Poland was suppressed by Tsarist Russia for a long time, so the western border of Tsarist Russia did not deploy many troops.

The sudden attack of 60,000 Polish troops on the border really surprised the Russians and caught them by surprise.

Fortunately, Budyonny, the Russian general who was responsible for guarding Smolensk, abandoned some small castles in time and concentrated all the forces in the border area to Smolensk.

After all, Smolensk is a strong city, and the surprise attack of the Poles did not directly take the city, and there is nothing to be done about him for a while.

When the news of the Polish invasion reached Moscow, Tsar Mikhail I was extremely shocked.

Because not long ago, he had just sent 30,000 soldiers to Astrakhan to defend against a possible invasion by the Chinese.

Now the Poles are suddenly attacking, which indeed makes the Russians very passive.

Although he was very surprised by the initiative of the Poles, after all, the two sides have been old rivals for many years, and he is still very clear about Poland's strength.

When Tsarist Russia captured Smolensk from Poland, it used ten times the strength of the defending troops and besieged it for two years before it was finally overcome.

Now that Budyonny is leading 12,000 men to hold the city, there should be no problem in the short term.

Since the Poles came to seek death, he had to bear the wrath of the Tsar.

Mikhail I began to mobilize forces around Moscow, and soon formed a reinforcement army of 50,000 people.

In addition, he ordered 30,000 Cossack cavalry from the Dnieper valley to also participate in the counterattack against the Poles.

In this way, Mikhail I personally led the army of 80,000 Tsarist Russia to the Smolensk line in person, and he was sure to make the Poles pay.

Originally, Poland, Sweden and the Ottomans agreed on a date for joint troops.

However, the mobilization capacity of the three countries is completely different.

The Ottoman territory is vast, and the main force is on the Persian front, and it will take 1-2 months to complete the mobilization and assembly.

Although the Swedes were faster than the Ottomans, their main forces were also scattered in various places, and it would take more than half a month to complete a large-scale build-up.

Poland, on the other hand, began to mobilize at home as soon as the king was authorized to do so, and with the fact that Tsarist Russia bordered them, they could rush to the front in a few days.

Władysław IV decided not to wait for the other two countries in order to seize Moscow, so the Poles took the lead.

It was this move that made Tsar Mikhail I miscalculate the situation.

He thought that the Poles must have learned that the Chinese had destroyed 30,000 Cossack cavalry in the east, which had damaged the strength of the Russians, so he wanted to take advantage of it.

They were not aware of the crisis facing Tsarist Russia this time.

The Russian army, which was also mainly cavalry, assembled quickly, and only eight days later, they appeared around Smolensk.

The Polish hussars fought fiercely with the Russian cavalry on the north bank of the Dnieper.

The Polish hussars originated in Hungary, but they grew up on Polish soil and were reborn.

They are no longer just lightly armed skirmishers, but they are a brilliant blend of Eastern and Western European cavalry, while building on local traditions and contemporary innovations.

They are both heavy cavalry and light cavalry, both strong and fast, fast and light, and can choose different tactics according to the rapidly changing needs of the battlefield.

Hussars were often formed into squadrons of 150 to 200 men, arranged in two knee-to-knee columns, and their superior equestrian skills allowed them to charge in dense formations, and the long cavalry spears guaranteed to pierce the opponent first, so that the huge impact of the enemy was devastating. After the charge, they use swords or firearms to enter the melee.

The cuirassiers and carbines of this era in Western Europe were too accustomed to the rigid tactics of constantly riding in front of the formation to fire firearms and then galloping back to the rear of the squadron to reload, and the bold charge of the hussars always crushed them.

At the same time, the hussars could easily defeat cavalry from the east, as they were cavalry capable of launching regular charges, but they were fast and mobile enough to match them, and they were better armed and supported by firearms.

Before the Cossacks defected to Tsarist Russia, the Polish hussars were indeed an invincible force.

However, after the Cossacks defected, the situation was reversed.

The heavy cavalry of Tsarist Russia combined with the light cavalry of the Cossacks made the Polish hussar tactics unworkable.

Although the Polish hussars also showed great courage, they repeatedly attacked the formation of the Russian heavy cavalry, and even gained the upper hand for a time.

But the heavy cavalry of Tsarist Russia was defeated and did not retreat, and it was entangled with the Polish hussars.

