden) surprise for them. When the brave governor Khvorostinin crashed into the main part of the enemy troops, they were not at a loss and fought back, putting the Russians to flight. Not knowing, however, that it was also carefully thought out: Dmitry Ivanovich led the enemies straight to Vorotynsky’s carefully prepared troops. This is where the battle began near the village of Molodi in 1572, which had the most serious consequences for the country.

One can imagine how surprised the Tatars were when they discovered in front of them the so-called Walk-Gorod - a fortified structure created according to all the rules of that time: thick shields mounted on carts reliably protected the soldiers stationed behind them. Inside the “walk-city” there were cannons (Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible was a big fan of firearms and supplied his army according to the latest requirements of military science), archers armed with arquebuses, archers, etc.

The enemy was immediately treated to everything that was in store for his arrival: a terrible bloody battle ensued. More and more Tatar forces approached - and fell straight into the meat grinder organized by the Russians (in fairness, it should be noted that they were not the only ones: mercenaries, common in those days, also fought along with the locals, in particular the Germans, judging by the historical chronicles, porridge didn't spoil it at all).

Devlet-Girey did not want to risk leaving such a large and organized enemy force in his rear. Again and again he threw his best forces into strengthening, but the result was not even zero - it was negative. The year 1572 did not turn into a triumph: the Battle of Molodi continued for the fourth day, when the Tartar commander ordered his army to dismount and, together with the Ottoman Janissaries, attack the Russians. The furious onslaught yielded nothing. Vorotynsky’s squads, despite hunger and thirst (when the prince set off in pursuit of the Tartars, food was the last thing they thought about), they fought to the death. The enemy suffered huge losses, blood flowed like a river. When thick twilight came, Devlet-Girey decided to wait until morning and, by the light of the sun, “put the squeeze” on the enemy, but the resourceful and cunning Vorotynsky decided that the action called “The Battle of Molodi, 1572” should have a quick and unhappy ending for the Tatars. Under the cover of darkness, the prince led part of the army to the rear of the enemy - there was a convenient ravine nearby - and struck!

Cannons thundered from the front, and after the cannonballs the same Khvorostinin rushed at the enemy, sowing death and horror among the Tartars. The year 1572 was marked by a terrible battle: the Battle of Molodi can be considered large by modern standards, and even more so by the Middle Ages. The battle turned into a beating. According to various sources, the Khan's army numbered from 80 to 125 thousand people. The Russians were outnumbered three or four times, but they managed to destroy about three-quarters of the enemies: the Battle of Molodi in 1572 caused the death of the vast majority of the male population of the Crimean Peninsula, because, according to Tatar laws, all men had to support the khan in his aggressive endeavors. Irreparable harm, invaluable benefit. According to many historians, the Khanate was never able to recover from the crushing defeat. The Ottoman Empire also received a noticeable slap on the nose when it supported Devlet-Girey. The lost battle of Molodi (1572) cost the khan himself the lives of his son, grandson and son-in-law. And also military honor, because he had to naturally to scurry out from near Moscow, without making out the road, which is what the chronicles write about:

Not by paths, not by roads.

The Russians who rushed after continued to kill the Tatars, fed up with years of raids, and their heads were spinning with blood and hatred. It is difficult to overestimate the significance that the Battle of Molodyah had: the consequences for the subsequent development of Russia were the most favorable (http://fb.ru/article/198278/god-bitva-pri-molodyah-kratko).

CONSEQUENCES OF THE BATTLE

After the failed campaign against Rus', the Crimean Khanate lost almost its entire combat-ready male population. The Battle of Molodin was the last major battle between Rus' and the Steppe, as well as a turning point in the confrontation between the Moscow state and the Crimean Khanate. The Khanate’s ability to carry out campaigns against Rus' was undermined for a long time, and the Ottoman Empire abandoned plans for the Volga region.

Muscovite Rus' managed to defend its territorial integrity, preserve its population and retain important trade routes in its hands in the critical situation of a war on two fronts. The fortifications were moved to the south several hundred kilometers, Voronezh appeared, and the development of black earth lands began.

The main thing was that Ivan the Terrible managed unite the fragments of Tartary into Muscovite Rus' and secure the state from the East and South, now focusing on repelling Western aggression. In addition, it was clearly revealed to many that the aggression of the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire on Rus' had nothing to do with real Islam, just like the removal of people to the full. And Ivan the Terrible, being a supporter of Arianism (that is, real Christianity), won a convincing victory, in which Russian troops numbering 20 thousand people won a decisive victory over the forces of Crimea and Turkey four, if not six times superior to them.

