General situation
In 1609, Tsar Vasily Shuisky entered into a military alliance with Sweden. The Swedes promised military assistance in the fight against Russian and Lithuanian "thieves" in exchange for cash payments and the Korela fortress with the district. In 1609-1610. the Swedish corps of Jacob De la Gardie (based on various European mercenaries), together with the troops of Skopin-Shuisky, fought against the Tushins and Polish-Lithuanian adventurers.
The allies freed the north from the "thieves", defeated the enemy in a number of battles and entered Moscow. Then the allied army was sent to liberate Smolensk, which was besieged by the Poles. In June 1610, the Klushinskaya disaster occurred (the Klushinskaya disaster of the Russian army). The allies suffered a terrible defeat. The mercenaries went over to the side of the Poles. De la Gardie with a small detachment went to Torzhok.
In July, Tsar Shuisky was overthrown, in August the boyar government called the Polish prince Vladislav to the Russian throne. Sweden was at war with Poland, so De la Gardie, under the pretext of non-fulfillment by the Russians of the terms of the Vyborg Treaty and its additions, opened hostilities in the north of Russia. In the summer of 1610, Delaville's detachment captured Staraya Ladoga. In February 1611, Western mercenaries, under pressure from the troops of Prince Grigory Volkonsky, left the city. In 1611 Poland and Sweden signed a truce, the Swedes launched an offensive in the north of Russia.
Novgorod at this time was in an extremely difficult situation. It was still the largest city in the country after Moscow. A large and prosperous trade and craft population lived in the settlement. The Novgorod region could deploy a militia of many thousands. The freedom-loving city reacted with great disapproval to the actions of the Seven Boyars, which concluded an agreement with the Poles. Moscow had to send a detachment of Ivan Saltykov to Novgorod in order to rein in the Novgorodians. The city at first refused to open the gates for Saltykov. Only after long persuasion, the Poles' henchman was admitted. They took an oath from the boyar that he would not bring Lithuanian people to the city.
However, Saltykov was not going to fulfill his oath. To intimidate the Novgorodians, he staged a terrible demonstrative execution of the Bolotnikovites. When Bolotnikov's rebel army was defeated, several hundred rebels were exiled to Novgorod. They stayed there for over two years. Saltykov ordered the execution of the rebels: they were jammed with clubs and drowned in Volkhov. In the end, the residents of Novgorod and Toropets took the oath to Vladislav. After a while, Polish soldiers appeared at Toropets. They burned and plundered villages, took people into captivity. Then the Lithuanians occupied Staraya Russa and in March 1611 approached Novgorod. The Novgorodians repulsed the attack.
Boyarin Saltykov fled the city, but could not get to Moscow. On the way he was caught and returned to Novgorod. An investigation was carried out, which established that the boyar himself invited "Lithuania" to Novgorod. The traitor was first imprisoned and then impaled. After that, Novgorod openly joined the First Lyapunov militia. The governor was informed that the Novgorod militia would soon come to Moscow. But these plans were not realized due to the Swedish invasion.
Heroic Defense of Korel Fortress
The Swedes stubbornly demanded the fulfillment of the agreement with Shuisky on the assignment of Korela to them. Moreover, their claims were no longer limited to one city. King Charles IX demanded from his generals to take Novgorod. But they could not do it right away, they had little strength. In September 1610, De la Gardie's troops attacked the fortresses of Oreshek and Korela. Nutty repulsed the first attack, the Swedes had to retreat. The fortress was again besieged in September 1611 by the troops of General Horn. The city held out until May 1612, when of its 1,300 defenders, about 100 remained, who were already simply dying of hunger.
Korela was important, as it could threaten the communications linking the troops of De la Gardie with Sweden. The Swedes could not launch an offensive against Novgorod until they took Korela. Erected on a granite rock in the middle of the fast river Korelskaya fortress had almost impregnable natural fortifications. Its ramparts descended almost vertically into the water. Wooden walls towered over the rampart. The palisade located under the water prevented enemy ships from landing.
The governor Ivan Pushkin was sent to Korela by Tsar Shuisky. He had to transfer the city to the Swedes and bring its population to other counties. On the way, he learned about the fall of Shuisky and refused to surrender the city. Korela was defended by local militias - about 2 thousand, and 500 archers. The defense was led by Pushkin, Bezobrazov, Abramov and Bishop Sylvester of Korelsky. In mid-June 1610, Swedish troops marched out from near Vyborg under the command of Andersson. In early July, the Swedes defeated the local militia and went to the city. The townspeople burned the villages and took refuge in the fortress (Detinets and Spassky Island). Swedish troops occupied both banks of the Vuoksa and in early September began a siege.
