The army of ancient Rus'. Historical dates of Russia and the years of the reign of tsars

At the end of the 16th century, the Russian state was on the verge of losing its independence. The Tatar Khan Girey went on a military campaign against Moscow in order to "remain in the kingdom." The Battle of Molodi is a battle for sovereignty in which the Tatars had a numerical advantage of almost 5 times. In importance, it is on a par with the Battle of Kulikovo and the Battle of Borodino. But for more than four centuries, “official history” and school textbooks have been silent about it.

I have raised the topic of unspoken taboo on a number of aspects of the history of Rus' in world historical science more than once. The beginning of academic Russian history was laid in the 18th century by four German "scientists", members of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, one of whom did not even know the Russian language - Miller, Bayer, Pyrmont and Schlozer. They became the authors of the so-called. "Norman theory". Everything started from her... And, unfortunately, it is still going in approximately the same direction.

Today there will be another story about a significant event in the history of our Fatherland, which the “official history” has been silent about for more than four centuries - the Battle of Molodi, which took place near Moscow in 1572. At the same time, historians and chroniclers are well aware of the fact of this event, but not a single historical monograph attaches true significance to it. And even more so in textbooks on the history of the Fatherland, you will not even find a mention of it. Meanwhile, the geopolitical significance of this battle for Russian history is difficult to overestimate, just as it is difficult to overestimate the significance of the Battle of Kulikovo, the Battle of Borodino or the Battle of Moscow in 1941-1942...

By the end of the sixties of the 16th century, in the protracted Livonian War, which the Russian state waged for access to the Baltic Sea, a difficult situation developed for the Russians. Sweden entered the war on the side of the Livonian Confederation, which was already almost defeated, as well as Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which formed the Commonwealth. A huge number of Russian troops and reserves were stationed in the Baltic at that moment. Famine began in the country and a devastating plague epidemic passed. To restore order within the state, Ivan IV established the oprichnina. The southern borders of the country were practically exposed, which contributed to the increase in the devastating raids of the Crimean Tatars with the support of the Ottoman Empire, the most devastating of which took place in 1571, when Moscow was looted and burned - the 40,000-strong army of Khan Devlet Giray reached the capital of the Russian state almost without a fight . It was already seriously about the return of the Astrakhan principality and Kazan.

After the victories won, Khan Giray immediately began to prepare for the final campaign against Rus'. With the support of the Ottoman Empire, in a year he formed an army of more than 120,000 (a colossal force at that time) and advanced to Rus' with the words: “I’m going to Moscow to reign!” At stake, without exaggeration, was the very existence of an independent Russian state...

On July 29, 1572, 50 miles south of Moscow, near the village of Molodi, the armada of Khan Giray was met by a 25,000-strong Russian army led by boyar Mikhail Vorotynsky and Prince Dmitry Khvorostin. Voevoda Vorotynsky - the founder of the fortress of Voronezh, the author and compiler of the "charter on the village and guard service" - then was already 62 years old. The wise and experienced governor was well aware that a head-on collision with well-armed and almost five times superior enemy forces did not promise him victory. The actions taken by Vorotynsky in the next five days can be safely entered into textbooks on military tactics.

Having placed the headquarters (gulyai-city) on a high hill, covered by the Rozhaya River, and having provided it with wooden fortifications, Vorotynsky sends Khvorostin’s detachment to the rear of the troops of Khan Giray, who, using the marching formation of the Crimean army stretched for almost 15 kilometers, utterly smashes his rearguard. The Khan, taken aback, deploys an army and sends 12 thousand Nogais to defeat Khvorostin's small detachment. This is exactly what Vorotynsky was waiting for. Khvorostin imitates a retreat and lures the Nogai to the walk-city, where he makes a sharp maneuver, exposing the front of the pursuers, and the Tatar cavalry is met by fierce fire from all guns, almost completely destroying it. On July 31, Divlet Giray makes an attempt to storm the walk-city. But the well-chosen place for fortification by Vorotynsky - a steep hill surrounded by a river - and the erected defensive structures, coupled with the valor of the defenders, created a situation that we know from the description of the feat of three hundred Spartans in the battle of Thermopylae, when a huge army, with all its might, cannot take a single fortification, while suffering significant losses.