Nevertheless, we know nothing about this, since the Romanovs did not need the last of the Rurikovichs, who actually created the country in which we live. A battle which he won was more significant than Poltava and Borodino. And in this his fate is similar to the fate of Stalin.

The Battle of Molodi is the largest battle of the era of Tsar Ivan the Terrible, which took place from July 29 to August 2, 1572, 50 versts south of Moscow (between Podolsk and Serpukhov), in which Russian border troops and the 120 thousandth Crimean-Turkish army of Devlet I Giray fought , which included, in addition to the Crimean and Nogai troops themselves, the 20 thousandth Turkish army, incl. elite Janissary troops, supported by 200 cannons. Despite the overwhelming advantage in numbers, this entire occupying Crimean-Turkish army was put to flight and almost completely killed.

In its scale and significance, the Great Battle of Molodi surpasses the Battle of Kulikovo and other key battles in Russian history. Meanwhile, this outstanding event is not written about in school textbooks, films are not made, or shouted from newspaper pages... Finding information about this battle is difficult and possible only in specialized sources.

This is not surprising, because otherwise we could end up revising our history and glorifying Tsar Ivan the Terrible, and this is something many historians don’t want.

As the outstanding researcher of antiquity Nikolai Petrovich Aksakov wrote:

“The time of Ivan the Terrible is the Golden Age of our Past, when the basic formula of the Russian community, characteristic of the Spirit of the Russian people, received its fullest expression: to the Earth - the power of opinion, to the State - the power of power.”

The cathedral and the oprichnina were its pillars.

Prehistory

In 1552, Russian troops took Kazan by storm, and four years later they conquered the Astrakhan Khanate (more precisely, they returned Rus'. V.A.) Both of these events caused a very negative reaction in the Turkic world, since the fallen khanates were allies of the Ottoman Sultan and his Crimean vassal .

For the young Moscow state, new opportunities opened up for the political and commercial direction of movement to the south and east, and the ring of hostile Muslim khanates, which had been plundering Rus' for several centuries, was broken. Immediately, offers of citizenship from the mountain and Circassian princes followed, and the Siberian Khanate recognized itself as a tributary of Moscow.

This development of events greatly worried the Ottoman (Turkish) Sultanate and the Crimean Khanate. After all, raids on Rus' constituted a large part of the income - the economy of the Crimean Khanate, and as Muscovite Rus' strengthened, all this was under threat.

The Turkish Sultan was also very concerned about the prospects of stopping the supply of slaves and loot from the southern Russian and Ukrainian lands, as well as the safety of his Crimean and Caucasian vassals.

The goal of Ottoman and Crimean policy was to return the Volga region to the orbit of Ottoman interests and restore the former hostile ring around Muscovite Rus'.

Livonian War

Encouraged by his success in accessing the Caspian Sea, Tsar Ivan the Terrible intended to gain access to the Baltic Sea in order to gain access to sea communications and simplify trade with Western European countries.

In 1558, the Livonian War began against the Livonian Confederation, which was later joined by Sweden, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland.

At first, events developed well for Moscow: under the attacks of the troops of Prince Serebryany, Prince Kurbsky and Prince Adashev in 1561, the Livonian Confederation was defeated and most of the Baltic states came under Russian control, and the ancient Russian city of Polotsk was also recaptured.

However, soon, luck gave way to failure and a series of painful defeats followed.

In 1569, the opponents of Muscovite Rus' concluded the so-called. The Union of Lublin is a union of Poland and Lithuania, which formed a single Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The position of the Moscow state became more complicated, since it had to resist the increased combined strength of its rivals and internal betrayal (Prince Kurbsky betrayed Tsar Ivan the Terrible and went over to the enemy’s side). Fighting the internal betrayal of the boyars and a number of princes, Tsar Ivan the Terrible introduced into Rus' oprichnina.

Oprichnina

Oprichnina is a system of emergency measures used by the Russian Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible in 1565–1572 in domestic politics to defeat the boyar-princely opposition and strengthen the Russian centralized state. Ivan the Terrible called oprichnina the inheritance he allocated for himself in the country, which had a special army and command apparatus.

The tsar separated part of the boyars, servicemen and clerks into the oprichnina. A special staff of managers, housekeepers, cooks, clerks, etc. was appointed; were recruited special oprichnina detachments of archers.

