Numerous transformations initiated by Ivan the Terrible affected all spheres of the life of the Russian state. The beginning of the Kazan war turned out to be not at all what the young ruler had hoped: the mistakes of the first campaigns showed the failure of the Russian army, its limitations and inertia. Insufficient mobility, weak weapons, low, on a national scale, number - all this clearly demonstrated the need for new reforms, this time military.

The cost of maintaining the army is perhaps one of the most costly items in state budgets, both in the present and in the past. And the transformations necessary for the army of the 16th century required big money. Therefore, before starting to make changes to the military reorganization, Ivan IV carried out a large-scale tax reform.

The Church suffered the most from the changes in taxation. The young king took away many indulgences and privileges from the monasteries. In particular, tolls on roads and bridges, which constituted their main source of income, were transferred to the treasury.

The system of land taxation was also completely changed. Until 1551, in the Russian state, each region had its own taxes - the difference in the amounts levied was the result of state fragmentation in the past. Each principality had its own tax system, and after the unification of the lands, this discrepancy persisted. And the most important thing in financial reform Ivan the Terrible was the unification of tax collections - throughout the state was introduced one system taxes.

The increase in fees, the introduction of many additional taxes, increased monetary pressure on the peasantry - all this led to an increase in the flow of money into the treasury. However, according to the plan of Ivan the Terrible, the core new army the Russian state should be boyar children - nobles. And for this social stratum, numerous benefits were provided for in the reformed tax system. "Serving people" from now on pay much less from their lands than everyone else, including even monasteries.

First military reforms

The insufficient number and low security of the Russian army gave rise to changes in the recruitment system. According to the new code, from every hundred-fourths of the land, the landowner had to put up one cavalry - in full armor and with weapons. Both the landowner himself and the person put up in his place could go to the army. At will, serving in the army could be replaced by paying a certain amount to the treasury.

In addition, all boyar children entering the army were entitled to state salaries. And to those nobles who exhibited more"service people" than prescribed by the new law, the salary was paid at a double rate.

In addition to noble children, Ivan the Terrible also attracted Cossacks to serve in the army. Donetsk Cossacks became the basis of the country's border troops.

Chosen thousand

In continuation of the strengthening of the nobility in 1550, a decree was signed - a "verdict" - on the displacement of a thousand: several hundred boyar children were endowed with land allotments in the vicinity of Moscow. By this, Ivan IV solved several issues at once - both the arrangement of the nearest lands, and the attraction of "service people", and the creation of "best servants" - a group of nobility loyal to the tsar, ready to support him in any endeavors.

The new landed nobility became the core of the army. At the same time, the service could be inherited, but the provision of the boyar children who joined the troops with horses, weapons, armor and their own warriors lay with the landowners.

Streltsy army

One of the most important military transformations of Ivan the Terrible was the creation of a streltsy army. A special military unit, endowed with special privileges, was called archers because of the latest firearms used - squeaks.

The basis of the army was the townspeople and free peasants, for the transition to the sovereign's service they received not only a salary, but their own small plots of land. In the cities - primarily in Moscow - the archers were allocated their own territory, the so-called Streltsy yard. AT Peaceful time Streltsy served to protect the palace, were engaged in trade and handicrafts. By a special decree, Streltsy yards were exempted from taxes. And to regulate the work of this special army, a separate Streltsy order was created.

Thanks to such benefits and indulgences, the archers became the most privileged branch of the Russian army. And further modernization led to the fact that the archery army became the main support of the throne and the most powerful military unit.

findings

Thanks to the unification and revision of taxation, military spending could be financed directly from the state treasury, and in full. The increase in the number of service nobles ensured the loyalty of the army to the king and made the army a true support of the throne. The change in the recruitment principle ensured not only an increase in the number of troops, but also their fairly uniform armament. And the massive introduction of firearms and artillery significantly increased the combat capability of the Russian army.

The 25-year Livonian War (1558-1583) covered the entire mature period of the reign of Ivan the Terrible. All the advantages and disadvantages of the tsar's policy, contradictions within the state and external factors affected the Russian army.

Opportunity moment

By the 16th century, Livonia entered a period of unrest: social and political disunity in the order's lands had increased to a critical limit. Naturally, the neighbors of the Order - Sweden, Denmark and Russia, who did not differ in peacefulness, reacted to this. The division of the fading Livonia seemed not far off.

One of the predecessors of Ivan the Terrible, Grand Duke Ivan III, early XVI century, he concluded an agreement with the Livonian Order, according to which the Livonians, in exchange for peace, annually paid tribute to Pskov. Ivan the Terrible tightened the terms of the agreement, forbidding Livonia to enter into military-political alliances with third countries. However, in 1558, the Order signed a vassal treaty with the Kingdom of Poland, which was one of the reasons for the Russian Tsar to declare war.

Ivan IV chose a good moment for the invasion. The fragmented and weakened Livonian Order could not offer serious resistance to Moscow, and the neighboring powers had not yet shown any activity. The main hope of the Livonians is a network of fortified castles, which constituted a powerful defensive line capable of long time tie down enemy forces. What Russian army approached the Livonian War?

Structure

Having received royal crown, Ivan IV began to solve the problems of the state's defense capability. The main external threats to Moscow continued to be the Kazan and Crimean khanates, which repeatedly devastated Russian lands. One of the innovations in the Russian army was infantry units armed with firearms and made permanent.

For the most part Russian army it was pretty colorful. It included archers, city Cossacks, gunners, boyar children, stewards, guardsmen and the provincial nobility, who were periodically invited to live in Moscow as the royal praetorian guard.

The army was divided into dozens (not to be confused with a dozen), which were reduced to regiments, which, in turn, united in rati of 7 regiments each. Ten itself was divided into smaller units - hundreds and tens.

The battle formations in the Russian army were as follows. The system-forming link was the Big Regiment - the main striking force of the army, which outnumbered the rest of the regiments in numbers, ertaul - an advanced cavalry regiment used in reconnaissance, a guard regiment, as well as regiments of the Right and Left hands.

Having gathered a 40,000-strong army shortly before the upcoming campaign in Novgorod, the tsar was confident in the upcoming success. Moreover, seemingly impregnable medieval castles they could hardly protect their owners from the rapidly developing and improving artillery in the Russian army.

archers

After the successful experience of using archers against the Kazan Khanate, which fell in 1552, Ivan IV assigned a special place in the Livonian War to this formidable force. The British medievalist David Nicol argued that the archers of the troops of Ivan IV, armed with rifles and cannons, were the first army in the history of Russia.

The archery army, created, according to the chronicler, “in 1550 from elected archers in the amount of three thousand”, received a uniform and weapons: matchlock muskets (squeaked), sabers and reeds - a long petiolate ax with a sickle-shaped blade that could chop, stab or use as a stand for a musket. Gunpowder and lead were issued to the archers from the treasury, and they cast their own bullets.

The English ambassador Giles Fletcher in 1558 also noted other types of weapons of archers - pistols and swords (apparently, broadswords). Of the guns, Fletcher remarked that “the finish of the barrel was very rough work; despite the heavy weight of the gun, the bullet itself was small.

Archers lived in own houses with a garden and a vegetable garden, in their free time they could engage in crafts and even trade, which, according to some historians, brings them closer to the Ottoman Janissaries.

