110 Open Gate
Hetman Radziwiłł, a few officers, Boyars, diplomats and I sat on one side of the table, in front of us sat Mikhail Shein, Artemy Izmaylov, Semyon Prozorovsky and Bogdan Nagoy, all major Moscow commanders... Both sides looked at each other distrustfully, a few days ago they fought each other, now they sit at the same table ... life likes to play tricks.
"My name is Prince Wilkomir Michał Jazłowiecki, Abdank coat of arms, Field Hetman of the Crown and Voivode of Podolia. I'd like to say it's nice to meet you, but I hate lying. Moving on to the point... The heavy cannons you've been waiting for won't come, no more food, no gunpowder, no more cannonballs, no money for soldiers. Moscow was conquered by us, the tsar and his family are dead. The city was depopulated ... the boyars sitting here agreed to sign the surrender, which was confirmed by these diplomats... " (MC)
On the faces of the commanders there was disbelief and terror ... I was able to understand them, not every day a man learns that the country for which he fought ceased to exist.
"How?!" (Mikhail Shein)
"You want to know how I conquered the city or how I killed Tsar? ... We broke the wall and went inside ... one cut of a saber and he lost his head ... but these are unimportant details. Leave all your weapons, cannons, gunpowder, horses and retreat at least 100 kiometers behind Moscow. If you agree to this, you can go free ... if you refuse, you will die. You have 10 minutes to make a decision." (MC)
"There are 40 thousand of us, we can overcome you ..." (Bogdan Nagoy)
"You can try. Hetman Radziwił has under his command 15,000 Cossacks, 3,000 infantry and 4,000 other troops. In Smolensk, Gosiewski has 3,000 soldiers and 190 cannons ..."
"We have more troops!" (Bogdan Nagoy)
"... and I brought 25,000 Tatars. So the forces are balanced, but we don't have to fight. We'll surround you, and without ammunition and gunpowder you won't do much ... and without food, you starve ... 8 minutes." (MC)
"It's not peace, it's a disgrace." (Mikhail Shein)
"You can always choose to die... When you are exhausted, your army will eat all the food and all the horses. Then, one day when dusk falls, we will surround you on all sides... then fear will come." (MC)
Boyars joined the discussion and began to convince the commanders. Each of their decisions suited me, although the option of tossing the rotten egg to the Sultan seemed highly entertaining to me... I was sitting in my chair and counting down ... eight minutes is 480 seconds, which is a hell of a lot of time.
"I would also like to point out that no matter what decision you make, tomorrow the boyars are leaving for Warsaw to swear the oath of obedience to the Polish King." (MC)
Boyars asked for some alone time to talk to the commanders. It was not a big problem, Hetman Radziwiłł, diplomats, officers and I left the tent to give our guests some privacy.
(Boyars / Commanders POV)
"Lay down your weapons and surrender. Muskets, sabers, cannons can always be bought or made ... If you die, we'll wait another 20, 30 or 40 years to get revenge." (Boyar Musorgsky)
"Better to bend neck and knees now to secure a future than to die now for nothing." (Boyar Golovkin)
"I know what you're saying but ..." (Mikhail Shein)
"You are a soldier, you must obey orders. Boyar Duma has decided that we will capitulate, if you don't... then you will be traitors. For the good and future of Moscow and Orthodoxy... don't be a fool, time to fight will come." (Boyar Musorgsky)
"Poles will keep their word?" (Bogdan Nagoy)
"Yes, whether they want to or not. There are diplomats here, if Poles break a given word, everyone will find out about it." (Boyar Belozersky)
(End POV)
A few minutes later one of the boyars left, came out of the tent to call us.
"Prince, they agreed to your terms." (Boyar Musorgsky)
We all returned to the tent to sign the terms of surrender ... The Muscovites were given three days to hand over their weapons, horses, gunpowder and cannons. They could only keep the food and only as much as they could carry... To make sure they were safe, I had to take an oath. I was given a cross...
"I Prince Wilkomir Michał Jazłowiecki, Field Hetman of the Crown, Voivode of Podolia. I take everyone here as witnesses and I swear by this Cross, by the wounds of Christ. That the Moscow army, if it complies with the terms of the treaty, will be able to leave these lands without being disturbed by the army of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth." (MC)
I kissed the cross and the formalities were completed... Later that day, I sent a messenger to the Tatars to move the camp a few kilometers east and that Moscow troops could be expected in a few days. They were also told that no one could escape them, they could capture or kill them, but they could not let anyone go, tatars were also ordered to kill all the commanders.
"Lord, what about the oath?" (Iwan)
"Of course, I will keep my word ... the army of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth will not attack them. The Tatars are Crimean troops, not mine. I cannot be responsible for everyone." (MC)
For the next three days, the Muscovites brought weapons to the designated place, they had to give up everything, even spears and bows. On the last day, I and several officers inspected the enemy camp to see if anything had been hidden. Of course, I was aware that someone was hiding something, but most people would be defenseless.
The next day, the Smolensk gates were opened for the first time in several months ... but it was not yet the time to celebrate, we had to do one last thing ... Officers, Radziwiłł, Gosiewski and I gathered for the last meeting.