In Moscow itself, some streets were given over to the oprichnina (Chertolskaya, Arbat, Sivtsev Vrazhek, part of Nikitskaya, etc.).

A thousand specially selected nobles, children of boyars, both Moscow and city, were also recruited into the oprichnina.

The condition for accepting a person into the oprichnina army and the oprichnina court was lack of family and service ties with noble boyars . They were given estates in the volosts assigned to maintain the oprichnina; the former landowners and patrimonial owners were transferred from those volosts to others (as a rule, closer to the border).

The external distinction of the guardsmen was dog head and broom, attached to the saddle, as a sign that they gnaw and sweep the traitors to the king.

The rest of the state was supposed to constitute the “zemshchina”: the tsar entrusted it to the zemstvo boyars, that is, the boyar duma itself, and put Prince Ivan Dmitrievich Belsky and Prince Ivan Fedorovich Mstislavsky at the head of its administration. All matters had to be resolved in the old way, and with big matters one should turn to the boyars, but if military or important zemstvo matters happened, then to the sovereign.

Crimean raid on Moscow in 1571

Taking advantage of the presence of most of the Russian army in the Baltic states, and the heating up internal situation in Muscovite Rus' associated with the introduction oprichnina, the Crimean Khan “on the sly” made constant raids on the southern borders of Moscow lands.

And in May 1571, with the support of the Ottoman Empire and in agreement with the newly formed Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Crimean Khan Devlet-Girey with his 40,000-strong army made a devastating campaign against Russian lands.

Having bypassed the security lines of fortifications on the southern outskirts of the Moscow kingdom with the help of traitor-defectors (the traitor Prince Mstislavsky sent his people to show the khan how to bypass the 600-kilometer Zasechnaya line from the west), Devlet-Girey managed to bypass the barrier of zemstvo troops and one oprichnina regiment and cross the Oka. Russian troops barely managed to return to Moscow. He failed to take the Russian capital by storm - but was able to set it on fire with the help of traitors.

And the fiery tornado devoured the entire city - and those who took refuge in the Kremlin and Kitay-Gorod suffocated from the smoke and “fire heat” - more than a hundred thousand innocent people died from painful death, because fleeing from the Crimean invasion, countless numbers hid behind the city walls number of refugees - and all of them, along with the townspeople, found themselves in a death trap. The city, built mainly of wood, was almost completely burned down, with the exception of the stone Kremlin. The entire Moscow River was littered with corpses, the flow stopped...

In addition to Moscow, the Crimean Khan Devlet-Girey ravaged the central regions of the country, cut out 36 cities, collecting more than 150 thousand polona (live goods) - Crimea went back. From the road he sent the Tsar a knife, “so that Ivan would kill himself”.

After the fire of Moscow and the defeat of the central regions, Tsar Ivan the Terrible, who had previously left Moscow, invited the Crimeans to return the Astrakhan Khanate and was almost ready to negotiate the return of Kazan, etc.

However, Khan Devlet-Girey was sure that Muscovite Rus' would no longer recover from such a blow and could become easy prey for him, moreover, famine and a plague epidemic reigned within its borders.

He thought that only the final decisive blow remained to be struck against Muscovite Rus'...

And all year after the successful campaign against Moscow, the Crimean Khan Devlet I Giray was engaged in the formation of a new, much stronger and larger army. As a result of these works, possessing a huge, at that time, army of 120 thousand people, supported by a 20 thousand detachment of Turks (including 7 thousand Janissaries - the Turkish Guard) - Devlet-Girey moved to Moscow.

The Crimean Khan repeatedly stated that “goes to Moscow for the kingdom”. The lands of Muscovite Rus' were already divided in advance between his Crimean Murzas.

This invasion of the Great Crimean Army actually raised the question of the very existence of an independent Russian state and the Rusichs (Russians) as a nation...

The situation in Russia was difficult. The effects of the devastating invasion of 1571 and the plague were still acutely felt. The summer of 1572 was dry and hot, horses and cattle died. The Russian regiments experienced serious difficulties in supplying food.

Rus' was truly weakened by the 20-year war, famine, plague and the previous terrible Crimean invasion.

Economic difficulties were intertwined with complex internal political events, accompanied by executions, disgraces, and uprisings of the local feudal nobility that began in the Volga region.

