The brutal assault on Kazan
Trekking
After a series of Russian-Kazan wars and unsuccessful attempts at a peaceful solution to the Kazan problem (Battle on the Volga. The fight between Moscow and Kazan; War between Moscow and Kazan Khan Safa-Girey; The Turkish threat and Ivan the Terrible) the government of Ivan Vasilievich decided to end the independence of the Kazan kingdom (Camping trip).
The Kazan campaign began on July 3, 1552, after the defeat of the Crimean horde of Devlet (The heroic defense of Tula and the defeat of the Crimean Turkish army on the Shivoron river). The Russian army moved in two columns. The Guard Regiment, the Left Hand Regiment and the Sovereign Regiment, led by Sovereign Ivan Vasilyevich, went through Vladimir and Mur on the river. Sura, to the mouth of the river. Alatyr, where the city of the same name was founded. The Big Regiment, the Regiment of the Right Hand and the Advance Regiment led by Prince Mikhail Vorotynsky went to Alatyr through Ryazan and Meshchera. The connection of the two buildings took place at Boroncheev Gorodische across the Sura River. Passing an average of 25 km a day, the Russian army reached Sviyazhsk on August 13. The Russian army traditionally included serving Tatars, led by Khan Shah-Ali, and Astrakhan princes.
Sviyazhsk fortress was besieged by the enemy. The local tribes on the Mountain side, not being able to independently resist Kazan, went over to the Kazan Tatars. Ambushes and shelling became commonplace. When a large royal army went to Sviyazhsk, the mountain dwellers quickly changed their minds about fighting the Russians. They sent the elders to the king, they obeyed. Ivan IV showed mercy, did not punish the local tribes, which could lead to unnecessary losses and bitterness of the natives (the word did not carry a negative meaning, it meant "a native of the local area"). Mountain Maris and Chuvashs helped the Russians to repair roads, build crossings, put up warriors.
On August 16, the Russian regiments began to cross the Volga, the crossing lasted 3 days. On August 23, a huge 150-strong army reached the walls of Kazan. The tsarist army was strengthened by the Cossacks. In some legends, Ermak Timofeevich was among them. Apparently, this is a folklore fantasy of later times. The Cossacks came from the Don, Volga, possibly Yaik (Ural) and Terek. What does it say about the connection of the Cossacks between themselves and Moscow. They arrived on the orders of Ivan the Terrible, knowing when and where to come. They were headed by ataman Susar Fedorov.
Battle for Kazan. Miniature from the facial vault
City defense
The Russian commander-in-chief, wishing to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, turned to Khan Ediger (Yadygar) and the Kazan nobility, demanding to extradite the perpetrators of the rebellion, promising mercy to the rest. But the Tatar elite decided that the city would withstand the siege. Ivan Vasilyevich was sent a deliberately rude answer, in which he was vilified, his state and faith.
Kazanians managed to prepare well for war and defense. The city was supplied with everything necessary for a long siege. Kazan, located on the heights dominating the area, was protected by a double oak wall filled with rubble and clay, with 14 stone towers - "shooters". The approaches to the city from the north were covered by the Kazanka River, from the west - by the river. Bulak. On the other sides, especially from the Arsk field, the most convenient for the assault, Kazan was surrounded by a large ditch - up to 6,5 m wide and 15 m deep.
The 11 gates were the most vulnerable to attack, but they were protected by towers and additional fortifications. The city walls had parapets and roofing to protect the shooters. Also in Kazan there was an inner citadel located in the northwestern part of the city. The citadel had royal chambers and mosques, which were separated from the rest of the city by stone walls and ravines. Kazan was defended by an entire army of 30-40 thousand fighters, which included mobilized citizens, several thousand Nogais and 5 thousand eastern merchants, with their guards and servants.
