16 Farewell

The next days and weeks we spent harassing the Swedish army, our tactic was to avoid larger Swedish troops and attack smaller groups ... Our hunting focused mainly on killing scouts and taking over transports with supplies ... Of course, such actions will not change the outcome of the war, but I can change its course. I sent Swedish transports with gunpowder and food to various cities and fortresses that were still in the hands of Poles, and I hoped that it would allow them to withstand the siege a little longer... and every time we managed to defeat such a unit or transport, we sent captured prisoners to the Swedish camp ... mostly horribly mutilated or dead, with the aim of lowering the morale of the Swedes.

Apart from sending supplies and gunpowder, I also sent letters about the number and movements of Gustav Adolf's army. One of the recipients of my letter was Field Hetman of Lithuania, Krzysztof Radziwiłł... I did not like him, he signed a truce with the Swedes, which had a poor effect on the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. However, he was a good commander and had talent in both commanding an army and administering his lands. By his attachment to Calvinism, he fell into conflict with King Sigismund III Vasa, who was a fanatical Catholic ... but most importantly he was the father of Janusz Radziwiłł.

Due to my presence, the history changed, but only slightly, after the month of the siege, on September 25, Riga capitulated, on September 30, the Swedes captured the fortress of Dyjament, two or three days before it happened originally ... The fortress was abandoned, on my advice the commander took the infantry company to Mitawa ... The capital of the principality strengthened with my supplies and an additional 100 soldiers, maybe it will last longer and will not give up immediately, as it was in history.

I headed south with my men, I remembered that after the siege of Mitawa, the Swedes would attack the city of Kokenhuza.

We camped a few kilometers south of the city and waited for the Swedes to come. Every day I sent scouts in different directions to gather information, not all of them were good.

"Lord, an army is coming from the southeast, our army. They will reach us the day after tomorrow." (Soldier)

"Then we go out to greet them." (MC)

I took ten people with me, we got on the horses and set off towards our troops, I remembered from history that there were several hundred soldiers under the command of Aleksander Gosiewski, the future Voivod of Smolensk.

The next day, we came across a camp of Polish troops, we drove up to soldiers standing on guard.

"Stop! Who's Going?" (Soldier)

"Wilkomir Michał Jazłowiecki, Abdank coat of arms. Inform the commander of my arrival." (MC)

One of the soldiers went deeper into the camp, and the rest, who were on guard, watched us closely. A few minutes later a man approached me on a horse. He was no more than forty years old, with dark hair, a bushy mustache, a shaved front half of his head, and a scar above his left eye. He was sitting on a horse so it was difficult for me to judge his body shape, but he was not more than 175 cm tall and he was neither thin nor fat.

"My name is Wilkomir Michał Jazłowiecki, Abdan coat of arms..."

The man will extend his hand to me in greeting.

"...First I want to know if I am dealing with a noble." (MC)

"My name is Aleksander Korwin Gosiewski, Ślepowron coat of arms." (Aleksander Gosiewski)

I shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you, my people informed me that the Polish army is heading towards us and we left to greet you." (MC)

"You are far from Jazłowiec ... I once met your father at the Sejm, but there will be time for stories. How is the situation in Livonia?" (Aleksander Gosiewski)

"Gustaw Afolf landed in Pärnu in the strength of 18 or 19 thousand soldiers. Mostly infantry, cavalry no more than 3000 and several dozen cannons. On September 25, Riga fell, on September 30, the fell fortress Dyjament. Now the Swedes are besieging Mitawa, for now the city is defending itself. Before the Swedish troops besieged them, I managed to support them with gunpowder and food. They also have an additional infantry company ... but sooner or later the city will fall." (MC)

"You are not bringing good news ..." (Aleksander Gosiewski)

"I did what I could, I had 120 men under me, at the moment there are only 80 left ... but we destroyed one Swedish warship, we managed to get to Pärnu and incited the population against the Swedish. I also attacked scouts, supply routes and followed the movements of their troops. In a few days you will learn about the situation in Livonia yourself." (MC)

After this short conversation, Gosiewski invited me to his tent. Where I talked in more detail about the last few months. I also asked him about the situation in the south ... Historically, everything happened as I remember it. The Poles signed peace with the Turks, the Grand Hetman of Lithuania, Chodkiewicz, unfortunately died. He was seriously ill, he spent most of his time in bed ... but he summoned some more strength and, two days before his death, he personally led the hussar into battle.

The signed peace obligated Poles to refrain from interfering in the affairs of Molavia and to stop the Cossack attacks on the Ottoman Empire, the Turks undertook to stop the Tatars from attacking Poland ... of course, this peace treaty was worthless, there will be more wars in a few years. .. one thing has only changed. The number of victims on both sides, I don't know if it was my letter or it was a coincidence ... but the Polish side lost only 12,000 people, and the Turks 50,000, although mainly Tatars, Moldovans and Wallachians died on their side.

"What do you think ... What will Gustav Aolf's next move be?" (Aleksander Gosiewski)

"From what I watched them ... when Mitawa falls, they will attack Kokenhuza ... not with a whole army, but with a smaller unit. Maybe several thousand people." (MC)