In such a difficult situation, preparations were underway in the Russian state to repel a new invasion by Devlet-Girey. On April 1, 1572, a new border service system began to operate, taking into account the experience of last year’s struggle with Devlet-Girey.

Thanks to intelligence, the Russian command was promptly informed about the movement of the 120,000-strong army of Devlet-Girey and his further actions.

The construction and improvement of military-defensive structures, primarily located over a long distance along the Oka River, proceeded quickly.

Invasion

Ivan IV the Terrible understood the seriousness of the situation. He decided to put at the head of the Russian troops an experienced commander who had often been in disgrace - Prince Mikhail Ivanovich Vorotynsky.

Both zemstvo and guardsmen were subordinate to his command; they were united in service and within each regiment. This combined army of his (zemstvo and oprichnina), which stood as a border guard in Kolomna and Serpukhov, amounted to 20 thousand warriors.

In addition to them, the forces of Prince Vorotynsky were joined by a detachment of 7 thousand German mercenaries sent by the tsar, as well as Don Cossacks (also Volskie, Yaik and Putim Cossacks. V.A.).

A little later, a detachment of a thousand “Kaniv Cherkasy”, that is, Ukrainian Cossacks, arrived.

Prince Vorotynsky received instructions from the Tsar on how to behave in case of two scenarios.

In case Devlet-Girey moved to Moscow and sought battle with the entire Russian army, the prince was obliged to block the old Muravsky Way for the khan (to rush to the Zhizdra River) and force him to turn around and take the battle.

If it became obvious that the invaders were interested in the traditional quick raid, robbery and equally quick retreat, Prince Vorotynsky had to set up ambushes and organize “partisan” actions and pursuit of the enemy.

Battle of Molodinskaya

On July 27, 1572, the Crimean-Turkish army approached the Oka and began to cross it in two places - at the confluence of the Lopasny River along the Senkin Ford, and upstream from Serpukhov.

The first crossing point was guarded by a small guard regiment of “children of the boyars” under the command of Ivan Shuisky, consisting of only 200 soldiers. The 20,000-strong Nogai vanguard of the Crimean-Turkish army under the command of Tereberdey-Murza fell upon him.

Shuisky’s detachment did not flee, but entered into an unequal battle and died a heroic death, having managed to inflict great damage on the Crimeans (none of these Russian soldiers flinched before the rolling avalanche and they all died in an unequal battle with a six hundred times superior enemy).

After this, Tereberdey-Murza’s detachment reached the outskirts of modern Podolsk near the Pakhra River and, having cut all the roads leading to Moscow, stopped waiting for the main forces.

Main positions of Russian troops, reinforced Walk around town(movable wooden fortress), were located near Serpukhov.

Walk-city consisted of half-log shields the size of a log house wall, mounted on carts, with loopholes for shooting - and composed all around or in line. Russian soldiers were armed with arquebuses and cannons. To divert attention, Khan Devlet Giray sent a detachment of two thousand against Serpukhov, and he himself with the main forces crossed the Oka River in a more remote place near the village of Drakino, where he encountered the regiment of governor Nikita Odoevsky, who was defeated in a difficult battle, but did not retreat.

After this, the main Crimean-Turkish army moved towards Moscow, and Vorotynsky, having removed troops from all coastal positions on the Oka, moved in pursuit of him.

The Crimean army was fairly stretched out and while its advanced units reached the Pakhra River, the rearguard (tail) was only approaching the village of Molodi, located 15 kilometers from it.

Here he was overtaken by the advanced regiment of Russian troops under the leadership of the young Oprichny voivode Prince Dmitry Khvorostinin, who did not hesitate to enter the fray. A fierce battle broke out, as a result of which the Crimean rearguard was defeated. This happened on July 29, 1572.

But Prince Khvorostinin did not stop there, but pursued the remnants of the defeated rearguard right up to the main forces of the Crimean army. The blow was so strong that the two princes leading the rearguard told the khan that it was necessary to stop the offensive.

The Russian blow was so unexpected that Devlet-Girey stopped his army. He realized that there was a Russian army behind him, which must be destroyed in order to ensure unhindered advance to Moscow. Khan turned back, Devlet-Girey risked getting involved in a protracted battle. Accustomed to solving everything with one swift blow, he was forced to change traditional tactics.

By this time it had already been collected Walk-city near the village of Molodi in a convenient location located on a hill and covered by the Rozhai River.

