7. Whoever finds a runaway slave or captive
and does not return him to the person to whom he belongs
is to be put to death.
The Great Yasa of Genghis Khan
The medieval slave trade was mainly to the East: Byzantine Empire and the Muslim World were the destinations, pagan Central and Eastern Europe an important source. So many Slavs were enslaved for so many centuries that the very name 'slave' derived from their name, not only in English and other European languages. Genoese and Venetians merchants in Crimea were involved in the slave trade with us. We always enslaved skilled individuals, women and children and marched them to Karakorum or our newly formed
tent city Sarai, whence they were sold throughout Eurasia. So we needed some strict laws about runaway slaves -- that's for sure!
While Ginghis Khan, Juchi and Batu Khan with the bulk of our forces were terrorizing Russia, the youngest Mongol prince Tolui arrived to the Midle East to claim his Ulus here:
With Baghdad/Ctesiphon gone the center of Muslim civilization gravitated towards Damascus, still under Byzantine rule. Syria was a mess, however. Independent Ayyubid princes were challenging Byzantines plus crusaders arrived to the Holy land. In the matter of 1 inter-turn Damascus changed hands twice!
Wow, independent Ayyubids managed to destroy those promoted Cataphracts! An-Nasir Yusuf (1228–1260 ) was the Independent Ayyubid ruler of most of Syria, including Aleppo (1236–1260) and Damascus (1250–1260). His main city was Jerusalem, though. He was the last of the Ayyubid kings, he was also a great grandson of Saladin. When the Ayyubid sultan of Egypt as-Salih Ayyub died and his son Turanshah was murdered by the Bahri Mamluks of Egypt, Shajar al-Durr ( widow of as-Salih Ayuub ) seized the throne of Egypt (1250). An-Nasir Yusuf, being an Ayyubid, refused to recognize Shajar al-Durr as the Sultana of Egypt and, as a sign of support, the Emirs of Syria granted him the city of Damascus, in Syria. But his rule did not last long. During the same time Crusaders attacked Damascus and we came in contact with their defiant leader -- French king Charlemagne:
He calls our threats meaningless and refuses to pay 10 gold tribute! Tolui could not take this offense lightly. The Eternal Blue Sky gave us all the land from sea to the Last Sea, and seems like France is neighboring that Last Sea. Even though we have enough wars on our hands we just have to declare on crusaders and send our Ghuzz Mercenary Elephants against the proud Crusader Knights. One of my best drawings shows what exactly happened with their pride:
Changing the owner for the forth times during the same turn Damascus had absolutely nothing we could possibly loot. It also seams that Crusaders took over the former Seljuk capital of Konya -- which is very historical! Alas, we never saw Seljuks, they collapsed before we even started. Under Christians the city was renamed back to Iconion:
Back in Russia, Genghis Khan was consolidating all our available forces to charge Moscow. The plan was to take the capital by all costs and force Russians into the civil war. Whenever you are conquering 12 cities with half-dozen or so Keshiks nothing irritates more than organized resistance and counter attacks by the promoted Russian Knights:
Russian knights, led by Yuri II, who was Grand Duke during our invasion, did not help Caricyn (ruins of which can be seen on the picture above). Instead he attacked our forces later and managed to destroy one of our tumens. Enraged Genghis Khan personally attacked Yuri:
Grand Duke was later canonized by Russian Church, even though he spent much of his former life fighting fellow Russians. With the name of the Yuri connected a very strange legend of mythical city Kitezh. The legend has it that Yurii II, Grand Duke, found a beautiful spot on the shores of the Svetloyar Lake, where he decided to build the town of Bolshoy Kitezh (Big Kitezh). After having conquered some of the Russian lands, Batu Khan heard of Kitezh and ordered his army to advance towards it. One of the prisoners told the Mongols about some secret paths to the Lake Svetloyar. The army of the Horde soon reached the walls of the town. To the surprise of the Mongols, the town had no fortifications whatsoever. Its citizens didn't even intend to defend themselves and were engaged in fervent praying, asking God for their redemption. On seeing this, the Mongols rushed to the attack, but then stopped. Suddenly, they saw countless fountains of water bursting from under the ground all around them. The attackers fell back and watched the town submerge into the lake. The last thing they saw was a glaring dome of a cathedral with a cross on top of it. Soon, there were only waves.
This legend gave birth to numerous incredible rumors, which have survived to this day. It is said that only those who are pure in their heart and soul will find their way to Kitezh (ironically, the road to the lake is still called the Path of Batu). It is also said that in calm weather one can sometimes hear the wailing sound of chiming bells and people singing from under the waters of the Lake Svetloyar. Some people say that the most pious individuals may actually see the lights of religious processions and even buildings on the bottom of the lake. This is why the Lake Svetloyar is sometimes called the "Russian Atlantis":
Russians really need legends because all their cities will soon be a legend. In AD 1264 our forces were finally ready to attack Moscow. It was heavily fortified:
We also came into contact with yet another defiant Emperor, which meant yet another war
Almost all the known world was now against us. Which meant that we should get done with Russia quickly if we wonna survive and win one day. So on February 3, the Mongols appeared at Moscow (which at this time should be represented by Vladimir) and surrounded the city. The Moscow men rejected proposals of surrender, and saw with dismay how the enemy strengthened their camp, and began preparations for storming. Our Mongol leaders rode round the city and surveyed its defenses. We made signs to stop shooting and negotiate. When the Moscow men desisted, to see what would happen, the Mongols showed Yuri's young son made prisoner by Genghis Khan, and asked if they knew him. A cry rose. Vsevolod and Mystislav, brothers of the captive, wished to sally forth and save him, but they were held back by the people. All, from the voevoda to the last man in the city, swore to fight while life remained. All declared that they were ready to die for God's churches, and those simple words were no idle sounds from those people. The bishops of Moscow counseled every one to prepare for death and the last hour, to have this passing life in their memories no longer; and assured them that Christ would forget no one made worthy through the crown of a martyr. All who heard these words began to work valiantly. From old to young, every man was to fight on the walls, or wherever the need was. All armed themselves for the coming storm and the battle. And the battle ensured and was VERY fierce:
Berke, the brother of Batu Khan and Subutai, our greatest warrior both died climbing Russian defenses. Also, (not shown) father of Batu Khan and oldest and least favorite son of Ginghis Khan -- Juchi -- was killed during that siege. Our losses were very heavy and at one point Genghis Khan questioned if attacking Pikeman with 145% bonus behind the city walls was a good idea. But we came to the point of no return -- either we take Moscow and help to collapse Russia or we just need to make a humiliating peace with the Grand Duke Yaroslav. The later was out of question -- Mongols only make peace when enemy acknowledged defeat and pays us tribute -- the symbol of their submission. So our forces just carried on regardless of losses and the prize was great:
Well, not really. Russians did not collapse. Russian capital just moved to Kiev (very appropriately). Moscow provided us with just one tumen of Keshiks and did not look very glorious inside. And our forces numbered only 8 Keshiks after this siege:
(4 in Russia, 3 in the Middle East and one in Qara Qorum). What does the future hold for our brave but very few Hordes?
!
Otherwise they would rather die than pay any tech after loosing a war, especially when facing Emperors. The only way to compete in techs is to raze those who are getting too advanced
per turn!
. Subutai had extraordinary battlefield skills and phenomenal memory. He could draw a map of everywhere he has traveled. That is why he always led the vanguard or expeditionary armies. And Jebe Noyan had the agressiveness and killing insticts. They served together from China to Russia:
-- we would need to convert for all the religious bonuses but it would look so ugly!
