The change of communities is a natural part of the biology of ecosystems, therefore, all those territories that were once borrowed by man from the forest for arable land, being abandoned, are gradually returning to the wild nature. But not always in the fields the forest simply re-grows. Some low-lying areas, being deprived of a root frame, gradually become swampy, on others natural meadows with dense herbs appear. First of all, everything depends on the soil and on the surrounding forests, that is, where, in fact, the onset of the forest begins.
Photo by Ilya Viner
One of the most active in the development of new territories is lupine. This is a whole genus of plants, however, in the European part of Russia, the most common lupine is multi-leaved.

Photo by Ilya Viner
Originally distributed in the northern part of the USA and Canada, this species was brought to Europe for the beauty of flowers and useful qualities (lupine tubers accumulate nitrogen, so the plant is considered useful as animal feed, green manure or just as an ornamental plant. However, lupine has one serious disadvantage - it completely crowds out other plants, not least because of the height and broad leaves.For Norway and Finland, lupine has become a real disaster, displacing plant biodiversity in the already scarce near-forest areas and meadows.Now in these countries, as well as in Norway, he forbidden for planting, sometimes especially powerful thickets are specially destroyed.
In Russia, many-leaved lupine can often be found in country and village gardens. From there, it enters the roadsides, empty fields and quickly spreads to the nearest territories.

Photo by Ilya Viner

Thickets of lupine prevent the advance of the forest, because under the shade of the leaves, young trees do not receive enough light. By the way, similar, but natural for central Russia, is Ivan-tea and common gout.

A field overgrown with common goutweed and multi-leaved lupine. Photo by Ilya Viner

Lupine multileaf on sandy soil. Photo by Ilya Viner.

Lupine bushes appear first in spring and immediately close the light to other plants.

The rhizome system protects the forest from soil erosion and waterlogging. On the fields cleared of the forest, this process resumes again, and if special work is not carried out (which are usually included in the agricultural cycle), a lowland swamp is formed on the site of an abandoned field, sedges appear, midges are hatched, amphibians appear, and with them semiaquatic birds.

A swampy field in which a lapwing has already settled. Photo by Ilya Viner.

Following the sedge, wetlands are overgrown with willow

On dry hills, where there is a lot of light, if the field area was not too large, the former fields are simply overgrown with forest: pine, spruce or birch forest. The wind and birds carry the seeds and a dense forest of small pines or fir trees grows. Then the fiercest struggle for survival begins - who will be the first to stretch out and close the light to other trees. But in dry hot summers, the highest ones die, and those that are partially covered by elongated brothers, on the contrary, survive.

Young pine trees in an overgrown field.

Young spruce forest on the outskirts of the field.

Most likely, a few years ago there was a woodpecker's forge.

June, forest, field, road
June is a great time to go somewhere, for example, to the South of the Moscow Region, to walk along the roads through the forests and fields and do a little.

It's time to talk about a wonderful June walk along the roads through forests and flowering fields in the south of the Moscow region in the Ozersky and Stupino districts. This walk along the forest and field roads took place 2 years ago.

This time the hike started from the village of Boyarkino in the Ozersky district of the Moscow region.

Boyarkino is a neat village. There are houses with signs "House of Exemplary Content".

By the way, no one needs an old house in excellent condition.

In the village of Boyarkino, a T-34 tank stands on a pedestal. On the cannon there are colored ribbons of the newlyweds.

The formidable tank reminds everyone that in the village of Boyarkino, Mikhail Efimovich Katukov, Marshal of Armored Forces, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, was born and graduated from elementary school.

Goats graze very nicely near the houses in Boyarkino.

One of the attractions of the village of Boyarkino is the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord in the old hospital building.

From the village of Boyarkino we pass through the village of Sentsovo and along a country road we rush into the fields and forests.

Here it is Free-will!

Forbs on the sides of the field road. The carnation grass is pleasing to the eye.

We pass by a small lake.

Amazing flowers grow on the edges of forests.

These are cuckoo's tears or spotted orchis.

Cuckoo's tears or spotted orchids are from the orchid family. In ancient times, sorcerers prepared a love potion from orchid roots.

Forget-me-nots are blue along the edges of the field road.

The road dives into the birch forest.

Here on the map on the left is somewhere a forest lake.

Went to take a look.