Karelian peasants organized a partisan struggle against the invaders and were defeated only at the end of November. The population of the county was forced into submission by force. Attempts by the partisans to conduct ships with provisions to Korela failed. The Swedes seized some of the ships, others sank. On October 27 and November 17, De la Gardie suggested that the defenders of the fortress surrender the city, referring to the agreement with Shuisky. Defense chiefs refused. The Russians made sorties, bravely attacked the enemy. The defenders of the Korelian fortress repulsed all attacks, the siege dragged on. In the winter, the Swedish commander went to Vyborg to gather troops for a larger offensive operation.
Fall of the fortress
The ranks of the defenders were mowed down by hunger and disease. Scurvy was rampant. In winter, 1, 5 thousand people died, many continued to lie in the yards and on the streets, there was no one to bury them. In February, about 100 people remained in the fortress from 2-3 thousand. The remaining several dozen warriors could not defend the fortress. Only now, when further resistance had become impossible, the surrender negotiations began. The Swedes put forward difficult conditions of surrender: leave all weapons and property in the city, leave it only in their own clothes. The Swedish commanders wanted to reward their soldiers for the long hardships of the siege.
Korela's defenders refused to surrender the fortress on shameful terms. The Russians insisted on honorable terms of surrender. When the Swedes refused to make concessions, they said that there was still enough food in the city, and they would fight to the last, and then blow up the fortress. The enemy had to agree to an honorable surrender. The Swedes did not know about the catastrophe in the city. When, after a six-month siege on March 2, 1611, the city capitulated and opened the gates, the Swedes were shocked that only about a hundred emaciated people remained in it. The surviving townspeople and warriors, led by the voivode Pushkin, left the city and moved into Russian possessions. The townspeople took their property, the governor took away the city archive. The Swedes got an empty city.
Negotiation
The first operations of the Swedes did not bring immediate success. King Charles IX resorted to diplomacy, sent "friendly" messages to the leadership of the First Zemstvo militia and to Novgorod. At the same time, in a secret instruction, De la Gardie ordered to take Novgorod. Lyapunov was interested in the "friendly" appeals of the Swedish king. The head of the zemstvo militia sent a messenger to Novgorod for a messenger. He asked the Novgorodians to negotiate with the Swedes as soon as possible about the renewal of the alliance and the sending of the Swedish corps to Moscow. In Novgorod, attacks could be expected from several directions at once - from Livonia, Lithuania and from near Smolensk. Continuing the fight against the Lithuanian people, it was necessary to secure the rear. Peace and alliance with Sweden seemed like a sure way out of a difficult situation.
In March 1611, the Swedish king Karl again turned to Novgorod, promised an alliance and assistance against the Polish-Lithuanian troops. The coming thaw interfered with the movement of the Swedish troops. De la Gardie could not immediately carry out the order to attack Novgorod. His 5,000-strong army got stuck in the Izhora district, plundering and ravaging the surrounding villages.
Pushed from both sides - from Moscow and Stockholm, Novgorodians at the end of April sent an embassy to the Swedish camp. The Russian side proposed to renew the alliance between Russia and Sweden, to start joint military operations against the Poles. The Novgorodians asked De la Gardie to clear their possessions and help expel the "thieves" from Ivangorod and some other fortresses. As payment for military assistance, the Novgorod elite - Metropolitan Isidor, governor Ivan Odoevsky - agreed to cede several Zanev churchyards to the Swedes.
For his part, Lyapunov sent his representative - the governor Vasily Buturlin. He was supposed to seduce the Swedes with the possibility of elevating the Swedish prince Karl Philip to the Russian throne, after the Poles were expelled from the Russian kingdom. Buturlin knew Delagardie well, they met back in Moscow, when the Swedes helped Skopin-Shuisky. The Zemsky Council assigned Buturlin the role of Skopin. He was an experienced military leader who fought with the troops of the False Dmitry, the Tushin people and the Poles. He was supposed to lead the allied army to Moscow for the second time and defeat the Polish-Lithuanian forces.
Buturlin took part in the Battle of Klushino in 1610, and was taken prisoner wounded. When the Poles occupied Moscow, he swore allegiance with other boyars to Vladislav. Nevertheless, he secretly maintained contact with Lyapunov, approved the creation of a zemstvo militia. For this he was arrested by Gonsewski and pulled up on a rack. He made a confession, but it was a deception. With great difficulty, Buturlin managed to escape from Moscow and join the militia.
In fact, the Zemsky Council repeated the mistake of Vasily Shuisky. In the hope that the Swedes would help liberate Moscow, the leaders of the First Militia were ready to make territorial concessions to Sweden. They wanted to pay for the help with the border lands of Novgorod.
With this, the zemstvo leaders turned the Novgorodians against themselves. More recently, Novgorod was going to send a detachment to help the zemstvo militia. Now the relationship between the First Militia and Novgorod was marred by mutual misunderstanding and mistrust.
The Zemsky Council believed that it was possible to sacrifice little for the sake of a common victory. The Novgorodians did not want to give up their lands, for which they fought with the same Swedes for centuries. Novgorod categorically rejected Lyapunov's proposals. Voivode Buturlin was never able to agree with the Novgorod elite on a common line in negotiations with the Swedish side.
