Invasion of 1521
Moscow knew about the approach of a big war and urgently moved troops to the southern and southeastern border. The regiments in Serpukhov were commanded by princes Dmitry Belsky, Vasily Shuisky and Ivan Morozov-Poplevin. The Kashira army was led by princes Ivan Penkov and Fyodor Lopata Obolensky. Tarusa was covered by the forces of princes Mikhail Shchenyatev and Ivan Vorotynsky. The detachments of Yuri Khokholkov and Nikita Kutuzov-Kleopin were stationed in Kolomna. The positions on the Ugra were supposed to cover the regiments of princes Vasily Odoevsky, Semyon Shchepin Obolensky and Andrei Buturlin. Troops under the command of Peter of Rostov and Mikhail Vorontsov stood in Meshchera. Not far from them, on the Moksha River, the squads of princes Ivan Troekurov and Vasily Carpet of Krivoborsky were located. In Murom stood Prince Yuri Pronsky, Ivan Shchetina Obolensky, Andrei Saburov, in Nizhny Novgorod - Andrei Kurbsky and Fyodor Shchuka Kutuzov. The troops, which were concentrated in Ryazan, were subordinate to the Ryazan governor Ivan Khabar Simsky. The detachment of Ivan Shamin was moved to Starodub.
However, the passive defensive tactics of the main directions chosen by the Moscow voivods did not help - the forces of the Crimean Khan were too significant. The most dangerous was the Moscow direction, where the ruler of the Crimean Khanate, Mohammed-Girey, himself attacked. He was joined by a detachment of the Lithuanian governor Yevstafy Dashkevich. Passing the Muravsky Way between the upper reaches of the Vorskla and the Seversky Donets, 100-thous. The Crimean-Lithuanian army reached Bystraya Sosna and, bypassing Tula, turned towards the Ryazan land. The Crimean horde invaded the Russian borders and on July 28, 1521 came to the river. Oka in the vicinity of Kolomna. It was here that the Tatars crossed the Oka, a small Russian detachment under the command of Yuri Khokholkov was forced to take refuge in Kolomna. The regiments from Serpukhov and Kashira were moved to the crossing with a great delay. But they were defeated, apparently separately, and suffered heavy losses. The deaths of the great-princely governors Ivan Sheremetev, Vladimir Karamyshev Kurbsky, Yakov and Yuri Zamyatnin testify to the heavy losses of the Russian troops. Prince Fyodor Lopata Obolensky was captured. The commander-in-chief of the Russian forces was the young prince Dmitry Belsky, who did not heed the advice of the older and more experienced voivods and threw the regiments into battle against the huge enemy army without any hope of success. Part of the Russian forces were able to withdraw and take refuge in the cities.
The Tatars began to ravage the Kolomna places, slowly moving on. The Crimean Khan was waiting for the appearance of the allied army of the Kazakh Khanate, headed by Sahib-Giray. Kazan detachments were able to break through the border, ravaged Nizhny Novgorod, the outskirts of Vladimir and went to Kolomna, to the gathering place. Having united, the Crimean-Kazan horde began to advance in the direction of Moscow. Vasily III Ivanovich hastened to leave Moscow overcrowded with refugees and left for Volokolamsk. He left his brother-in-law Pyotr Ibrahimovich in his place, who received the authority to begin peace negotiations with the Crimean Khan. On August 1, Tatar detachments appeared in the vicinity of Moscow. They were in no hurry to begin a siege of a well-fortified city and were engaged in devastating the surrounding area. The headquarters of Muhammad-Girey was located on the Severka River, 60 versts from Moscow. The Tatar forces in the immediate vicinity of the Russian capital were commanded by the "tsarevich" Bogatyr-Saltan, who was camped in the village of Ostrov. The request of the Moscow boyars to start peace negotiations was perceived by the Crimean Khan as a complete surrender. Therefore, the main demand presented to the Russian government was that the Moscow sovereign should issue a diploma with the obligation to be an eternal tributary of the Crimean "tsar". In fact, it was about the revival of the system of foreign policy dependence of Moscow on the Tatar "king" according to the "charter of ancient times" (according to the Golden Horde model). The Moscow government was forced to satisfy the demand of the Crimean Khan and send the required document.
On August 12, 1521, Muhammad-Girey began to withdraw his forces into the steppe. On the way back, the Crimean army approached Ryazan. Khan, on the advice of the Lithuanian governor Yevstafy Dashkevich, decided to seize the city by cunning. He offered the townspeople to buy out part of the polon (part of the polon was indeed bought, including Prince Lopata Obolensky). The Ryazan governor Ivan Khabar Simsky was ordered to appear before the khan with an expression of submission, as required by the tributary obligations of his sovereign, who recognized his dependence on the Crimean "king". Khabar Simsky demanded to show the letter and received it. At this time, the Tatars tried to seize the fortress during the next ransom of prisoners, rushing to the open gate. Fortunately, the commander of the Ryazan artillery, the German Johann Jordan, did not lose his caution. A volley of guns standing at the gates put the Tatars to flight. After this failure, the Crimean army left Ryazan.