Prince Khvorostinin's detachment found itself face to face with the entire Crimean-Turkish army. The young governor was not at a loss, correctly assessed the situation and, with an imaginary retreat, first lured the enemy to Gulyai-Gorod, and then with a quick maneuver to the right, leading his soldiers to the side, he brought the enemy under deadly artillery and squeal fire - “And thunder struck,” “many Tatars were beaten "

Everything could have been different if Devlet-Girey had immediately thrown all his forces into the Russian positions. But the khan did not know the true power of Vorotynsky’s regiments and was going to test them. He sent Tereberdey-Murza with two tumens to capture the Russian fortification. They all perished under the walls of the Walking City. During this time, the Cossacks managed to sink Turkish artillery.

In Gulyai-Gorod there was a large regiment under the command of Prince Vorotynsky himself, as well as the Cossacks of Ataman V.A. Cherkashenin who arrived in time.

Khan Devlet-Girey was taken aback!

In a rage, he again and again sent his troops to storm Gulyai-Gorod. And again and again the hillsides were covered with corpses. The Janissaries, the flower of the Turkish army, died ingloriously under artillery and squeal fire, the Crimean cavalry died, and the Murzas died.

On July 31, a very stubborn battle took place. Crimean troops began an assault on the main Russian position, established between the Rozhai and Lopasnya rivers. “The matter was great and the slaughter was great”, says the chronicler about the battle.

In front of Gulyai-Gorod, the Russians scattered peculiar metal hedgehogs, on which the legs of the Tatar horses broke. Therefore, the rapid onslaught, the main component of the Crimean victories, did not take place. The powerful throw slowed down in front of the Russian fortifications, from where cannonballs, buckshot and bullets rained down. The Tatars continued to attack.

Repelling numerous attacks, the Russians launched counterattacks. During one of them, the Cossacks captured the Khan’s chief adviser, Divey-Murza, who led the Crimean troops. The fierce battle continued until the evening, and Vorotynsky had to make great efforts not to introduce the ambush regiment into battle, not to detect it. This regiment was waiting in the wings.

On August 1, both troops were preparing for the decisive battle. Devlet-Girey decided to put an end to the Russians with his main forces. In the Russian camp, supplies of water and food were running out. Despite the successful military operations, the situation was very difficult.

Devlet Giray simply refused to believe his eyes! His entire army, and this was the most powerful army in the world, could not take some wooden fortress! Tereberdey-Murza was killed, the Nogai Khan was killed, Divey-Murza (the same adviser to Devlet Giray who divided the Russian cities) was captured (by V.A. Cossacks). And the walk-city continued to stand as an impregnable fortress. Like bewitched.

At the cost of monstrous losses, the attackers approached the plank walls of the walk-city, in a rage they chopped them with sabers, tried to loosen them, knock them down, and break them with their hands. But that was not the case. “And here they beat many Tatars and cut off countless hands.”

On August 2, Devlet-Girey again sent his army to attack. In that battle, the Nogai Khan was killed, and three Murzas died. In a difficult struggle, up to 3 thousand Russian archers were killed defending the foot of the hill at Rozhaika, and the Russian cavalry defending the flanks also suffered serious losses. But the attack was repulsed - the Crimean cavalry was unable to take the fortified position.

But Khan Devlet-Girey again led his army to Gulyai-Gorod. And again he was unable to capture the Russian fortifications on the move. Realizing that infantry was needed to storm the fortress, Devlet-Girey decided to dismount the horsemen and, together with the Janissaries, throw the Tatars on foot to attack.

Once again, an avalanche of Crimeans poured into Russian fortifications.

Prince Khvorostinin led the defenders of Gulyai-city. Tormented by hunger and thirst, they fought fiercely and fearlessly. They knew what fate awaited them if they were captured. They knew what would happen to their homeland if the Crimeans succeeded in a breakthrough. German mercenaries also fought bravely side by side with the Russians. Heinrich Staden led the artillery of Gulyai-Gorod.

The khan's troops approached the Russian fortress. The attackers, in rage, even tried to break the wooden shields with their hands. The Russians cut off the tenacious hands of their enemies with swords. The intensity of the battle intensified, and a turning point could occur at any moment. Devlet-Girey was completely absorbed in one goal - to take possession of the Gulyai-city. For this, he brought all his strength into the battle.

Already in the evening, taking advantage of the fact that the enemy was concentrated on one side of the hill and carried away by attacks, Prince Vorotynsky undertook a bold maneuver.