The Kazan command also foresaw the possibility of an external attack on the Russian army. A prison was erected 15 versts northeast of the Kazan Fortress, on High Mountain in the upper reaches of the Kazanka River. The approaches to it were covered by swamps and notches. In Ostrog, a 20-strong cavalry army of Tsarevich Yapanchi, Shunak-Murza and the Arsk (Udmurt) Prince Yevush was placed. It also included detachments of the Mari and Chuvash, who were skilled hunters. The Tatar cavalry was supposed to attack the rear and flanks of the Russian rati, distracting the enemy from the capital.
However, this time it was not enough to stop the Russians. The royal regiments acted decisively and were well prepared. Also, the tsarist military experts used a new method of destroying city walls - underground mine galleries. The Tatars had not yet encountered such a threat and could not take countermeasures.
Capital of the Kazan Khanate. Painting by F. Khalikov
Defeat of Yapancha
The battles for the capital of the Kazan kingdom began on the outskirts of the city. Kazan chose a good moment to attack. The advanced Russian detachments only crossed the Bulak River and climbed the slope of the Arsk field, while the main forces were on the other side and could not help the Ertaul regiment (Yartaul). A 15-strong detachment came out of the Nogai and Tsarev gates and hit the Russians. The attackers acted quickly, bravely and almost crushed Yartaul. The situation was saved by archers and Cossacks. They opened heavy fire from squeakers at the enemy. Kazanians mixed up, suspended their onslaught. At this time, new archery orders from the Advanced Regiment arrived in time. The enemy cavalry could not withstand the well-aimed fire of the Russians and turned back, under the protection of the walls. During the flight, the horsemen upset the ranks of their infantry. The entire detachment hastily retreated behind the walls.
The Russians surrounded the city with trenches, trenches and wicker shields, in some places they set up a palisade. The clerk Vyrodkov led the siege work. On August 27, 1552, an outfit (artillery) was installed, and the shelling of the fortress began. Russian artillery under the command of the boyar Morozov was powerful and consisted of up to 150 guns. The archers guarded the cannons and fired at the walls, preventing the enemy from showing up on them and making sorties out of the gates. The guns caused great damage to the Kazan fortress, its artillery and beat many people. Among the guns were "great" guns, which had their own names: "Ring", "Ushataya", "Snake oversized", "Flying Serpent", "Nightingale".
At the beginning of the siege of the Russian army, attacks by the cavalry of Yapancha interfered. On a special signal, a large banner was raised on one of the towers of the Kazan fortress, the enemy attacked the Russian rear "from the forests, very menacingly and quickly." The first such raid took place on August 28, the voivode Tretiak Loshakov was killed. The next day, Prince Yapancha attacked again, at the same time the city garrison made a sortie.
The Russian command, correctly assessing the threat, took retaliatory measures. A strong 45-strong army of Prince Alexander Humpbacked and Peter Serebryany (30 cavalry and 15 infantry) was sent against the enemy cavalry. On August 30, the Russian governors, with a feigned retreat, were able to lure the enemy out of the forests to the Arsk field (they used the ancient tactics of the Scythian Rus and the Horde) and blocked the detachments of the "evil Tatars". The enemy army was defeated, suffered heavy losses.
Only a part was able to break into the forest and fled to prison. The Russians pursued the enemy to the river. Kinderki. The captives were executed in front of the walls of Kazan, instilling fear in the enemy. According to other sources, the prisoners were tied to stakes near the walls of Kazan, so that they begged the townspeople to surrender. The city was promised "forgiveness and mercy", the captives were promised freedom. Kazanians themselves shot their comrades with bows. As a result, the threat from the Tatar cavalry corps in the rear was eliminated.
