Having learned about the tragic events in the neighboring Ryazan principality, the Grand Duke of Vladimir Yuri Vsevolodovich divided his troops into three parts.
With part of his squad, he went to the Trans-Volga forests, to the City River, hoping that the squads of Yaroslavl, Rostov, Uglich and Novgorod would join him there. The second detachment was left by him in the capital, the third, led by the son of the Grand Duke Vsevolod and the governor Eremey Glebovich, was sent to Kolomna, the last Ryazan city, which still closed the way for the Mongols to his lands.
Battle of Kolomna and the fall of this city
With the remnants of the Ryazan army, the son of the deceased Yuri Ingvarevich, Roman, was here. But for the Vladimir prince, this was no longer help to the dying Ryazan principality, but competent actions to protect their lands. Kolomna, where the Moscow River flows into the Oka, has always been a strategically important city, the loss of which opened the way for the Mongols to Vladimir, Suzdal, Moscow, Dmitrov, Yuriev. Later, it was Kolomna that would become a traditional gathering place for Russian troops to repel another Tatar raid.
The battle for Kolomna lasted three days and became the largest field battle of Batu's first campaign against Russia. Moreover, it was in it that the son of Genghis himself, Kulkhan, was mortally wounded: he became the only Chingizid killed during a military campaign in the entire history of the Mongol conquests. Since the Mongol commanders never fought in the front ranks, but led the battle from the rear, it is believed that during the battle the Russian heavy cavalry managed to break through the enemy's battle formations, but, apparently, was surrounded and destroyed. After this battle, the Mongols besieged Kolomna for three more days.
On the part of the Russians, the Ryazan prince Roman Yurievich and the Vladimir governor Eremey were killed in this battle. Rashid ad-Din reports:
“They fought fiercely. Mengu-kaan personally performed heroic deeds until he defeated them (Russians) … After that, they (Mongols) also captured the city (na) Ike (Oka). Kulkan was wounded there and died. One of the Russian emirs, by the name of Urman (Roman), marched with an army, but he was defeated and killed, together in five days they also took the city of Makar (Moscow) and killed the prince of the city, named Ulaytimur (Vladimir)."
Vsevolod Yuryevich managed to break through to Vladimir, where he died during the siege of this city by the Mongols - on February 7, along with his mother and brother Mstislav.
During the siege of Vladimir, part of the Mongol army moved to Suzdal. The city squad met the Mongols at the Bolshoi Gorodishche, where the village of Yakimanskoye is now located, and was defeated there. The city that remained defenseless was taken by storm.
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From Vladimir to Torzhok
After that, part of the Mongol army, led by Batu Khan and Subedei, went to Torzhok, capturing Yuriev, Pereyaslavl, Dmitrov, Volok Lamsky and Tver along the way. (That year, in addition to the cities mentioned here and later in the article, Yuryev-Polsky, Starodub-on-Klyazma, Galich-Mersky, Yaroslavl, Uglich, Kashin, Ksnyatin, Dmitrov also fell under the blows of the Mongols.)
The siege of Torzhok began on February 21 and lasted 2 weeks. The Novgorod First Chronicle says this about it:
“The Tatars came up and besieged Torzhok … and they surrounded the whole city with tynom, just as they took other cities … and fired at the Tatars from stone-throwing guns for two weeks and the people in the city were exhausted, and there was no help from Novgorod, because everyone was at a loss and fear."
And these are the lines of the Tver Chronicle:
“The pagans took the city, killing everyone - men and women, all priests and monks. Everything has been plundered and reviled, both in bitter and unhappy death … March 5th”.
The Mongols walked some more distance in the direction of Novgorod, but from the Ignach-cross (it could be a crossroads, or actually a cross by the road) they turned back.
In 2003, in the Novgorod region, near the Polomet river, near the village of Yazhelbitsy, a memorial sign was erected in honor of this event:
Other Mongol detachments moved in search of the Grand Duke - to Yaroslavl, Gorodets and Rostov.
Yuri Vsevolodovich by the river Sit
And the Grand Duke Yuri Vsevolodovich at this time was gathering his troops near Sitya.