The Moscow state was in an extremely difficult situation. The lands to the south and east of Moscow were devastated, many people were taken away to the full, the ninth year was a difficult war with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In these conditions, the repeated invasion of the Crimean and Kazan troops could have disastrous consequences. It was necessary to end the war on the western border as quickly as possible and strengthen the defenses in the east and south. The mistakes of the past were analyzed and taken into account. The Grand Duke of Moscow increased the number of troops stationed in the southern "Ukraine". Troops began to be deployed along the entire border: the Big Regiment was located near Devich, the Advance Regiment - at the mouth of the Osetr River, the Right Hand regiment - near Golutvin, the Left Hand regiment - opposite Roslavl, the Guard Regiment - on Kashira. At the same time, they began to organize outposts, which advanced into the steppe in the direction of the city of Azov and along the southern borders of the Seversk land, and also began the construction of fortifications along the line of the future Big Zasechnaya line.
Further developments
The presence of a large army on the border forced Khan Muhammad-Girey to abandon the idea of repeating a successful campaign. In addition, on September 14, 1522, an armistice was concluded between the Moscow state and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Crimean Khan Mohammed-Girey in December 1522 moved an army to Khadzhi-Tarkhan (Astrakhan). In the spring of 1523 he managed to capture the city without a fight, the Astrakhan Khan Hussein fled. However, the Nogai troops came to the aid of the Astrakhan people; the Nogai suspected the Crimean Khan of a desire to subjugate all the steppe peoples to his power. At this time, the Crimean Khan dismissed almost the entire army. Therefore, when in 1523 the Nogai army led by Mamai-Murza and Agish-Murza attacked the camp of the Crimean Khan, he had only 3 thousand soldiers. During the battle, Muhammad-Girey and the heir to the throne Bogatyr-Saltan were killed. This was followed by a destructive invasion of the Nogai in the Crimea, who ravaged and plundered the entire peninsula, but failed to take the cities. Muhammad's successor on the Crimean throne was his son Gaza I Giray. However, the Crimean nobility in a hurry did not agree on their choice with Istanbul. Gaza I ruled the Khanate for only 6 months, as soon Porta chose another candidate. The new khan of the Crimean Khanate was Garay's uncle Saadet I Giray (Saadet-Girey). Gaza was soon killed. The new ruler of Bakhchisarai had to restore the state destroyed by the enemy, temporarily postponing plans for campaigns against Russia.
Fighting Kazan. Moscow had to solve the problem of a stubborn and dangerous enemy - the Kazan khan Sahib-Girey. In the early autumn of 1522, he sent detachments of Tatars and Meadow Mari to the Galician land. On September 15, Kazan troops destroyed the Russian outpost in Parfenyev, and on September 28 captured the monastery in Unzha. The Moscow-Kazan negotiations that began after this ended in failure. Sahib-Girey in the spring of 1523 ordered the execution of all the Russian merchants and the Russian envoy captured during the coup of 1521. True, the time for the execution of the Kazan khans was unfortunate. Soon, the news came about the defeat and death of Muhammad-Girey and the devastation of the Crimean Khanate by Nogai troops. The Kazan Khanate found itself face to face with two strong enemies - the Russian state and the Nogai horde.
In August 1523, an army was assembled in Nizhny Novgorod, but the Moscow sovereign did not risk it and sent a small ship's army under the command of Shah Ali to Kazan. In September 1523 the Russian regiments crossed the Sura River. The ship's army, with which Shah-Ali was located, devastated the Cheremis (Mari) and Chuvash villages along the banks of the river. Volga, reached the outskirts of Kazan, and then turned back. The cavalry army, reaching the Sviyaga River, clashed with the Tatar forces on the Ityakov field. The Tatars could not withstand the blow of the local cavalry and fled. On September 1, 1523, the construction of a Russian fortress began on the right, Kazan bank of the Sura, at the place where it flows into the river. Volga. At the same time, the local population - the Mari, Mordovians, Chuvashes - was sworn in to the Moscow sovereign; thousands of people were sent to the Russian state as hostages and prisoners. The new fortress was named in honor of the Grand Duke - Vasil-city (future Vasilsursk).
Sahib-Girey tried to seize the initiative and in October 1523 made a campaign near Galich. After a short siege and an unsuccessful assault on the city, the Khan's army retreated, taking away many prisoners. Kazan khan, fearing a retaliatory strike, sent an ambassador to Bakhchisarai, asking him to send cannons, squeaks and janissaries.
