The history of mankind is a short list of powerful empires and innumerable wars. In the sixteenth century, the Ottoman Empire was at the zenith of glory. According to numerous testimonies, it was she who, politically, economically, and most importantly, militarily, exceeded all other state formations of that time.
"In those days, distant, now epic"
Byzantium fell under the onslaught of the Turks, they were inexorably approaching the northwest. The fragmented principalities, counties and kingdoms (which Europe was at that time) could not oppose anything to this onslaught.
Meanwhile, another force was ripening in the east. No matter how they scolded Ivan the Terrible, no matter how many a man this king was represented in the school curriculum, he was a sovereign and was happy to increase territories by simultaneously reforming the army and centralizing power.
Tatars posed a threat to the country. Big lovers of burning, robbing nobody like neighbors, here is the young tsar (Ivan IV was barely 17 when he conquered Kazan in 1552) went to conquer new lands and succeeded. Four years later, the restless Rurikovich also took Astrakhan and found himself in close proximity to the Crimea, which connected vassal relations with the powerful Ottoman Empire.
Nasty neighbors
The Sultan offered patronage to the Moscow Tsar - he refused. This did not bode well for the Russian state, but the time of decisive battle did not come: the year 1572, the Battle of Molodi and the unheard-of defeat of the Tatars were still ahead. For a dozen years, Crimeans behaved in a completely hooligan manner, and in 1571 the Tatars embarked on a serious training trip to Russia, and it turned out to be successful.
The Devlet-Giray army managed (not without the help of traitors) to cross the Oka, get to Moscow and burn the wooden city - only the stone Kremlin survived. There was no Grozny in the capital: he found out what happened afterwards, and the news was disappointing: in addition to material damage and heavy losses, the Tatars were captured by tens and thousands of Russians.
New attempt
The heads of the culprits rolled, the king began to think a sad thought. According to some accounts, he was even ready to give up on the newfound Astrakhan and Kazan, but, inspired by success, Khan Devlet-Girey did not want to be content with crumbs: deciding that the Russian still had a kayuk, he did not agree to less than all Russian territories at once.
In 1572 he went to Moscow again, having prepared even more thoroughly. According to various sources, the khan's army numbered no less than 80 (according to other sources, about 120) thousand people, plus the sultan helped 7 thousand Janissaries, and this was the color of the Ottoman army. The skin of the unkilled bear was shared even before setting off: Devlet Giray himself repeatedly stated that he was going “to the kingdom”, and Russian lands were pre-painted between influential murzes.
And it all began so gloriously ...
The enterprise could well be crowned with success, turning the history of Russia in a completely different direction. It is impossible to understand why the year 1572 does not appear in school history: the Battle of Molodi, apparently, literally saved the country, and only a narrow circle of specialists knows about it.
Along the beaten track, the Tatars, having almost no resistance, reached Oka. In the frontier post of Kolomna and Serpukhov they were met by a 20-thousand detachment under the command of Prince M. Vorotynsky. The Devlet-Giray army did not enter the battle. The Khan sent about 2 thousand troops to Serpukhov, and the main forces moved up the river.
The advance detachment under the command of Murza Tereberdey reached Senka's ford and calmly crossed the river, partially dispersing along the way, partially sending two hundred defenders of the cordon to the forefathers.
The remaining forces crossed near the village of Drakino. The regiment of Prince Odoevsky, numbering about 1,200 people, could not show any tangible resistance either - the Russians were defeated, and Devlet-Girey calmly proceeded straight to Moscow.
Vorotynsky made a desperate decision, fraught with considerable risk: according to the tsar’s order, the governor was supposed to block the khan Muravsky shly and hurry to the Zhizdra river, where he was to reunite with the main Russian army.
Cheating maneuver
The prince reasoned differently and went in pursuit of the Tatars. They traveled carelessly, significantly stretched out and lost their vigilance, until the fateful date arrived - July 30 (according to other sources, July 29) (1572). The Battle of Molodi became an irreversible reality when a decisive governor Dmitry Hvorostinin with a detachment of 2 thousand (according to other sources, 5 thousand) people overtook the Tatars and dealt an unexpected blow to the rear guard of the khan's army. The enemies faltered: the attack turned out to be an unpleasant (and - even worse - a sudden) surprise.
When the brave Khvorostinin crashed into the main part of the enemy’s troops, they were not at a loss and rebuffed, taking the Russians to flight. Not knowing, however, that it was also carefully thought out: Dmitry Ivanovich led the enemies directly to the carefully prepared Vorotinsky troops. Here the battle began at the village of Molody in 1572, which had the most serious consequences for the country.
