44 44 Relative

I ordered to throw Khan Temir's head into the pot and cook it until the bones are clean ... when I return to Jazłowiec, I will order to cover the skull with gold, a souvenir from the war times, and maybe it will be the beginning of the collection... Saddat and the new recruits continued to take the prisoners south, and I waited for the Poles to arrive, and it happened the next morning. My tatars informed me that a small unit of light cavalry had been spotted two kilometers from the camp, a dozen or so horsemen, probably they were scouting... Since they didn't come to my camp, I might as well make the first move.

Among the captives captured by the Tatars there were also many nobility, I chose one man from among them, gave him a horse and asked him to find these scouts or the Polish army... A few hours later, he returned in a merchandise of a dozen horse riders ... I even knew some of them, not only from history... they moved in a loose formation, in the front rode a nobleman whom I sent in the company of three other men. One of them was Stefan Czarniecki, the later Field Hetman of Crown whom I knew from history, next to him was a man similar to him, but a bit older it was probably his older brother Paweł. The third man was my relative, Jan Obrzywolski. Our family relations were not particularly close ... he was the husband of my cousin, the daughter of my father's sister. The last time I saw him was at my father's funeral and our relationship was correct, he was neither my enemy nor my friend.

They drove closer to the tent where I was sitting and sipping the oblepichę. The first to dismount was my relative.

"Wilkomir ?! It's hard for my eyes to believe ... what are you doing here?" (Jan Odrzywolski)

I got up, shook his hand, greeted him, and looked at the other men.

"Greetings Janie, I didn't know that you would be in charge of these scouts ... and what am I doing? Tatars were only 150 kilometers from Tarnów so I had to do something." (MC)

"I am not in charge of the scout, but Paweł Czarniecki is leading us. Let me introduce you." (Jan Odrzywolski)

He introduced me to the Czarniecki brothers, and then we all sat down at the table.

"Tell me about what happened here. How did you get here? We see Tatar prisoners, but where are the rest, I think there were about 10,000? They escaped?" (Jan Odrzywolski)

"Disguised as prisoners and Tatars, we got to the Khan Temir camp and we conquered it ... No, no one escaped, I let them go. I will release those who are here soon." (MC)

"You freed them? They'll probably be back soon, we have to notify Hetman." (Jan Odrzywolski)

"They won't come back, I took care of it. Khan Temir is dead, and his men are released without horses, weapons and one hand ... If they don't bleed out, or get killed by the fever or the local people, it's God's will." (MC)

Brothers Paweł and Stefan looked at me, you could see in Stefan's face that something was bothering him.

"Wouldn't it be easier to kill them?" (Stefan Czarniecki)

"If you kill 10,000 people then you have 10,000 bodies to bury ... Tartar without a hand cannot shoot a bow or use a weapon... they will only be suitable for breeding sheep. Sometimes mutilation is more deterrent than death." (MC)

Then I told them in more detail about the events of the battles with the tarars. Of course, I omitted that I had captured the local population myself, to serve as a camouflage for my people.

"In three hundred people, you have defeated 10,000 ... my mind does not understand it ... If you want, I will recommend you to the service of Hetman. With such a fantasy you will certainly achieve a lot." (Jan Odrzywolski)

I definitely did not want that, I preferred to act freely than under the orders of someone with whom I would surely fall into conflict ... and knowing the history, I could choose my allies and enemies more freely. Although one thing was certain, I wanted to recruit Stefan Czarniecki, but while he is serving with his brother under Koniecpolski's orders, I had no chance ... and now I had to somehow gently refuse my relative's proposal.

"Thank you for the offer, but I have to refuse. I'm going to spend a few months in Jazłowiec, and then I think I'll go to the Imperial Court, or to Rome ... fighting tarars, it was something personal. My father died fighting with Khan Temir's army, I avenged him." (MC)

"It's a pity, it's always hard to find good soldiers ..." (Jan Odrzywolski)

"As far as I know, there is no shortage of them in the Hetman camp. You, Paweł and Stefan, there are also Stefan Chmielnicki and Samuel Łaszcz, although the latter is no different from the Tatars." (MC)

"You know Samuel?" (Stefan Czarniecki)

"And who does not know him? He burned Jarosławek and Michałówek, was sentenced to banishment 236 times and 47 times to infamy for robbery, ra.pe and murder. He only lives because he is protected by the Hetman and is useful ... changing the subject. If you want, you can take the Tatars with you or leave them to me for release. Today, or at the latest tomorrow, I am going back to Jazłowiec. You know what happened, so you can pass the report on." (MC)

Of course, if it was possible, I would like to have a degenerate like Samuel Łaszcz on my side, but he was loyal to Koniecpolski, I also understood why the Hetman protects him, everyone needs someone to do dirty work.

We spent a few more hours talking about less important things, and then my guests left, taking with them the remaining Tatars, Polish prisoners and sacks filled with hands.