And then on August 2, the khan makes a desperate decision - he orders the entire cavalry to dismount and climb the hill. This again leads to large losses of the attackers: "and then many Tatars were beaten and countless hands were cut off." Giray sends more and more detachments to storm the walk-city and the Russian army also suffers losses.

But Vorotynsky, unlike Tsar Leonid - the leader of the Spartans - was not going to lay down his bones, he was going to win! After waiting for a moment at dusk, when the enemy made another massive attack on one side of the hill, he led a large detachment out of the fortification from the opposite side and, crawling along the hollow, went to the rear of the attackers. At a signal in the night - a massive volley from all the guns of the gulyai-gorod - Vorotynsky's detachment hit the rear of the Khan's troops besieging his fortress, and Khvorostin's garrison remaining in the gulyai-gorod attacked through smoke and fire from behind the walls of the fortification. And the Crimean-Ottoman army ... ran!

In the hope of withdrawing in order to redeploy his troops, Devlet Giray puts up a barrage detachment of three thousand "Crimean Tatars and frisky people", which was immediately defeated by the Russian cavalry. The Khan runs for the Oka and puts up another cover detachment, numbering two thousand people: “Yes, on the Oka River, the Crimean Tsar left two thousand people to protect the Totars.” But they suffered the same fate: "And those Totars were beaten by a man with a thousand, and many others drowned, and others went beyond the Oka."

Of the 120,000-strong Crimean-Ottoman troops, no more than 15,000 returned to Crimea. Over a hundred thousand soldiers of Khan Girey remained lying in Russian soil. Crimea lost almost the entire combat-ready male population. Russian losses in killed and wounded amounted to about 5 thousand people.

Voivode Mikhail Ivanovich Vorotynsky - undeservedly ignored by historians. His name should be on a par with Dmitry Donskoy, Alexander Nevsky, Suvorov, Kutuzov, Nakhimov and other great Russian generals. Having five times fewer troops compared to the enemy, he, as they say, "not in numbers, but in skill" managed to impose his battle tactics on the enemy and, each time outpacing him with tactical actions, achieved victory over the united Crimean-Turkish army with twenty times superiority in damage dealt.

The geopolitical significance of the Battle of Molodi for Rus' was colossal. The bloodless Crimean Khanate, having lost its military power, never made any serious attempts to fight with Russia. The Ottoman Empire was forced to withdraw all claims to the Volga region. And the borders of the Russian kingdom along the Desna and Don were pushed south by 300 kilometers. Rus' retained its independence and during the years of the reign of Ivan IV, its territory was expanded by almost two.

The Russian army is rightfully considered one of the strongest and most efficient in history. Evidence of this is the many brilliant victories won by Russian soldiers in battles with opponents superior in strength to them.

Battle of Kulikovo (1380)

The battle on the Kulikovo field summed up the long confrontation between Rus' and the Horde. The day before, Mamai entered into a confrontation with the Moscow Grand Duke Dmitry, who refused to increase the tribute paid to the Horde. This prompted the khan to take military action.
Dmitry managed to gather an impressive army, consisting of the Moscow, Serpukhov, Belozersky, Yaroslavl and Rostov regiments. According to various estimates, on September 8, 1380, from 40 to 70 thousand Russians and from 90 to 150 thousand Horde troops met in the decisive battle. The victory of Dmitry Donskoy significantly weakened the Golden Horde, which predetermined its further disintegration.

Battle of Molodi (1572)

In 1571, the Crimean Khan Devlet Giray, during a raid on Moscow, burned down the Russian capital, but could not enter it. A year later, having received the support of the Ottoman Empire, he organized a new campaign against Moscow. However, this time the Crimean-Turkish army was forced to stop 40 kilometers south of the capital, not far from the village of Molodi.
According to the chronicles, Devlet Giray brought with him a 120,000-strong army. However, historians insist on the figure of 60 thousand. One way or another, the Crimean-Turkish forces significantly outnumbered the Russian army, whose number did not exceed 20 thousand people. Prince Mikhail Vorotynsky managed to lure the enemy into a trap and defeat him with a sudden blow from the reserve.

