Voivode of the Yertaul. Cavalry Reconnaissance Regiment

Several years ago we parted with Yuri Kotlov—our contemporary—on yet another turn of the harsh life in medieval Russia. Escaping the pursuit of enemies, he changed his name and hid far from Moscow. Fortune smiled: a noble patron raised Yuri to the rank of boyar (the novel “Boyar Honor”).

A few years passed. The diligence of the new boyar Georgy Mikhailov in carrying out important assignments of the Vologda governor-boyar Pleshcheev and the Moscow nobles at the court of the Grand Prince became known to the ruler. Vasily III summoned boyar Mikhailov to the palace and appointed him voivode of a combined regiment of landed militia. Meanwhile, to the southern borders—with fire and sword—marches the army of the Crimean Khan Magmet-Girey. Skillfully placing experienced fighters and using military tricks, the voivode accomplishes combat tasks with little bloodshed.

A capable voivode is welcomed by the ruler, who entrusts him—with the yarlyaul—to repair fortifications at the Lithuanian border. But peace didn’t last long. Again, now in the battle near the fortress of Opochek, voivode Mikhailov applies in practice Svorov’s science of winning “not by numbers, but by skill” as part of the prince of Rostov’s army.

The voivode’s merits are highly valued: the ruler grants him a princely title and lands. The prophecy of the secret Book of Fates, found in a dungeon, comes true…