Now this river, on the banks of which one of the most terrible and tragic battles of the Batu invasion period took place in March 1238, flows through the territories of the Tver and Yaroslavl regions. Previously, it was the right tributary of the Mologa, but now it flows into the Rybinsk reservoir.
At present, it has become very shallow, and it is difficult to believe that many Russian soldiers drowned in it in March 1238.
Here Yuri Vsevolodovich stopped, waiting for the squad of brothers and nephews.
His brother Yaroslav, who ruled in Kiev since 1236, also controlling Novgorod (where his son Alexander was now) and Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, never came to the rescue. Considering what happened on the shores of the City, it was probably for the better: the Russian squads did not die here because of their small numbers, and the presence of another detachment would hardly have changed anything.
Four princes brought their soldiers - Yuri's brother Svyatoslav and his nephews Vasilko, Vsevolod and Vladimir.
Historians still argue about the place of gathering and the camp of this rather large army (as well as about the place of the battle). Some believe that these were the upper reaches of the Sit River, others argue that everything happened near its mouth, others are convinced that Russian troops were stationed in several camps along the entire length of the river. As a result, memorial signs in honor of this tragic battle were erected in two regions - Yaroslavl (Neruzsky district) and Tverskaya (Sonkovsky district).
Most historians are still inclined to believe that Russian troops were forced to stretch from the mouth of the City to the village of Bozhonki. It was almost impossible to set up one large camp due to the lack of the necessary space and the difficulty in organizing its supply. Therefore, some of the detachments were stationed in the surrounding villages, some - in the field - in a narrow strip for over 20 kilometers. On the eastern, considered the safest, bank of the City, between the villages of Semenovskoye and Krasnoye, a Reserve Regiment was placed, which could be sent to help both the center of the Russian positions and to the north.
There is no agreement on the date of this battle either. The official date is March 4, 1238. But some researchers are sure that it happened on March 1, or on the 2nd of the same month.
There is an opinion that there was no battle here, as such. Indeed, in the European and Persian chronicles of the XIII-XIV centuries, only a sudden attack by the Mongol detachment on the camp of Yuri Vsevolodovich is reported, which ended in the death of the Grand Duke. And his soldiers, in this case, apparently retreated in disorder, becoming an easy prey for the Tatars pursuing them.
The Novgorod First Chronicle says the same:
“And the prince began to put a regiment near him, and behold, suddenly Tatarov hastened; the prince had no time to run away."
This source speaks mysteriously and vaguely about the death of the Grand Duke:
"God knows how he will die: they talk a lot about him."
The author of the Tver Chronicle also evades the answer:
“Cyril, Bishop of Rostov, was at that time on Beloozero, and when he was walking from there, he came to Sit, where Grand Duke Yuri died, and how he died, only God knows, - they talk about it differently.”
M. D. Priselkov (dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences of Petrograd University, and then dean of the Faculty of History of Leningrad University), for some reason believed that Yuri Vsevolodovich could have been killed by his own people while trying to stop the fleeing soldiers.
In general, despite many sources, the Battle of Sith remains one of the most mysterious battles of that time.
Mysterious general of the Mongols
On the way to the City, the Mongols took Rostov, Yaroslavl, Uglich, Vologda and Galich-Mersky. Who led their troops in this movement to the City and in the battle itself? In the Ipatiev Chronicle, it is reported that it was Burundai, the main commander of Batu Khan after Subedei returned to Mongolia (there Subedei will die in 1248). The Mongols themselves said that Burundi "has no pity, but only cruelty and honor." He enjoyed great prestige both in the environment of Batu Khan and among the Russian princes, who turned to him with requests to resolve their disputes.
However, the Ipatiev Chronicle also claims that Yuri Vsevolodovich died not in the City, but in Vladimir, which is absolutely wrong.
But other sources (including Mongolian ones) do not report anything about Burundi's participation in the first campaigns of Batu Khan. Some researchers consider the indications of the Ipatiev Chronicle about the victory of Burundi in the Battle of Sita and his participation in the siege of Kiev in 1240 as later insertions. In this case, for the first time on the territory of Russia, this commander found himself during a punitive campaign against Daniel Galitsky - in 1259-1260.