Battle of Poltava (1709)

In the autumn of 1708, instead of marching on Moscow, the Swedish king Charles XII turned south to wait out the winter and move to the capital with renewed vigor. However, without waiting for reinforcements from Stanislav Leshchinsky. Having been refused help from the Turkish Sultan, he decided to give a general battle to the Russian army near Poltava.
Not all the assembled forces participated in the battle. For various reasons, from the Swedish side, out of 37 thousand, no more than 17 thousand people entered the battle, from the Russian side, out of 60 thousand, about 34 thousand fought. The victory won by the Russian troops on June 27, 1709 under the command of Peter I war. An end was soon put to Swedish dominance in the Baltic.

Capture of Ishmael (1790)

The capture of the stronghold - the Turkish fortress of Izmail, fully revealed the military genius of Suvorov. Earlier, Ishmael did not submit to either Nikolai Repnin, or Ivan Gudovich, or Grigory Potemkin. All hopes were now pinned on Alexander Suvorov.

The commander spent six days preparing for the siege of Izmail, working out with the troops the capture of a wooden model of high fortress walls. On the eve of the assault, Suvorov sent an ultimatum to Aidozle-Mehmet Pasha:

“I arrived here with the troops. Twenty-four hours to think - and the will. My first shot is already bondage. Storm is death.

“Rather the Danube will flow back and the sky will fall to the ground than Ishmael will surrender,” the pasha replied.

The Danube did not change its course, but in less than 12 hours the defenders were thrown from the fortress tops, and the city was taken. Thanks to a skillful siege of 31 thousand soldiers, the Russians lost a little more than 4 thousand, the Turks out of 35 thousand missed 26 thousand.

Battle of Elisavetpol (1826)

One of the key episodes of the Russian-Persian war of 1826-1828 was the battle near Elisavetpol (now the Azerbaijani city of Ganja). The victory then gained by the Russian troops under the command of Ivan Paskevich over the Persian army of Abbas Mirza became a model of military leadership.
Paskevich managed to use the confusion of the Persians who fell into the ravine to launch a counterattack. Despite the superior forces of the enemy (35 thousand against 10 thousand), the Russian regiments began to push the army of Abbas Mirza along the entire front of the attack. The losses of the Russian side amounted to 46 killed, the Persians missed 2000 people.

Brusilovsky breakthrough (1916)

The offensive operation of the Southwestern Front under the command of General Alexei Brusilov, carried out from May to September 1916, became, according to military historian Anton Kersnovsky, "a victory that we have not yet won in a world war." The number of forces that were involved on both sides is also impressive - 1,732,000 Russian soldiers and 1,061,000 soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian and German armies.
The Brusilovsky breakthrough, thanks to which Bukovina and Eastern Galicia were occupied, became a turning point in the First World War. Germany and Austria-Hungary, having lost a significant part of the army, reflecting the Russian offensive operation, eventually gave the strategic initiative to the Entente.

Battle for Moscow (1941-1942)

The long and bloody defense of Moscow, which began in September 1941, from December 5 passed into the offensive phase, which ended on April 20, 1942. Near Moscow, Soviet troops inflicted the first painful defeat on Germany, thereby frustrating the plans of the German command to capture the capital before the onset of cold weather.
The length of the front of the Moscow operation, which unfolded from Kalyazin in the north to Ryazhsk in the south, exceeded 2 thousand km. On both sides, more than 2.8 million soldiers, 21 thousand mortars and guns, 2 thousand tanks and 1.6 thousand aircraft took part in the operation.
German General Günther Blumentritt recalled:

“Now it was important for the political leaders of Germany to understand that the days of the blitzkrieg had sunk into the past. We were confronted by an army far superior in its fighting qualities to all other armies with which we had ever had to meet.

