After intimidating the Königsberg nobles, the number of troops under Morak's control swelled to 10,000. Among these 10,000, more than 2,000 were taken by Kleiman to open the channel with Poland, and another 2,000 were
Morak sent troops throughout East Prussia to monitor local garrisons.
Of course, Morak has never given up on wooing these garrisons, and with Morak's wooing, the garrisons in East Prussia have indeed begun to waver. But after all, the situation is unclear now, in case the royal family marches too fast.
, maybe Morak will be wiped out before causing too much trouble. These nobles will not take the risk and die with Morak, so they have to wait and see.
How could Morak not know what these nobles were thinking, but he couldn't offend these people yet. Morak knew that he had to let those who were swaying around see that his power could completely resist the royal family, so that those who were watching would join in.
to their own side, but resisting the royal army is not easy.
With all the cases on his hands, he might be able to withstand the first wave of the royal family's army. Under such circumstances, Morak sent people to the Eastern European prairie in the hope of contacting some mercenaries.
In the eighteenth century, it was common to hire armies from other countries to fight. Prussia accumulated its first wealth by accepting the employment of soldiers from various European countries.
The mercenaries Morak hoped to contact were Cossacks living in the steppes of Eastern Europe.
The word Cossack comes from the Turkic language, meaning free people. It originally refers to the Tatars and Slavs who fled from the Golden Horde to South Russia to engage in nomadic herding. During the serfization process in Russia from the 15th to the 17th century, they did not want to be slaves and fled.
People who went to the border areas to make a living gradually gathered in groups. Influenced by the Turkic peoples in the southwest grassland, they developed a unique cultural identity that was good at riding and shooting without being controlled. A large number of escaped peasants gathered in southern Russia.
In the grassland area, these people work for the people in peacetime and as soldiers in wartime. They are both farmers and soldiers. They have been in a semi-military state for a long time.
The Cossack cavalry was first used by the Poles. They used registration to exercise control. Unregistered people were considered illegal. In 1625, the number of registered Cossacks was 6,000, and by 1649, it was 40,000.
, in 1654 there were 60,000 people. After being recruited and submitted, these people became the upper class Cossacks with fiefs.
In 1654, the Ukrainian Cossack leader Khmelnytsky raised an army against Poland and was suppressed. When he suffered a military defeat, he turned to Russia for help. That year, Khmelnytsky signed the "Belyaslav Agreement" with Russia and announced that he would accept Russian protection.
, and after 80 years of running-in period, Tsarist Russia abolished the Hetman autonomy of the Cossacks in 1722, and the Ukrainian Governor-General Rumyantsev reorganized the 10 Cossack regiments into 10 regular cavalry regiments of the Russian army.
In the age of cold weapons, the Cossack cavalry shocked Europe with its fast speed, strong maneuverability, high lethality, and bravery in attacks. European countries also often recruited Cossacks as mercenaries.
When Morak was in the army, those brave Cossack cavalry gave him a great impact. Throughout the history of Russia's foreign campaigns in the 18th century, the Cossack cavalry were the most ferocious and sharpest swords in Russia's hands.
Therefore, when Morak decided to start an uprising, he sent people to the Eastern European steppes to discuss the price with the Cossack leaders. It would be best to hire thousands of cavalry, so as to form an effective and powerful fighting force.
Calculating the distance, the envoy sent by Morak should have arrived at the Eastern European prairie. This is indeed the case. Morak's envoy safely arrived at the Cossack settlement on the Eastern European prairie with a large amount of property.
The envoy named Rzezaviv was welcomed by the local Cossack leader Plivsky. When Rzaviv informed Plivsky that Marquis Morak needed to hire at least 3,000 Cossack cavalry, Plivsky
Ji was stunned at first, and became ecstatic after learning the employment price offered by Marquis Morak, but later it turned into a dilemma.
The organizational form of the Cossacks is a tribal autonomous body that integrates military and civilian forces. They build a special camp called "Sechi", and the camp holds regular meetings of all members. Leaders at all levels of the tribe are elected through this general meeting of members.
They cannot be hereditary, they are responsible to subordinates without being appointed from above, and these people form the Supreme Military Council, which leads the army in wartime and exercises administrative management in peacetime.
Plivsky was elected as the leader of the Cossacks with a radius of several hundred miles five years ago. However, the population of the Cossacks was limited after all. Plivsky only had nearly 4,000 Cossack cavalry in his hands, while Rezaviv
He asked for 3,000 people from the very beginning. Although Plivsky was very moved by the salary offered by Rezaviv, he couldn't just go out for the salary. Do you still need your own camp? You know.
Tribes on the grassland don't talk about moral principles among themselves.
After seeing the troubled expression of Plivsky who was sitting at the top, Rzezaviv suddenly remembered some things he knew about the Cossacks on the steppe. Cossacks like Plivsky who lived on the northern edge of the Eastern European steppes
The Cossack tribe is not too strong, because the powerful tribes are in the southern part of the grassland, where the most fertile pastures are.
Therefore, Rzezaviv suggested to Plivsky that Plivsky should summon the surrounding Cossack tribes, and let the major tribes allocate the quota of these mercenaries. Of course, Plivsky would receive a large sum of money.
of hard work.
After seeing the hard work of a small box of silver coins, Plivsky readily agreed to Rzezaviv's request and informed all the surrounding Cossack tribes that a big business was coming.
Not long after, the leaders of more than a dozen surrounding Cossack tribes came to Plivsky's camp. When Plivsky threw an order for three thousand mercenaries to them, the whole tent was boiling. The Cossacks had not had a fight for a long time.
After receiving such a big order, although Russia often dispatched Cossacks to fight, the Russians would not give these Cossacks military pay. If they wanted money, they had to rob it themselves. Therefore, the Cossacks are masters who want money at the expense of their lives.
.
Just when the atmosphere in the big tent was getting heated, Rezaviv stepped forward and said:
"If the leaders can lower the prices appropriately, maybe we will need more Cossack cavalry."
Rezaviv's words made the atmosphere in the tent become more and more intense. Some leaders panted heavily and looked at Rezaviv with a pair of red eyes. Rezaviv felt like he had the body of a sheep.
It's like being among wolves.
The paramilitary living habits have developed that the Cossacks can ride horses as soon as they can walk, and they can shoot as soon as they can ride horses. They live a bold and unrestrained life, where they can drink and get drunk the next. Such a life is unrestrained, but the Cossacks have nothing to do with it.
Production and daily necessities of their lives depend more on war and plunder, so when there is a war, all the Cossacks are in high spirits.
Of course, the Cossacks are very good at what they do, and they will not be short of any salary they need, and the proceeds from the plunder in the war will be distributed among them personally.
The main reason was that Rezaviv came by chance. It was the time when the Cossacks on the grassland were at their leisure. The leisurely Cossacks were wandering around in their camps doing nothing, and occasionally provoked and caused trouble. This made the leaders worried to death.
If the timing hadn't been right, anyone who dared to bargain in front of the Cossack leader would have had only one outcome, and that would be to be kicked out.
Under such circumstances, the Cossack leaders agreed to grant Rezhaviv some concessions. Of course, as in the past, the proceeds from the war belonged to the Cossacks personally, and Rzhaviv agreed to this condition.
After reaching a unified opinion, within three days, Pliski's camp was filled with warriors sent from various tribes.
Originally, the property that Morak gave to Rezhaviv could hire about 3,000 people, but Rezhaviv hired a full 4,000 people.
Looking at the tough, wild and bohemian Cossack warriors behind him, and thinking about the significant achievements in his profession, Rezaviv seemed to have seen the golden avenue on his feet.