The reason why they did not hesitate to suffer casualties was to buy time for the Cossack hussars.

It was difficult for the Cossacks, who were mainly light cavalry, to crush the Polish hussars from the front, but their sudden appearance on the flanks of the Polish cavalry at this time was enough to change the situation on the battlefield.

The Cossack dragoons used muskets to strike at the Polish cavalry on the flanks, and when there was confusion on the Polish flank, the Cossacks quickly charged the Poles with spears in hand.

The facial expressions of Władysław IV gradually began to distort, and the onslaught of the Cossacks tore apart the Polish flanks, leading to the rout of the Polish hussars on all fronts.

The Russian heavy cavalry, which had just been suppressed by the Poles, also began to exert its strength and launched an attack together with the Cossacks.

Eventually the Poles could not stand it anymore and they began to retreat.

But how could the Cossack cavalry easily let go of the retreating Poles, who constantly pursued the retreating Polish cavalry, inflicting heavy casualties on them.

When the Poles withdrew from the battlefield, they left behind more than 20,000 corpses.

After this defeat, Władysław IV realized that he could no longer take Kosmolensk, and they began to retreat to the Polish border.

Just as Mikhail I was preparing to invade Poland and punish them for this invasion, reports of war came from both the north and the south at the same time.

The Swedes sent troops from Ivan grad (present-day St. Petersburg) and besieged Novgorod, an important town northwest of Tsarist Russia.

In addition, the Swedes attacked along the Barents Sea to the northern part of Tsarist Russia, capturing large territories.

Despite the death of Gustav II, Sweden, the "hero of the north", still frightened Tsarist Russia.

In addition to Sweden, the Ottomans to the south also struck.

Tens of thousands of Ottomans crossed Romania and entered the plains of Ukraine.

They have only one goal, and that is Kyiv.

In addition, the Crimean Khanate, the younger brother of the Ottomans, also took the opportunity to attack, and together with the actions of the Ottomans, began to raid the Don Cossacks, which were empty.

When the news reached the front, the Cossacks who participated in the attack on Poland immediately panicked, and their nest was about to be destroyed by the Crimean Khanate.

How do you let them fight with peace of mind?

The Cossacks only informed Mikhail I and retreated south on their own to the lair.

Even the Russians, no matter how stupid, can see the trickiness in it.

How could it be accidental that the Polish, Swedish, and Ottomans attacked Tsarist Russia at the same time?

They must have agreed on it in advance.

Damn, I've been calculated by these guys.

But Mikhail I would never bow to them, and the great Tsarist Russia had its own stubbornness, and he was sure to defeat these opponents.

Novgorod is as important as Kyiv, but if you divide your own troops to rescue, I am afraid that you will not be able to save both ends.

Mikhail I, who had experienced a hundred battles, knew that it was most taboo to divide his troops at this time, and he had one enemy and three troops, and if he divided his troops to garrison, as long as one place was lost, the whole line would collapse.

After thinking about it, now that the Poles in the middle have just been defeated by themselves, they should not be able to attack on a large scale in the short term, and they only need to leave some troops to hold Smolensk.

He could only choose one target between Sweden and the Ottomans to defeat first.

Although he believed that the Swedes might be stronger than the Ottomans, there were not many troops left on the northern frontier of Tsarist Russia by this time.

In the event of the fall of Novgorod, the Swedes could even go straight to Moscow.

So he could only concentrate his forces to repel the Swedes first.

As for the Ottoman side, the Cossacks have already moved south, and he can also transfer the garrison of Astrakhan to Kiev, as long as he holds Kyiv for a month or two, and when he defeats the Swedes on the northern front, he can wave his army south to relieve the siege of Kiev.

Although China in the east is also preparing to move, there is no sign of sending troops after all, and they should also be digesting the Kazakh Khanate.

I can only choose to make up for the west wall with the east wall.

Having left 15,000 men behind Budyonny, Mikhail I marched north with 40,000 horses.

In the case of "one against three", this was already the best response that Tsarist Russia could make.

Of course, there are risks associated with this.

Mikhail I had to repel the Swedes as soon as possible, otherwise in a long time the front of the central and southern routes could collapse.

He also had to take a gamble that King Władysław IV of Poland would choose to continue the siege of Smolensk rather than go straight to Moscow.