Battle of Stalingrad (1942-1943)

The Battle of Stalingrad is considered the largest land battle in the history of mankind. The total losses of both sides, according to rough estimates, exceed 2 million people, about 100 thousand German soldiers were captured. For the Axis countries, the defeat at Stalingrad turned out to be decisive, after which Germany was no longer able to restore its strength.
The French writer Jean-Richard Blok exulted in those victorious days: “Listen, Parisians! The first three divisions that invaded Paris in June 1940, the three divisions that, at the invitation of the French General Dentz, desecrated our capital, these three divisions - the 100th, 130th and 295th - do not exist anymore! They are destroyed at Stalingrad: the Russians have avenged Paris!

Battle of Kursk (1943)

Battle of Kursk

The victory of the Soviet troops on the Kursk Bulge made a radical change in the course of the Great Patriotic War. The positive outcome of the battle was the result of the strategic advantage obtained by the Soviet command, as well as the superiority in manpower and equipment that had developed by that time. For example, in the legendary tank battle near Prokhorovka, the General Staff was able to deploy 597 pieces of equipment, while the German command had only 311.
At the Tehran Conference that followed the Battle of Kursk, US President Franklin Roosevelt became so bold that he discussed his personal plan for dividing Germany into 5 states.

Capture of Berlin (1945)

Soviet artillery on the outskirts of Berlin, April 1945.

The assault on Berlin was the final part of the Berlin offensive operation that lasted 23 days. The Soviet troops were forced to carry out the capture of the German capital alone because of the refusal of the allies to participate in this operation. Stubborn and bloody battles claimed the lives of at least 100 thousand Soviet soldiers.

“It is unthinkable that such a huge fortified city should be taken so quickly. We do not know of other such examples in the history of World War II,” wrote historian Alexander Orlov.

The result of the capture of Berlin was the exit of Soviet troops to the Elbe River, where their famous meeting with the allies took place.

For our Motherland, 1223 turned out to be black. An event in Rus' happened such that it determined the political alignment in Eastern Europe for several centuries. One unsuccessful battle turned the whole course of history.

1223: an event in Rus'

From the school curriculum, everyone should perfectly remember that the beginning of the 13th century is the time of the Mongol-Tatar invasion of the lands of the Polovtsians (a tribe neighboring the Slavs) and the territory of Rus'. The conquest of Russian lands by this wild horde took place gradually, but what happened in 1223 in Rus'? It was on May 31, 1223 (as the Laurentian Chronicle tells us) that the first battle of the Khan's troops and Russian soldiers took place. We all know very well from history this event called "The Battle of

Reasons for the Battle of Kalka

The battle between the Mongol-Tatars and the Russian princely squads had to take place sooner or later. Why? According to the strategy of the Mongols, which was developed by Genghis Khan, his state was to cover not only the truly Mongolian territory, but also extend to the whole of Europe.

Why did the Mongols need such vast territories? Do not forget that they are nomads. Such a people cannot sit in one place because of the way the economy is managed. Nomads do not engage in agriculture, but only livestock. The representatives of this people had huge herds that needed to be fed with something. The way of managing meant the periodic replacement of pastures with new ones, because the old pastures had nothing left for the animals to eat as food. The Mongols needed Europe as a potential pasture for their livestock.

Events before the battle on Kalka

It is clear that the situation did not arise immediately. The victorious march of the Mongol troops began in Central Asia. Then the horde headed towards Iran. No army could stop them. The Mongol campaign continued towards the Caucasus. The leaders of the Horde knew that there were several rich large cities in the Caucasus that could be robbed. Having passed in a victorious procession through the Caucasus, for example, through Georgia, the troops entered the lands of modern Russia, on the territory of which the tribes of Alans and Polovtsians then lived. The forces of these nomadic peoples were defeated one by one, because the diplomacy of the Mongol conquerors also operated successfully.