Having waited until the main forces of the Crimeans and the Janissaries were drawn into a bloody battle for Gulyai-Gorod, he quietly led a large regiment out of the fortification, led it through a ravine and struck in the rear of the Crimeans.

At the same time, accompanied by a powerful salvo from all guns (commander Staden), the warriors of Prince Khvorostinin made a sortie from behind the walls of Gulyai-Gorod.

Unable to withstand the double blow, the Crimeans and Turks fled, abandoning their weapons, carts and property. The losses were enormous - all seven thousand Janissaries, most of the Crimean Murzas, as well as the son, grandson and son-in-law of Khan Devlet-Girey himself were killed. Many high Crimean dignitaries were captured.

During the pursuit of the foot Crimeans to the crossing of the Oka River, most of those who fled were killed, along with a 5,000-strong Crimean rearguard left to guard the crossing.

Khan Devlet-Girey and part of his people managed to escape. By different routes, wounded, poor, frightened, no more than 10,000 Crimean-Turkish soldiers were able to get into Crimea.

110 thousand Crimean-Turkish invaders found their death in Molodi. The history of that time did not know such a grandiose military disaster. The best army in the world simply ceased to exist.

In 1572, not only Russia was saved. In Molodi, all of Europe was saved - after such a defeat, there could no longer be any talk of the Turkish conquest of the continent.

Crimea lost almost its entire combat-ready male population and was never able to regain its former strength. There were no more trips into the depths of Russia from Crimea. Never.

He was never able to recover from this defeat, which predetermined his entry into the Russian Empire.

It was at the Battle of Molodi July 29 – August 3, 1572 Rus' won a historic victory over Crimea.

The Ottoman Empire was forced to abandon plans to return Astrakhan and Kazan, the middle and lower Volga region, and these lands were forever assigned to Russia. The southern borders along the Don and Desna were pushed south by 300 kilometers. The city of Voronezh and the Yelets fortress were soon founded on the new lands - the development of rich black earth lands that previously belonged to the Wild Field began.

Devastated by previous Crimean raids of 1566-1571. and natural disasters of the late 1560s, Muscovite Rus', fighting on two fronts, was able to withstand and maintain its independence in an extremely critical situation.

The history of Russian military affairs was replenished with a victory that was the greatest in the art of maneuver and interaction of military branches. It became one of the most brilliant victories of Russian weapons and put forward Prince Mikhail Vorotynsky into the category of outstanding commanders.

The Battle of Molodin is one of the brightest pages of the heroic past of our Motherland. The Battle of Molodin, which lasted several days, in which Russian troops used original tactics, ended in a major victory over the numerically superior forces of Khan Devlet Giray.

The Battle of Molodin had a strong impact on the foreign economic situation of the Russian state, especially on Russian-Crimean and Russian-Turkish relations.

The Battle of Molodi is not only a grandiose milestone in Russian history (more significant than even the Battle of Kulikovo). The Battle of Molodi is one of the greatest events in European and World history.

That is why she was so thoroughly “forgotten.” You will not find a portrait of Mikhail Vorotynsky and Dmitry Khvorostinin anywhere in any textbook, let alone a textbook, even on the Internet...

Battle of Molodi? What is this anyway? Ivan groznyj? Well, yes, we remember something like that, like they taught us at school - “tyrant and despot”, it seems...(is that what they will teach? In the so-called historical and cultural standard, which has just been published and on the basis of which a unified textbook on the history of Russia, “Ivan Vasilyevich, naturally, a tyrant and tyrant” V.A.)

Who so carefully “corrected our memory” that we completely forgot the history of our country?

During the reign of Tsar Ivan the Terrible in Rus':

Trial by jury was introduced;

Free primary education (church schools) was introduced;

Medical quarantine has been introduced at the borders;

Local elected self-government was introduced instead of governors;

For the first time, a regular army appeared (and the first military uniform in the world belonged to the Streltsy);

Crimean Tatar raids on Rus' were stopped;

Equality was established between all segments of the population (do you know that serfdom did not exist in Rus' at that time? The peasant was obliged to sit on the land until he paid for its rent - and nothing more. And his children were considered free from birth in any case! );

Slave labor prohibited

How the commanders of Ivan the Terrible managed to stop and destroy the Krymchaks horde, which was six times stronger than the Russian army
In the Fatherland, the first Russian autocrat Ivan IV the Terrible remained primarily as the conqueror of Kazan and Astrakhan, the ideologist of the oprichnina, the limiter of the boyar freemen and the cruel ruler. In reality, the years of the reign of the first Russian Tsar were not only gloomy, but also creative: it was under him that Russia doubled - doubled! - expanded its territory, gained many important lands and forced Europe to reckon with Russian interests and Russian politics.