One can imagine how surprised the Tatars were when they discovered the so-called walk-city - a fortified building created according to all the rules of the time: thick shields mounted on carts reliably protected the soldiers behind them. Inside the "walk-city" were guns (Ivan the Terrible was a big fan of firearms and supplied his army at the latest demand of military science), archers, armed with beepers, archers, etc.
And the battle struck
The enemies immediately treated everyone that they had in store for his arrival: a terrible bloody battle ensued. More and more Tatar forces came up and cater directly to the meat grinder organized by the Russians (for the sake of justice it should be noted that not only them: mercenaries fought along with the locals, in those days it was a common practice; Germans, judging by historical chronicles, were porridge not spoiled at all).
Devlet Giray did not want to take risks, leaving behind so many and organized enemy forces in his rear. He again and again threw his best strengths at strengthening, but the result was not even zero - he was negative.
It didn’t turn into a triumph in 1572: the battle of Molody continued for the fourth day, when the Tatar military leader ordered his army to dismount and attack the Russians together with the Ottoman Janissaries. Furious onslaught yielded nothing. Vorotynsky’s squads, despite hunger and thirst (when the prince pursued the Tatars in pursuit of food, thought of food last), stood to their death.
In war, all means are good
The enemy suffered huge losses, blood flowed like a river. When the thick twilight came, Devlet Giray made the decision to wait until the morning and “squeeze” the enemy in the light of the sun, but the quirky and cunning Vorotynsky decided that the action called “The Battle of the Young, 1572” should have a quick and unhappy ending for the Tatars.
Under the cover of darkness, the prince withdrew part of the army behind enemy lines - a convenient hollow was located nearby - and hit! Guns burst from the front, and after the cores the same Khvorostinin rushed at the enemy, sowing death and horror among the Tatars. The year 1572 was marked by a terrible battle: the battle of Molody and by modern standards can be considered a big one, and even more so by the times of the Middle Ages.
The battle turned into a beating. According to various sources, the Khan army numbered from 80 to 125 thousand people. The Russians were three or four times smaller in number, but they managed to destroy about three quarters of the enemy: the Battle of Molody in 1572 caused the death of the vast majority of the male population of the Crimean Peninsula, because, according to Tatar laws, all men had to support the khan in his aggressive undertakings.
Irreplaceable harm, invaluable benefit
According to many historians, the khanate was never able to recover from a crushing defeat. A tangible click on the nose was received by the Ottoman Empire, which supported Devlet Giray. The khan himself lost the battle of Molody (1572) cost the lives of his son, grandson and son-in-law. And also military honor, because he had to naturally scoop up from Moscow, not taking the road apart (the annals say: “Not by the way, not by the way”), and the Russians who rushed after them continued to kill the Tatars who had gone crazy over the years, and their heads went round from blood and hatred.
It is difficult to overestimate the importance that the Battle of Molodi had (1572): the consequences for the subsequent development of Russia, and indeed of all European civilization, were most favorable. According to many historians, the Muslim world would have received much more preferences, had it been under its control the territory of the Moscow kingdom. Having received such a "bridgehead", the Ottoman Empire could soon swallow up the whole of Europe.
The significance of the battle for Russia
Thanks to the victory at Molodi, the Russian state won a respite in the endless quarrels with the Tatars, gained vast territories and began to develop the “wild field” - the fertile southern lands, which was not the last thing for the country.
Of course, the Battle of Molody (1572) also influenced the further fate of the Crimean Khanate: bloodless, having lost a significant part of the combat-ready population, it could no longer impose conditions on Russia and, ultimately, several decades later became part of the Russian Empire.
How did it happen that such a significant event in the history of the state turned out to be reliably forgotten, is a topic for a separate dissertation. Still, the Battle of Molodi (1572), in short, is a major and significant victory for Russian weapons, but they don’t make films about it, until recently no books have been published (only in 2004 G. Ananyev’s work “Risk” was released ), and indeed the very fact of a successful (and fateful for both Russia and Europe) battle is not known to everyone.
“History is a myth that everyone agrees with ...”
Some researchers attribute this forgetfulness to the fact that Ivan the Terrible was the last representative of the Rurikovich on the Russian throne. After him the throne went to the Romanovs - and they tried to “spoil the image” of their predecessors, at the same time sending their achievements to oblivion.
Citizens who are more skeptical believe that the significance of the Molodinsky battle is artificially exaggerated to suit the current political situation. Serious historical research could give an answer to the question of who is right and who is wrong, but information about them is currently missing. As well as material evidence, which is generally difficult to obtain when it comes to such ancient events as the Battle of Molodi (1572): the excavation does not seem to have been carried out. There are references to some archaeological research on the Web that took place in the 60-70s of the XX century, but how this information is true is unknown.