1223... The event in Rus', which could happen, did not please the princes, because they understood that sooner or later these hordes would reach Kyiv. The Russian princes had to fight the Mongols at the request of the Polovtsy. We repeat, a skirmish with the troops of Genghis Khan would have occurred sooner or later anyway. Realizing that the Tatars would not stop, the princes decided not to refuse help. Having gathered in Kyiv, the troops of Mstislav of Galicia and (at that time the Kyiv prince) set out on a campaign. During the campaign, the Mongols sent their ambassadors twice, the purpose of which was to stop the Russian army. The Mongols claimed that they would cope with the Polovtsy, but would not go to the Russian cities.

Battle with the Mongols

Knowing what event happened in 1223 shortly before the appearance of the hordes of Batu, Genghis Khan in Rus' (namely, the conquest of the rich cities of the Caucasus), the Russian princes did not believe the ambassadors of the Horde. So the march continued. The gang moved down the Dnieper. On the territory of present-day Ukraine, the princely troops had to make a crossing across the Dnieper. Already here the first meeting with the enemy troops took place. The Mongols had fast horses, so they were able to escape and lure the Russian troops to a convenient battlefield, located near the modern river Kalmius (Zaporozhye region).

The beginning of the battle was for the Russian princes. To some extent, this can be explained by the speed of action of the princely troops. The Kiev prince crossed the river, studied the Mongol camp from afar, returned to the location of his troops and prepared them for battle. The Mongols began to retreat. The squad of Daniil Galitsky put a lot of pressure on them. But then the Golden Horde brought additional forces into battle, which led to a typical outcome for many battles in the history of the Ukrainian and Russian peoples - the flight of the allies (Polovtsy), which destroyed the structure of the Russian army of princes. After that, the victory of the Mongol-Tatars was a matter of time and technology. The Slavic army suffered heavy losses in this battle.

Conclusion

1223... The event in Rus' is really tragic. The defeat at Kalka placed all of Rus' in direct and complete dependence on the Golden Horde state. The Tatar-Mongol yoke lasted almost 300 years. This huge historical period of time left a negative imprint on the development of the modern lands of Russia and Ukraine.