Home life did not at all contribute to the transformation of archers into effective infantry, although during the capture of Kazan and at the beginning Livonian War they were at the forefront of the attackers and showed good combat skills. Chronicles claim that archers were so skillful with their squeakers that they could kill birds in flight.

guardsmen

Oprichniki turned out to be reliable bodyguards of the king, but weak link Russian army. Trained for repressive measures against their own population, mired in violence and depravity, they were unable to fight effectively.

Intoxicated by the initial success in the Livonian War, later the guardsmen lowered their demands on themselves, moreover, a high percentage of desertion was noted in the ranks of the guardsmen. However, in the forefront of the warring "sovereign people" has never been. In case of special need, they acted as trusted tsarist agents, carried out security, investigative, reconnaissance and punitive functions.

After the Crimean Khan Devlet Gerai burned Moscow in 1571, Ivan the Terrible turned his anger on the guardsmen. Having forgotten how to fight and having learned only the habit of robbing, for the most part they simply did not appear at assembly points. As a result, the main leaders of the guardsmen were executed, the rest were exiled to remote settlements.

Cavalry

The main force of the Russian army of the Livonian War should be considered the local cavalry, which was a native of the noble landlord class. Although the government demanded uniformity in the uniforms and weapons of the nobility, each horseman proceeded from his own financial capabilities. At least almost everyone could afford a saber, a helmet and chain mail.

The more affluent armed themselves with arquebuses with a smooth or even rifled barrel, those who were poorer stocked up with pistols. Since firearms often misfired, the local cavalry was also armed with bows. In close combat, a sovnya was usually used - a pole weapon with a straight or curved blade as a tip.

The wealthiest nobles did not fail to reflect their condition on the decoration of weapons: the scabbards of sabers were covered with Moroccan leather and decorated with overlays with precious stones, the hilts of sabers and butts of squeakers and pistols were inlaid with mother-of-pearl and ivory, and armor, helmets and bracers were covered with a graceful notch.

Such equipment often cost a fortune. So, the full armament of the cavalryman of the second half of the XVI century, according to contemporaries, cost him 7-8 rubles. For comparison, in 1557-1558 a small village cost only 12 rubles.

Despite all this glamor, the cavalry was an effective force in the army of Ivan the Terrible. It is this time that is commonly called the golden age of the Russian noble cavalry. The success of horse breeding also played a significant role here. Local nobles often rode the Nogai breed of horses - animals that are not high at the withers, but very hardy and unpretentious in food.

The saddle of the Russian rider had a front pommel tilted forward, and a back pommel backward, which was typical for the saddles of nomadic warriors. This allowed the rider to quickly turn around and effectively use the bow and sword, and the short stirrups favored the delivery of slashing blows with the saber. The spear was not the main weapon of the noble cavalry.

During the Livonian War, Ivan IV quite successfully used the Cossack cavalry. Armed with sabers, daggers, pikes, maces, bows and crossbows, she was more mobile and maneuverable than the local cavalry.

Artillery

The well-proven pishchal in the army of Ivan the Terrible was a universal weapon, it was used by infantry, cavalry, and artillery. There were large-caliber squeakers that were used for firing from behind walls, as well as curtain squeaks that had a leather band for comfortable carrying on the back.

During the reign of Ivan IV, the role of cannons also increased. The British ambassador Fletcher wrote: “Not a single sovereign Christian sovereign has so many cannons as he does, which is confirmed by their large number in the Palace Armory in the Kremlin. All are cast in bronze and are very beautiful.”

The gunners received a considerable salary, although their profession was considered an ignoble business. Streltsy, like other classes, often refused to serve as gunners, and very soon this specialty turned into a hereditary one. Russian gunners have repeatedly demonstrated dedication to their work. During the battles for Wenden (1578) during the Livonian War, no longer able to withdraw their guns from the battlefield, they fired at the enemy to the last, and then hung themselves on ropes attached to the barrels of their guns.

Tactics

The greatest success of the Russian army in the Livonian War was accompanied by the capture of fortresses. This was made possible by both military engineering and the efficient use of artillery. Among the characteristic features of the siege of fortresses, it is worth noting the attack of obstacles by a wide front, by individual detachments, as well as the transfer of the center of gravity during the assault to artillery and the restriction of engineering training to a minimum.

During the Livonian War, she declared herself to the fullest new system formation of battle formations. The old one, based on the principle of specialized regiments, with a strictly fixed place, gave way to a linear one, which corresponded to the specifics of the use of firearms.

Artillery began to be placed in intervals: on the flanks and in front order of battle, while the forces were distributed evenly along the entire front. The interaction between the individual links was achieved by coordinating the actions between the wings and the center.

The basis of the battle order was still the infantry, lined up in several lines. Their number was determined by the rate of fire of the weapon and its ability to ensure the continuity of salvo fire. However, the striking force of the Russian army was the cavalry, which often decided the outcome of the battle in open areas.

Ambiguous result

The first years of the Livonian War passed with a noticeable advantage of the Russian army. In a matter of months, troops led by governors Daniil Adashev, Alexei Basmanov and Ivan Buturlin reached the Baltic Sea. In July 1558, Peter Shuisky captured Derpt, and by autumn, Russian troops subjugated two dozen fortresses, including those that voluntarily came under the authority of the Moscow Tsar.

The strengthening of Moscow caused anxiety among the European monarchs. Thus, the Lithuanian prince Sigismund II, with obvious anxiety, reported to the English Queen Elizabeth: “The Moscow sovereign daily increases his power by acquiring goods that are brought to Narva, because, among other things, weapons are brought here that are still unknown to him ... military experts arrive, through which he acquires the means to conquer everything.”

However, very soon the Russian army began to lose its victorious pace: more and more often it surrendered already conquered cities and more and more thought about a truce. Not the last role in this was played by the lack of a common strategy, as well as the contradictions that have developed in the ruling elite. Moreover, the Crimean Khan began to seriously disturb Russia from the south, and the state was forced to break into two fronts.

The problems do not end there: former comrades-in-arms Sweden and Denmark oppose Russia, England refuses to be an ally of Moscow, and Poland and Lithuania are united in the state of the Commonwealth to jointly fight the Russian invaders. By the beginning of the 1570s, Russia's forces were practically drying up, and the struggle for survival began.

As a result of the war, Ivan the Terrible not only did not annex new lands, but was also forced to give up fortresses that were of strategic importance to Russia. Our country is on the verge of ruin. popular unrest and the discontent of the boyars will very soon lead to dramatic events - the Time of Troubles.

Nevertheless, the military reforms initiated by Ivan the Terrible laid the foundation for the Russian regular army, which acquired its finished form in the era of Peter the Great, turning into one of the most powerful forces in Europe.

Modern historical science cannot exist without close integration with the science of other countries, and informing some scientists and just people who are interested in foreign science is not only a consequence of the globalization of information flows, but a guarantee of mutual understanding and tolerance in the field of culture. It is impossible to understand each other without knowledge of history. Where, for example, do the same British historians and students get acquainted with military history foreign countries and, in particular, the military history of Russia? To do this, they have at their disposal numerous publications of such a publishing house as Osprey (Osprey), which since 1975 has published more than 1000 titles of a wide variety of books on military history both in England and in foreign countries. The publications are of a popular science and serial nature, which allows you to get a comprehensive idea of ​​a particular period or event of military history. The most popular series include publications "Men-at-arms" ("Armed people"), "Campaign" ("Campaign"), "Warrior" ("Warrior"), and a number of others.

