I took the saber out of its scabbard, checked whether the gun was loaded ... there was nothing else for me to do but go to Moscow. The Tatars have probably cleared the area of the breach from defenders so I don't expect to encounter any bigger and living obstacles on my way.
I was walking along the streets of the city, hearing screams, sounds of fighting, single shots from pistols or muskets from a distance, but I did not encounter any living soul, only bodies ... a lot of bodies, most of them were men, sometimes women, maybe they did not have time to hide or they wanted to help in the defense... The doors in the houses were closed, the windows too ... but I felt that someone was watching me, someone peeking at me through the gaps in the shutters. Everything seemed so unreal.
Suddenly, I heard quick steps behind me, I made an instinctive cut with a saber ... I looked at my opponent, it was a woman, no more than twenty-something years old with a child in her arms... after a second or two she fell to the ground, and a large puddle of blood formed around her... she and the child were dead, the saber passed through the infant like a knife through butter, meeting no resistance, only the mother's body stopped the blade... It was a pointless death ... but she chose this fate for herself. She could stay where she was or wait until I was gone ... she chose suicide.
I found myself near the inner wall, looking at the shop signs ... I knew that what I was looking for was in this area, but I did not know the exact location, only after several minutes I found a familiar name. I started banging my fist on the door, several seconds later a man I had never seen before opened it ... and he worked for me for years.
"Aram sends his regards ..." (MC)
The man stood silently, surprised, not knowing what to say. I did not see any resemblance to Aram in the man, but I also did not know how closely related they are.
"You won't let your employer in? Forgive me for lack of manners, Prince Wilkomir Michał Jazłowiecki, Abdank coat of arms." (MC)
"Lord ... I wasn't expecting you here ..." (Artak)
He led me inside, showed me a place for me to sit down and immediately also called a woman to give us something to drink, maybe it was the wife, maybe a servant, she looked like an Armenian.
"I don't have much time, tell me what you know about the army, court, guests, officers and the mood in the city ... although the latter probably changed after the fall of the wall." (MC)
However, he did not know much, a few things that he told me confirmed what I knew from prisoners, there were also some new information, but I could not verify these at this moment. "You did a good job, when it is all over, you will go to Jazłowiec, and then to Vienna. You will set up a shop there and you will report everything to me." (MC)
Although I already had someone from Jankiel's family in Vienna, the second spy won't hurt either. Especially that not everyone wanted to do business with Jews, and Artak, although he is of the Armenian rite, is a Christian... I said goodbye to Artak and went back to walking along the streets of Moscow.
Only in the afternoon I was informed that the inner wall had been conquered, but it was not the end ... to get to the Tsar, I had to overcome one more wall. However, it was not a big problem, I ordered 50 cannons to be brought to the city and fired at the gates for so long until we smashed it or the Muscovites would open it themselves.
At the same time, the Cossacks and Tatars were killing the remains of the defenders and bringing order to the city... I gave an order that no one is allowed to leave their homes under penalty of death... Of course, there will always be those who want to test my patience.
I made an exemplary lesson out of them ... I ordered them to be set on fire, and when they were burning and screaming in pain, I ordered the Tatars to drag them through city streets.
(Boyars POV)
"The gate won't last long ..." (A)
"You're not saying anything new, we all know it." (B)
"These are the facts ..." (A)
"Stop arguing, you better advise what to do. Are we fighting or capitulating? If we give up, we'll betray Tsar Michał." (C)
"We do not know if the Polish commander will agree to our capitulation." (B)
"Are we really talking about treason here?" (D)
"Not about treason, but about survival." (B)
"We all agreed to attack the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Tsar had our support..." (D)
"...and he lost. Even if we fight, the gate will only last two days." (A)
"We've already drove the Poles out of Moscow once." (D)
"Yes, they were hungry and there were 2,000 of them. You saw that army, there are 60,000 soldiers and all our troops are hundreds of kilometers west of Moscow." (B)
"What we do?" (C)
"What we have to." (B)
(End POV)
"How big are our losses?" (MC)
"Among the Cossacks, three hundred people, the Tatars were the first to attack so their losses are greater ... almost two thousand died." (Ivan)
The losses were not big, the surprise and the night attack were helpful in this.
"In a few days we will divide the army, some Tatars will return to Crimea, the rest will go with us to the vicinity of Smolensk." (MC)
Saddat stormed into the room. He was out of breath and red in the face. It looked like something important had happened.
"Lord, the gates are open. They are shouting that they want to surrender." (Saddat)
I didn't expect that, but I must have done something good in my previous life ... karma is coming back.