The history of mankind is an endless process of formation, during which for tens of thousands of years peoples in the struggle either appear or disappear in the historical arena. Conduct or the Spirit, as idealist philosophers would say, tests peoples for strength, sending them tests, and the most serious test for any people is war, the invasion of other tribes that can destroy not only peoples or states, but also huge Empires as it used to be more than once in history.
War is such a test of people's strength, someone passes it with honor, someone fails it and goes to the sidelines of history, or disappears altogether. Russia had to go through many wars, many peoples and states tried our strength, but we resisted, and have been standing for thousands of years. However, nevertheless, it can be noted that there are wars that have had a greater influence on the formation of the national spirit, of which the memory has been preserved for centuries, and there are also forgotten battles, of which there are no memories left in the Russian soul. Despite the fact that all of them are important for us, because this is our history, today I still wanted to dwell on three battles of medieval Rus', which predetermined our mentality, our statehood and our entire subsequent history.
Battle on the Ice.
Date of: 5 April 1242
Scene: Western border of the Novgorod land.
Characters: princes Alexander Yaroslavovich "Nevsky", Andrey Yaroslavovich VS Andreas von Velven - Landmaster of the Livonian Department of the Teutonic Order.
Historical situation: In the early forties of the XIII century. Rus' was going through hard times. A century of bloody civil strife undermined the strength of the Russian state, and when the cruel and dangerous enemy of the Tatar-Mongols suddenly invaded its borders, the scattered small principalities could not give an organized worthy rebuff. The Horde army, hardened in many campaigns, possessing the most modern siege weapons of that time, managed to capture most of the Russian land despite the heroic resistance of its defenders. The difficult period of the Tatar-Mongol yoke began. In this difficult situation, our neighbors - the Swedes and the Livonian Order decided to take advantage of the temporary weakness of Rus' and implement their long-cherished plans to seize our northern lands, in particular the Pskov and Novgorod regions.
The course of the battle: After an unexpected offensive by the German forces, Koporye was taken, Izborsk fell, and after a week of siege, Pskov was taken by the Livonians due to the betrayal of the boyars, who opened the gates to the enemy. For Novgorod, the situation became critical, and then the city's leadership turned to Prince Alexander Yaroslavovich for help, who had previously been expelled from the settlement due to political differences. The prince, seeing the danger of the situation, “despised the offense”, called his brother Andrei Yaroslavovich for help. And they, with their squads, united with the boyar detachments, and detachments of the city militia advanced to meet the enemy. In March, Alexander manages to recapture Pskov and he invades the lands of the order. After the defeat of the advanced detachments, the prince decides to retreat to the ice of Lake Peipsi.
On April 5, a decisive battle took place on the lake, the first to enter the battle were Russian skirmishers - a detachment of archers, showering the German cavalry with a hail of arrows. However, the arrows did little harm to the heavily armed horsemen, and the Livonians crushed the infantry with a wedge, but at that time the princely squad struck from the flanks, as a result of which the combined German-Chudian forces were utterly defeated. During the battle, about 400 knights were killed, and about 50 were taken prisoner (the total losses, together with the Chud and the knights, amounted to several thousand). Landmaster Andreas von Velven, commander of the Livonian Teutonic Knights, fled from the battlefield with the remnants of the troops.
Summary of the battle. During the battle on the ice and subsequent campaigns of Prince Alexander, the expansion of the Livonian Order to the Pskov and Novgorod lands was stopped for a long time. Northern Rus' retained its independence and adherence to Orthodoxy, having managed to evade the ideological expansion of Catholicism. Thus, the prerequisites were created for the further resurrection of the rest of Rus', which followed precisely from the Northern lands. Due to the fact that northern Rus' survived, was not completely plundered by the Mughals like the southern regions, did not fall under the influence of a powerful Catholic order, the very possibility of a subsequent Russian revival was preserved.
Kulikovo battle.
Date of: September 8, 1380
Scene: Confluence of the Nepryadva and Don rivers
Characters: A coalition of princes led by Prince Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy of Moscow VS beklarbek Mamai and allies
Historical situation: 150 years after its founding, the Mongol Empire of Batu Khan disintegrated for a long time and painfully, the dynastic crisis led to the fact that beklarbek (corresponding to the current title of prime minister) Mamai became the actual ruler of the Golden Horde. However, with the support of the Central Asian ruler Tamerlane, the throne returns to the pretender from the Khan dynasty - Tokhtamysh. During this inter-Tatar strife, the Russian principalities headed by Prince Dmitry Ivanovich of Moscow suddenly declare their disobedience. At the same time, the punitive campaigns of the Tatars, undertaken against the Russians, end with the defeat of the Horde troops. Mamai decides to make one last attempt to return Rus' to obedience in order to use her richest resources in the fight against Tokhtamysh for the throne, and gathers an army for a big campaign.
The course of the battle. Having learned about the approach of the Tatar forces, Dmitry Ivanovich, at the head of the united Russian troops, moves beyond the Don in order to prevent the Tatars from joining the Lithuanian troops, who also went on a campaign against the Moscow principality.
Mamai was taken by surprise by this decisive maneuver of the Russians, and was forced to accept the battle in unfavorable conditions for himself. In addition, on the advice of an experienced military leader Dmitry Mikhailovich Bobrok-Volynsky, Dmitry Ivanovich deployed the troops in such a way that an ambush regiment was hidden from the Tatars, which at the decisive moment predetermined the outcome of the battle. The beginning of the battle was marked by a symbolic duel between the schemnik monk, a famous warrior in the past - Peresvet and the legendary Tatar fighter Chelubey. Peresvet managed to knock Chelubey out of the saddle, but the Russian hero also received a mortal wound. At the beginning of the battle, the Tatars managed to push back the Russian forces, and part of the troops of the Moscow prince had already rushed to flee to Nepryadva, but at this critical moment, the ambush regiment under the command of Dmitry Bobrok hit the Tatars in the rear, and defeated the main forces of the horde. Mamai himself fled with small forces, leaving his army to the mercy of fate, which, according to the chronicle, was driven by combatants for 50 miles, beating on the go.