The volume of publications is fixed: 48.64 and 92 pages, there are no references to sources in the text itself, but an extensive bibliography is necessarily present. The publications are richly illustrated with photographs, graphic drawings (drawings, armor and fortifications) and - which is a kind of "calling card" of the publishing house - the presence in each of the books of eight color illustrations made by the most famous British illustrators! Moreover, these illustrations are made according to the sketches provided by the author himself, and they indicate with arrows not only the colors and material of the clothes and armor depicted on them, but - and this is the most important - where this or that detail of the drawing is borrowed from. That is, it’s impossible to take and draw “from the head” like that! We need photographs of artifacts from museums, photocopies of drawings from archeological journals, page-by-page links to monographs by famous scientists, so that the degree of scientific content of these books, despite the lack of links directly in the text, is exceptionally high. The text is provided to the publishing house in English, it does not make translations.

As for Russian history, then the publisher's prejudice is completely absent in her attitude, so that in the list of Osprey books you can also find works Russian authors dedicated Seven Years' War and the Civil War of 1918 - 1922, and books written by foreign historians about the army of Peter the Great. Historians did not ignore the early periods of the military history of Russia, and, in particular, such a famous British medievalist as David Nicol. It was in collaboration with him that the author of this article happened to publish a book in the Men-at-Arms series (No. 427) "Armies of Ivan the Terrible / Russian Troops 1505 - 1700" in the Osprey publishing house. Below is an excerpt from this edition, which allows you to get a visual idea of ​​what information the British and, for example, students British universities can get from it on Russian military history and, in particular, the military history of the State of the Russian era of Ivan the Terrible.

Local riders and oprichnik. Illustration by Angus McBride based on sketches by the author and D. Nicol.

“The Streltsy of the Troops of Ivan IV, armed with rifles and cannons, were the first army in the history of Russia. The wars and diplomacy of Ivan III made Muscovy one of the most powerful states in Europe in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, but serious internal and external problems remained. One of the most urgent threats from the east and south was the threat of Tatar raids, while the regional independence of large feudal lords or boyars undermined the power of the Grand Duke from within. For several years, when Russia was actually ruled by the boyars, the young Ivan IV became a hostage to their abuses and self-will; however, when the teenager finally ascended the throne, instead of being content with the title of Grand Duke, he took on the title of " Great king of all Russia" (1547). This was connected not only with the desire to strengthen his royal dignity, but also became a warning to all those who surrounded him that he intended to rule as a true autocrat.

Having become king, Ivan IV tried to solve two of his most pressing problems at the same time. His closest external enemy was the Kazan Khanate. In six previous cases (1439, 1445, 1505, 1521, 1523 and 1536) Kazan attacked Moscow, and Russian troops invaded Kazan seven times (1467, 1478, 1487, 1530, 1545, 1549 and 1550). Now Tsar Ivan ordered the construction of Sviyazhsk, a fortified city and military warehouse on an island on the border with Kazan, to serve as a base for future expeditions along the entire middle reaches of the Volga River. The campaigns of the Russian troops in 1549 and 1550 failed, but Ivan was adamant, and in 1552 the Kazan Khanate was finally destroyed.

First of all, the creation of infantry units armed with firearms contributed to the strengthening of the military power of the Russian state. Now such detachments have been transferred to a permanent basis. According to the chronicle: "In 1550, the tsar created elected archers with squeakers in the amount of three thousand, and ordered them to live in Sparrow settlement." The archers received a uniform consisting of a traditional Russian long-brimmed caftan, reaching to the ankles, a conical cap or a cap trimmed with fur, and They were armed with a matchlock musket and a saber.The berdysh, or a long stalked ax with a sickle-shaped blade, which could both cut and thrust, and which could also be used as a support for a musket, became the archer's second weapon in importance.Gunpowder and lead was issued to them from the treasury, and they cast their own bullets. Their earnings ranged from 4 to 7 rubles a year for ordinary archers, and from 12 to 20 for a centurion or commander of a hundred. From 30 to 60 rubles received a streltsy, "head" or regiment commander While ordinary archers also received oats, rye, bread and meat (mutton), senior ranks were endowed with land plots from 800 to 1350 hectares.

At that time, this was a very high payment, comparable to the salary of the aristocratic, that is, the local cavalry. For example, in 1556 payments for her riders ranged from 6 to 50 rubles a year. On the other hand, horsemen were also paid lump-sum allowances for six or seven years, which allowed them to acquire military equipment. Then they lived on the income from their lands, and their peasants accompanied their masters to war as armed servants. It was the usual feudal system, in which landowners with large estates had to put up more cavalrymen on a campaign.

In peacetime, such landowners lived in their villages, but had to be ready for military service if necessary. In practice, it was difficult for the king to collect large forces in a short time, which is why the archers, who were always at hand, were very valuable. Their number began to grow rapidly from an initial number of 3,000 to 7,000 under the command of eight "heads" and 41 centurions. By the end of the reign of Ivan the Terrible, there were already 12,000 of them, and by the time of the coronation of his son Fyodor Ivanovich in 1584, this standing army had reached 20,000. At first, the Streltsy hut was responsible for the streltsy army, which was soon renamed the Streltsy order. These institutions can be compared with the modern system of ministries, and the first such order is mentioned in 1571.

In many ways, the 16th and 17th century archers in Russia had much in common with the infantry of the Janissaries of the Ottoman Empire, and perhaps their appearance is partly due to their successful experience in wars. Each regiment was distinguished by the color of its caftans, and was usually known by the name of its commander. In Moscow itself, the first regiment belonged to the Stremyannye order, because it served "near the royal stirrup." In fact, it was a regiment of the royal guard, followed by all the other archery regiments. Some other Russian cities also had archery regiments. But the Moscow archers had the most high status, and demotion to "city archers" and a link to " distant cities"It was taken as a very severe punishment.

One of those who personally observed these troops was English ambassador Fletcher, sent to Moscow by Queen Elizabeth I. In 1588, he wrote that the archers were armed with a pistol, a reed on their backs and a sword on their sides. The barrel trim was very rough work; despite the heavy weight of the gun, the bullet itself was small. Another observer described the appearance of the king in 1599, accompanied by 500 guards, dressed in red caftans and armed with bows and arrows, with sabers and reeds. Nevertheless, it is not clear who these troops included: archers, "children of the boyars", junior nobles, or, possibly, stewards or residents - the provincial nobility, periodically invited to live in Moscow as the royal praetorian guard.

Sagittarians lived in their own houses with gardens and orchards. They supplemented the royal salary with the fact that in their free time they worked as artisans and even merchants - again, the resemblance to the later Janissaries of the Ottoman Empire is striking. These measures did not contribute to the transformation of the archers into effective infantry, however, during the assault on Kazan (1552), they were in the forefront of the attackers, and demonstrated good combat skills. The chronicles of the time claim that they were so skilled with their squeakers that they could kill birds in flight. In 1557, a Western traveler recorded how 500 riflemen marched with their commanders through the streets of Moscow to the shooting range, where their target was an ice wall. The archers started shooting from a distance of 60 meters and continued until this wall was completely destroyed.