The battle, which, alas, began to be talked about seriously only at the very end of the twentieth century, played a huge role in this. But in the history of Russia during the time of Ivan the Terrible, it was the same as the Battle of Kulikovo two centuries earlier. At stake then was the question of whether Rus' would survive as an independent state or, having trampled upon the Kulikovo victory, would again return to a yoke similar to the Horde.

Russian soldiers gave their answer to this challenge of time at the turn of the summer of 1572. For five days - from July 29 to August 2 - fifty miles from Moscow, the capital of the Russian Empire, they ground up the far superior troops of the Crimean Khan Devlet Giray I, supported by the Ottoman Turks - and ground them down. This battle entered the history of Russia under the name of the Battle of Molodi: that was the name of the village in the vicinity of which the main events of those days took place.

To be Russia - or not to be?

The Russian ruler apparently became aware of the impending campaign of the Crimean Khan Devlet Giray against Moscow at the beginning of 1572.

Since the end of the 15th century, the warriors of the Crimean Khanate, which broke away from the disintegrating Golden Horde in 1427, constantly undertook predatory campaigns against Rus'. And Khan Devlet Giray, who came to power in 1551, did not just plunder Russian lands - he consistently sought to weaken the emerging Russian state, well understanding the danger it posed to Crimea. This was evidenced by the Astrakhan and Kazan campaigns of Ivan the Terrible, as well as numerous attempts by Russian armies to inflict a preventive blow on the Crimeans. And therefore, Devlet Giray over and over again made forays into Rus', in order, on the one hand, not to allow it to concentrate its forces and respond to him in kind, and on the other, to plunder to its heart’s content and seize captives for sale in Istanbul.

And in the early 70s of the 16th century, the Crimean Khan had a completely unique chance to turn Russia into his vassal. Russian troops were bogged down in the unfortunate Livonian War, the forces defending the center of Russia were small, and the country itself was weakened by internal problems, food shortages and plague - there was no need to count on serious resistance. And this was fully confirmed by the campaign of the Crimeans in May-June 1571. Devlet Giray's army of forty thousand easily reached Moscow, ravaged and burned the suburbs and towns: only the Kremlin and Kitay-Gorod, hidden behind stone walls, remained untouched. Along the way, the Krymchaks ravaged another 36 Russian cities; About 80 thousand people became victims of that attack, another 60 thousand were captured, and the population of Moscow decreased threefold - from 100 to 30 thousand inhabitants.

How could one not repeat this success, finally taking weakened Rus' under one’s hand! In addition, the Khan's claims were also supported by the Ottoman Empire, which was interested in the disappearance of a new geopolitical enemy - the Russian Empire. So the Russian troops had to prepare as quickly as possible to repel aggression. But it was not easy to do this: the entire available strength of the Russian army near Moscow at that time numbered only 20,034 people - yes, the number was established according to documents of that era accurate to one soldier! In addition to them, there were about 5 thousand Don Cossacks under the command of Colonel Mikhail Cherkashenin and a certain number of militias. Devlet Giray, in turn, led an army six times larger to Rus': 80 thousand Crimeans and Nogais, 33 thousand Turks and 7 thousand Turkish Janissaries.

Tsar John IV is presented with trophies taken from Devlet Girey by Prince Vorotynsky, 1572. Photo: wikipedia.org

In this pair of outstanding Russian military leaders of the 16th century, Prince Vorotynsky played the main role - as the older and more experienced one. By that time, he had 30 years of military service in Rus': both in the Coastal Service on the Oka borders and on long campaigns. Voivode Mikhail Vorotynsky was one of the main heroes of the Kazan campaigns, leading entire regiments in them. And he became especially famous during the capture of Kazan in 1552: it was the regiment under the command of Vorotynsky who first managed to repel the daring counterattack of the city’s defenders, and four days later, at the head of his soldiers, captured the wall adjacent to the Arsk Gate and held it for two days.