But the forest lake dried up and overgrown with grass. It's a pity!

However, there were a lot of wild strawberries along the shores of the dried-up lake. Enjoyed.

While picking strawberries, a butterfly flew in to inquire: what is that in your backpack?

The road beckons me into the distance through shady forests.

In the forest clearings under the crowns of trees in the grass-ant there is a fresh green gout.

After the past rains, there is mud here and there.

Here the road passes through a dead spruce forest. Gloomy.

And in the midst of this forest twilight, a beautiful butterfly is Camille the ribbon bug.

In the thicket of a birch forest, an oak grows, a young hero. Time will pass, and he will push everyone around with his broad shoulders.

Linden forests are sweetish.

But poplars bring bitterness.

Right on the forest road, poplars have recently hatched. Maybe they grow another 60-80 years.

Somewhere in the forest, bells greet me.

Forest road in dense hazel like a green tunnel.

It feels like there is a light at the end of the forest road.

And for sure, from the forest twilight we break out into the expanse of fields. Grace!

Common leucanthemum or popovnik luxuriates (not to be confused with chamomile!).

In the middle of the cornfield, purple bells ring softly.

Flower rivers flow between young birch trees.

The silk panicles of the thin bentweed sway in the wind.

An island in a field is a ground reed.

But the white affectionate bedstraw is soft.

The purple bells are especially good among the white foam of the soft bedstraw.

And at the very depths, under the meadow grasses, the flowers of loosestrife or meadow tea turn yellow.

The flowers of the loosestrife attract bees not with nectar, but with the fatty oil secreted by the petals, which the bees use to make bee bread - "bee bread".

And here is the sea of ​​blooming clover.

It is a pity that not a single cow is visible in this rural area. They would eat fresh.

The outskirts of the village of Rechitsa are marked with old willows.

Near the village of Rechitsa, to the right of the road, there is a luxurious emerald field. The wind moves, drives the clouds.

Behind the field, the road rises into the hills with birch groves.

Cloud, cloud, take flight!

In some places along the edges of the road there are yellow-blue flowers of Ivan da Marya or oak maryannik.

We are moving west to Aleshkovo. There is one of the .

We enter a large and once luxurious estate, which was built in the early 19th century by P.A. Novikova. Since the middle of the 19th century, it belonged to General P.A. Kozhin. And since 1870, the factory of S. Shcherbakov was located here.

The estate in Aleshkovo is located on the top of a hill, from which wonderful views open up.

At the very top of the hill in Aleshkovo, the Assumption Church was built in 1819.

Three guys from Moldova, under the leadership of foreman Dima, are working on the restoration of the Assumption Church in Aleshkovo. They say they try very hard. After all, they are Orthodox.

In the Aleshkovo estate, first of all, the old linden alley is striking.

We will enter it and take a walk.

Under the crowns of lindens there is a thick shade and coolness. Up there, the lindens are getting ready to bloom.

Secondly, an old apple orchard has been preserved in the Aleshkovo estate!

Incredibly, these apple trees are over 100 years old! How do you like apples of the 1916 model.

Thirdly, the greatness of Nature delights.

Soon there will be nothing left of the once numerous buildings, which included the main house, outbuilding, horse yard, water tower and barn. They will be swallowed up by the trees, like the cities of the Aztecs in the jungle.

I always tell my summer residents I know: do not build houses as a memory of yourself, but plant trees.

Pond of the estate in Aleshkovo.

Beautiful places around the estate in Aleshkovo. Gentle hills, forests, meadows. The Lugovaya River originates here, which flows into.

From Aleshkovo we go west to the village of Sukovo.

The road goes through amazing forests. Pine forests.

Around the forest road, birch trees grow here and there among the pines.

In Sukovo, the ruins of the Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, built in 1745, have been preserved.

And in Sukovo there is a wonderful pond at the source of a small river Kozova.

On a hot day it is good to swim in it.

In general, Sukovo has a good aura. Children on the streets say hello to unfamiliar adults.

From Sukovo we continue moving west along the forest road to the village of Botayki.

The road goes through excellent mixed birch-pine forests.

In some places along the road there is a fern as tall as a man. It's worth the wall. It is no coincidence that this type of fern has a proud name - bracken (ordinary).

Near the village of Botayki, the road from the forest goes out into the expanse of fields.