Oprichnaya army

The most reliable bodyguards of Ivan IV were the guardsmen (also called Kromshniks, from the word except). Russian historians use the word oprichnina in two senses: in a broad sense, this means the entire state policy of the tsar in 1565-1572, in a narrow one, the territory of the oprichnina and the oprichnina army. Then the richest lands in Russia became the territory of the oprichnina, thus providing the king with abundant income. In Moscow, some streets also became part of the oprichnina, and the Oprichny Palace was built outside the Moscow Kremlin. In order to become one of the guardsmen, a boyar or a nobleman underwent a special test in order to weed out everyone who aroused the tsar's suspicions. After enrollment, a person took an oath of allegiance to the king.

The oprichnik was easily recognizable: he wore coarse, monastic-style clothing lined with sheepskin, but under it was a satin caftan trimmed with sable or marten fur. The guardsmen also hung the head of a wolf or a dog * on the horse's neck or on the pommel of the saddle; and on the handle of the whip a bundle of wool, sometimes replaced by a broom. Contemporaries reported that all this symbolized that the guardsmen gnawed at the enemies of the king like wolves, and then swept everything superfluous out of the state.

In Alexandrovskaya Sloboda, where the tsar moved his residence (now the city of Aleksandrov in the region of Vladimir), the oprichnina received the appearance of a monastic order, where the tsar played the role of abbot. But this apparent resignation could not mask their enthusiasm for robbery, violence and unbridled orgies. The king was personally present at the executions of his enemies, after which he had periods of repentance, during which he passionately repented of his sins before God. His explicit nervous breakdown is confirmed by many witnesses, for example, by the fact that in November 1580 his beloved son Ivan was beaten to death. However, the guardsmen were never an effective army of Ivan the Terrible. After defeating Kazan in 1552, Astrakhan in 1556, and some initial successes in the Livonian War against the Teutonic Knights on the coast Baltic Sea, military luck turned away from him. In 1571, the Tatar Khan even burned Moscow, after which the main leaders of the guardsmen were executed.

local cavalry

The main force of the Russian army during this period remained the cavalry, the riders of which were from the noble landlord class. Their income depended on their possessions, so that each rider was dressed and armed as he could afford, although the government demanded uniformity in their weapons: each cavalryman had to have a saber, helmet and chain mail. In addition to or instead of chain mail, a cavalryman could wear a tyagilyai - a thickly quilted caftan with metal scales or plates sewn inside.

Those who could afford it were armed with arquebuses or carbines with a smooth or even rifled barrel. Poor warriors usually carried a pair of pistols, although the authorities urged landlords to purchase carbines as weapons of greater range. Since such weapons took a long time to reload, and gave frequent misfires when firing, cavalrymen, as a rule, also had a bow and arrows in addition to it. The main melee weapon was a spear or owl - a pole weapon with a straight or curved blade as a tip.

Most of the riders had Turkish or Polish-Hungarian sabers copied by Russian blacksmiths. Oriental sabers with heavily curved Damascus steel blades were very popular in Russia at that time. The straight-bladed broadsword was also popular, richly decorated, and was the weapon of noble warriors; its blade resembled European swords, but was narrower than that of a sword from medieval times. Another type of edged weapon was the suleba - a kind of sword, but with a wide, slightly curved blade.

The weapons of the Russian local cavalry were richly decorated. The scabbards of the sabers were covered with Moroccan leather and decorated with overlays with precious and semi-precious stones, corals, and the handles of the sabers and the butts of the squeakers and pistols were inlaid with mother-of-pearl and ivory, and the armor, helmets and bracers were covered with a notch. A large number of weapons were exported from the East, including Turkish and Persian Damascus steel sabers and daggers, Egyptian bowls, helmets, shields, saddles, stirrups and horse blankets. Firearms and edged weapons, and saddles were also imported from Western Europe. All this equipment was very expensive: for example, the full armament of a cavalryman of the 16th century cost him, as contemporaries report, 4 rubles 50 kopecks, plus a helmet worth one ruble and a saber worth 3 to 4 rubles. For comparison, in 1557 - 1558 a small village cost only 12 rubles. In 1569 - 1570, when Russia fell upon terrible famine, the cost of 5 - 6 pounds of rye has reached the incredible price of one ruble.

The term "squeaker" in the Russian army of Ivan the Terrible was more or less common for both infantry and cavalry, and artillery pieces were also called squeakers. There were squeakers - large caliber, used for shooting from behind the walls; and the curtains squeaked, which had a leather band so that they could be worn behind the back. Squeakers were, in fact, the common weapon of the townspeople and people of the lower class, whom the nobles regarded as rabble. In 1546 in Kolomna, where there was a serious clash between people armed with squeakers and horsemen of the local cavalry, the squeaks showed high efficiency, so it is not surprising that the first Russian archers were armed with this particular weapon. But even after the archers became "sovereign people" and proved their worth in battle, the local cavalry rarely used firearms.

horse composition

Despite these strange contradictions, it was this time that became the golden age of the Russian noble cavalry, and this would have been impossible without the improvement of horse breeding. The most widespread in the 16th century was the Nogai breed of horses - small, stiff-haired steppe horses 58 inches high at the withers, the dignity of which was endurance and undemanding food. Stallions of this breed usually cost 8 rubles, a filly 6 and a foal 3 rubles. At the other end of the scale were argamaks, including thoroughbred Arabian horses, which can only be found in the stables of the king or boyars and cost from 50 to 200 rubles.

A typical 16th-century saddle had a pommel tilted forward and a pommel back, which was typical of nomadic saddles, so that the rider could turn to effectively use his bow or sword. This indicates that the spear was not at that time the main weapon of the Russian cavalry, since then its horsemen would have had a different form of saddle. Moscow riders rode with bent legs leaning on short stirrups. There was a fashion for horses, and it was considered prestigious to have expensive ones. Much, and not only saddles, was again borrowed from the East. For example, a whip - a heavy whip or arapnik was named after the Nogais, it is still used by Russian Cossacks.

As for the organization Russian army, then it was the same as in the 15th century. The troops were divided into large formations of the left and right wings, the vanguard and the mounted guards. And it was precisely field formations cavalry and infantry, rather than fixed regiments as in more later times. On the march, the army was under the command of a senior governor, and the governors of lower ranks were at the head of each regiment. War flags, including those of each governor, played important role, like military music. Russian troops used huge brass timpani carried by four horses, as well as Turkish tulumbas or small timpani attached to the rider's saddle, while others had trumpets and reed pipes.

Russian gunners.

16th century artillery

During the reign of Ivan IV, the role of the Moscow artillery, which was led by the Pushkar izba, greatly increased. In 1558, the English ambassador Fletcher wrote: "Not a single sovereign Christian sovereign has so many cannons as he does, which is confirmed by their large number in the Palace Armory in the Kremlin ... all are cast in bronze and are very beautiful." The dress of the artillerymen was varied, but in general it was similar to the caftans of the archers. However, in artillery, the caftan was shorter and was called chuga. The first gunners also used traditional chain mail, helmets and bracers. Their winter clothes were traditionally Russian, folk - that is, a short fur coat and a hat.

