The Last Frontier of Fire and Sword

When Chechen and his comrades went to Miatelsk by boat, under the city of Brazlav, thousands of miles away, Stefan Czarnetski, the commander-in-chief of Lviv of the Republic of Poland, stood in a place On the hillside, looking out at the Bratslav Castle not far away. Around him, there are as many as dozens of artillery pieces of different sizes and calibers. These artillery "fired" the flames continuously, and "fired" the cannonballs against the walls of Bratzlaff Castle.

Under the leadership of King Jan Kazimierz, King of the Republic of Poland, most of the city lord and generals of the Republic gathered under the city of Bratislava, vowing to pull out the nail wedged in the hinterland of the Republic.

The attacks for more than a month have left the walls of Bratzlav Castle riddled with holes. Several walls collapsed, and the Republic’s army tried several times to break into the city, but they were all beaten back by the Cossacks of Zaporozhye.

Stefan Çarnetski saw a gap that had been blasted open by artillery three days ago but was blocked by the Cossacks and was pierced again by artillery shells. Upon seeing this, the Republican soldiers concealed in the trenches shouted "God Bless" and jumped out of the trenches and rushed towards the gap.

Several Cossack infantry appeared in the gap. They fired a few shots at the crowd of Republic soldiers who came up with muskets and knocked down a few soldiers who rushed in the forefront. But then these Cossacks were knocked down by the Republic's musketeers. On the ground.

Seeing that the soldiers rushing in the front had "touched" the gap in the city wall, the adjutant standing behind Stefan Czarnetsky happily said to Stefan Czarnetsky: "Sir, our People rushed in."

Stefan Çarnetski certainly saw this scene, but he did not "show" any expression of joy. The instinct he had learned from fighting against the Zaporozhye Cossacks over the years told him that it is definitely not that easy to break through the castle defended by that man.

At this time, the German mercenary who rushed to the front had already turned the gap and rushed into the castle. More and more people followed suit.

The mutation happened at this moment. Numerous barrels of guns suddenly protruded from the crenellation of the broken city wall. Once in Polotsk, Chechen blocked the weapon of the most elite Boyer cavalry in Tsarist Russia-the "Organ" platoon gun was aimed at the officers and soldiers of the Republic under the city.

As the first "organ" banged out a deadly flame, like lighting a string of thousands of firecrackers, dense and continuous gunfire sounded on the city wall.

In the flames of red and white, countless soldiers crowded in the gap were knocked to the ground. Their bodies were piled up as high as half a person, almost blocking the gap.

"Damn Bao Hong, this is the fourth time."

Seeing that the siege failed again, Stefan Çarnetski's adjutant cursed secretly.

Yes, it was the Cossack hero Bao Hong who had saved Chechen's life and destroyed the artillery position of the Smolensk garrison.

At the last moment of the battle of Smolensk, this strange man from Zaporozhye was forced to leave the front line of Smolensk due to his disagreement with Bogdan Khmelnitsky. Kiev was recalled.

It is said that in Kiev, Baohong and Bogdan Khmelnitsky had a fierce quarrel. At one point, the two reached the point of arrogance. Even the two guards had a fight. These news came from the secret agents of the Republic in Kiev.

It was also thought that Baohong and Bogdan Khmelnitsky had fallen out, that King Kazimierz led the main force to surround Bratslav, the city controlled by Baohong.

The city originally planned to be conquered within a week has been delayed because Bao Hong suddenly led his men to break through the outer defenses of the Republican army into the city.

For more than a month, Bao Hong played his superb defensive tactics that were not inferior to the command of the cavalry, and he just delayed the battle to this day.

But the trapped beast is still fighting, and there will be an end to it. The commander-in-chief of the Republic, including Stefan Czarnetsky, is very clear that as long as Bogdan does not send reinforcements, Bao Hong’s all efforts will only add a blood-red color to this inevitably defeated battle. .

For more than a month, Bogdan Khmelnitsky, the warchief of the Zaporozhye Cossacks, has not sent a single reinforcement.

Unlike the thrilled young adjutant, Stefan Czarnetsky, as the commander, saw that the siege failed, and the soldiers flowed in blood without any expression. This is not because of his cold blood, nor is it because he has been numb to this scene too much. It was his thoughts, not on the matter of attacking Bratzlaff.

