The unexpected conquest of the Tatar Khanate removed an important foe
and let Romania and Poland-Lithuania focus elsewhere
having their eastern and respectively southern borders finally secure.
The Tatar War
The Money
Romania was an immensely rich country. It had large amounts of gold, silver, iron, coal, oil and other mineral resources, lots of extremely fertile arable land, plenty of forests, lakes and rivers, unhindered access to the Sea, control of half of the course of the Danube etc.
However, it did not have cash, yet.
Most of the money received from Austria have been transferred to the Ottoman Empire as payment for:
- Unpaid tribute for Wallachia (1595-1600);
- Unpaid tribute for Transylvania (1599-1600);
- Unpaid tribute for Moldavia (1600);
- Unpaid tribute for the United Romanian Lands (1601);
- Annual tribute for Romania (1602);
- Annual tribute for Slovakia (1602), paid by Romania as well per the bilateral agreement with Slovakia;
- Payment for western Banat, western Partium, the three Danube Kazas, Bessarabia and Edisan;
- Annual tribute (1603).
More money has been spent on weapons, soldiers' wages, mines, roads, ships, fortresses and castles, The Palace of the Senat, Mihai's Palace, The Patriarchal Palace, The Patriarchal Cathedral etc.
By the end of 1602, the state coffers were almost empty again.
Mihai did not want to lose the support of his people by increasing the already heavy taxation. The foreign nobles were long gone, the Germans, Szeklers and Hungarians were
protected nations, the peasants had no money, the benevolence of the boyars and clergy was...
Who else had money? Obviously the Jews.
10 November 1602, The Expulsion of the Jews
As always, the Jews were ideal scape-goats.
Mihai asked them for loans. When they started talking about interest, Mihai said abruptly that charging interest was against the teachings of the Church and as they were living in a Christian country they had to obey its laws.
When they declined to lend money without charging any interest, Mihai proclaimed them
enemies of the State, confiscated their fortunes and had all of them expelled from Romania pennyless.
More than 3000 Jews left Romania for Poland during the following weeks.
Romania finally agreed in 1999 to transfer that amount of gold to the Kingdom of Israel during the normalization of the Romanian-Israeli relations.
(no more spoilers)
The Opposing Forces
The Black Sea Alliance military strength amounted up to a staggering
200,000 men:
- Romanian Army (80,000)
- Szeklers (2,000)
- Polish-Lithuanian Army (60,000)
- Mercenaries hired by Poland-Lithuania (18,000)
- Polish irregulars / Zaporozhian Cossacks (14,000)
- Prussian Army (4,000)
- Livonian Army (1,500)
- Russian Army (7,000)
- Russian irregulars / Don Cossacks (11,000)
- Slovak Army (2,500)
The Tatars were able to get around
90,000 men but the geography and demographics (or bettter said lack thereof) of the war theatre were greatly in their favour.
At least
3,000 Nogay and Circassian volunteers fought on the Tatar side.
The Turks were officially neutral but made a lot of money by selling weapons to the Tatars, hindered the maneuvers of the Romanian ships in the Sea of Azov and collected heavy fees in the Strait of Kerch.
The Strategy
First of all, the conquest of the northern Black Sea coast was given absolute priority in Poland-Lithuania. The importance of getting access to the Black Sea, securing its southern territories and destroying once and for all the Tatar scourge was an opportunity which might not appear a second time in history.
The greatest problem was recognized to be that of logistics and especially of feeding all those soldiers advancing into a deserted, unforgivable steppe.
Since Russia had just experienced an awful famine in the previous years, Poland agreed to feed the Russian and Cossack armies free of charge. The campaign was really
that important!
The food and the other supplies were mainly distributed by ship where possible (down the Southern Bug and the Dnieper from Poland, down the Don from Russia and along the Black Sea and the Azov Sea coasts from Romania).
An enormous number of auxiliars, almost 100,000 were hired in Poland to support the advancing armies and carry gigantic quantities of supplies in countless wagons and carts.
The advance would be of course painfully slow but time and money were not considered an issue.
23 February - 30 March 1603, Invasion of the Crimean Khanate
Almost 300,000 soldiers and auxiliars entered virtually unopposed the almost uninhabited border regions of the Crimean Khanate and started a slow but inexorable advance towards its core.
The Romanian Theatre
The Romanians, Slovaks and Szeklers crossed the Southern Bug near its mouth and advanced towards the mouth of the Dnieper, being occasionally harrassed by small Tatar units. The supply issue was mostly nonexistent since the three Romanian vessels enjoyed complete naval superiority, the Tatars having almost no ships of their own.
The Romanians occupied the coast between the Southern Bug and the Dnieper in about a week, without engaging in any major battle.
