Ivan III "The Great" died from the plague on his sixth birthday. After the various Russian principalities defeated the Golden Horde, relations began to fall apart. Novgorod allied Crimea and managed to fend off Muscovy. In the Battle of St. Petersburg, Novgorodan forces numbering 18,000 surrounded a marauding Moscovite force of 16,000.
The battle commenced on June 6, 1485. Moscovite cavalry ran an attack into the Novgorodan left flank, led by none other than their Grand Prince Andrei himself. He led the retreat after the left flank turned and charges, killing 800 of the 2,000 cavalry. The remainder of the Muscovites charged the enemy lines after pouring a fusillade of shots into the Novgorodans and seeing their Grand Prince fleeing. They were destroyed when they passed the Novgorodan cavalry which charged them from behind while the infantry poured shot after shot into their front. When they were fifty feet away from the Novgorodans, the Novgodorans fixed bayonets and charged.
The charge devastated them and they surrendered after a small group of Novgorodan cavalry ran after Grand Prince Andrei. These dozen men were lead by a noble, Kapitan Nikolai ze Mityunov, a personal friend of the heir to the throne. He managed to find Andrei's horse and his guard. Nikolai sent his lieutenant ahead, and a sergeant who, disguised as a civilian stalled Andrei and his guard until they were eight minutes behind the rearguard. The lieutenant, also disguised as a civilian, pointed them towards the wrong village when they asked for directions. Once they arrived, they had to stop at a hotel.
In the meantime, Kapitan Nikolai's cousin, Vladimir Mishyutonpv, caught up with his ten men. Nikolai led six men into the hotel and tied and gagged Andrei. His guards, when they woke up, were killed as the two at the door had been or also tied. This left them four guards, three of whom were Andrei's sons, and Andrei. They returned to St. Petersburg, where Andrei signed the treaty and was released. His sons, however, were sold as slaves and only the other guard, his cousin, was allowed to escort him back to Moscow. Nikolai became a war hero for his help. He became a Colonel and later became heir to the throne when the Prince's son died and Nikolai married the Prince's youngest daughter.
After this, Nikolai's reign began. During this time, he gained southern Finland and began the Eastern Peaceful Times. The Nikolainist Period ended upon his death on 1563, at the age of ninety-nine. His youngest child by his wife, Princess Anna, thirty years his junior, was born 1535. The child, Vladimir, became Prince at the age of eighteen when his father named him Co-Grand Prince. Vladimir married into a Polish family by the name of Jagiellon. By her, he had fourteen children, including Vladimir II. These children and their descendants led Novgorod and later its successor state, New Helsinki.