But who, then, could command this part of the Mongol army?
The "Secret Legend of the Mongols" says that the Great Khan Ogedei, having received news of a quarrel at a feast, where his son Guyuk and his great-nephew Buri insulted Batu Khan (this was described in the article Mongols in Russia. First blow), angrily says:
“Didn't you think, son, that you conquered Russia alone, and that is why it is allowed for you to mock your elder brother so much and will, against him, go against him ?! Led into battle by Subegedei and Buzheg, you overthrew the Russians and the Kipchaks by common force."
From this passage, it becomes clear who, in fact, possessed true power over the army in the Western campaign of the Mongols: the first named Subudey, the second - Buzheg (Budzhek), the grandson of Genghis Khan, the son of Tolui. Perhaps it was he who was the commander who defeated the Russian troops in the City.
Battle of the City
Many propose to date the beginning of the battle on March 2, 1238, and March 4 - to be considered the date of the end of the battle, when the Russian troops opposing the Mongols were completely destroyed.
The main mystery of the Sith battle is the unexpected appearance of the Mongols. Apparently, only the patrol regiment, which was headed by Voivode Dorozh, was in relative combat readiness then. But here, too, the Russian troops were taken by surprise: the blow of the Mongols led to panic and complete disorganization of the separately standing units, many of which did not even have time to line up for battle.
There was probably no classic "correct battle" in the Sith battle: there were numerous clashes between the Mongols and scattered Russian detachments and their subsequent pursuit. Moreover, the blows, according to many historians, were inflicted in at least three places.
The first episode was the battle of the Guard Regiment, it could have happened near the villages of Mogilitsa and Bozhonka - in the upper reaches of the City River. It is believed that this regiment was attacked at night.
The Trinity Chronicle says:
"And Dorozh will come running, and speak: and already, prince, let the Tatars bypassed us … We waited for them from Bezhetsk, and they came from Koy."
That is, the Mongols approached from two sides - from Koy (which was a surprise for the Russian commanders), and from Bezhetsk (from where the Russian commanders expected them).
The second episode is an attack on the units standing in the center, led by Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich himself: near the villages of Stanilovo, Yuryevskaya, Ignatovo and Krasnoe. It is believed that the Russian regiments were completely destroyed here. Some sources report that the Russians were pushed onto the ice of the City and drowned, there were so many corpses that the bodies blocked the river - for a long time the local residents called this place "flesh". Sometimes you can read that the severed head of Yuri Vsevolodovich was sent to Batu Khan.
The Tver Chronicle says:
"Bishop Cyril found the prince's body, but his head was not found among the multitude of corpses."
But in the I Sophia Chronicle you can read:
“Then I brought the head of the Grand Duke Yurya and put it in a coffin to his body.”
This is also reported in the Simeon Chronicle. But, in this case, it is not clear who and why cut off the head of the Grand Duke.
In the third episode, a regiment of the right hand and an ambush regiment took part - this could have happened in the area of the villages of Semenovskoye, Ignatovo and Pokrovskoye.
From here the Russians fled to the north, the Mongols drove the retreating people for many kilometers.
The result of this battle was the catastrophic defeat of the Russian squads. In addition to the Grand Duke Yuri Vsevolodovich, the Yaroslavl prince Vsevolod Konstantinovich and the Vladimir governor Zhiroslav Mikhailovich were killed in it. Prince Vasilko of Rostov was taken prisoner. It is alleged that he was killed after he refused to change his faith and go to the service of the Mongols.
Later, his body was found in the Shernsky forest and buried in the Rostov Assumption Cathedral.
The story about the demand of the Mongols to change their faith raises great doubts, since they did not engage in missionary activities in the conquered territories. But their proposal to transfer to the service seems quite reliable: the Mongols always took part of the soldiers of the defeated side to participate in subsequent military campaigns, and Prince Vasilko could become the commander of the Russian allied units. The participation of Russian soldiers in the European campaign of the Mongols is confirmed by both European and Eastern authors. Thus, in the "Big Chronicle" of Matthew of Paris, there is a letter from two Hungarian monks, which says about the Mongol army:
"Although they are called Tartars, there are many false Christians (Orthodox) and Komans (Polovtsians) in their army."