Results of the battle. This was the first such a major victory of the Russian troops over the Tatars, and although Rus' would be part of the Mongol state for another hundred years, the Battle of Kulikovo showed that the horde can be resisted, and it can only be resisted by uniting all the scattered Russian principalities into one fist. The victory of Prince Dmitry Ivanovich inspired his contemporaries so much that he was given the nickname Donskoy, which stuck with him for centuries, and later the Orthodox Church even ranked him among the Saints. In medieval Russian literature, many written monuments dedicated to this significant event appeared - Zadonshchina, the Legend of the Battle of Mamaev, the Life of Dmitry Donskoy and the Life of Sergius of Radonezh.
But the most important result of the battle on the Kulikovo field was, as the Soviet historian L.N. Vladimir, Suzdal ... This was the beginning of their awareness of themselves as a single entity - Russia.
Battle of Molodi. (This battle is little known among the broad masses of the people, so we will dwell on it in more detail)
Date of: July 29 - August 2, 1572
Scene: The village of Molodi, 50 miles south of Moscow.
Characters: Moscow governors Dmitry Khvorostinin, Mikhail Vorotynsky VS Crimean Khan Devlet I Girey, Tereberdey-Murza, Divey-Murza.
Historical situation: Taking advantage of the fact that the main forces of the Muscovite kingdom were concentrated in the north, where the long Livonian war between Russia and the Commonwealth was going on with varying success, the Crimean Khan Devlet the First Girey raided Moscow. Taking advantage of the fact that defectors from among the Russian boyars indicated to the Tatars the passages past the notch line (a number of fortifications along the southern border of Rus'), the Khan's troops approached Moscow almost without a fight, and burned it, capturing tens of thousands of people to sell them into slavery, on on the way back, ruining everything that met along the way. It was the strongest blow from the steppe in the last two hundred years. The Crimean Khan was so impressed with his own success that he began to prepare another, more thorough campaign for the next year, hoping to completely capture all of Rus' and thus restore the former power of the Golden Horde. Devlet Giray was sure that after the raid of 1571, Rus' would not have time to recover and he could only finish off the Muscovy. To help him, the Turkish sultan sent a seven thousandth Janissary corps, and the Nogai khans also joined the upcoming campaign. Under the banner of Giray, a huge army gathered at that time (according to various estimates, from 120 to 80 thousand people).
The course of the battle. At the end of July 1572, the Crimean-Nogai-Turkish troops approached the border of the Moscow kingdom. The main forces of the Russians, who managed to put up against the invasion of the horde - about 20,000 people, led by the governor M. Vorotynsky, settled down near Serpukhov. About 2,000 Tatars were thrown against them with a diversionary maneuver, and the main Horde forces crossed the Oka a little to the north. When Vorotynsky found out about this, in the hope of tying the Tatars in battle, he threw in pursuit of them a small cavalry detachment of the young oprichny governor Dmitry Khvorstinin. The Russian commander counted on having time to start a fight with the Tatars before they approached Moscow. This would have forced Giray to focus on destroying the grouping behind his lines before continuing on to Moscow, and in this way Vorotynsky hoped to buy time for Moscow to prepare for the defense, so that other tsarist troops could pull up to it.
The cavalry of Dmitry Khvorostinin overtook the Tatars near the village of Molodi and utterly defeated the rearguard of the Tatar army stretching for fifteen kilometers. Devlet the First turned the main forces away from Moscow and rushed them towards the Russian troops in his rear, with the aim of defeating them and securing communications, before besieging the Mother See. By this time, the main forces of the voivode Vorotynsky managed to approach Molodi and take an advantageous position by equipping the so-called. "walk the city" - a mobile defensive structure with loopholes for shooters and artillery.
Despite the significant numerical advantage of the Tatar army, they failed to take the city on the move, the smashing fire of Russian cannons and squeakers inflicted heavy losses and the Horde were forced to roll back. During the assault, Tereberdey-Murza died.
The dream of conquering Rus', which has almost come true (to Moscow, some 50 miles), which was so close melted in the eyes along with the army of Devlet Giray. The Khan, in a rage, makes an unexpected decision, orders all the Tatars to get off their horses and storm the Russian fortifications on foot, the Horde tried to break the wooden ceilings of the ghouls of the city with their hands, and the besieged chopped off their hands, which the chronicler wrote picturesquely about. At some point, Vorotynsky makes an unexpected decision to hit the Tatars with cavalry from the flank, quietly leading it from the other side of the hill, seeing that the Tatars concentrated the assault on one side of the fortifications and were carried away by the battle. An unexpected blow from the flank of the Russian cavalry, as well as a simultaneous desperately bold attack by the defenders of the gulyai-city, led by Dmitry Khvorostinin, sowed panic in the ranks of the Horde, which led to their complete defeat by the forces of the Muscovite kingdom.
Results of the battle: The main result of the battle was that the Russian troops, together with the Cossacks who took part in the battle of Molodi, managed to prevent the fall of Moscow. With their decisive actions, the governors Khvorostinin and Vorotynsky managed to tie down the enemy, and then destroy him. After the defeat in the Battle of Molodi, the Horde left the Russian lands alone for a long time, and Moscow secured its recent acquisitions - the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates. The Russian state began to move south into the Wild Field, building new fortress cities of Voronezh, Yelets, etc. involving in the orbit of its influence the lands rich in chernozem. But the main result of the Battle of Molodi was that the Muscovite kingdom survived the crop failures and pestilence, fighting on two fronts, managed to withstand and survive, laying down the potential that subsequently led to the fact that Russia became a powerful Empire inhabited by hundreds of peoples, possessing the largest territory.