As it turned out, he was right.

The Poles, having learned that the main forces of Tsarist Russia were moving north, really re-encircled Smolensk.

However, now they have only 40,000 men, and their morale is not high, and there is no better way to besiege Smolensk with 15,000 soldiers.

On the southern battlefield, the Cossacks, with their strong mobility ability, quickly returned to the aid of the Don Cossacks and drove the Crimean Khanate back to the southern regions of Ukraine.

On the Ottoman side, the Star and Moon Legion had not yet recovered from the "Battle of Baghdad", so they were absent from this campaign to attack Kyiv.

Although the Ottoman Sultan Murad IV still sent an army of 120,000 men, and at one point almost captured Kiev.

But after the 30,000 Russian troops in Astrakhan took the opportunity to enter Kiev, they were unable to break through the city defenses of Kiev.

The middle and south routes have been stabilized at present, and it depends on the northern route, as long as the Swedes can be repulsed, then the attack of the three countries on Tsarist Russia will also fail.

And Mikhail I himself will surely be famous for this battle.

Enough to rival Ivan IV.

Of course, at this time he also had to defeat Sweden, a strong enemy in the north.

Although the Swedish cavalry was not as brave as the Polish hussars.

But they have their own weapon of destruction, which is the "Gustav phalanx" that crisscrosses Europe.

Gustav II replaced the spearmen who were the dominant in the traditional European phalanx with musketeers, which led to a surge in the lethality of muskets in the Swedish phalanx.

As in China, Gustav II paid great attention to the mobility of artillery.

He abandoned the traditional heavy artillery in favor of more light field guns.

Establish a special artillery establishment, train professional artillery units, improve the types of guns, rate of fire, and loading, and install light cannons in the infantry line to enhance firepower output.

In fact, the phalanx of China is also a reference to the "Gustav phalanx" of Sweden to a large extent.

Of course, the Swedes did not break through the technical bottleneck of muskets, and their firepower output could not be compared with the Chinese rifles.

But it was still much more advanced than the tactics of Tsarist Russia.

The Russian cavalry suffered heavy casualties under the fire of Swedish muskets and artillery.

However, Sweden did not send many troops this time, and the Swedish army under Novgorod was only 20,000.

Still a small number of Russian cavalry rushed into the Swedish phalanx and began to kill and wound Swedish musketeers in large numbers.

Fortunately, the Swedish cavalry arrived in time, and they cooperated with their spearmen to finally defeat the Russian cavalry.

In this battle, Tsarist Russia lost 13,000 cavalry, and the Swedish legion also paid the price of more than 6,000 men.

Despite the temporary preservation of Novgorod, time was clearly not in favor of Tsarist Russia.

A stalemate arose on three fronts at the same time.

At this time, Li Shizu finally came to Xiaoyuz in western Kazakhstan.

This trip was delayed for nearly three months, but Wu Sangui and others were not idle during this time.

Large quantities of supplies were transported from Ili, India and Persia to Xiaoyuz.

Nowadays, the degree of firearms of the Chinese army is getting higher and higher, and the logistics supply is also getting bigger and bigger.

Food can also be resupplied through looting, but rifle bullets and shells can only be transported from the rear.

Fortunately, Ili has already established a complete military industrial system, and if it has to be transported from China itself, I am afraid that it will not be able to complete the supply in another three months.

At this time, the Intelligence Department had already transmitted the information from the front line to Li Shizu for the first time.

Zheng Sen, Wu Sangui and others were all taken aback.

They didn't expect Tsarist Russia to be so able to fight, with one enemy and three enemies, they didn't fall behind.

Poland, Sweden, and the Ottomans did not advance to Moscow, but did not even make a major breakthrough along the way.

In fact, the Swedes still won, but they invested fewer troops and could not break through the defense line of Tsarist Russia for the time being.

After preparing for so long, it's time for Huaxia to do it.

Now the forces of Tsarist Russia are concentrated in the western region, and the forces of Astrakhan in the east are empty.

Soon the 50,000 Chinese army and the 70,000 cavalry of the three Mongolian Khalkha tribes crossed the Ural River and entered the land of Europa.

Thank you for your monthly passes, recommended tickets, and follow-up support!! (End of chapter)