Another letter in this Chronicle (from the head of the Franciscan order in Cologne) states:
"Their number (" tartarus ") is increasing day by day, and peaceful people who are defeated and subjugated as allies, namely the great multitude of pagans, heretics and false Christians, are turned into their warriors."
And here is what Rashid ad-Din writes:
"What has been added recently, consists of the troops of Russians, Circassians, Kipchaks, Madjars and others who have joined them."
The losses of ordinary Russian soldiers in the Battle of Sita were enormous, the already mentioned Rostov Bishop Kirill, who visited the battle site on the way from Beloozero to Rostov, saw many unburied corpses already half-scattered by animals.
But why did Yuri Vsevolodovich turn out to be so careless?
Probably, he believed that the Mongols who came from the steppes simply would not be able to find his army in the impenetrable forests of the Volga.
Indeed, it is hard to believe that the Mongols who first came to these places were able to do it on their own. At the very least, numerous and experienced guides were needed. Consequently, the Mongols found allies who not only informed them about the gathering place of the Russian squads, but also led them to the camps of the Vladimir prince. I even had to hear a rather unexpected version that these could be people who did not come to the City of Yuri Vsevolodovich's brother, Yaroslav, who was very eager to take the grand-princely Vladimir's table. He evaded the war with the Mongols, and in the fall of 1239 he became their ally in the war against the Chernigov principality (he captured the city of Kamenets, in which the family of Mikhail Chernigov tried to hide). It is, of course, impossible to document this version at the present time.
Some researchers, referring to the Bulgar sources, argue that the main characters of the Sith battle were not the Mongols, but the Bulgar detachments that came with them, as well as a number of Nizhny Novgorod warriors. If you believe this news, you can understand why the "Tatars" were so well oriented in the forest area, and were able to covertly approach and surround the army of Yuri Vsevolodovich.
Riddle of the "Evil City"
In 2009, the small town of Kozelsk (Kaluga region) was awarded the title "City of Military Glory". The event is extraordinary and, in its way, unique, because that year marked the 770th anniversary of the semi-legendary events that took place in 1238.
Recall that the army of Batu Khan then allegedly besieged this small and unremarkable fortress for 7 weeks - despite the fact that the entire campaign of the Mongols in 1237-1238. lasted about five months. For this, allegedly, the Mongols called Kozelsk "Evil City" (I can Bolgusun).
We must say right away that information about this truly epic siege of a small town (the garrison of which, according to some chronicles, was only 300 soldiers) immediately arouses distrust in any unbiased historian. Because the Mongols knew how to take fortresses. And they perfectly proved this, in the same year 1238, quite easily and quickly capturing much larger and more defended Russian cities, in which there were large detachments of professional soldiers. Ryazan fell on the sixth day, Suzdal - on the third day, the Mongols approached the capital of North-Eastern Russia Vladimir on February 3 and captured it on February 7. Only Torzhok resisted for 2 weeks. And Kozelsk - as much as 7 weeks! Why? The answers to this question are striking in their naivety and can only satisfy the inexperienced reader. If you convey the arguments of the supporters of the traditional version in your own words, you get something like the following:
Kozelsk was located on a hill and protected from the east by the Zhizdra river, from the west by the Drugusnaya, and in the north, as if a canal was dug between these rivers. In addition, the city was protected by an earthen rampart and a wooden wall with towers.
And the pictures are drawn correspondingly.
Here is such an "impregnable fortress Kozelsk":
Ancient Kozelsk, reconstruction:
Kozlov A. Ancient Kozelsk:
Funny, isn't it? It is unlikely that these simple fortifications could surprise the Mongols, who took such cities as Otrar, Gurganj, Merv, Nishapur and Herat.
Others say: Batu Khan got stuck near Kozelsk, as he "fell into the trap of the spring thaw."
Okay, let's say, but why shouldn't the Mongols, having nothing to do, immediately take this city? Everything, some kind of "entertainment". And a certain amount of provisions and fodder for the Mongols "stuck in the mud" will not be superfluous either. Why just stand at its walls?
By the way, have you ever wondered what the Mongols themselves and their horses ate for 7 weeks?
