So, between all these sources, you may get a few hundred good people if not more. And, if we dig deeper, we may find more, enough for one or a few mines. Then, when it’s going, and we are making some money, you can start shopping overseas. That would be like an investment to widen up the operation. We brink more people, we open more mines, we make more money and jump-start the rest of the country. It looks more like a good plan, does not it. Work on it. There should be more, and you may find it. Be innovative. I know, we have never done anything like that before, but now is the time.”
The President got up and slowly left the room. He thought that his answer was the right one. Why did he feel so? The logic of it was right there, right in front of him. Somehow, he could see it all so clearly. Why these Ministers, well-known professionals, could not see it? Did they see it but did not speak? Did they understand it? What good did they do if they could not see the options like that? He could see the necessity of his participation with the question like that if there were a few options on the table already and no one could decide which one was the best one. Then, he could be called to make that decision. What was wrong with all these politicians? Why were they afraid to make a decision? What did they be afraid? Did they become so political that lost the professional edge? Were they ever professionals? Don’t you think, comrades Ministers, that you should be professionals first and politicians second? He was a politician, and he was not afraid to make a decision. He made them every day. Oh, this was different. He was the President after all. It was his right to make the decisions.
Batu Khan
“Autumn. October. Rain, wind, and cold. Misery. Hard on the people. Hard on animals. Hard on life. Still, they need to move forward. That’s where we must go. No rest for now. There is no time for that. Soon the snow will start, and everything will freeze. We would have to stop for winter. We need to be in a better place to camp. This would not do. I must think of the horses. People can take it better than animals. A Mongol without a horse was not a Mongol any longer. The horse is everything. The horse is your lifeline. You can go hungry, thirsty, for a very long time but not without a horse. You’ll die without a horse much sooner, almost right away. Here a man without a horse is a walking dead. It would happen rather sooner than later. I’ll give my orders tonight. We must bring more hay closer to the horde and move the bulk of the horses farther south. There would be no war in the winter, so, we do not need so many horses here. There would be some skirmishes, of course, and the raiding parties but no real war, not for five or six months. No movements of the thousands but only the dozens. As always, we will break the Golden Horde into many small ones moving horses and people around for the winter. I want the soldiers to report back to the Golden Horde in early March while the snow is still seen here and there. The soldiers come in and get in shape. Train. Families that want to follow us will come over in two weeks after the soldiers. The snow would be almost gone by then. They would rest here and then, trail the army; their husbands, sons and the brothers. We always come together. Families can help and especially, with the wounded and children have to learn everything as early as possible. This is good for children. He was in the saddle already when only the third winter passed. The family made sure of that. That was the time to learn, and he learned. The horse and the saddle should be your second nature if you want to be a true Mongol. This was our way of life — the life of the Mongols and the Tatars. The way of the Nomad. I think, no, I know that all nomads are like that. We live on the move, and we move to live. This is how we like it, and this is how we thrive. We are the rulers of the steppes and soon, the rulers of the world. We are the world.
We are moving east again. No, I am not planning to attack, but we need a forward base. I do not want to keep all troops and the caravans in one camp that should break apart soon anyway. The fighting forces would be stationed in the forward campgrounds and rotated throughout the winter. We are going to split one Tumen into four or five divisions and keep them about twenty miles ahead of the main body. I will rotate them with other Tumens every two weeks so, as not to overtire them. These are the fighting Tumens and have to be in good shape and spirit. That will be my Blue Horde and the frontline again. I do not want to jump from the Golder Horde camp every time we need to move. That’s the recipe to lose, and we are not going to lose. Every major movement of such a big army with the trains and caravans had to be done in stages. That’s the right way. All my generals agree on that.
The forward camp’s jumping point is the answer. I want them to be ready to strike as early as possible in the spring. Possibly mid of March… I want them to wait for that day with anticipation, the dream of that day. I want them to train for that day and to collect all the information possible. We need many spies going in all directions. I want to know everything there is to know about Russia and the Russians. What are they? What is really there? What are the weak points? This war should be based on knowledge, tactics, experience, and not just the brutal force. We are on their territory, and we are going to be the attacking force. I want to be able to predict every move they make and not to lose too many people in the process. We are planning to go far so we need all the people we have and many more. I do not want to wait until the Russians are ready. I do not want to give them a fighting chance. We need to strike first and win with as fewer loses as we can. This is very important. The first strike is often decisive, and we will have a few first strikes. We know how to do that and will do it.
Even standing here on the top of this hill, I cannot see the end of the column in either direction. It is stretched for miles. We are many. What a force. It looks like entire Central Asia goes East and maybe it is. What are we going to find there? Is it going to be our death or the uncountable riches and thousands of slaves? What a choice. Our oracles predict the victory like never before. I pretended to listen and to believe them. But, I am a more practical man and Subutai is as well. I rely on my soldiers, these men in the column. I’ll watch them a little longer and then go back to the main camp. I have things to do, but I’ll visit the forward encampment for a few times this winter. That’s my responsibility, my job. I have to make sure that everything was going right. These are my soldiers, my people.
The Russian and the Polish slaves are working hard already preparing us for the next year campaign. We need so much. I use only the Khazars to advise me basically on everything and to manage the treasury and the supplies. They proved to be people to trust. Even the Mongols were too corrupt for the job but great when the fighting came. They could fight well. The Khazars could think, and that was very important when you have to run the empire. Still, they could fight well, and they fought the Russians and many others for centuries. They were fascinating people. My grandfather, the Great Genghis Khan, was so wise making peace with the Khazars and allowing them to become equal partners with us, Mongols. None of the Tatars, not even the Kalmyks and the Kyrgyz were given that privilege. And, they are trusted. The Khazars were special back then, and they are even more special now. Good people. Reliable people. Very trusted people. Whatever they did and whatever they touched becomes the best. Why is that? Does it come from their religion? I think that’s the blood and not the religion. Was that ethnic? They did not seem to be too religious anyway. Is it because of their one god? What a strange story. How could there be such a bizarre god? Just one and that did work of many. How can he manage everything and all at the same time?