Moscow, in response to the attack on Galich, began to prepare a campaign of the Russian army against Kazan. The army was headed by the "prince" Shah-Ali, his assistants were the governors Ivan Belsky, Mikhail Gorbaty and Mikhail Zakharyin. The independent local cavalry was commanded by Ivan Khabar and Mikhail Vorontsov. The ship's men set out on the campaign on May 8, 1524, and the horsemen - on May 15. The foreign policy situation was very successful. At this time, the offensive began on the Crimea 80-thous. Polish-Lithuanian army. Kazan Khan Sahib-Girey hastily left Kazan and fled to the Crimea to ask for help from the Turkish Sultan. The Khan in Kazan was left behind by his 13-year-old nephew Safa-Girey (ruled 1524-1531, 1536-1546, July 1546 - March 1549). The Russian cavalry army on the Ityakov field defeated the Kazan troops. In a fierce battle, the Kazan army suffered heavy losses. The ship's army landed near Kazan on July 3 and waited for the approach of the local cavalry. The Kazan Tatars did not wait for the approach of the Russian cavalry and on July 19 they attacked the fortified camp of the Moscow army. However, they received a fierce rebuff and retreated. The Kazanians blocked the ship's army, which had no cavalry, in the camp, repeating attacks from time to time. The situation became more complicated when food supplies began to run out in the troops of Shah-Ali and I. Belsky. The second ship's army under the command of Prince Ivan Paletsky came to their aid from Nizhny Novgorod. The detachment consisted of 90 ships with 3 thousand soldiers. On the shore, the ship's army was accompanied by 500 horsemen. Having learned about the movement of the Russian forces, the Cheremis prepared an ambush. The first was completely defeated by the equestrian detachment - only 9 people were saved. Then, during a night stop, Kazan troops attacked Paletsky's flotilla. Most of the Russian soldiers were killed or taken prisoner. Only part of the detachment was able to leave and reach the camp near Kazan.
On August 15, all Russian regiments united and began a siege of the city. However, the Russian army did not achieve noticeable successes. The Tatar detachments that remained outside the fortress made frequent attacks on the Russian forces besieging Kazan. Soon, realizing the futility of their efforts, the Russian command began negotiations with the Tatars, agreeing to lift the siege from the city in exchange for a promise to send Kazan ambassadors to Moscow to conclude a peace agreement. The hasty retreat of the Russian regiments was a life-saver for Kazan. Nogai troops invaded the territory of the khanate and devastated the southern regions. The government of the young khan Safa-Girey was interested in establishing peaceful relations with the Russian state. In November 1524, Kazan ambassadors arrived in the Russian capital. The peace negotiations ended successfully and the parties signed an agreement. His only condition was the transfer of the territory of the Moscow state to the Kazan Fair, which was held annually on June 24. In 1525 it opened in Nizhny Novgorod.
Relations between Moscow and Bakhchisarai. Relations between the two states remained tense, but the Crimean Khan could not organize large campaigns against Russia due to constant internal strife. In 1525, Saadet-Girey moved 50 thousand people to the Muscovite state. army, but after Perekop the "tsar" learned about the mutiny, which was raised by his brother Islam-Girey. A similar story was repeated in 1526.
The Russian government continued to strengthen the southern "Ukraine". First, in Kolomna, and then in Zaraysk, the construction of stone fortresses began. The first serious test of the strength of the Russian defense took place in the fall of 1527, when 40 thousand soldiers moved to Russia. Crimean army. In Moscow, they received news of an enemy attack in advance and managed to send an army to the southern borders. The army was led by Fedor Lopata Telepnev, Ivan Ovchina Telepnev, Vasily Odoevsky, Ivan Shchetina Obolensky, Nikita Shchepin, and other governors. The eastern border was also securely covered: the troops were stationed in Murom (under the command of Vasily Shuisky), in Nizhny Novgorod (Semyon Kurbsky), Kostroma (Mikhail Shchenyatev) and Chukhloma (Danil Maramuk Nesvitsky). The population living in places where enemy forces could pass were gathered in cities. The Grand Duke with reserve regiments camped in the village of Kolomenskoye, and then set out for the Oka. On September 9, the Tatars approached the Oka and tried to cross. However, all of their attempts were repulsed. Following the enemy, who began to withdraw, cavalry regiments were sent, they overtook the Tatars at Zaraisk. In the battle near the Sturgeon River, the Crimean Tatars were defeated.
The positive experience of the 1527 campaign was used in subsequent years. Russian regiments continued to be deployed in Kolomna, Serpukhov, Kashira, Ryazan, Tula and on the dangerous Senkin Brod. They were strengthened at the moment of the greatest threat. In 1530-1531. new wooden fortifications were built in Chernigov and Kashira, the construction of a stone fortress in Kolomna was completed.
