When cherkesk fell, naum Vasiliev, the Cossack leader of cherkesk, was deadlocked with his don Cossack cavalry and the rebel army of the pseudo Dmitry czar.


    In the first confrontation, naum Vasiliev rashly launched an attack because he mistakenly thought his opponent was just a mob, so that the Don Cossacks, who were only light cavalry, fell into the and infantry phalanx and lost some people, but he soon found a way to deal with the insurgents, that is, constantly following and consuming the strength and patience of the insurgents with long-range firepower, If the insurgent soldiers could not bear to be beaten passively and left the large forces to rush after them, naum Vasiliev would lead the Cossack cavalry to surround and eat them and disengage before the large forces of the insurgent arrived; If the insurgent soldiers do not pursue, they can only endure being beaten passively until they collapse.


    This approach is indeed effective. Due to the lack of long-range weapons such as confrontation muskets (the soldiers of the free slave Corps mainly use close combat weapons, which is not stingy, but the Crimean Khanate itself lacks muskets; and the farmers and Cossacks who join have only a small number of muskets and poor quality), The rebel army''s advance speed has dropped from 20 kilometers a day to only seven or eight kilometers a day. And like a giant bear besieged by wolves, it loses blood every day.


    "Stephan rassing, there is a way in heaven. If you don''t go, hell has no way to vote. Since you come back to die and dare to pretend to be the Czar, I can only send you on the road again. You can go to hell and be your czar!" naom Vasiliev read cruelly.


    In the first confrontation, naum Vasiliev recognized Stepan rassing. Although Stephan rassing wore a fake beard in order to disguise himself as a pseudo Dmitry Czar, naum Vasiliev recognized him at a glance - they were once League brothers. The leader of naum Vasiliev could recognize Stephan rasin even if he turned into ash, not to mention wearing a fake beard.


    After being bitten off a piece of meat by the Don Cossack cavalry again, the rebels stayed where they were. They built fortifications and even planned to stick to them.


    Of course, this increased the difficulty of the Don Cossack sneak attack and "fight and run", but naum Vasiliev was even more eager for it.


    It should be noted that on the vast and sparsely populated grassland, if moving forward is looking for death, then sticking to it is waiting for death. Naum Vasiliev estimated that the food carried by the insurgents was definitely not enough for them to eat for more than a week. In a week''s time, all the rebels will starve to death in their stronghold.


    Even so, naum Vasiliev was worried that Stepan rassing had another plot. Because in naum Vasiliev''s impression, Stepan Racine is not such a person who will seek his own death.


    The most likely thing for an army to stick to is to wait for help.


    And who will Stephan Racine be waiting for?


    For fear of his heart, naum Vasiliev sent scouts in both East and west directions.


    In the East, in the Volga River Basin, there is a Tatar tribe from the East that calls itself turhute (called kalmec by czar Russia, and later called them kalmec for convenience). These kalmecs are not subject to the rule of Czar Russia and are brave and good at fighting. They have frequent land disputes with the Don Cossacks, They are very likely to help Stephan Racine fight himself.


    To the west, of course, in the direction of cherkesk. In that direction, naum Vasiliev knew that a Tatar army was approaching cherkesk, but before naum Vasiliev sent troops to fight against the rebel army, the Crimean Tatar army seemed to have fallen into civil strife, not only stayed in place for more than a month, but also seemed to be greatly weakened, There were only a thousand people left - which was one of the reasons why naum Vasiliev dared to leave cherkesk and lead a large army against the rebels.


    At this time, naum Vasiliev still did not connect the civil strife of the Tatars with Stepan rasin.


    For the next two days, naum Vasiliev waited in a stalemate for the return of the scouts.


    The first to bring back intelligence was the scout to the Volga River Basin. He brought back the news that there was no change in the Kalmyk people. Only one Kalmyk cavalry hunted on the grassland under the leadership of their Taiji ayuqi.


    This relieved naum Vasiliev. In the evening, naum Vasiliev was thunderstruck by the reconnaissance soldiers returning from cherkesk.


    The city of cherkesk was occupied by the Tatars, and the Tatar cavalry were coming here.


    On hearing the news, naum Vasiliev was as numb as a chicken.


    Now, no matter how stupid naum Vasiliev was, he understood that Stepan Racine was colluding with the Tatars. He set up an incident in the area of cherkesk in order to cooperate with the Tatars to capture cherkesk.


    "This damn guy colluded with the Tatars."


    Knowing that he was surrounded by Stephan rassing, naum Vasiliev would like to lead his army to attack the rebel camp and devour Stephan rassing, the pseudo czar.


    But reason told him that it was unwise to attack the camp.


    "I should retreat now and find Prince Yuri boriaginsky and them," naum Vasiliev calculated.


    Soon, however, naum Vasiliev himself rejected the proposal.


    "No, I can''t. Prince Yuri boriaginsky, I''m afraid they can''t protect themselves now. Besides, if I lose cherkesk, it doesn''t matter if they lose noble lords. I''m a Cossack, and they will tie me up and send me to Moscow as a scapegoat. Moreover, I''m also here to deal with the trouble of the pseudo Czar, which is the most taboo of their Romanov family Well, the Czar, he will certainly be bad for me and hate my bones. The smart naum Vasiliev can''t do such a stupid thing. "


    Naum Vasiliev thought about it. He felt that he was like a boat in the raging waves of the Black Sea, which was in danger of overturning at any time.


    After making plans, naum Vasiliev knew that the only way he could go was to find a way to defeat Stepan rassing and the Tatars. But is it possible to rely on hundreds of people?


    Suddenly, naum Vasiliev''s head flashed. He grasped the adjutant''s arm tightly.


    "Vasili, does the herald who came back from the east say that ah Yuqi is hunting with kalmec cavalry!"