Earlier this week, I was playing the Ottoman Empire in Empire Total War. I was at war with Russia over the Crimea. However, after defeating their army and taking Kiev, they still refused to accept peace.
This prompted me to notice that Moscow was within reach. After thinking about it for a while, I decided to march on Moscow. I advanced on the city and was able to capture it.
My question, what if this happened in real life? Could the Ottomans really have marched on Moscow? And what would happen if they did?
Two quick points that may seem contradictory but really aren't:
1. Moscow was taken and burned several times, by the Crimeans. So yes, Ottomans could reach Moscow with very large forces, mostly Crimeans but sometimes Turkish ones too. And they were active all over Russia's heartlands.
2. Russian armies however were capable to standing up to the Ottomans and Crimeans and generally quite successful. The Crimeans and the Ottoman infantry got thoroughly chewed up at Molodi, got driven off at the siege of Astrakhan, smashed at the great raid of 1591, defeated right at home in 1556, defeated at the siege of Tula, and generally lost every engagement of large size through the 17th c., retreating to Crimea and firing the steppe to deny the Russians forage as the only means of surviving long enough for the Ottoman navy to arrive or the Cossack war season to end.
So: yes, there is a good possibility they could march to Moscow. But there's also a possibility that they'll lose some or all the battles and subsequently most of the army on the long retreat, as had repeatedly happened. And if they do take Moscow, it might not be decisive at all, since that has happened repeatedly in history and Russia always managed to rally.