The plan was to cross the Dnieper and advance on the coast towards Perekop but the Tatar forces around the Inguleț (Inhulets) River could pose a serious danger by falling on the Romanians' back.
Mihai decided to postpone the crossing of the Dnieper and occupy its right bank first, between its mouth and the Inguleț River.
At the battle of Inguleț, the Tatars were thoroughly defeated but the Romanians lost more than 2000 men.
Mihai sent 5000 men on the other side of the Inguleț to follow the retreating Tatars all the way to the Polish border, while the bulk of his army crossed the Dnieper and followed its course back to its mouth.
In the meantime, a smaller Romanian force from Oceacov crossed the Dnieper Estuary and met with Mihai's army near the mouth of the Dnieper.
From there, they headed Southwards and then Eastwards following the coast all the way to the Perekop Isthmus and namesake fortress.
The Romanians were only stopped by a large Tatar army a few miles West of Perekop.
The Polish Theatre
The Poles, Lithuanians, their Prussians and Livonians vassals and the mercenaries headed Southwards, down the mighty Dnieper. Their advance was slow but continuous and they fought no major battles before arriving at the last bend of the Dnieper, being mostly supplied by boats or ships sailing on the Dnieper.
After the Dnieper curved West towards the Sea, the Allied armies left the comfort provided by it and headed straight South through the lifeless steppe, on the shortest route to Perekop.
The advance was slower but uneventful with the exception of a major battle won decisively by the Poles.
The Russian Theatre
The small Russian army advanced on the right bank of the River Don towards the Sea of Azov. They encountered almost no organized resistance but had serious difficulties with their supply lines. The Russians could not use the Don as planned because the Nogay Tatars on its left bank attacked anything sailing on the river.
The Cossacks from both Poland and Russia invaded directly through the steppe harrassing the Tatars and providing additional support to the main armies when needed.
By the time the Russians reached the Sea of Azov, the other allies were already converging on Perekop.
The Russians were relieved to find a Romanian ship full of much needed supplies and, after a small break, their slow and difficult journey Westwards began on the coast of the Azov Sea.
31 March 1603, Salt Field West of Perekop
The Romanians were badly defeated in the Battle of the Salt Field, a mere 20 miles West of Perekop.
By the end of the day, the Romanians lost more than 8000 men and were retreating in disarray. Luckily, the Tatars were not able to pursue because of the approaching Polish-Lithuanian army.
The Romanians recovered after their losses and began to mop up any remaining pockets of Tatar resistance while the Poles lay siege on Perekop.
1 April - 14 July 1603, Siege of Perekop and Azov Sea Campaign
The Polish-Lithuanian army split in two after reaching Perekop. One half lay siege on the Perekop fortress and awaited its fall which would allow them to finally enter Crimea. The other half speeded along the Azov Sea coast to meet the Russians as far East as possible.
The weak and disorganized Tatars at the North of the Azov Sea found themselves caught between the Poles in the West, the Russians in the East, the Cossacks in the North and the Romanian ships guarding the Sea in the South.
15 July 1603, Sea of Azov Coast
The Polish-Lithuanian army and the Russian army met on the Azov Littoral.
The last remaining Tatar forces from the mainland capitulated in the following weeks.
By August all of the Crimean Khanate territory outside the Crimean Peninsula was in the possession of the Black Sea Allies.
24 July 1603, Perekop
The defenders from Perekop attempted to flee the besieged city but were crushed in a clear one-sided battle.
The following day, Perekop fell and the way to the Crimean heartland was open.
29 July 1603, Crimea
The Ottoman forces from Caffa entered the Crimean Khanate from the South and proceeded North towards the incoming Polish-Lithuanian army.
The Ottoman ambassadors in Slovakia, Romania and Poland-Lithuania threatened with war if the Allies did not stop their advance in Crimea.
Romania and Slovakia replied that they had no armies in Crimea and since the military campaign was already over for them, they should be considered non-beligerants.
Poland-Lithuania decided to prosecute the war alone and conquer all the Crimean Peninsula.
1-27 August 1603, Crimea
The Ottomans controlled the Southern part of Crimea while the Poles managed to occupy its Northern part. They clashed in the centre of the Peninsula.
The Ottomans slowly prevailed, pushing the Poles all the way to Perekop.
The Polish-Lithuanian army retreated in good order and reinforced the Perekop Isthmus and fortress.
The Ottomans had occupied the whole Crimean Peninsula but had neither the means nor the desire to invade the steppe.
They wanted however to capture Perekop and attempted to occupy it but failed. And because Perekop could be indefinitely supplied from the North, the Ottomans had no chance of besieging it either.
In these conditions the fighting slowly ceased and peace negotiations began.
(excluding any recent immigrants). And I do not think there are any ethnic Hungarian which are Romanian nationalists.