The small Ukrainian river Alta, the length of which does not exceed thirty-seven kilometers, was repeatedly marked in the history of Ancient Rus' by the bloody events that took place on its banks. They were the result of both the struggle for power between the heirs of the Kyiv throne, and the confrontation that persisted for a long time between our ancestors and the nomadic inhabitants of the steppes.

Fratricidal battle on the river Alta

The history of the most famous battle, which took place in 1019, originates from the death of the Great, who died four years before and left behind four sons. Two of them, Yaroslav and Svyatopolk, at the head of their squads, converged on the banks of the Alta, trying with a sword to pave their way to the power they desired. The closest relationship with the holy baptist of Rus' did not prevent them from staining their swords with brotherly blood.

Four years earlier, at the hands of assassins sent by Svyatopolk, who corrected all divine and human laws in order to achieve power, their other two brothers, Boris and Gleb, died, later canonized as holy martyrs. For this atrocity, Svyatopolk received the nickname "Cursed" from his descendants.

Bloody stages of the struggle for power

New heirs to princely power

Another battle on the Alta River is also known, the date of which is 1068. This event became a sad page in the history of Russia, but the memory of it has been preserved in the chronicles that have come down to us. By this time, the sons of the late Kyiv prince Yaroslav the Wise - Vsevolod, Svyatoslav and Izyaslav - became the rulers of Rus'. Having concentrated all the power in their hands, they also managed to subjugate Smolensk and Volhynia, which until that time had retained their independence.

Their triumvirate tried to maintain peace with a strong and aggressive neighbor - the Polovtsian Khan Sharukan. In 1055, they even managed to conclude a kind of peace treaty with him. However, six years later, having corrected their promises, the Polovtsy invaded Rus', passing along the left bank of the Dnieper.

The defeat of the princes on the banks of the Alta

Until 1068, nomadic raids continued, as a result of which the brother-princes were forced to meet them at the head of a large squad. The result of the campaign was the battle on the Alta River. The history of the date of this event has not been preserved; the details of what happened on that sad day on the banks of the Alta are hidden from us. It is only known about the cruel defeat suffered by the Russian squad from the troops of the Polovtsian Khan Sharukan.

Encouraged by the victory, the nomads intensified their raids, plundering defenseless villagers and coming close to Kyiv. The outraged townspeople demanded from their rulers, who had so ingloriously returned from the campaign, to immediately distribute weapons to everyone and organize a militia, and when they refused, they raised an uprising that almost cost the disgraced princes their supreme power.