"Lord!" (Iwan)
I was awakened by Ivan's raised voice, from a pleasant sleep ... it wasn't just his voice that woke me up. The two women who slept with me jumped up and covered their naked bodies with animal furs.
"What time is it?" (MC)
"Just after midnight, Lord. The Muscovites made a trip behind the walls, they wanted to surprise us and destroy our fortifications." (Iwan)
I expected similar actions on the part of the enemy, they had no chance of giving us open on the battlefield, but they could try to tire us out with night escapades.
"How many enemies were there? How were our losses?" (MC)
"Ten Cossacks died, there were about a hundred opponents, we managed to catch twelve of them alive ... These new muskets were a big surprise for them." (Iwan)
The losses were not great, since I crossed the borders of the Duchy of Moscow, I lost a little over a thousand soldiers.
"I'll question them in the morning ... find me some rats." (MC)
Then I returned to the embrace of Morpheus, even during the war you need a good rest to start another active day in the morning... Just after breakfast, Ivan came to my tent and informed me that the Moscovians, caught at night, were ready to be questioned.
"I would like to wish you a successful new year, although this year will not be like that for everyone. Without wasting any more time ... If you tell me everything I want to know, I will send you to Moscow, to your families, wives, children ... if you don't answer, you'll see for yourself." (MC)
I sat down at the table that had been prepared in advance, signaled to the tartars who were guarding them to place one of the prisoners in front of me ... I put the gun on the table.
"I'll ask you a question, then I'll start counting to ten, if you answer within this time, you'll be able to go back to town. Do you understand the rules of this game? Yes ... Here we go. Why is the sky blue?" (MC)
I saw surprise on the prisoner's face, he did not expect such a question ... neither did the other prisoners.
"One, two, three, four..."
"Mmmpphh... WWWUUUMMmmmmpphh." (Prisoner)
"five, six, seven, eight ..." (MC)
"WWWUUUMMmmmmpphh!!! MMmmmmpphh." (Prisoner)
"nine and ten... I must admit, you are a brave man, humming a tune in the face of death, I admire." (MC)
I grabbed the gun, held it to his head, and shot ... the force of the blow pushed his body and chair to the ground. His skin was burned from the dust and there was a dark bleeding hole on his forehead ... In this strange position and with this dot on his head, he looked like an Indian practicing yoga.
"Lord, why didn't you take the gag out of his mouth?" (Saddat)
"I figured it would be funnier ... but he didn't know the answer to my question anyway. Get another prisoner in the chair, I don't want to waste the whole day." (MC)
I treated the second prisoner similarly, with the difference that instead of shooting him, I ordered him to be tied to the table. Then I undressed him to the waist, and put two rats on his belly, which I covered with a pot.
Then the Tatars started to heat the pot on all sides. I looked at the other prisoners and began explaining the situation to them.
"If you do not know this trick, I recommend it is really interesting. When the pot becomes hot, the rats, fearing for their lives, will start looking for escape. However, the metal is too hard, so the best way to be free is through your companion's body ... I once saw how the rat entered through the stomach and exited through mouth. An extraordinary sight." (MC)
For a better effect, this time I took the gag out of the prisoner mouth ... a few minutes later he start screaming for help, begging for mercy, praying ... then there was only a scream of pain and despair ... which turned into a grunt and a bloody cough.
"Marvelous." (MC)
I put on the glove and put my hand in his stomach to retrieve the rats, they were aggressive but after a few minutes I managed to get them out. Their hair was red and clammy with blood. I handed the rats to Saddat.
"Set them free, they deserved it." (MC)
I went to the rest of the prisoners and started looking at them. I judged their clothes, behavior, looked if any of them had peed or vomited ... and finally chose my target. Man no more than 30 years old, well dressed but not glamorous. He was not poor, but he was not very rich either. He was sweating heavily and his pants showed traces of urine.
"I renew my offer, I will ask a question and if I get an answer you will all come back to Moscow ... You." (MC)
I took the gag out of his mouth.
"How many soldiers are there in Moscow? Who is at court? Who is in charge? How much food do you have? ... SPEAK OR DIE !!!" (MC)
He didn't know the answers to all my questions, but I found out two important things, there were 7,000 soldiers in Moscow and they had food for a year. Unfortunately, the man did not have access to the court, and apparently the defense was commanded by the Tsar himself... which I doubted. The tsar probably knew everything about the defense of the city and was kept informed, but he did not take care of it personally.
"I must keep my word ... As I promised, you can return to the city." (MC)
Tears and an expression of relief appeared on the prisoners' faces.
"Saddat, take them to the cannoneers, let them tie the prisoners to cannons and shoot them towards Moscow." (MC)
I never promised them that they would come back alive, and I'm not stupid enough to inform the enemy of what the prisoners could see in my camp ... a few minutes later I heard a shot of ten cannons.