During this period of time, there were many talented cannon craftsmen in Russia, such as Stepan Petrov, Bogdan Pyatov, Pronya Fedorov and others. But Andrey Chokhov became the most famous of all: he cast his first pischel in 1568, then his second and third in 1569, all of which were sent to reinforce the defenses of Smolensk. Chokhov cast the first known large-caliber gun in 1575 and again sent it to Smolensk. 12 of his cannons have survived to this day (he made more than 20 in total). Of these, seven are in the State Artillery Museum in St. Petersburg, three in the Moscow Kremlin, and two in Sweden, where they ended up as trophies during the Livonian War. All Chokhov's guns had their own names, including "Fox" (1575), "Wolf" (1576), "Persian" (1586), "Lion" (1590), "Achilles" (1617). In 1586 he created a huge cannon, decorated with the figure of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich on horseback, which became known as the "Tsar Cannon" and which now stands in the Moscow Kremlin. However, the popular belief that large cannons were mainly cast in 16th century Russia is incorrect. The most diverse and diverse guns were cast, which entered service with many fortresses on the eastern border of Russia. There, heavy wall-beaten squeaks were simply not needed!

Gunners or gunners received a large salary, both in cash and in bread and salt. On the other hand, their occupation was not considered a very noble cause, moreover, it required significant experience with no guarantee of success. Streltsy often refused to serve as gunners, and this industry military profession became in Russia more hereditary than others. Russian gunners often showed great devotion to their duty. For example, in the battle for Wenden on October 21, 1578 during the Livonian War, they, being unable to withdraw their guns from the battlefield, fired at the enemy to the last, and then hung themselves on ropes attached to the trunks.

*Due to the fact that this information is a well-known fact, a number of questions arise that the sources of that time do not provide answers to. For example, where did these heads come from, because a lot of them were required for the guardsmen? So you can’t get enough of dogs if you chop off their heads, and you have to go to the forest for wolves, hunt, and then when will you serve the king? In addition, in the summer, the heads had to deteriorate very quickly, and the flies and the smell could not but disturb the rider. Or were they somehow made, and, consequently, for the needs of the guardsmen there was a kind of workshop for the mummification of dog and wolf heads?

Literature
Viacheslav Shpakovsky & David Nikolle. Armies of Ivan the Terrible/ Russian Troops 1505 – 1700. Osprey Publishing Ltd. Oxford, UK.2006. 48p.

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MILITARY REFORM OF IVAN THE TERRIBLE

Tsar Ivan IV and his entourage set themselves the most important tasks to strengthen the centralized Russian state and establish it international importance. For the implementation of ambitious geopolitical plans, it was necessary effective tool. Global state reforms of Ivan IV the Terrible, the emergence of new types of weapons, constant military threats from the south, west and east, complex economic situation determined the originality of the reforms of the armed forces, covering the period from 1550 to 1571.

CREATION OF REGULAR MILITARY UNITS

To organize personal protection in 1550, the king creates a formation of archers numbering three thousand people. The Streltsy Corps was recruited from the common people and "free hunting" people. All soldiers without exception were armed with firearms. There were no analogues to this professional army of shooters anywhere in Europe. The Streltsy army in its composition had six articles, 500 people each. Three orders-divisions performed various functions:

• the stirrups guarded the court and made up His Majesty's personal escort;
• Moscow served in the capital's "huts" (orders);
• city ​​guards served in garrisons on the southern and western borders.

For each order, a uniform uniform and banner were relied upon. The first mention of the participation in the hostilities of the streltsy rati falls on the Kazan company of 1552. At the end of the reign of Ivan the Terrible, the number regular troops reached 20 thousand people.

"SELECTED THOUSAND"

The tsar rightly assumed that the strengthening of the autocracy was possible only with the help of a new estate. The reforms of Ivan IV the Terrible needed a serious lobby in the person of the Moscow landlords. From petty feudal lords, courtyard people living in the capital and its environs, the king forms a special military unit. The sons of landowners-nobles and boyars received state land plots from him, and for this they pledged to carry out military service.

According to the first order, the "thousands" were for military service. In peacetime, the maintenance of the troops was carried out from the landowners' own funds, and in wartime - at the expense of the treasury. The creation of the "chosen thousand" was of great political importance:

• small landowners-nobles and boyar children were equalized in official position with the descendants of the noble nobility;
• the relationship between the government and the local nobles, who formed the basis of the militia, was strengthened;
• cadres were created for the formation in the future of a whole class of "service people of the Moscow list".

In total, 1070 nobles entered the service.

LOCAL LIMITATION

The monopoly of the princely-boyar nobility on leading positions in the army and state administration acted in a corrupting way on military people. This was clearly manifested during the first campaign against Kazan, during which the tsar had to convince the princes to act under a single command.

The tsar intended to abolish parochialism altogether. Effective Leadership troops should be carried out by a talented commander, and not be a duty inherited. But for its time it was too bold an idea.

The military reform of Ivan the Terrible determined the strict subordination of the commanders of the regiments, simplified the leadership of the military unit and nullified class disputes in the conditions of hostilities. Despite the obvious advantages of the regulations of 1550, this innovation was poorly perceived by the offspring of noble nobles. Localism did not immediately give up its positions, and the government periodically had to confirm the legitimacy of this decision.

REGULATION ON MILITARY SERVICE

In 1555-1556, the military reform of Ivan the Terrible entered the next stage. The new "Code of Service" introduced a mandatory military service for children of feudal lords from the age of 15. Young men up to this age were called undergrowths, and those who again entered the service were called novices. conscription was inherited and was for life.

Mobilization rules were established. For every 50 acres of land, the feudal lord had to put up one fully equipped equestrian warrior. The owners of especially large estates were obliged to bring armed serfs with them.

The code determined the order of subordination of military leaders. The first codes were drawn up that determined the rules of service. Reviews and gatherings were held periodically. A nobleman who did not appear at the review was severely punished. These measures made it possible to have a combat-ready and well-equipped army in conditions of continuous wars.

CENTRAL TROOP CONTROL SYSTEM

The economic weakness of the state, the lack of infrastructure and the length of the territories led to the creation of a rigid system of command and supply for the army. To control the troops, the following structures-orders were created:

• bit - in war time carried out mobilization and actually performed the functions of the General Staff.
• Streletsky.
• Pushkarsky;.
• Order of the Great Parish.
• Order of cash distribution.

At the head of the orders were trusted governors. The results of the reforms of Ivan the Terrible had a significant impact on the overall combat readiness of the Moscow rati. By creating a centralized command and control apparatus, Russia is far ahead of Europe in this respect.

DEVELOPMENT OF ARTILLERY

The military reform of Ivan the Terrible affected the "Gunshot attire", which existed since 1506. State needs required a large number of new types of guns and ammunition. At the beginning of the Livonian War, the Russian army managed to capture a colossal arsenal. Realizing the shortage of foundry specialists, the Russian Tsar turned to Charles V and Queen Elizabeth with a request to send experienced craftsmen to Russia. The embargo, carried out at the suggestion of the Livonians and the Commonwealth against Muscovy, did not allow Ivan Vasilyevich's plans to be fully implemented.

However, on British and Danish ships, samples of new weapons and specialists still got to Russia. The recruitment and involvement of captured masters of firearms was also carried out. During this period, German masters begin to play a leading role. Kasper Ganus, Andrey Chokhov's teacher, is more famous than others.