Map source: L. Beskrovny. Atlas of maps and diagrams for the Russian military stories
The deterioration of the city
On September 6, 1552, the regiments of Gorbaty and Serebryany set out on a campaign to the Kama, having received the task of "burning Kazan lands and villages to ruin to the ground." Russian troops stormed the prison on High Mountain, where the remnants of enemy troops were hiding. The garrison was destroyed. 12 Arsk princes, 7 Cheremis governors, 200-300 centurions and elders were taken prisoner. Then the Russian troops traveled more than 150 miles, reached the Kama, destroying enemy villages. This should not be surprising, as wars have been fought at all times. For example, now the Ukrainian troops, with the full support of the “civilized world”, are waging an all-out war on the Left Bank, destroying Russian cities and villages.
Humpbacked's army returned to Kazan with victory, freeing thousands of Russian slaves. For ten days of the campaign, the Russian troops took 30 small fortresses-prisons, captured representatives of the local nobility (pacifying the territory), drove a large number of cattle to the camp, solving the problem of supply. Due to bad weather (rainstorms and storms), many ships with supplies sank, so the army was fed from a spear.
Having defeated the Yapancha cavalry corps and secured the rear on the Arsk side, the Russian army could calmly complete the siege. Russian guns were brought closer to the walls, their fire became even more terrible for the townspeople. A large mobile tower was erected with 10 large and 50 small cannons, squeakers. From a height of 13 meters, Russian gunners finished off enemy artillery, shot through the walls and streets of the city. Kazanians suffered heavy losses. The city garrison tried to make sorties, but was not successful.
On August 31, the underground war began. Rozmysel, who was in the Russian service (this is not a name, but a nickname - "engineer") and his students, trained in "city ruin", began to dig under the fortifications to install powder mines. On September 4, an explosion occurred under the Daurova Tower of the Kazan Kremlin under a water source, which worsened the city's water supply. There were reservoirs in Kazan, but the quality of the water in them was much worse, diseases began. In addition, part of the city wall collapsed. Also, Russian sappers blew up the Ant Gate (Nur-Ali Gate). The Kazanians were able to build a new line of fortifications in the rear and repulsed the assault that had begun.
Siege of Kazan. V. Bodrov
Fall of the capital
The mine war was successful. The Russian command decided to finish off the fortress with the help of an underground war. By the end of September, new mine galleries were prepared. Powerful explosions were to be the beginning of a decisive assault. On September 30, the first strong explosion demolished part of the wall. Russian troops burst into the gap, a fierce battle began. The townspeople desperately fought back, dying, but did not retreat. The garrison repulsed the first attack. However, the archers and Cossacks under the leadership of the governor Mikhail Vorotynsky and Alexei Basmanov, who captured a section of the wall at the Arsky Gate, refused to leave. They held the captured bridgehead for two days and waited for a general assault. Kazanians in this area erected new fortifications from stones and logs.
On the eve of the assault, Russian troops approached almost all the gates. In some places, the moat was filled up, in other areas temporary bridges were built. On October 1 (11), 1552, the Russian command again offered the enemy to submit. The proposal was rejected, Kazan decided to defend to the end:
They still hoped to hold out until the cold weather, when the Russians would have to lift the siege and leave, as had happened before.
On the morning of October 2 (12), 1552, Russian troops took their starting positions. The Kasimov (service) Tatars were sent to the Arsk field to repel a possible attack from the rear. Also, large cavalry detachments were put up on the Galician and Nogai roads, as barriers against small detachments of the Mari and Nogais, who were still operating in the vicinity of Kazan. The signal for the assault was two strong explosions. 48 barrels of "potions" were laid in the mines - about 240 pounds of gunpowder. Sections of the walls between the Atalykov Gates and the Nameless Tower, between the Tsarev and Ar Gates were destroyed. The fortress walls from the side of the Arsk field were destroyed.
Russian troops - up to 45 thousand archers, Cossacks and boyar children, burst into huge gaps on the move. On the crooked and narrow streets of the city, fierce hand-to-hand fights unfolded. The townspeople fiercely and stubbornly fought back, knowing that there would be no mercy.
