88 End 1628

Two months later, Stanisław Potocki appeared in Jazłowiec with his soldiers, which disappointed me a bit, his army consisted of seventy percent of infantry, and the remaining thirty percent were Petyhorcy... Infantry and medium armored cavalry, it was not something that could match the speed and agility of Tatar cavalry... so I decided to give him access to my troops, my 1000 Cossacks and 500 Tatars... in this situation they will be very helpful, I also lent him 20 cannons.

We also spent a few evenings discussing tactics, and we both decided that the best way to defeat the Tatars would be to attack them when they retreated. Loaded with loot and captives, they will lose much of their mobility... Of course, it was not a perfect tactic, especially due to the destruction and death of civilians ... but it also had its advantages. After the death of a loved one or the loss of their home, many smaller nobles will probably want to move out and sell their lands... thanks to this I will be able to obtain more land for myself, and additionally I will help people in need. I did not intend to take part in Potocki's battles, I provided him with all the necessary information and soldiers, the rest in his hands ... From what I remember historically, he took part and commanded over 60 battles, most of which were won.

I was going to focus my attention on the production of the Puckle gun, which, despite several years of investment, did not produce any satisfactory results, another thing that I had to do on my list was the expansion of Jazłowiec, especially the strengthening of walls and fortifications, the construction of several granaries and the reconstruction of residential districts. I was forced by the influx of new residents ... the more I thought, the more things needed to be done and the list began to grow longer.

I called secretary Kowalski and told him to go to Lviv and hire engineers, architects and builders, as it was already after the harvest, I decided to hire local residents who would like to earn some extra money. All the local workshops, stonemasons, bricklayers and carpenters, all their production was aimed at meeting the needs of the castle and the construction of granaries.

Another thing on the list I was going to get done quickly were gifts for my cousins. I went to one of the local carpenters and ordered a rocking horse and a wooden four-wheeled bicycle from him. With the latter, I had a lot of problems to explain what I mean, I had to draw individual elements with charcoal on wood.

A few days later I went to Tarnów to deal with the production of weapons... After reaching the place, I immediately directed my steps to the gunsmith's workshop, and what I saw there pleased me on the one hand, and worried on the other.

My gunsmiths managed to create what resembled a Puckle gun, according to their words, it could fire 8 rounds per minute, then the magazine had to be replaced ... that was the good news. Then I ordered a test. Our goal was a pig, apart from the accuracy of the weapon, I wanted to check the penetrating force of the bullets ... and there is no big difference between a pig or a man. At a distance of 20 meters, not a single bullet hit the target ... The pig remained alive, only scared by the roar of shots... I would have done this pig more harm if I had thrown these bullets.

It was a big disappointment for me, not only wasted funds and resources, but also time.... However, there was no point in abandoning this design, the weapon was operational, although not accurate. I decided to give them two years to improve the accuracy of their weapons, I also gave them an idea for weapons with a double barrel, a rotating barrel and a nock gun... these were not urgent projects, but only something to do in spare time... the whole thing took me no more than three days, after which I went back to Jazłowiec.

Another thing I had to do on my list was to kill Krzywonos, now he was together in Potocki's army and there was a chance that he would die, but considering that he survived the war in Brandenburg, Mecklenburg and Denmark, he was very lucky... So it will still have to wait.

For the next weeks I dealt with trade, monitoring construction works in Jazłowiec, matters related to the position of the Voivode ... and I was waiting for messages from Potocki.

"Lord, a messenger has come." (Secretary Kowalski)

I gave a hand sign to Kowalski to introduce the messenger. A moment later a man whose face I knew entered the office, he was one of Potocki's officers.

"Do you have a letter?" (MC)

"No, there was no time to write." (Messenger)

"Win or lose?" (MC)

"Win, we repelled five Tatar attacks in a few weeks. We freed several hundred people from captivity and recovered the spoil. We also captured three thousand Tatars." (Messenger)

So, as expected... there will be five more attacks next year, and a year later, a Cossack revolt. If Potocki wins all the battles, his reputation will skyrocket.

"Pass my congratulations to Stanisław, I also have two requests for him. If possible, let Saddat, the commander of my Tatars recruit soldiers from prisoners ..." (MC)

"I will pass it, and what is the second request?" (Messenger)

"Kill the rest of the prisoners ... you can go ... Kowalski !!!" (MC)

"Yes, Lord?" (Secretary Kowalski)

"Give that soldier food, drink and a fresh horse." (MC)

Some time later my soldiers returned to Jazłowiec, Potocki returned to Lviv for the winter and he was to return with the army next year. Unfortunately, Krzywonos survived the next fights and battles, which means that I will have to take care of him personally. Unfortunately, I couldn't openly arrest him or sentence him to death, he was a brave warrior and enjoyed great respect among other Cossacks.

Days turned weeks, weeks turned months ... winter replaced autumn, and 1628 came to an end.