Chapter 38 Border Conflict

At this time, Peter didn't know that his mother had chosen a fiancée for him, because he was now in Bendery. Alexandru followed him.

The Bendery Fortress was an important fulcrum of the Dniester River defense line, and its solid stone walls ensured its defense. The news of the Tatars' arrival could be quickly transmitted through the river, which also made the people who fled here feel relieved.

Peter was preparing to rest at night. Suddenly Alexandru reported that there were a large number of troops outside the city.

"So soon?" Peter had a question mark in his mind.

But he still hurried to the wall, only to find that the Tatar troops rushed through the night and were rushing towards the city wall, and in front of them was a troop that looked exhausted. The clothes and equipment of this army were very simple. In addition to the leader riding a warhorse that didn't look so fast, there was also a group of soldiers who didn't even have armor and were in disarray.

"Where did this army come from?" Peter asked.

"My lord, this must be from Crimea." Alexandru replied. In line with the principle that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, he ordered all archers to be ready and aim at the pursuing Ottomans.

"Open the gate! Help! Help!" The leading cavalryman had already left his team behind and rushed to the city first. Although exhausted, he still used the loudest voice he could to ask for help from the army on the city wall.

"It's the Russian language." Peter walked to the watchtower and ordered the guards next to him, "Ask about their origins and purpose, and why they are being hunted."

But before the guards opened their mouths, the knights below shouted again: "We are from Crimea, we don't want to be slaves of the Crimeans, we need help."

It seems that these are Slavs who don't want to be sold as slaves. For them, Peter decided to let them into the city after thinking for a while.

"Tell them that we will give them shelter. Hold on for a while under the city wall, and the gate will be open."

The cavalry who received the answer immediately turned their horses around and commanded the defeated army to form a formation in front of the city gate. When they deployed their positions, Peter discovered that there were actually quite a few women and children in this group of people. They were protected in the center of the formation by the infantry outside. The real army that could fight seemed to have only one or two hundred people.

As the gate slowly opened, the women and children gathered under the city entered Bingeri first. The archers, crossbowmen and artillery on the city wall had also been deployed, waiting for Peter's order, and they would shoot at the enemy on the opposite side.

"Fire"

With Peter's order, crossbows and artillery shells were fired together and drove towards the Tatar troops. Although the accuracy of shooting at night was very poor, in the Tatars' disorganized pursuit formation, people were shot by arrows and hit by stones splashed by artillery shells.

Although it was very useful, soon, the Tatars came into contact with the phalanx of the defeated army against the rain of arrows shot from the city wall.

In order to help them win time, Peter took out his secret weapon. I saw several big guys standing up, with small launchers inside, like a honeycomb.

As the fuse was lit, a large amount of ammunition was fired into the Tatar army. There were wails everywhere.

"Ah, my eyes."

"My head."

Some even frightened the horses and threw the soldiers down. The people behind were all confused when they saw this.

Because there were no siege equipment, the Tatars under the city wall could only rely on shields to withstand the attacks of bows and firearms.

Taking this opportunity, the last group of people retreated into the city. Seeing that the Tatars had no target, they began to retreat.

"Send someone outside the city to count how many people the Tatars have lost, and let the leader explain in detail what the situation is."

"Yes, sir"

The Tatars' attack became the hottest topic in Benderi. The people were restless, and some merchants even wanted to take a boat directly. Fortunately, they were appeased.

After checking outside the city, there were a total of 406 Tatar bodies. If the injured were included, it was estimated that thousands of people might have been injured.

And the man from Crimea also told everything he knew. The Tatars who originally lived in this area launched another looting campaign, and a large number of Slavs living on the Ukrainian plains became slaves. They did not want to become the currency of the Tatars, so they came here with some people.

"In this case, let them settle here. If they don't want to, give them some food to take with them."

"Sir, you are so kind!"

Alexandru said respectfully to Peter, and Peter just thought it was just a small favor.

Of course, in the Middle Ages, as long as the lord reduced taxes for the people in the territory, he was directly said to be kind. And you can't find a second one in Europe like Peter's behavior of giving food to immigrants and pensions to fallen soldiers.

The news that Peter gave pensions to fallen soldiers also spread throughout Dobruja. When a new round of conscription began, many people signed up to participate.

The local people called Peter a benevolent man. When Peter heard this title, he just smiled. These people probably didn't know how cruel Peter would be to foreign enemies.

The governor inspected the banks of the Dniester River, which not only stabilized the people on the border, but also stabilized the border defense. A border with firearms is an important force to stop nomadic tribes.

Peter began to build a standing border army, selecting some people from Moldovans and immigrants to serve in the army for life. The government was responsible for paying them salaries and regularly patrolling the border areas.

In terms of equipment, some personnel use muskets and artillery. Everyone also has a uniform and must undergo a lot of training.

As the border with Lithuania and the Golden Horde, the Dniester River is naturally more important. Peter's large-scale reform of the army and weapons is also to deal with their cavalry. You know, most of Eastern Europe is plains, where cavalry can exert their greatest combat effectiveness. For this reason, a large number of long-range firepower strikes are needed, and powerful firearms have become a new means.

Of course, Peter plans to build a castle behind the Dniester River as a logistics and transportation center. Because there are only a few villages between Iasi and the Dniester River, and there is no town. So on the way back, he chose to build a castle next to the Bick River and granted it five years of tax exemption.

This time Peter paid completely out of his own pocket. He had to pay for raw materials, labor, and tools. However, because the construction of Moldova attracted some construction engineering teams, Peter also subcontracted some projects to them.