Of course, there are stories about the village of Deshovki, whose inhabitants allegedly supplied the Mongols who besieged Kozelsk with provisions, for which they were nicknamed "filthy", and their village received a second name - Pogankino. True, there is another version of the origin of the name of this village, recorded in the 19th century: it is as if the Tatars threw "cheap", that is, captives of no particular value, who later founded this village. And the third version, according to which this village did not appear until the 17th century.
One way or another, the inhabitants of this village could not feed the army of Batu Khan for 7 weeks even with a very strong desire.
Another question: why did the Mongols need Kozelsk at all? What was it about this city? Why did the Mongols need to take it by all means? The Grand Duke did not sit in this city, whose capture (or his death) would certainly affect the degree of resistance of the remaining lands. Kozelsk was not a rich city, the capture of which would more than compensate for the loss of time and loss of life. And he was not the last of the unoccupied Russian cities.
Another question: if little Kozelsk defended itself from the Mongols for 7 weeks, what were the other Russian princes doing at that time? Indeed, during this time they should have received information that the previously invincible army of Batu Khan stood at a small fortress, unable to take it. This could only be explained by the extreme weakness of the invaders, who, apparently, during the campaign suffered huge, simply critical, losses and were completely drained of blood. Why, then, not try to strike from the rear? No, not because the remaining unbroken princes are entirely patriots of Ancient Russia, but with the aim of recapturing huge booty from the Mongols. Smolensk is very close, and is not affected by the invasion. Chernigov did not suffer at all - and Kozelsk, by the way, is the city of this principality (you can somehow explain the refusal of Mikhail Chernigovsky to help Ryazan, but he must defend his own cities). And even the Vladimir principality, after the defeat on the Sit River, was not completely crushed and not broken: the squad of the new prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich was intact, and his son Alexander (not yet named Nevsky) was sitting in Novgorod. And, most importantly, if the Mongols really got stuck near Kozelsk, they can now be attacked with practically impunity: other Genghisids, even very angry at the defeat of their comrades-in-arms, in the conditions of a rapidly approaching mudslide, will not be able to return to Smolensk, Chernigov or Vladimir. Or maybe they won't even want to go there: Batu Khan's enemies, Guyuk and Buri, will most likely be very happy about his defeat. But, no, the Russian princes do not go to the aid of the heroic Kozelsk, they do not need neither honor, nor glory, nor fabulous loot.
In general, solid questions that are easier to ask than even try to answer them.
But some researchers still tried to answer. So, when studying the Bulgar sources, information was found that the siege of Kozelsk lasted not seven weeks, but seven days, which no longer causes a pronounced cognitive dissonance. Of course, there are many 7 days of resistance for this fortress, but there is a version (also Bulgarian) that offers a fairly rational explanation: supposedly, somewhere in the forest near the city, the horse squad of Kozelsk was hiding, which made unexpected sorties, attacking the Mongols from the rear. And on the seventh day, the warriors who remained in Kozelsk broke through to meet their comrades, and went with them to Chernigov. And the city, left without defenders, immediately fell. That is, it was not a desperate sortie that ended, according to the official version, with the death of the Kozelsk squad, but a well-prepared and successful attempt to break through.
This version seems quite plausible, but does not explain the nickname "Evil" given by the Mongols to this city. And it was suggested that it was not the fierce and desperate resistance of Kozelsk that was the reason: allegedly, for the Mongols, Kozelsk was originally "Evil", since its current prince, twelve-year-old Vasily, was the grandson of Prince Mstislav - Kozelsk and Chernigov. The one who took part in the assassination of the Mongol ambassadors before the battle on Kalka. It was in order to punish the inhabitants of the "Evil City" that the Mongols stayed at the insignificant Kozelsk. The weak point of this version is the fact that the Smolensk prince just at this time is another participant in this battle - Vsevolod Mstislavich, who, moreover, is also the son of Mstislav the Old, who, along with Mstislav Udatny, made the decision to kill the ambassadors. But the army of Batu Khan for some reason passed by Smolensk.
In general, historians, apparently, will not solve the riddle of the "Evil City" of Kozelsk soon.