On the outskirts of the village of Botayki there is an apiary with beekeepers. Judging by the inscriptions on the beehives, they make the right honey.

The bride lives in the village of Botayki.

At the western end of the Botayki village are the ruins of the Church of the Nativity of Christ built in 1828. Judging by the surviving columns, the Church of the Nativity in the village of Botayki was very beautiful.

From the village of Botayki, the road leads us to the west to the village of Gorodishchi.

It's evening.

The slanting rays of the sun illuminate the bright blue flowers of the common bruise. This plant is a good honey plant.

At the edge of the forest, an annual small-flowered blooms. This flower, by the way, comes from North America.

In front of the Gorodishchi village, the road goes through a pine forest with century-old pines. This forest is like a park.

In the village of Gorodishche, our walk along the forest and field roads ends. From here by bus to Stupino, and then by train to Moscow.

This is how the 36-kilometer (with all the circles) June hike through the forests and fields along the roads of the South of the Moscow Region in the Ozersky and Stupino districts turned out.

So many discoveries in one day!

Many thanks for a number of valuable botanical remarks to Professor Sergei Viktorovich Chebanov!

In 2004, on an old earthen rampart in the area of ​​the Mullovka settlement in the Melekessky district of the Ulyanovsk region, a pillar was erected with the inscription "Here the border of Russia passed from 1656 to 1736." It's about the Great Barrier. The unique defensive line was a continuous chain of fortifications thousands of miles long, protecting the country from complete extermination for hundreds of years. As border fortresses of the Line, dozens of large and small cities of our hinterland, which are the heart of Russia, which, in fact, are Russia, arose!

wild field

Our ancestors lived in the forest zone, their lands occupied vast territories, and the borders in the south coincided with the natural line of transition of the forest to the steppe. Further on stretched the world of nomads - the Wild Field. Its owners changed: Khazars, Pechenegs, Polovtsy... The steppe lived with predatory raids, and to protect its lands from it, Russia built defense lines in dangerous directions. So, in the middle Dnieper region there are remnants of the “Snake Walls”: 2000 years ago they helped the Rus hold back the Sarmatian nomads until reinforcements arrived. Later, the Old Russian state surrounded Kyiv with fortresses connected in continuous lines: Posulsky, Trubezhsky, Porossky and Dnieper. They were guarded by frontiers - small removable combat groups. Accepting the first blow of the enemy, they sounded the alarm, and powerful garrisons of fortress cities entered the field.

And then everything changed: the quarrels of greedy princes, the war against their own ... The mighty country was torn into shreds-principalities; the unified system of border protection, created with great difficulty, collapsed. The Mongol-Tatars easily took the distant defensive belt on the Sluch-Goryn-Teterev rivers, broke through the main line on the Ros in 6 places at once, and the line on the Dnieper-Stugna fell. The country was overthrown.

The problems of the Steppe persisted even after the liberation from the yoke. Fragments of the Golden Horde - the Crimean, Kazan, Astrakhan khanates and the Nogai Horde - began to regularly bite into Russia. Beyond Tula, the forests turned into endless steppes. A fertile climate, fertile soils, boundless meadows - and everything was deserted. The ancient hierodeacon Ignatius wrote: “No city, no village, not a single soul is visible!” The plow of a Russian peasant had already touched these unique black soils, but it was deadly dangerous to live here. Through the Wild Field from the south to the north there were paths - ancient steppe roads, unimpeded by anything, without water barriers. The most significant was the Muravsky Way, trodden from the Crimean Perekop to Tula. Sarmatians and Scythians also walked along it, Mamai's army went to Kulikovo field. From the 16th century the path became a headache for the growing Russia. Horse sakmas (paths) fanned out from it, leading predators through the villages where Russian grain growers, beekeepers, hunters, and fishermen tried to take root. A wild robbery began, "everything up to the nails from buildings and horseshoes from the hooves of a fallen horse" was taken away. But the main prey was the people. Old people were killed, others were taken away to be sold into slavery. That was a direct extermination of the population of frontier Russia. There was even the concept of “choose a village”, that is, to drive away all the inhabitants in full. The human losses were so great that for the ransom of the Polonians, Moscow introduced a special tax, which was paid by both the tsar and subjects. The bandits were paid through intermediaries, giving even 250 rubles for a commoner, a huge amount of money at that time! But there were still the ways of Izyumsky, Kalmiussky, Bakaev, there was the Nogai road from the Kuban - a horse horde went to Russia from everywhere. The way north was not so far for her; in winter, she easily took water barriers on the ice, leading up to 80,000 soldiers on a raid. In the summer season (it's easier to catch people in the fields) smaller forces went to Russia, up to 20,000 sabers. To the border, the horde moved in a long column, and then divided into 10-12 detachments in order to hide its numbers from the Russian patrols.

