In the year 1119, Yuri, son of Ysevolod the Great, and younger brother of Ysevolod the Unfortunate, took the throne amidst turmoil. Whispers were abound in the royal courts that Yuri lacked the consitution for war that his brother and father had. Yuri's agents caught more than one noble who whispered a tad too loudly, and said nobles were summarily executed for their attitudes toward the Grand Prince. For Yuri, nothing more than supreme loyalty would be allowed.
Further turmoil erupted a mere two years later. Yuri's mistress, Svetlana, who was wife of the Novgoridian nobleman, Alexander of Muscovy, was caught during attempting to sneak into Yuri's territory when her husband had unexpectedly returned not long after leaving for war council, as he was intercepted by a messenger with news that the council had been called off due to illness of the Grand Prince of Novgorod, Mstislav. Alexander was outraged to learn that his wife, for 25 years now, had been going behind his back to visit the Prince, and now ruler, of an opposing kingdom. Svetlana was immediately executed for treason as a spy against the crown of Novgorod. It did not take long for Yuri to hear news of his love's tragic demise. The court witnessed a terrible display of anger from Yuri when he recieved the news from a messenger. Yuri bolted upright immediately, fire in his eyes. He beheaded the hapless messenger for daring to bring him such terrible news. Immediately, Yuri shouted in anger, "Bring me my horse! Rally the troops! THIS IS WAR!"
War With Novgorod
From his position in Lithuania, Yuri immediately gathered every available troop he had, over 1,600 troops in total, and set course straight for the Novgoridian homeland. Mstislav, with only 1,000 troops of his own, ordered a withdrawal from the province, with a loyal one hundred troops staying to garrison the keep. Meanwhile, in the Baltic sea, a terrible naval war raged. As part of his invasion, Yuri ordered his entire fleet in the Baltic to engage the Novgorod fleet, to hold no quarter, to destroy every Novgoridian ship they saw. The navy, whether inspired by awe of Yuri, or fear of him, accomplished their job admirably, sinking the entire Novgoridian Baltic fleet in less than one year. And lastly, before leading the army himself into Novgorod, Yuri left orders to his governors that they were to train and conscript every soldier they could.
The efforts of Yuri paid off. In Novgorod, Mstislav launched three different counter attacks to attempt to relieve his trapped troops. However, each time, Yuri led his troops to victory. Every time, Yuri, with a larger force, was able to wrapj his light infantry around the flanks of the smalller Novgoridian army, while his heavy Rus spearmen held the central of the battlefield admirably. However, unlike his older brother, Yuri took to the field with the full intention of combat. Upon each counter attack, he manuvered himself and his bodyguard to the flank of the enemy formation, letting loose many arrows before closing in. However, each time, Mstislav escaped, as well as Alexander. After four years of siege, and three different counter attacks, the city of Novgorod fell to Yuri. Not to mention, Yuri was quickly disspelling fears that he was not able to hold up to his legendary brother and father. After the fall of Novgorod, and a new influx of fresh troops, Yuri took the offensive into Muscovy, while he sent a newly gathered force in Cherginov to take Ryazan. In Ryazan, the Novgoridian forces handed the province over without a fight, retreating to Muscovy. However, Yuri had not taken into account this possibility, and decided to call off the attack for the time being. Off in the west, Yuri's allis, the Danish, were also attacking Novgorod positions. They had taken both Finland and Estonia. Yuri soon decided it would be best to make sure he didn't let Denmark establish too strong of a foothold, and the year after calling off the attack of Muscovy, he invaded Livonia from Novgorod. Novgoridian troops in Livonia retreated to the fort, and after two years of siege, surrendered the province to Yuri's rule. Thus, all that was left of the Novgoridian territories was Muscovy, where both Mstislav and Alexander lay cowering from Yuri's wrath. Leaving a sizable garrison to ensure loyalty of the province, Yuri returned to Novgorod. He joined up with fresh troops from Lithuania and Smolensk, and planned his final revenge for Mstislav and Alexander.
