147 Prussia

I put the problem with the freed people on Hetman Potocki, after the war with Moscow I myself had problems with locating 18,000 refugees in the Podolia region and I did not want to repeat the same mistake... first infrastructure, then people. I also did not want to settle another large number of new residents in Podolia, first the previous group must assimilate, before I add a new one... a good solution for them and for us will be to spread the freed slaves in groups of several hundred people in different provinces.

"You will report to the King and the royal council. Give them the signed treaty and make sure they don't screw up. The king will probably be pleased that he won't have to see my face.... and I must be elsewhere." (MC)

"Re vera, everyone would be happy if they didn't have to look at your face, with this scar you look like some re vera kind of robber, not a prince." (Hetman Potocki)

"So you understand how it feels, although you probably had a harder time than me... I have a scar from the war, you were born ugly." (MC)

Potocki began to laugh and patted me on the back.

"Hahaha... are you going back to Podolia? Something happened?" (Hetman Potocki)

"Yes, something like that." (MC)

I said goodbye to Potocki, sent most of my people to Podolia... and I went to Prussia with a hundred Cossacks. We've tolerated them too long, and with our useless king, things would only get worse. It took us five days to reach the Prussian border, we crossed it at night and camped deep in the woods. I had everything figured out, only what changed was the person of Hetman Gosiewski, he was currently in Smolensk and I could not count on his help.

"Tomorrow morning, you will take two men and make a reconnaissance around the area, you have to locate a small Prussian garrison, when you do, you will come back and report everything to me." (MC)

Two days later, my scout returned, and from the information they gathered, I learned that fifteen kilometers north-east of our camp there was a small fortress with a garrison of thirty Prussian soldiers.

"You will sneak in there tonight and try to catch everyone alive... if it is not possible and someone dies, you must take all the bodies." (MC)

In the evening I stayed in the camp only of a handful of Cossacks, the rest of the people set out to fulfill my orders... I was lying on soft furs and looking at the sky, the nights were still cold, sometimes the temperature dropped below zero, but it was a nice change from the Anatolian climate... A few hours later I heard people and horses approaching ... just in case I put my hand on the hilt of my saber and pretended to be asleep, the respect that it was an enemy was almost zero, but sometimes it's better to be safe than sorry.

"Lord, our people are back." (Cossack Soldier)

I got up, adjusted my clothes, a moment later, Semen, one of the Cossack officers, was standing in front of me.

"What news?" (MC)

"We surprised them, most of them were asleep, only a few were on guard. We managed to capture 22 soldiers, unfortunately eight died, but we have their bodies. Three of ours are also dead." (Semen)

"Get into their uniforms, when you do, we will cross Polish borders and attack some Polish settlements, we murder and rob everyone and everything... well, not everyone, we need a few witnesses." (MC)

Less than an hour later we set off... and an two hours later the first Polish settlements and villages were on fire and first blood was shed. I wasn't proud of it, but any sacrifice in a righteous cause is justified. Peace and war, both require sacrifice.

It was already dawn, houses and barns were burning around, animals were running amok... the air was filled with a burnt smell, and everything was wrapped in thick smoke... it was time to begin the second act of the show.

"Enough, this is the last village, now you will disguise the prisoners back in their uniforms... and they will be killed for the unprovoked attack on the Kingdom of Poland. Ten of you will go to the nearest city and inform the appropriate authorities, you will say that you were going with my letters to Gdańsk, to Graf Ferber and you witnessed the Prussians attack and murder the villagers and you have brought justice to these criminals, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth." (MC)

Moments later when the Cossacks had already dressed the prisoners in uniforms and started their execution, I started staging the place of the fight... I wanted this village to resemble a place from a horror movie.

I found the body of a dead old woman, I ripped off her clothes and cut her throat, I also cut her breasts and put bloody knife in the hand of a Prussian soldier... I placed him on the woman. I also found a several-year-old child dead, I impaled his body onto the sharp part of the fence... I had a few bodies hung, some to set on fire, I also poured alcohol on every Prussian soldier. I even left three bodies of dead Cossacks to make my version of the events more credible, this, plus a few witnesses who managed to escape in previous settlements and villages... and the Oscar for the best set design, script and special effects goes to me.

After the task was finished, Semen and nine other people headed towards Olsztyn, which was on the trade route between Warsaw and Królewiec and was in Royal Prussia belonging to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, beyond the reach of the Hohenzollern family... and for me there was nothing more left to do, except going back to Warsaw and wait for the further development of events.