Russia paid the insignificance - the Crimean Khanate - a shameful tribute, "anyhow the filthy people did not bother"! But the "nasty" got impudent, violating treaties, continuing the genocide. Instead of a burned village, you can build a new one, but who should build it? Southern Russia was empty. The Persian Shah, receiving ambassadors from Moscow, was surprised that there were still people there. It was necessary to transfer the fight against the enemy to his territory, to the steppe. This required strengthening the frontiers.

Belt of the Blessed Virgin Mary

By the beginning of the XVI century. Russia united. It became possible to create a single line of defense. It was built on the left bank of the Oka - the border river flowing from west to east between Russia and the Wild Field, calling it "The Shore". With a dotted line (fortresses, monasteries, prisons, earthen ramparts, ditches, watchtowers), he walked from Serpukhov to Kolomna, where the Oka, full of water due to the confluence of the Moscow River, could no longer be crossed. To the west, it became shallower, and in order to block the enemy, its bottom and banks were simply hammered with sharp stakes, the fords were blocked with piles, logs with protruding knitting needles were laid on the bottom, their coast was strengthened with notches and cannons. Most often, the Tatars were stopped at the Oka. The coast had permanent garrisons that conducted reconnaissance, took the blow; he became a reliable defense of Moscow, and he was called the Belt of the Most Holy Theotokos. But the belt was not continuous, each city built a line to the right and left of itself, the notches were just beginning to stretch towards each other, into a single line.

Zaokskaya line

With the beginning of the Kazan campaigns of Ivan the Terrible, the defense was pushed to the south, arranging a grandiose line between the Bryansk and Meshchersky forests based on fortress cities. In a short time, they made a lot of notes, naming the cities: Kozelsky, Kashirsky, Venevsky, Tula, Krapivensky, Odoevsky, Likhvinsky, Przemyslsky, Belevsky, Ryazansky. In contrast to the Bereg pinpoints, they were immediately led by a single line, building a defense in depth. In treeless places, it doubled (between Tula and Venev), tripled (Belev-Likhvin), quadrupled (Belev-Przemysl). The southeastern flank was held by the Ryazhskaya notch, which was especially important, because the Muravsky Way went out here, the direct route of the Tatars to Moscow. The line was also strengthened from the north in order to beat the enemy coming from the raid. The work was completed in 1566. The frontier, unprecedented at that time, stretched for 600 km and was called the Zaokskaya line, since it went along the right bank, “beyond the Oka”. Its depth was from 40–60 m (where there was only a ditch, rampart or swamp) to 40–60 km! From positions well tied to the terrain, all of it was shot through with rifle and cannon fire; every 200 m (shot range) the shaft had a protrusion-redan so that there were no dead zones. The former simple notches made of fallen trees became a complex defensive system, no efforts and resources were spared on it. The Zaokskaya line clearly expressed the unity of Russia. It became state, with an army for its protection and participation of the population in its arrangement.

Great Serif

But this was not enough: with the expansion of the borders, new grandiose defensive lines turned south. After the annexation of the Left-Bank Ukraine, the Belgorod Line, 800 km long, was built quickly (1635–1658) in the south, covering the Kursk Territory. It was arranged in the same way as Zaokskaya. There were no dense forests here, and it was necessary to build other defensive structures instead of fences. Old cities were fortified and new cities were built here (20 cities in 15 years!). At the same time as the Belgorodskaya, the Simbirsk and Zakamskaya notch lines were built in the Middle Volga region. The boundary formed by these three features stretched for 2000 km from Kharkov to the Volga region. By the end of the XVII century. it was supplemented by the Izyum / Syzran Zasek (600 km). In the XVIII century. completed the Orenburg line, cutting off the Nogais from the Kazakh steppe, and the total length of the notches in Russia was 3700 km. The Serif Line has really become Big! Construction was controlled from Tula, the center of defense of the southern borders of Russia.