Dmitry Khvorostinin was fifteen years younger than Vorotynsky and became famous a little later. He accomplished his first major military feat during the siege of Polotsk during the Livonian War, freeing the townspeople who had been driven into the castle by the enemy as a human shield, and was one of the first to enter the borders of the Upper Castle. Soon after this, the young military leader, highly regarded by the tsar, became one of the oprichnina governors. It was Khvorostinin’s regiment, the only one of all the oprichnina regiments, that in May-June 1571 gave battle to the hordes of Devlet Girey who attacked Moscow, while his other colleagues fled, leaving the capital to the mercy of fate.

These two commanders became the main opponents of the Crimean Khan Devlet Giray - a man who spent almost twenty years of his life fighting the Russian kingdom.

Forerunners of Generalissimo Suvorov

We are accustomed to the fact that the military leader’s maxim “Win ​​not with numbers, but with skill” was not only formulated, but also applied for the first time by Generalissimo Alexander Suvorov. Meanwhile, long before the brilliant Russian commander, this principle was often and successfully used by his predecessors. Including governors Vorotynsky and Khvorostinin. Their only chance of victory was to turn the strength of the Krymchak army - its size - into its main weakness. And they successfully achieved this.

When the vanguard of Devlet Giray’s detachment was already approaching the Pakhra River, in the area of ​​​​present-day Podolsk, having crossed the Oka and scattered the few Russian barriers (in full accordance with the strategic plan of the governor!), the rearguard had just passed the small village of Molodi. It was here that Khvorostinin’s guardsmen attacked him. Their task was simple, but very important: to ensure that the khan, frightened by an attack from the rear, began to turn his army away from Moscow and transfer it to the battlefield, chosen and equipped by the Russians at their discretion. And the suicidal attack of the guardsmen was successful. The Krymchaks actually turned around, suspecting that the too easy crossing of the Oka was just a diversionary maneuver, and the main Russian forces were waiting behind. And so it was, with one small exception: these forces were waiting for the Krymchaks not in an open field, but in Gulyai-Gorod - a movable wooden fortification, a kind of fortress on wheels, armed to the teeth with cannons and arquebuses.

It was against the walls of this Gulyai-city that the first, most fierce attack of the Krymchak cavalry, the main force of the attackers, crashed. Succumbing to the “panic” retreat of Khvorostinin’s guardsmen, Devlet Girey’s warriors galloped right under the squeaks and spears of Vorotynsky’s warriors. The nomads were unable to take Gulyai-Gorod in a rush and began to waste their strength in more and more fruitless attacks.

Gulyai-city (Wagenburg) from a 15th-century engraving. Map: wikipedia.org

The dismounted nomads managed, having cut out the few surviving archers from among the three thousand strong field barrier, to come close to the walls of Gulyai-Gorod and literally cling to them with their hands, chopping and shaking the Russian defense. At the same time, Vorotynsky with his large regiment managed to bypass the attackers in a wide arc, hiding in ravines, and at the most crucial moment strike them from the rear. At the same time, from behind the walls of Gulyai-Gorod, the “detachment” began rapid fire - Russian artillery, which by that time the warriors had already mastered very well. This came as a complete surprise to the lightly armed Krymchaks: until now the artillerymen had been silent, obeying Vorotynsky’s tactical plan.

The result of the five-day battle was terrible. The Crimean army, according to some sources, lost a total of about 110 thousand people. Including all the Ottoman cavalry and all seven thousand selected Janissaries died. The losses of the Crimeans and Nogais themselves were so heavy that only a decade and a half later the Crimean Khanate was able to restore the previous size of the male population. After all, according to tradition, almost all young men and men went on a campaign against Rus', which promised to be so victorious - and no more than 10 thousand people returned back...

A victory to remember

The victory at Molodi actually put an end to the protracted Russian-Crimean wars. In addition, the defeat of the Krymchak army, which also had such a significant numerical superiority, demonstrated the advantage of the Russian army, armed with modern weapons and moving to unity of command, over the steppe inhabitants. Finally, the outcome of the battle forever destroyed the hope of liberation from dependence on Moscow for both the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates (which considered the Crimeans as their main allies and the last chance to change the situation), and prompted the Siberian Khanate to confirm its vassal dependence to the Russian throne.

It is not surprising that historians call the Battle of Molodi “the second Battle of Kulikovo.” And it is just as natural that now, when there is no need to adhere to previous ideologies about the clearly negative impact of the reign of Ivan the Terrible on the history of Russia, we can admit that the events of the summer of 1572 forever changed the history of our country. And we all need to remember this.