The main centers of defense were the main mosque on the Tezitsky ravine and the royal palace. At first, all attempts by Russian troops to break through the Tezitsky ravine, which separated the inner citadel from the city itself, ended in failure. Then reserves were thrown into battle, including part of the dismounted Tsar's regiment. Also, according to Kurbsky, all the walking wounded, sick, rear servants, servants, etc., rushed into the city with the aim of robbery. The robbers, faced with enemy detachments that were still resisting, fled, preventing our regiments from completing the operation. Russian governors had to take the most cruel measures to restore order.
The arrival of reinforcements ended the battle. Russian fighters broke through the enemy defenses at the main mosque. The entire garrison of the mosque, led by seid Kol-Sharif, was destroyed. The last bloody battle took place on the square in front of the royal palace, where selected Kazan troops fought back. Almost everyone died. No prisoners were taken.
Contrary to the myth about the "humble and God-fearing" Russian Christian soldiers, they were not. Otherwise, Russia would not exist. The Russians knew how to respond with force for force, with determination for determination. Russian warriors were embittered by stubborn resistance, the death of friends, they took revenge for decades of raids, campaigns, massacres and fires. For the Russian people driven into captivity and sold into captivity.
On the other hand, the Kazan fighters fiercely fought back, they did not ask for mercy. Only Khan Yadygar (Ediger), his brothers and Prince Zeniet were taken prisoner. Also, a few soldiers were saved, who threw themselves from the walls, fled under fire, were able to cross the river. Kazanka and got to the forests on the Galician road. They were followed by a pursuit, which exterminated some of the fugitives.
During the brutal assault, up to 20 thousand Tatars died, thousands of slaves were freed. The liberated were taken out of the city, as strong fires began. The surviving townspeople were settled outside the city, near Lake Kaban (Staro-Tatarskaya Sloboda).
Capture of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible. Hood. G. I. Ugryumov
Results
After the victory, Tsar Ivan Vasilievich entered the city through the Muravleva Gate. He examined the royal palace, mosques and ordered to put out the fires. The Kazan tsar, banners, cannons and the remaining gunpowder were taken out of the city. Soon Ediger was baptized with the name Simeon and served the Russian kingdom (participated in the Livonian War), like many other Kazan princes, princes and murzas, who made up a significant part of the general imperial nobility-elite.
Thus, the Kazan Tatars quickly became part of the core of the Russian superethnos, as carriers of the imperial, state tradition (“hordes”). At the same time, it is worth remembering that the artistic tradition of depicting the Kazan Tatars (descendants of the Volgar Bulgars) as representatives of the Mongoloid race does not correspond to historical truth. Kazan Tatars are Caucasians, like Russians-Russians.
On October 12 (22), 1552, the Russian tsar left Kazan, leaving Prince Gorbaty as its viceroy, subordinate to whom were the governors Vasily Serebryany, Alexei Pleshcheev, Foma Golovin and Ivan Chebotov.
The war on the territory of Kazan land continued for several more years (Cheremis war of Ivan the Terrible). The attacks were carried out by the remaining Kazan feudal lords, the local tribes subordinate to them. The Crimean emissaries tried to cause a big uprising, carried money and weapon. However, soon the entire Middle Volga region was subordinated to Moscow. The Russian state included Kazan Tatars, Chuvashs, Maris, Udmurts and Bashkirs.
As a result, Moscow eliminated the threat from the east. The Crimean Khanate lost the support of the Kazanians, who during the campaigns of the Crimeans attacked the eastern borders of Russia. The way to the Urals and Siberia was opened. Russia received a significant part of the Volga region and the Volga trade route. There was an opportunity to firmly occupy Astrakhan, the entire Volga.
The Volga peoples were introduced to the more developed spiritual and material culture of the Russians. Russians began to populate the Volga region, mass construction of cities began. Many Russian regions, including the Volga region, which had recently been a dangerous frontier, became a deep rear and could live and develop in peace.
- Alexander Samsonov
- https://ru.wikipedia.org/
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