Military production grew steadily. The cannon yard cast 5-6 large-caliber guns a year. In the 1560s, the foundation was laid for the manufacture of the same type of guns and ammunition for them. Subordination appears in artillery crews.

In 1570, the Cannon Order was created. For the greatest effectiveness in combat use and standardization in production, artillery is classified. The main types of guns were:

• bombards ("guns");
• mortars ("mounted guns");
• squeaked.

It was during this era that the largest tools were created. The crowning achievement of Russian gunsmiths was the creation of the Tsar Cannon and the first breech-loading gun in history. An analysis of sources, including foreign ones, allows us to state with confidence that the military reform of Ivan the Terrible allowed Russia to create the most advanced and numerous artillery fleet in Europe. By the end of the century, there were more than 5 thousand guns.

ORGANIZATION OF THE WATCH SERVICE

They could not but touch upon the reforms of Ivan IV the Terrible, the arrangement of the protection of the external borders of the state. In 1571, the "Charter of the guard and stanitsa service" was approved. The appearance of this document is an indicator of the high level of Russian military-theoretical thought of that era. Developed by Prince M. I. Vorotynsky, the regulations border guard determined the strict order of bearing the guard. The duty of the border guards lasted from April 1 to November 30. The charter ordered the governors of the border towns to send specially trained people to carry out sentinel service. First time on state level the Cossacks were involved in the protection of the borders.

REFORMS OF IVAN THE TERRIBLE AND THE COMPLETION OF THE ORIENTALIZATION OF THE RUSSIAN ARMY

The pre-reform army was well prepared to fight the lightly armed irregular formations of the Tatars and Ottomans. However, formed on the basis of the militia principle, the armed forces turned out to be completely incapable of resisting the Western European military system of the Commonwealth. This resulted in a series of military disasters. As a result, from expansion to westbound had to refuse.

Decades of military reforms have borne fruit. Elements of a regular army and an effective administrative apparatus began to emerge in Russia, and powerful rear structures were formed. To summarize what the military reforms of Ivan the Terrible achieved, it can be briefly summarized in one phrase - a efficient army for active foreign policy activities.

The core of the staffing of the Russian army in the XV century. there remained the grand ducal court, consisting of small service people (boyars and "children of the boyars"). Over time, the grand ducal court increased significantly and turned into a grand ducal army.

Second integral part were the "city regiments". They were recruited from the townspeople. Their basis was the "Moscow army", i.e. troops manned by artisans, merchants, and other sections of the inhabitants of Moscow.

The third part was the "chopped army", i.e. army collected from a certain amount of cox. This army was also called "straight army" and it was put up by the rural population according to the established calculation.

The fourth component of the Russian army was the Cossack troops. Already from the second half of the XIV century. Mention is made of Cossack watchmen who carried out surveillance along the Khopr and Don, Bystraya and Tikhaya Sosna, and other rivers. A line of fortified cities arose, defended by "city Cossacks". The guard service was carried out by the village Cossacks. One warrior from 20 yards was exhibited for the stanitsa service. Chronicles also noted the "zasechnaya guard" that defended the border fortifications.

The fifth component of the army were mercenary detachments of foreigners. At that time, on a contractual basis, military service was carried out by "serving Tatar princes", "Horde princes", " Lithuanian princes"and others with their combatants.

The Russian army of this period had two main types of troops: the "forged army" and the "ship's army". The forged army is a cavalry staffed with well-armed horsemen. The ship's army - infantry, most which was "chopped army". The infantry was called the ship's army because, as a rule, it made a trip on ships along the rivers.

The organization of the troops for the campaign and battle consisted of a division into regiments: sentry (advanced), large, right and left hands and ambush (reserve).

The regiments were commanded by regimental governors, who were appointed by the great Moscow prince. Several governors were assigned to each regiment, one of which was the chief. The appointment of governors was not based on their military qualities, but on the basis of nobility of origin (localism). The "sovereign of all Russia" reserved the general command and carried it out personally or appointed a large governor.

The military reforms carried out by the government of Ivan IV played an important role in the development of the Russian army. They corresponded to the prevailing conditions of the fight against an external enemy and were carried out in the following areas of military affairs: the creation of central control bodies - orders and the organization of centralized command in the army; streamlining the system of troop recruitment and military service in it; the creation of a new permanent army armed with handguns (streltsy troops); the allocation of an artillery detachment to an independent branch of the armed forces; the birth of engineering equipment of the battlefield; centralization of the supply system; creation of a permanent guard service on the southern border.

Among the most important measures that were carried out by the government of Ivan the Terrible, one should include the creation by him centralized system military administration in the state. In the system of military control of the Russian army in the XV-XVII centuries. the general leadership was exercised by the king. Direct management of individual issues of construction and training of the armed forces was concentrated in the orders. The highest body of military command was the Discharge Order. The discharge order was in charge of accounting for service people, their appointment to positions, their service, prepared calculations of the required forces and means for each campaign. The functions of the Discharge Order also included the organization of the coastal (stanitsa, guard, security) service at the border lines. In wartime, the Discharge Order carried out the collection of the entire army, its formation by regiments, including the appointment of governors and their assistants, as well as the general leadership of military operations. In accordance with the tasks, a war plan was developed. Importance given preparation for it. In advance, in accordance with the choice of the object for the attack, weapons and food were brought to certain cities. In advance, a point for collecting troops was planned and the time and procedure for making a march to the intended object were carefully developed. Maps were used to develop the plan. Depending on the nature of the forthcoming hostilities, regiments were formed in ranks at the gathering place of military men ("discharge" - distribute regiments). Each army had at least three regiments. After the review, the troops marched.

The Streltsy order was in charge of the archers and city Cossacks, the Pushkar order was in charge of the production, storage and distribution of guns, gunpowder and shells, accounting and distribution of gunners and other service people of the Pushkar rank (pishchalniks, collars, blacksmiths, carpenters), construction and repair of fortresses among cities and fortresses and fortified lines (engineering), armor - the manufacture of weapons.

An important role in the centralization of command and control of the armed forces was played by the formation in 1550 of the "chosen thousand." In peacetime, "thousanders" were sent out as city commanders or siege heads to border cities, appointed by commanding officials to patrol beyond the notch lines and to build cities and border fortifications. During the hostilities, a significant number of them became regimental governors, heads - hundreds, archers and Cossacks, governors of the "land" rati, convoy, outfit, etc. There were many "thousanders" among the commanders of the sovereign's regiment and in the retinue of the king. "Thousanders" were sent in front of the troops on the march as lodgers, they also monitored the condition of roads, bridges and transportation. Through them, in peacetime and wartime, relations were maintained with the army and city governors. "Thousanders" stood at the head of orders, were governors and volosts (chiefs over this or that volost).

As a result, not only did another armed formation appear in the hands of the central government, but a kind of executive agency, designed to implement the military policy of the government on the ground.

The organization of centralized control in it contributed to a large extent to the increase in the combat readiness of the troops of Ivan the Terrible. The sovereign of "All Russia" reserved the general command of the entire army and exercised it personally. If the sovereign was absent, then the great governor commanded. He was also the first commander of a large regiment. Separate parts of the army were headed by governors. Each regiment had two or three governors, with one of them being the chief. In addition to regimental voivodes, voivodes from the outfit (chief of artillery), a "walking" voivode (head of a "walk-city"), and an ertaul voivode (head of intelligence) were also appointed. After the governors were "heads". Below them are centurions, half-sotniki, foremen of each kind of troops.

