1508-1509

The Khan of Kazan, Abdul Latif, had declared independence from Moscow and killed many of the immediate pro-Muscovite courtiers. He had gained the diplomatic support of his relative, the Khan of Crimea, and his vassal and known ally of Kazan the Nogai Tatars. The Kazan and Nogai Tatars begin to gather in the plains of the Khanate while Muscovite forces suffer under the brutal toe of infighting. The Tsar's financial woes due to the recent wars had left him at the whim of his subjects for the first time in decades, and meant that many of the boyars and military commanders had become politically charged. However, by mid-season, Muscovite forces had re-grouped and were capable of opposing the horde.

Luckily for Muscovy, it had taken time for the Nogai Tatars to arrive as well and they were only most of the way to Nizhny Novgorod. Cutting off the Tatars about 50 kilometers out from the city along the Volga, they give battle. The Kazan and Nogai Tatars are able to win the first few skirmishes, but eventually the strategically placed foot archers of the Muscovites begin to return pain to their mounted opponents. Seeing an opportunity, the Kazan and Nogai Tatars peppered the Muscovite flanks while charging the lancers through the center. They find themselves repulsed by the strong Muscovite line however, and worse they discover that Khan Abdul had partaken in the charge and died for it. In the wake of this news, a bastard son of Abdul along with the Nogai Khan and a number of other prominent steppe nobles immediately order a full retreat from the battle. The retreat itself is nothing short of disastrous, and the gathered horde seems to dissipate immediately. Remnants returning as stragglers to the city of Kazan, the Tsar deftly decides that a costly siege in the colder months against the Kazan Khanate which ostensibly still had significant manpower, if a lack of political unity, would be too much for his tired and at this point tepidly disloyal army. Instead, peace terms are quickly resolved with the ascension of Khan of Qasim, Janai, who had fought alongside the Tsar against the Kazan and Nogai Tatars. Rewarded for his loyalty, and accompanied by a large quantity of Muscovite courtiers and nobles, the Tsar feels confident in the establishment of a loyal pro-Moscow regime in Kazan.

Meanwhile, the Crimeans also decided to raid Ruthenia in the hopes of gaining more wealth and also bothering the Muscovites who were fighting their relative in Kazan. They are able to sack Poltava, though it had lost significant wealth in status from recent sackings by Crimea only a few decades ago as well. It also caused significant casualties for the Crimeans. Odoyevsky also fals, this time with significant ease to the horde. Split armies also ravage the countryside of eastern Lithuania in Ruthenia, where eventually they reach Chernigov. Multiple raiding parties converge on the city where they are once again able to take it after significant casualties and stiff resistance.

The largest group of Crimean raiders reach near Minsk, where the new Hetman of Kyiv Bogdan Glinski organizes a new army to oppose the raiders. The hetman's army is well-organized, well-equipped, and well-supplied unlike the Crimeans who oppose them. The Crimean commander, Kalga Mehmed Giray I, wily uses the carocel to weaken the Lithuanian army who's archers struggled to compete with the sheer mass of their opposition. This causes the Lithuanians to be forced to deal with the attrition, culminating in a central charge by the lancers. The Lithuanians are impressively able to still repulse the charge, though they take extremely heavy casualties with their fairly unarmored levy force. The Hetman gives the day to the Crimeans and retreats in an orderly fashion. The Crimeans, bloodied and vastly unsupplied, are then immediately forced to give up on aspirations for Minsk.

In Muscovy, the Crimeans put Belyov and Kursk to siege but are either defeated by the defenders in an assault or lack the food to maintain a sustained siege. Similarly, Bryansk is attacked and assaulted. The Crimeans are able to cause significant damage to the fortifications there, but the heroic garrison is able to stand their ground and protect the fortress from falling. Ending the raiding season shortly thereafter, the Crimeans were still able to find more success looting and pillaging the Muscovite Ruthenian lands than elsewhere.

TL;DR

• Kazan Khanate defeated by the Muscovites after a crushing self-defeat, loyalist Qasim Khan put in power as Khan of both Hordes

• Lithuania has multiple forts and semi-wealthy cities sacked, but the countryside is only lightly looted due to a mix of Crimean supply issues, poor targets, and Lithuanian counter-measures

• Muscovite fortified targets fared much better, but their Ruthenian countryside has been ravaged

• Tatar - Cossack relations have deteriorated in the extremities of the Wild Lands due to Crimean reprisals and raids