Yuri's Revenge
Now that Mstislav and Alexander had nowhere else to go, Yuri was finally ready to finish them once and for all. With over 1,000 troops, Yuri departed from Novgorod towards Muscovy, where Mstislav lay in wait with 550 troops, most whom were either severly battered from war, or else slavic conscripts with little true taste for battle. Upon taking the battlefield, Yuri ordered his soldiers in prototypical formation. His heavier Rus spears in the middle, with tribal woodsmen and voi on the flanks. Behind the spears was Yuri, along with two regiments of Druzhina cavalry. The battle of Muscovy was not so much a battle as a slaughter. The slavic conscripts, for all practical purposes, bounced off of the Rus spearmen in the middle. The Druzhina cavalry departed from Yuri's side to deal with two impudent units of archers. Much to Yuri's dissapointment, Alexander fell early in battle when his unit of druzhina foot soldiers was flanked by tribal woodsmen while Alexander was attempting to break the line of spearmen. Yuri had truly hoped to slay him himself. However, he did gain some consolation when the soldier who slew Alexander brought his head to Yuri following the battle. Before Mstislav knew it, he was practically by himself, his army crumbling in front of his very eyes. The Kievan line advanced forward towards Mstislav, who attempted to fall back while continuing to fire arrows with the remnants of his bodyguard. However, he soon found himself encircled on three sides by spears and Druzhina cavalry, while Yuri and his bodyguard launched volley after volley of arrow fire at him. The encirclement folded on Mstislav, and it took approximately 2.4 seconds for Mstislav to finally lose all nerve, and flee from battle, towards his fort. However, the fort would provide little haven from Yuri. After three years, the fort's supplies ran out, and the guards opened the gates to Yuri's army. Yuri had finally captured the ruler who slew his now deceased love. With Mstislav bound and kneeling at his feet, Yuri took great pleasure in bringing his sword down with all his might through Mstislav's neck. However, Yuri's rage proved to destablize his swing, and thus, the beheading was botched. Yuri became further incensed by Mstislav's apparent refusal to die, and immediately took one of the axes from a nearby druzhina guard. He brought the axe down on Mstislav with all his fury, hacking and hacking until the body was no longer recognizable and his fury had abated. The nobles nearby were shocked, but not displeased, that Yuri had developed a taste for bloodshed and war.
Aftermath
With Novgorod vanquished and destroyed, Yuri had not only taken his revenge for his former love, but also added considerable territory and riches to his empire. Meanwhile, sons from his legitimate marriage had grown older and were nearing coming of age. However, Yuri had, in the course of his battles with Novgorod, developed an instinct to kill, a love of war. To the south of his kingdom, Yuri had decided the time was right to take Crimea from the Byzantine empire, who were otherwise occupied with the threat of the Seljuk Turks. He sent a force of 450 into Crimea, and the Byzantine army of 100 men handed the province over without a fight. Soon after, a ceasefire was established, and soon after that, an alliance, as the Byzantine's were all too happy to have Yuri on their side and not on the Seljuk. Not long after the occupation of Crimea, war erupted between two of Yuri's allies, the Danes and Swedes. Yuri maintained his alliance with Denmark, as he sensed an opportunity to grab the riches of Sweden. As much as he would have liked to removed Danish influence from Estonia and Finland, the two provinces simply were too poor for Yuri to care. Soon after declaring his alliance with Sweden null, he invaded Sweden, leading the army, once again, himself. Time, it seemed, had been on his side. As his troops were crossing the Baltic, the Swedish navy was off in the Skaggerak combatting the Danish fleet. At the same time, the Swedish king Hardeknud left his station in Sweden, taking all but 100 troops to invade Scania. The Danish army in Scania withdrew to their fort, while the Swedish army withdrew to their keep in Sweden. Thus, Hardeknud was left with no province completely under his control. To alleviate this, he immediately attacked the Danish fort in Scania, reducing it to rubble. However, Yuri sent one of his most eloqent diplomats to negotiate the surrender of Stockholm castle. Efforts proved successful, and Sweden fell to Yuri with no bloodshed. The year after these events, a large Danish army invdaded Scania, and overwhelmed Hardeknud, and thus, eliminating the Swedish kingdom completely. Yuri soon returned to his palace in Kiev following the conquest of Sweden. Now at a venerable age, Yuri's bones and soul had grown weary. The conquest of Sweden had brought no joy to him, and now, at the age of 58, he realized that his revenge against Mstislav and Alexander had brought him no joy either. More than anything, he just wished he could have Svetlana back. He felt 20 years senior of his actual age. His sorrow and age, combined with an illness he contracted back in Sweden, soon caught up to him. At the age of 60, in his palace at Kiev, Yuri the Vengeful died in his sleep. Once more, nobles of the Kievan court would weep for the loss of a great Grand Prince. A new change would come, no doubt, as Yuri's eldest son, Vladimir III, took the title of Grand Prince at the age of merely 20. Vladimir III was highly promising as a military man, having witnissed many of his father's campaigns while growing up, and soaking in advice from his father. Time would tell what feats this promising young ruler would accomplish, with hopefully many years more than his father on the throne.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
[B]The Conquests of Yuri the Vengeful(not outlining Sweden or Crimea for reasons of the map not being big enough)(and me not wanting to put three different maps up, I'm a tad lazy about that )
It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then, the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell.
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