Thus Moscow touched the most sensitive chord in the Russians, and for the first time gave that alliance of Novgorod with Kazimir the aspect of treason. These remonstrances influenced a great many people. The Boretskis, however, were more active and determined than most men, and outshouting all others, they declared: “We are not an inheritance of Moscow! We are free! We are for the king!”
War was now unavoidable. Great disasters, according to popular belief, are preceded by wonders. The fall of Novgorod had also its admonishing marvels: A storm broke the cross on St. Sophia. Blood appeared on the graves of two archbishops whom the people had loved. In the Hutin monastery a bell sounded, though no man rang it. In the church of Yevfimia tears dropped from the eyes of an image of the Virgin. A holy hermit went to Novgorod to a feast at the mansion of Martha; all at once, while sitting at the table, he became terrified. At the moment he did not speak of it, but afterward he explained to an anchoret that among the boyars present he had seen some who appeared to be headless, and he mentioned their names. Later the heads of those same boyars were cut off in the struggle with the Grand Prince.
Ivan, calculating every step carefully, acted with decision and with unbending resolve against Novgorod. At first he took counsel with his mother, the metropolitan Philip, and intimate boyars. They advised him to trust in God firmly, to advance against Novgorod and punish it for its treason. After this small, or preliminary council, he summoned a great one, at which appeared his brothers, the bishops of Russia, the subordinate princes, boyars, voevodas, and nobles. Explaining to them the disobedience and treason of Novgorod, he asked: “Shall I march against the place straightway?”
Summer was coming, and the Novgorod country abounded in rivers, lakes, swamps and morasses; former Grand Princes rarely made the march during summer, but the great council, like the small one, decided to confide in the Lord and the Holy Virgin, and [[458]]march with all promptness, making a holy war against the allies of the Pope and the Poles.
On this, as on every occasion, appeared the old rivalry of Novgorod and Suzdal, and the perfect sympathy of Moscow with the consolidation of Russia, under the leadership of its Grand Prince. To this was now added great indignation at Novgorod, for deserting its Orthodox connections. Resting on this sympathy, which even rose to enthusiasm, Ivan sent general commands to move against the city. Notice was given to Novgorod, and troops were requested of Tver and Pskoff. Ivan ordered the campaign as follows: He despatched the boyar, Boris Slaipets, to Vyatka, to attack the Dvina region with warriors from Vyatka. Vassili Obrazets, the Ustyug voevoda, was to join him. To Novgorod, Ivan sent two divisions, one under Holmski with orders to march against Russa and then, joining Pskoff forces, to attack Novgorod’s western boundary; another, under Striga Obolenski, was to attack on the east side. The Grand Prince himself, after giving large alms and praying at the grave of his father, received a blessing from the metropolitan, and on June 20 marched out of Moscow with the main army. With him went Stephen Vorobati, a man deeply read in Russian chronicles, who could remind Novgorod of all its former treaties.
Ivan left Moscow to the care of two of his brothers, and took three with him. At Torjok the Tver forces joined him.
Nature itself seemed to favor the expedition. The summer was unaccountably dry; every soft place had become passable. Warriors and wagons moved over ground on which ordinarily no one could go at that season of the year.
How did Novgorod meet these men moving from three sides? All hope in Kazimir was illusive. Drawn off by other questions, the king took no part whatever in the war between Novgorod and Moscow. Prince Michael, the son of Alexander, who might have helped, received news of the death of his brother, and left immediately, taking his troops with him. He passed through the country like an enemy, extorting taxes with violence, and robbing towns till he touched the boundary.
There was in Novgorod another man hostile to Moscow, Prince Shuiski, a descendant of those Suzdal princes who had lost their lands somewhat earlier. Shuiski was despatched to the Dvina. [[459]]The envoys seeking Pskoff aid received nothing; for the Pskoff men had already yielded to Moscow’s demands, and sent troops to act against Novgorod. Obliged to depend upon their own strength and resources, the Novgorod men did not falter. They equipped a considerable army, and noting Ivan’s blunder in strategy, took advantage of it. His troops, though numerous, were scattered, and were advancing along various roads, without much precaution. The city thought to defeat them in detail by acting with swiftness, and by concentrating forces.
The Novgorod troops marched at once against Holmski, who had taken and burned Russa, and was advancing slowly, while waiting for Pskoff men. Their plan was to crush Holmski before he could be reinforced by the Pskoff army, and then to rout the latter. Meanwhile, the Novgorod horse were moving along the west bank of Lake Ilmen. A part of the warriors had debarked on its southern border, near Korostyno, but the Moscow guard noted this movement quickly, and despatched couriers to Holmski, who struck on the Novgorod foot at once. They fought bravely, but were scattered, because the horsemen, though near, could not help them. The troops sent by the archbishop excused themselves, saying: “We were sent against Pskoff, and not to fight Moscow.” The victors learned also that Novgorod forces, embarked at the mouth of the Pola, were sailing toward Russa, so the Moscow men turned to this town and dispersed the warriors who landed there, thus baffling Novgorod’s plan against Holmski. The Novgorod infantry was scattered and crushed, but the cavalry was uninjured and numerous, forty thousand in all, as reckoned by Moscow, while Holmski’s division was less than one fourth of that number.