CHAPTER IV
A wide river of conflagration, devastation and death stretched across ancient Rus. The terrible Mongol Horde from the far off steppe lands of Asia had secretly and suddenly swooped down upon the country and for many centuries afterwards undermined it at its very roots causing the disintegration of the fabric of its national life. The first cities to fall were Kiev, Kaniv and Pereyaslav, which were razed to their foundations. The same fate befell thousands upon thousands of other cities, towns and villages. The redoubtable chief commander of the Mongols, Batu-Khan, nicknamed Batiyem, led his horde of one hundred thousand, driving before him about four times as many prisoners, gathered as he moved, who were forced to fight for him in the front lines of battle. He advanced, distending this forcible army along the entire breadth of Rus, treading up to his knees in blood. It was impossible to even attempt a united resistance against this vast army, especially since Rus had become impoverished and divided against itself, torn by civil quarrels arising out of the dissensions among her ruling kings and other self-seeking factions in the various provinces.
Here and there the city dwellers endeavored to stem its progress by closing the gates of their cities, guarded by massive walls and fortifications. The Mongols often lost considerable time in breaking down these ramparts. But feebly held cities were rendered defenseless far more frequently through treason and bribery than mere weakness of their fortifications.
The goal of the dreadful Mongol Horde was the Uhri
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