A very important role for the centralization and better command and control of troops on a campaign and in battle was the establishment of a system of subordination of governors in the army. According to the "verdict" of the tsar with the metropolitan and the boyars on localism in 1550, the first (large) governor of a large regiment was the commander of the army. The first governors of the advanced regiment, the regiments of the right and left hands and the guard regiment stood below the large governor of the large regiment. 2nd Voivode of a Large Regiment and 1st Voivode of a Regiment right hand were equal. The governors of the forward and guard regiments were considered equal to the governor of the regiment of the right hand. The governors of the regiment of the left hand were not lower than the first governors of the forward and guard regiments, but lower than the first governors of the regiment of the right hand; the second voivode of the regiment of the left hand stood below the second voivode of the regiment of the right hand. Thus, all the governors of other regiments were subordinate to the large (first) governor of a large regiment (commander of the army). The governors of all the other four regiments were equal among themselves, and equal with the second commander of a large regiment. The exception was the voivode of the regiment of the left hand, who stood below the voivode of the regiment of the right hand. The subordination of the first regimental governors corresponded to the subordination of the second governors, etc., and within each regiment, the second, third governor, etc. were subordinate to the first governor.

Also from 1550, when appointed to command positions began to take into account not only the nobility and wealth of the family, but also military merits.

Simultaneously with the appointment of a large voivode, he received a royal order from the Discharge Order. The order said: with whom to wage war; from which cities and counties to service people to participate in the campaign; when and where to assemble for individual regiments and the entire army; who should command individual regiments, detachments, etc., as well as manage the distribution of salaries and all sorts of supplies. The order gave the routes of movement of individual regiments and the entire army, a plan of military operations. Together with the order, the big voivode of a large regiment was given a rank - a military list of military people and a voivode for regiments. Each of the first regimental commanders received a special order, which, in relation to his regiment, indicated the composition of the regiment, its route of movement, the functions of the governor, etc.

For current work clerks were appointed to help the governors. These clerks, together with their assistants (clerks), wrote orders, kept combat logs, "kept in charge of the sovereign's treasury." They formed the headquarters of the army, which received in the XVI century. the name "discharge tent".

Of great importance for the development of the armed forces of Russia was the streamlining of the system of recruitment and military service in the local army.

Concerning the problem of changes in the system of recruitment and organization of the Russian army in the 16th century, it should be noted that arose in the 15th century. the local system of manning the troops was finally formed and was fixed by decrees of Ivan the Terrible.

In 1555, the Code of Service was published, which equalized estates and estates, declared the military service of estates and nobles obligatory and hereditary, determined their job responsibilities depending on the size of the land holdings.

For service, a land allotment ranging in size from 150 to 3 thousand hectares was given. In addition to the land allotment, a monetary allowance was supposed, depending on the category - from 4 rubles. up to 1200 rubles, which was given to them when they went on a campaign or two years later for the third.

From every 100 four (about 50 acres) of good land, one warrior "in full armor, on a long campaign with two horses" was to go on a campaign. In this case, during military campaigns, it was provided for the provision of monetary support for the soldiers. The estate passed from father to son. When he was 15 years old, he was recorded in the "ten" (service list) and became a "novok". Reviews were periodically held to record and check the service nobles. This order also extended to the city Cossacks, who began to receive estates on the borders.

The local troops also included the Tatar nobility, who went over to the service of the Moscow sovereign and received estates from him.

The local army was the basis of the Russian army and constituted the main branch of the army - the cavalry. The introduction of the local system made it possible to significantly increase the number of troops. If necessary, the Moscow sovereign could mobilize from 80 to 100 thousand horsemen. The best part of the local cavalry was the royal regiment (up to 20 thousand people).

The second component of the Russian army of the XVI century. there was infantry, it was made up of: foot city Cossacks, walking people (staff), archers.

City Cossacks are being developed as a new branch of the army under Ivan IV. They were recruited by the government from free (“eager”) people. City Cossacks were usually called by the name of the city in which they served. Cossacks lived in families, received a monetary salary and were endowed with land. Their service life was not determined. Entire Cossack detachments (villages) from the Don, Volga, Yaik and Terek were involved in the service. When entering the service, the guarantee of at least 10 old-timers of the Cossacks and the obligation "to the sovereign tsar not to change" were required. The city Cossacks were on horseback and on foot, they served with their weapons. They existed until late XVII in.; their number by that time reached 7 thousand people. Foot Cossacks, in essence, did not differ from the position of the archers. Organizationally, they were divided into devices (detachments) of 500 people. Many of them received estates for their service, becoming local Cossacks. City Cossacks should not be confused with the Cossacks who lived in the border steppes.

In the XVI century. Linear Cossacks were also born. January 3, 1570 is considered to be the beginning of the service of the Cossacks to the Russian Tsar. On that day, with the boyar Ivan Novosiltsev, a royal letter was sent to the Cossacks living along the banks of the Don, in which they were invited to enter the service of the sovereign. The Don Cossacks gave rise to other Cossacks that arose at the same time, in the 16th century: Terek, Grebensky, Siberian and Yaik.

The field army (field people) gathered in a certain amount from the plow - this was the name of the unit of taxation. Often, one person from 50, 20, 10 and even 5 or 3 households was included in the field army. Pososhnye people were exhibited on horseback and on foot at the age of 25 to 40 years. They were distinguished by good health, were able to shoot well from bows and squeakers and ski. The forces of the field people carried out military engineering work on the construction of roads and bridges, transported ammunition and food, transported artillery pieces and installed them.

The "Code" also equated in relation to the service of landowners with votchinniks, that is, the state service of votchinniks became as obligatory as the service of landowners. This meant, in fact, the elimination of the feudal militia as such.

In the XVI century. under the leadership of Ivan the Terrible, as part of the strengthening of the Russian state, transformations were carried out in the field of recruitment, armament and organization of the Russian army. He created a new permanent army, armed with handguns (streltsy army).

The reform began with the release of the Code of Service, according to which, for the first time, permanent formations were created at the state level - archery regiments (articles, orders). Archers organizationally appeared in 1550, when a detachment of 3 thousand people was organized. The detachment was reduced to six articles (orders) of 500 people each, and the last hundreds, fifty, dozens.

Military training was born in the archery detachments and hundreds. The archers were trained in formation and firing from the squeaker. They knew how to "dig into ditches" (Western mercenaries did not do this because it was not "unpaid work"), shoot from squeakers, etc.

A special cavalry detachment was formed from the best archers. These archers were called stirrups, guarded the royal palace and usually accompanied the sovereign. At the end of the XVI century. there were up to 12 thousand archers. Of these: 2 thousand stirrups; 5 thousand Moscow foot soldiers; 5 thousand policemen.

The new army, consisting of archers, had some elements of a regular structure: being in the service in peacetime and wartime, permanent state content, weapons of a uniform type, organized combat training.

