“We needed Poland for many things. It was located just right to build a new Horde Ulus, maybe a new Sarai. If we to control Western Europe, we needed to be much closer to it that the Golden Horde on Volga River. It was too far for any serious undertaking. It was too far for anything. The steppes, Volga River, the River Don, Poland, and the last sea. That we could control in many ways, but I would put a few smaller Uluses in between anyway. We need to move the supplies, troops, and the mail in the most efficient way. The smaller camps, caravan Sarais, along the way, is the way to go. That will give us the safety, fresh horses, supplies, repairs, medical care, and the needed rest. I traveled along the Silk Road, and that is how they did it there. It works so well over there. There is no need to fix what works already. Is there? In short, we needed Poland for the base of operations, the supplies, and the slaves. There were many people here.
I needed to position my troops and all supporting services in key locations. It worked out just fine and would cover so many necessary components. There was some resistance, but I had one hundred and twenty thousand regular troops and maybe as many Tatars, not counting the families and the old people following the horde. They always were there providing us with the elements of home when we needed it so badly. In the times of war, one gets lonely, moody, and needs some home feeling. That’s what the accompanying families did for us. And, they also tended for wounded. Yet, we had mobile and stationary hospitals outfitted with Chinese doctors. Some of them constantly moved with us, and some were in permanent Sarais along the way.
Every Tumen had a mobile hospital but the lightly wounded and the injured went to the train to be tended by the families and the older people. It was better for everyone. The badly wounded were in the permanent hospital with a doctor in attendance. Whatever was available, was available for everyone. Everyone was equal in that regard, especially wounded. That’s how we were. That’s what we believed in. We considered everyone a relative, kin, and we never left anyone behind if there was a chance of survival. Anyone deserved that chance. We did not leave the wounded, even if he was not a Mongol, on the field, behind. That would not be right. If there was no chance for survival from a wound or an injury, we made certain that our brother would not be caught by the enemy. Then, we would take him to a Chinese doctor. Torture was not the right way for a Mongol to die, so, the capture was not an option. We, Mongols, would send the brother to the gods through the mercy-killing ritual. Our brother should die an easy death if he had to die. That was the right, everyone’s right. Just go to sleep, and we would hold you all the way to the gods. Please, greet the ancestors for us. Please, tell them that we remember them with enormous respect. We’ll take care of your family, children, rest assured. We had never failed, and the brother always went to the gods. We know that for sure. Our holy men told us that, and they speak to spirits.”
“My soldiers (the advanced guards) had successfully skirted Romania and the Carpathian Mountains popping up around the villages and small towns pillaging them at will. The Romanians rarely resisted to our superior force, so we did not destroy their settlements, not too many of them anyway. We just took what we needed/wanted and went on our way. It was mostly food and horses. We went easy on slavery in that region as well. We had more than enough slaves already. What do we need more for? More could be problematic because we had to take care of them. I had to transfer thousands of slaves back to the Golden Horde and beyond, and that meant guards, supplies, wagons, and the horses. Slaves had to be kept alive and healthy to be worthy of something. Who needs the dead slaves? So, we took only what we needed and never more. That’s the right way. Sometimes local heroes would attack my columns, kill the soldiers, and liberate the slaves. There could be the loved ones in the column; wives, sisters, children, and the lovers. Often, they would take my soldiers as slaves. That’s life for you. One day you are on top, and the other day, you are down. One day you own a few slaves, and now, you are a slave yourself. We never let it slide. We hunted those people down and liberated ours, whoever was still alive. If you have civilians in the column, you cannot go fast, and you leave the trail. We would catch you sooner or later. All that was a colossal waste and on a large scale. It made everything much more difficult, more complicated than it had to be. Back then, I understood that slaves should be taken on the way back. It was much more productive. When you were still going forward, enslave only the ones you really need to sustain your advancing and treat them well. You do not want them to turn against you, not on the move. Get what you need now and mostly, the ones that would like to stay with you if you treated them right. That’s the key. Call them servants and even pay something. Do not upset them too much but befriend them instead.
In many cases, serfs from Eastern Europe were better off with us if they were not the full slaves. They were like a step or two above the station before. The food was better and much more, and we never threatened their lives if they did not break any laws, and they rarely did. The owner of the serf was not allowed to make life and death decision. The tribe leader made that decision, and he usually was more responsible and followed our instructions and the laws. We had quite strict rules about the slaves and the servants, families, inheritance, and your station in life. If the issue was too complicated and people needed to appeal the decision of the tribe leader, they could go even to me. It was forbidden to prosecute the person no matter what he or she was, even a slave unless that person had a chance to defend him/herself. Yet, the owner had some rights, and the slave had to follow the orders. Often, the slave would not understand the law, and we had to explain it. It was not easy, but it was needed. The slave was rarely the winner of the argument, but there were ways to improve the dangerous situation. If the owner of the slave did not do that, we would advise selling the slave to another person but not to kill. The killing did not help anyone in any situation. So, we tried to cool the state of affairs down if it was only possible and not too late. That usually helped, and the condition often improved. Slaves were people too, not as us but, nevertheless, people. Lives were saved, and some of those saved people became a valuable part of us. Still, many of the slaves were punished and even killed. No matter what, but the owner had more rights than the slave, and we liked it that way. That is why one was the owner and the other one — the slave. That’s how it was.