11 Keep On Galloping

(Hetman Chodkiewicz / Chancellor Sapieha POV)

February 12, 1621 Warsaw

"I received letters from the son of the deceased Hieronim Jazłowiecki, Voivode of Podolia. Quite a special letter, about which I do not know what to think." (Hetman Chodkiewicz)

"Hieronim Jazłowiecki? I knew him, a good soldier. Last year he was killed in battle with the Turks. Why is this letter so special?" (Chancellor Lew Sapieha)

"Wilkomir Jazłowiecki writes in it that while hunting in the vicinity of Kamieniec Podolski, he came across a unit of a dozen or so Tatars ..." (Hetman Chodkiewicz)

"Tatars in winter?!" (Chancellor Lew Sapieha)

"Listen... most of them escaped, but he caught four of them ... read for yourself and tell me what you think." (Hetman Chodkiewicz)

"Not much information, but I would expect that from ordinary scouts. Khan Temir and Budzhak Horde, like all Nogai Hordes, are subject to the Crimean Khanate, so it makes sense. We know there will be a war, and this letter only confirms some of what we know. My advice... increase speed of preparation and the amount of supplies, mainly gunpowder and food." (Chancellor Lew Sapieha)

"But what do you think about the author of the letter?" (Hetman Chodkiewicz)

"Nothing. Just a kid with a bit of luck" (Chancellor Lew Sapieha)

(End POV)

Almost two months have passed, during this time 120 recruits from the Bar came to Jazłowiec, although recruits are a bad word, the term mercenaries bandits was more appropriate for this group ... of course it was not without problems. They thought I was just an inexperienced kid and wanted to test my patience on the very first day.

Three people from this group got drunk and started a row in the tavern, beat a Jewish innkeeper and started groping the servants ... it was not a great crime, but it gave me an excuse to show that I am not made of wax.

To control such a group of people you need a stick and a carrot ... the carrot was a box of gold ... a stick a barrel of beer.

"This gold is your salary for a year of service under my command. I require complete obedience, any offense will be punishable by death... This is a keg of beer ..." (MC)

I signaled with my hand to the soldiers from the Jazłowiecki garrison to bring three tied mercenaries.

"If you like to get drunk, you can drink as much as you want ..." (MC)

I grabbed the first prisoner by the neck and forcefully put his head in the barrel, he tried to fight, but he was tied and couldn't do much, then I did the same with the other two. Their companions tried to protest, but as soon as I heard the first voices of dissatisfaction, soldiers from Jazłowiec aimed muskets at them ... before me there were three dead bodies ... they were right when they said that alcohol can cause death.

"Calm down and listen. These three are already dead, their annual salaries are in this box and will be distributed among the rest. If someone dies during this year's service, their salary will also be divided among the rest. We go to war, not all of you will return from it, but those who return will be rich." (MC)

I wasn't sure if this would be enough, but usually the vision of wealth changes perspective... over the next weeks we got to know each other and I must admit that despite my initial dislike for them, they were professionals.

25 April 1621

"I will leave Jazłowiec soon, I will leave everything on your head. Please, in my absence, take care of food and gunpowder supplies in the city. Probably there will be a war with the Turk and it is better to be prepared ... oh, if someone from Hetman Chodkiewicz's camp shows up and asks for gunpowder or food for army, give them to him." (MC)

"Lord, you are leaving and you are not going to fight, the old Lord would be disappointed." (Secretary Kowalski)

"Maybe yes, maybe not ... he is no longer with us to express his opinion and Secretary Kowalaki, you only have to do what I ordered and that is all you should be interested in. I did not ask for your opinion." (MC)

At the beginning of May we left Jazłowiec, from what I remembered, Gustaw Adolf will besiege Riga on August 21 and will take the city only after a month of siege, then the cities of Dyjament and Mitawa fell. It wasn't until 1622 that reinforcements from the rest of the country began arriving north.

With my small group of soldiers, I knew that not much could be done, I just wanted to make the Swede's march through Livonia as difficult as possible. We had almost 1,200 kilometers to cover, it would take at least a month to get there, of course you could cover this distance in 10 or 12 days, but I didn't want to tire our horses. Hundreds of kilometers on a horse back was not what made me happy, but the landscapes were amazing, the nature was still unspoiled. Raiding in the vicinity of forests, we saw dozens if not hundreds of deer, wild boar, foxes and even wolves.

We arrived on June 7 and we set up a camp in the forest about 30 kilometers from Riga and we waited for the Swedes to come ... Every day I tried to train, I also had many sparring partners ... in terms of technique I was better than any of them, but if they started to fight dirty I had big problems to beat them. It was something Jacek Dydyński did not teach me, but I also understood why ... training is not the same as actual practice. I have to work out some behaviors myself. I also learned useful tricks from my soldiers, how to make a nearly smokeless fire or track game. The waiting seemed to last ages...

On August 19, Gustav Adolf's troops landed in the vicinity of Pärnu with 19,000 soldiers and headed towards Riga. It was exactly as I remembered from history.