In relation to the branches of the military, the archers were infantry. An insignificant part of the streltsy army was cavalry, called stirrup archers. According to the place and conditions of service, the streltsy army was divided into "elective" (Moscow) and city (served in other cities). By the end of the XVI century. the archery army as a whole numbered 20-25 thousand people. In peacetime, the archers carried out garrison and guard duty, guarded the border, in wartime they took part in the most important campaigns and battles. The archers received their baptism of fire during the siege and capture of Kazan in 1552

In addition to archers, city Cossacks, linear Cossacks, gunners (as already mentioned), as well as zatinshchiki and collars, carried out permanent service in the Russian army.

Zatinshchiki (from the word "zatin" - the space behind the fortress wall) are service people who served the fortress artillery. Collars were intended to protect the gates of cities and fortresses.

The Tatars and some other eastern peoples, subordinate to the Moscow government, in case of war supplied special cavalry detachments for joint operations with the Moscow troops.

The merit of the king is that the artillery stood out as an independent branch of the armed forces. "Outfit", that is, artillery, was the third component of the Russian army in the 16th century. By the middle of the XVI century. servicemen of the Pushkar rank are organized into a special part of the army, first subordinate to the Discharge Order, and since 1577 - to the Pushkar Order, which was in charge of the affairs of the outfit. The term "gunners" was adopted by the artillerymen of the Russian state in the first half of the 16th century, before the march on Kazan. Gunners served in the artillery at first for life, and from the second half of the 16th century. - 25 years. The government encouraged service in the attire of gunners and tinkers who had the necessary knowledge and skill. They had benefits. They were recruited mainly from free artisans. Their service was inherited: the father passed on knowledge to his son. The gunners who served the guns, and all those who served in the attire (artillery) received bread and cash salaries, and sometimes land plots. They lived, like the archers, in cities, in Pushkar settlements, they had the right to engage in crafts. In addition to servicing guns, in peacetime, gunners were engaged in the manufacture of saltpeter, gunpowder, shells, carried out guard duty, and carried out various kinds of military engineering work. The carpenters and blacksmiths who were with the tools and monitored their serviceability were also attributed to the service people of the Pushkar rank. Artillery was divided into fortress, designed to protect cities, siege - wall and field artillery with medium and light guns.

Under Ivan IV, the troops gathered for the campaign were divided into rati, each of which acted independently. The composition of the troops included from 3 to 7 regiments for various purposes: large, right and left hands, advanced (vanguard), guard (rearguard), ambush (reserve), ertaul (reconnaissance). These main, consolidated regiments (as in the XIV-XV centuries) were composed of smaller units, also called regiments, bearing the names of the localities and cities where they were recruited. The latter were divided into "thousands", "hundreds", "fifty" and " tens".

The organization of the Russian army, retaining in the main its old forms, adapted them to the new requirements of strategy and tactics. Thus, archery orders were poured into the consolidated regiments - the main organizational and tactical units, main task which was to increase the firepower of this consolidated regiment as a whole. The firepower of the regiments, in addition, was strengthened by the creation of regimental artillery (for example, 6–8 guns were included in a streltsy regiment).

The guns that were in reserve (in storage) were used in wartime for a special outfit. Service people were assigned to them, a special governor was appointed, and the outfit was included in the large regiment. For the duration of the battle, this outfit was distributed to other regiments and it served as field or siege artillery.

The fourth element was "Gulyai-gorod" (mobile field fortification). In fact, the specially trained personnel of the "walk-city" was the germ of the engineering troops. Shelter "walk-city" is a light mobile protective equipment, assembled from wooden shields, transported on wheels in summer and on skids in winter. Archers and gunners fired through the loopholes of the "walk-city". Its use allowed the most effective use of firearms in field combat. As a matter of fact, engineering equipment of the battlefield appeared in Russian military art, consisting of a wooden shield cover.

The "walk-city" assembled from shields could be stretched at the front from 3 to 10 km. For the construction of the fortification, its assembly and movement, permanent people (carpenters) were used. Supervised the construction of "walking cities", fortresses, siege work "rozmysly" (engineers).

In addition, for example, during the siege of Kazan, under the leadership of the Russian engineer clerk I. Vyrodkov, a combat tower was built. It was 13 meters high, 7 meters wide and 16 meters long. It had three tiers of loopholes. Archers with squeakers and guns were placed in each tier. In total, there were 50 archers, 10 large guns and 50 hand and squeakers in the towers. The fortress was shelled daily from the tower. From this fire, the besieged suffered heavy losses in manpower. But the main thing was that a system of parallels was built around Kazan, which made it possible to bring troops to the fortress for an assault. This system was applied in the West only 50 years later. Two lines of parallels were fortified with tours, they sheltered the troops intended for the assault.

An important role in increasing the combat capability of Ivan the Terrible's troops was also played by the partial centralization of his supply system.

In the XVI century. in the mercenary armies of European countries, there was a so-called "canker" supply system, in which the warring armies were followed by convoys of merchants (cankers) who sold food and fodder to the soldiers. The troops usually took stocks of nuclei and gunpowder with them for the entire period of hostilities.

In Russia, the mercenary army and the accompanying "candidate" supply system have not received distribution. According to the "Regulations on the service of 1555" the local army was staffed by "service people" who were obliged to go on a campaign "horse and armored". For their economic (material) support in the campaign, "people in the koshna" were allocated from the estates. The archery army, gunners, city Cossacks and the militia of dependent people were provided at the expense of the state treasury. The stocks of weapons, ammunition, food and fodder prepared for them by the state were usually transported behind the army along peasant carts or river (sea) vessels rented from private individuals. Only in the 17th century as the so-called regiments of the "new system" were deployed in the armed forces of the Russian state, the bulk of the troops were transferred completely to centralized state material support.

The achievements of the government of Ivan IV include the establishment of a permanent guard service (“notch lines”) on southern borders(creation of the first border units), where the Crimean Tatars raged.

This circumstance forced the government of Ivan the Terrible to reorganize the border service, which was carried out under the leadership of the governor M. Vorotynsky. At the beginning of 1571, "children of the boyars" and Cossack villagers, who carried out border service there, were summoned to Moscow from the southern border towns. The meeting ended with the drafting of the "Sentence on the village and guard service." According to the "Sentence", the protection of the border was assigned to the outposts ("watchmen") and the so-called villages. The exhibiting of the "watchman" was envisaged annually from April 1 until winter. The most southern cities Russian state - Putivl and Rylsk. Outposts were to be sent out from these and other cities for a period of six weeks, taking into account travel time. Then the second outpost was sent for the same period, followed by the third, then the first again, but for a period of a month. It was strictly forbidden to leave your post before the arrival of the shift. In this case, "villages" were called mobile detachments for the protection of the border. The "verdict" established that each large city should send eight "villages". The "stanitsas" were sent on patrol in turn, for a period of two weeks, from the 1st to the 15th day of each month. Four months later, on August 1, the "Stanitsy" left for the second time and carried patrol until December 1. The city Cossacks, as well as the local townsman and peasant population, were involved in the guard and stanitsa service.

Thus, the military reforms carried out by the government of Ivan IV corresponded to the prevailing conditions for the struggle against an external enemy. They allowed him to have a fairly disciplined and numerous national army, including a permanent infantry force. In the XVI century. the armed forces of Russia consisted of the local cavalry, archers, city Cossacks, the militia of "subsistence