As the rare and far-sighted commander in the Republic of Poland, Stefan Czarnetski knows very well that the Zaporozhye rebels that ravaged Ukraine have such a strong presence, which caused the Republic to lose out in succession, except for the enemy chiefs. In addition to Bogdan's outstanding talent, the main reason is the intervention of foreign hostile forces. Before this force was the Tatars of Crimea, but now it is mainly Tsarist Russia. Moreover, the Tsar Mikhailovich has already moved in the direction of Lithuania.

The 60,000 Republican army faced the 150,000 Tsarist Russia and Cossack coalition forces. Although they were not superior in numbers, they still had the strength to fight with more excellent training. But now, if another force joins the battle and breaks the weak balance, then the other party will definitely be wiped out.

"Commander, General Stefan Czarnetsky, Your Majesty the King is looking for you."

At this time, His Majesty’s messenger came to Stefan Czarnetsky on horseback and conveyed to him the order summoned by King Kazimierz.

Stefan Çarnetski responded, and he mounted the horse drawn by the adjutant, and followed the king's messenger to run towards the back of the position.

King Kazimierz’s tent was not far behind the artillery position. When Stefan Çarnetski entered the tent, King Jan Kazimierz was talking about the Bible with the priest of the Church of Jesus.

The priest of the Church of **** saw Stefan Czarnetsky coming in and knew he should go down. He saluted King Kazimierz, then backed away.

When the tent was closed again, Stefan Czarnetski greeted King Kazimierz: "Your Majesty, you called me."

King Kazimierz is just forty-six years old this year. After the death of his brother Władysław IV, he took off the robe of the cardinal and ran for election as the king of the Republic of Poland. Although Kazimierz had no friends in the Republic of Poland and was not welcomed by the nobles, he succeeded in leading 50,000 Polish troops in the battle with the Cossack-Tatar coalition in Berestečko at the end of June 1652. Completely smashed the offensive of 100,000 Cossacks and Tatars, and forced Hemelnitsky to sign a new treaty at the Whitechapel to consolidate his position in the Republic-although most of the credit for this battle should be attributed to Prince Jarimé who has passed away.

King Kazimich is clearly in a good mood today. After Stefan Czarnetsky’s greetings were completed, he waved the letter in his hand to Stefan Czarnetsky and said: "Look at it, my dearest Lviv General. After reading it, , You know that your worries are unnecessary."

Stefan Çarnetski wanted to take the letter from the king, but King Kazimierz suddenly took the letter back.

This trick made Stefan Çarnetski a little unprepared.

King Jan Kazimierz smiled triumphantly at the sight of Stefan Çarnetski being dumbfounded.

"But my dear commander, before you read the letter, tell me what is going on on the front line? Has our army captured Bratzlaff?"

"Not yet, my king. Those lowly poor ghosts resisted fiercely." Stefan Czarnetski said the truth.

Kazimierz nodded. He had expected such a result long ago, otherwise the soldiers would have been sent to tell him the good news.

"Let's take a look. Although I haven't taken the city until now, I am not in a good mood, but I still want to make my army happy." Kazimierz handed the letter to Stefan Czarne Tski said.

Stefan Czarnetski respectfully accepted the letter and read it carefully.

The letter is written in Tatar. Stefan Çarnetski used to be a prisoner of the Tatars and spent some time in Crimea, so he can roughly understand it.

The letter was sent to King Kazimierz by the Tatar Khan*** Gree. In the letter, the Tatar Khan reiterated the traditional friendship between the Crimean Khanate and the Republic of Poland, and strongly condemned the aggression of Tsarist Russia against the Republic of Poland. ***·Gleiyi expressed to King Kazimierz that the Crimean Khanate is willing to continue to be the most loyal ally of the Republic of Poland. If the Republic of Poland needs it, one hundred thousand Tatar cavalry will immediately enter Ukraine to help the Republic of Poland. Cossacks against Tsarist Russia and Zaporozhye.

For the so-called "traditional friendship" and "most loyal ally" in the letter~www.readwn.com~ Stefan Czarnetski did not believe a word. If the Tatars are really so reliable, then he himself Will not become their captives.

However, judging from the content of the letter, the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire behind it are deeply vigilant against the expansion of Tsarist Russia and the Zaporozhye Cossacks. They do not want a hegemonic power in Eastern Europe. .

This is obviously a good thing for the Republic of Poland.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty. Khan will be our loyal ally." Stefan Czarnetsky handed the letter back to King Kazimierz.

Kazimierz raised his beard on his upper lip triumphantly. Pulling Khan to his camp, this is his most proud hand.

"but,"

After congratulating, Stefan Czarnetsky raised new doubts. And this is what he is most worried about.

"The wolf has been tamed, so what about the lion?" The last border of fire and sword