The closest Mongols ran already to the gates trying to get there well before the Russians would be able to close it barring our way in. We could break the barriers down, but this was better. The gates were open. Faster, faster… Almost at the same time, the other units of my Western Army began scaling the walls. They were lying in wait just behind the bushes. While the entire city was on the walls watching the rape of the Duchess, our troops were inching closer to the wall on all other sides. Now we were attacking all sides pulling their defenses apart. The fight was short but fierce, and in about five hours, just before the sundown, everything was over, and Kiev was in our hands. Our losses were relatively small; a few hundred here and a few hundred there. A few Russian soldiers were able to break through trying to escape. The Tatars caught them by the river, cutting them to pieces. Well, it was not that easy. The Russians fought for their lives like the cornered rats. We lost there may be a dozen or two of the Tatars, but the Russians were dead, and their heads were presented to me. Come to think, Kiev took only two full days to fall, and it looked so strong and mighty. Well, the siege was another matter. That took a while. When you do it right, it takes time. Sometimes it takes a lot of time, months, and even years. You trade the lives of your people for the time. If you have time and the supplies, you save many lives. So, you have to create that time, liberate it from any other commitments. You need your people to be alive. But, if you are short on everything, you push, and you push, and you push. How else could you take cities? It was either a direct assault or a waiting game full of deceitful moves and the treason. We did it right, took time doing it, and saved a few Mongol lives. I think it was just right. That was our first big Russian city occupied by very aggressive and able soldiers, and we did not fail. I wondered back then if there was a limit to our power. Subutai was sure there was none. I knew then, we could conquer the world. We — Mongols of the world.
We always used the same tactics when we had to fight inside the city. The main idea was not to allow the defenders to gather into a considerable fighting force. We kept breaking them in smaller units using that for the crowd control purposes. The best way of doing that was to occupy all high grounds and the open spaces like the squares at the earliest possible stage. Push the defenders into the narrow streets. The defenders would not be able to gather much force in the close quarters and the narrow streets of the castle-like city. Kremlin was a castle and Kiev was a castle city. The castle structure was great when you defend it from the outside assault but, when the enemy was inside already and knew the layout, it could be a losing proposition. We knew the layout of every city we attached.
We had the spies there for weeks, and some Russians were ready to betray as well. They wanted the opportunity to survive and to profit while doing that. All that always worked to our advantage. We carefully studied every city layout using the specially trained spies. Our spies pretended to be the traders, traveling craftsmen, and the wandering dervishes. All of these people could enter any town or a city, stay there for a few days and move on. No one would pay attention to them. They were nothing; neither important nor attractive and so unthreatening. They also could do what they claimed to be good at and pay the bills. They had money, not much to attract attention but enough not to attract one. A few days in the city for a trained eye were more than enough to understand and to memorize the layout. No one ever got suspicious of my people, and rarely one of them got arrested or killed. People often thought of them as strange at least but not spies. I think it was because these people in their real lives were the traders, the traveling craftsmen, and the wandering dervishes. They knew the job and were good at it. They were spies on the side: some, for extra money and the perks; some, for the crimes, committed and some because they liked it. That made their lives exciting.
Spying was the domain of my Chinese advisors. They were the most skillful masters of blackmail and the bribe giving and taking, and Ogedei Khan was generous enough to provide me with a few of them. He knew that the successful war was not always decided on the battlefield. The battlefield was essential, but the things surrounding it could be even more critical. The right spy in the right place could win the battle and often the war without a shot fired. It happened before, and it will happen again. We even had a spy school, and the Chinese ran it. That school employed people from every corner of the world because that’s where we were going. And, spies were our avantgarde — the most advance guard. And we had plenty of good people available. Betrayal was in their blood, and so is in ours. Thus, we felt good about each other. They perfected spying to state of the art and contracted hundreds of people of all different trades and talents to serve us in peace and war. Yes, in peace and war. That was forward thinking. We had the spies, counter-spies, provocateurs, terrorists, and the commandos conducting surveillance, investigations, and assassinations. They also led all other acts of war necessary when the diplomacy failed to work or was not applicable due to the nature of relations. The enemy had never done it to the same degree, so, we had the upper hand. We had people in foreign cities and countries working for us for years. They were very respectful citizens of those cities and nations and were trusted. Some even held high positions. Yet, they worked for us betraying their own people at our first call. That was the well-qualified army behind the frontline.
Also, we had numerous internal informers to oversee and to control our own camps and the country. The entire empire was observed from within. We collected knowledge and, if needed, acted upon it. Education was the key to discovery, and discovery was the key to control. We assured that almost every ruler of our time, small or big, had an advisor or two working for us. That was an investment of utmost importance. Not even one enemy, internal or external, was safe from our eyes and ears and not even one friend, felt short of our attention. We tended to know everything or very close to that. A friend was not always a friend, and a foe was not always a foe. They could switch the camps at a moment’s notice. All we needed to do was to justify it for them.
What would it take for you to change the side, to look the other way, to lend us a helping hand? What would you like to have; what obstacle would you want to be removed? Who was in your way? We could make you rich beyond your imagination, or we could take your family and hold them until you come to your senses. What was it going to be? What would it take? Talk to us; we listen. Nothing you would say was strange to us. We heard it all and many times over. Did you think we were that naïve? No, we were not, not that much. We were quite experienced in the art of deception, lying, and betraying. We could give the lessons, but we won’t. This knowledge is not for share. This was strictly for private use, just for us. Everyone had a priority, but that could quickly change. Just show them how and what is on the other side.
The sticks and the carrots would do their work all the time. There could be shorter or longer sticks and fatter carrots, but that was up to you to find the right combination. If one of them did not work, increase the size of it until it worked. There should be something somewhere that you want and we can make it happen. There is always a breaking point, and where is yours? Do you want to be happy, happier, more satisfied? Talk to us; let us help. We can make you happier and even save your skin.
On the other hand, punish until it really hearts and bribe, so it really valued. As my grandfather said before and I concur, everyone had a breaking point. It could be big, or it could be small, but it is always there. There are no real heroes in the chambers of palaces. Nothing was as it seemed, so I tried hard to see it as it really was. Being “the ruler” often meant making hard decisions. We decided to be everywhere at once, and it worked to our advantage quite well. You always needed as many eyes and the ears as you could get. Spread your influence and firmly control it. Don’t be too greedy when it comes to spies. Many of them actually worth what you pay and often more. Some of them are unique and priceless. Often, they are the key to winning the war. Be hard when needed and smile when it serves the purpose but always remember them. Although it was a quite expensive approach, we found it comfortable and we rarely lost a war.