In 1380, Prince Dmitry Donskoy defeated the Mongol army led by Khan Mamai at the Kulikovo field. In some historical writings, you can read that Dmitry Donskoy did not lead the battle, that he gave up command altogether and went to the front ranks to fight like a simple warrior. Others in the description of the battle focus on the heroism of the Russian army, thanks to him, they say, they won. At the same time, it is overlooked that the course of the battle was largely predetermined by the strategic moves of the Moscow prince.
Those who emphasize heroism lose sight of the fact that the heroism of some is often the result of the stupidity of others. So in 1237 the Ryazan prince with his retinue went out into the open field to meet Batu, there, in fact, there was no battle, just the beating of the heroic Ryazan army. And the battle on Kalka, when the almost 90 thousandth Russian army met the 30 thousandth Tatar army, half of the Russian army was killed, and there was nothing to it. So in the story with Dmitry Donskoy, a big role was played not by his personal heroism and not by the bravery of the Russian army, but, above all, by the genius and strategic talent of Dmitry, who won the battle even before it began.
Strategic deception
Throughout history, any army, especially the defending one, has tried to rise to the heights. Defending from a hill, especially against mounted troops, is always more convenient. The prince was the first to enter the Kulikovskoye field, but did not occupy the height, left it to Mamaia. Mamai accepted this “sacrifice” and even then lost the battle. It is even strange that such an experienced commander did not think why he was given the dominant height. Dmitry did this so that Mamai looked and was sure that he was seeing. And he did not see the main things: the ravines in front of the Russian right flank, the ambush regiment, sheltered by the forest, did not understand the asymmetry and weakness of the flanks of the Russian army.
Forward regiment effect
For the first time in history, Dmitry Donskoy put a forward regiment slightly ahead of the head regiment, a very dubious at first glance protection of 3-5 thousand people. What role was he supposed to fulfill? Shouldn't I have attached it to the head one?
In order to understand this, you can turn to the circus number. Its essence is as follows: a hero hits a stone with a hammer, it cracks or splits under impact. Then they put a person on the table and cover with a thin stone slab, the same hammer now hits the slab, it shatters into pieces, and the person gets up from under it unharmed. At the moment of impact, the slab evenly distributes the impact force over its entire area. Instead of a powerful blow, only a certain even pressure is transmitted to the person.
We do not know how Dmitry thought of turning the swift blow of the Mongolian cavalry into an ordinary weakened pressure on the center of the Russian army, without disrupting its structure. But it must be admitted that he applied this technique very skillfully.
Is Mamai an ally of Dmitry?
Mamai thought he could see everything from the hill. And he clearly saw that the weakest flank of the Russian army was on the right. That one was not numerous and stretched over a rather long distance. In the center, on the other hand, stood the bulk of the Russian army: forward, head and reserve regiments.
The battle plan was born by itself: to break through the right flank and go to the rear of the main Russian forces, surround them, bring panic into the ranks and destroy them. And Mamai initially sent his cavalry to the right-hand regiment. And then he faced the first "gift" that Dmitry had prepared for him. In front of the positions of the Russian troops, there were two rows of ravines, which were simply not visible from the hill. Moreover, even the horsemen themselves noticed the ravines, only when they were right in front of them.
The mass of thousands of cavalry in a wide front at a decent speed flies into the ravine. The rear horsemen push against the front horsemen, it is impossible to leave aside - the offensive is going on a wide front. Even before the collision with the Russians, the Tatars suffered losses. Instead of a rapid raid, the cavalry is slowly advancing to … the second row of ravines.
And this is already a small victory. The horsemen first descend into the ravine, then slowly rise out of it one by one and stumble upon a line of princely squads, which calmly, one by one, methodically beat these emerging horsemen. Mamai's army suffers heavy losses, his best batyrs perish, the pace of the attack is lost. After 1-2 hours of such beating, Mamai accepts the second point of Dmitry Donskoy's plan to "get stuck" in a critical mass in the center of the Russian army.
Prince's trick
After that, none of the historians could really explain why the prince put on the chain mail of a simple war before the battle, and gave his cloak and banner to the boyar Mikhail Brenk. But this was one of the moments that subsequently led to the first turning point in the course of the battle: the balancing of forces in the center and the loss of the offensive impulse by the Tatars here.
The prince knew well the Horde army, the methods of waging the battle and the enemy commanders. He was confident that the tactical offensive impulse of each individual commander would be directed at him, the Russian commander, at his banner. That is exactly what happened, the Tatars, regardless of losses, cut through to the banner, and it turned out to be impossible to stop their impulse, the boyar was chopped up, and the banner was knocked down.
Historically, the loss of the commander and the banner, death or flight led to a psychological turning point, followed by the defeat of the army. Here it turned out differently, the Tatars were paralyzed. Thinking that they had killed the commander, they issued victorious cries from a distance, many even stopped cutting themselves, their pressure began to fade away. But the Russians did not even think about stopping the battle, they knew that the Tatars were mistaken!
Equipping troops
Let's return to the forward regiment. He took upon himself the very first and most terrible blow of the Mongol cavalry, but this did not mean that all his soldiers were doomed to perish. Foot warriors can counter cavalry. For example, you can put a "wall" of copies. Several rows of vigilantes, armed with spears of different lengths (for the front ones, they are shorter, for the rear ones, longer), which end at the same distance in front of the formation. In this case, the advancing equestrian encounters more than one spear, which he can deflect with a shield or cut, but immediately stumbles upon 3-4 and one of them can reach his goal. The bodies of the warriors were also well protected. The so-called "blue armor" of the squad from Veliky Ustyug was not inferior in quality to the armor of the Genoese knights who fought on the side of the Horde.
The prince himself was not even wounded during the battle, although he fought in the front ranks of the army. And the point is not only in the skill and strength of Dmitry Donskoy. The enemy simply could not hit him when he reached with a sword or spear. His chain mail was forged from the finest grades of metal. Over the chain mail were put on the armor of metal plates, and on top of all this chain mail of a simple warrior for disguise. He was chopped, stabbed, beaten, but no one was able to cut through all three layers of his armor.
But any blows are blows. The prince's helmet was dented in several places; by the end of the battle, Dmitry was in a state of deep concussion, perhaps it was the reason for his early death at the age of 39. But at the same time, not one Russian soldier saw that the prince was bleeding, he did not present such a psychological defeat to the Tatars.
Mamai falls into the trap
The battle has been going on for 4-5 hours. Mamai sees that there is a dead end in the center, a wall of the dead is formed between the living, a critical mass has worked, Mamai sees this from the hill and gives the order to transfer the blow to the left flank. And even despite the factor of fatigue, the Tatars have been advancing for several hours, both people and horses are tired, their pressure is still strong. The numerical advantage affects, and the regiment of the left hand begins to retreat back, to cave in under the onslaught of the Tatars, to retreat to the oak grove. The numerical advantage is on the side of the attackers, so it seems to Mamay from the hill, he does not see the Ambush Regiment behind the oak grove.
But it is from above that it is noticeable how the Russian regiments are retreating farther and farther back, how a gap appears into which you can throw troops and bypass the Russians on the left, strike them in the rear. And Mamai makes his last mistake. Directs all the reserves at his fingertips into the breakthrough. The left-hand regiment was thrown back, the Tatars rushed forward, accumulated and deployed to strike the flank and rear of the central regiments, leaving the rear open for the Ambush regiment. The prince's plan was completely successful, the Tatars turned their rear to the main striking force of the Russian troops. The blow of the fresh cavalry of the ambush regiment was fatal for the Tatars. Mamai's army turns into an uncontrolled flight.