"Gardarika"

The Scandinavians called Russia the word "Gardarika", "country of cities". There were many. In the west, the onslaught of Poland, Lithuania, Sweden and the Germans of the Livonian Order was met with a multi-tiered high-altitude defense, embodied in free-standing stone multi-tower fortresses: Novgorod, Pskov, Smolensk, etc. In the south and east, a numerous mobile nomad was pushing - he was met by a horizontal multi-lane defense, wooden fortresses with notches. On the "Coast" line, it was 9 cities from Kozelsk to Nizhny Novgorod; The Zaokskaya line already included more than 40 cities; The Belgorod line was made up of 27 fortresses, then another 29 new ones were added. The cities had garrisons of 500-1500 sabers and a large number of guns (up to 37 in Rylsk); significant forces were constantly stationed in the fortresses of the inner lines, ready to be thrown to the front line. In the end, the fortresses were blocked by all the paths that the enemy used to come: Muravsky blocked Tula, Nogai - Kozlov, Tambov, Lomov; Izyumsky/Kalmyk way - fortresses Userd, Yablonov, Efremov. In 1615, the border cities were divided into 5 departments: 1) Ukrainian-internal, 2) Ryazan, 3) Seversky, 4) Steppe, 5) Nizovy. "Special zones" were created - 12 "custom cities" with counties where it was not allowed to give land to any ranks, so as not to interfere with the local guards to guard the Line.

Cities had 2 fences - outer (roundabout city, okhaben or krom) and inner (today's city, citadel or kremlin). At first they were rounded, but then they straightened, because with a rounded wall a dead zone appears. At the corners and on long sections of the wall, towers 10–12 m high were placed, protruding 2–3 m beyond the wall. They were square / hexagonal in shape, several floors, firing (for cannons / throwing machines) and travel (with gates). The highest was the watchtower with a watchtower. Attentive sharp-sighted warriors were taken as sentinels, recognizing their own from afar by their gait, watching the area around the clock and sounding the alarm even at a hint of danger. Inside the fortress, they made a temple, the governor's house, barns, a powder magazine and a siege yard to shelter the surrounding inhabitants during a raid. Everything was done to repel the attack from both the south and the "Russian" side, the possibility of shelling and the courtyard. Although the nomads did not have artillery, the fortresses were built taking into account cannon combat and defense against other possible enemies.

notch technique

Natural obstacles were included in the defensive line as much as possible: rivers, swamps, ravines, rocks, but they were also “brought down”. In the dense forest between fortresses and prisons, continuous fences hundreds of kilometers long were made, a natural-man-made fortress through which "no one walked, the gray beast did not roam, the black raven did not fly." It was a strip of rubble 50–100 m wide, for which part of the forest was “spotted”: the trunks were cut at a height of 1 m and felled crosswise towards the enemy, to the south, without cutting off the stumps, so that the trees, lying in the rubble, continued grow. The tops and branches were sharpened, everything was tied with bark ropes, and it was impossible to pull the blockage apart. In addition to the simplicity and speed of arrangement, the notch was most often impassable even for a pedestrian. In the rear, 25 sazhens along it, there was a narrow stitch, along which only a mounted security guard rode. Behind the serif line, roadways were laid. In the light forests, earthen ramparts were poured, ditches were dug, and gouges were made.

Shafts and ditches stretched for tens of miles. There were watchtowers within a line of sight. The effectiveness of the defense was enhanced by all sorts of different little things: wolf pits in the form of a truncated cone as deep as a person’s height, with a bottom diameter of 50 cm, with a sharp stake driven into the bottom; gouges - pointed logs dug in a checkerboard pattern in 4 rows behind the outer edge of the moat with an inclination towards the front; a particle - sharp stakes hammered close together in a berm between a wall and a moat; boards with iron spokes, inverted harrows, slingshots, spears with iron hooks, spiked iron cannonballs, crossbows, etc.

Century Watch

Defense The lines were assigned to the serif guard. She lived in her own settlements, if necessary, she was reinforced by an army from the city or surrounding villages (1 person from 20 households / from 3 households 15 km from the Line / from 5 households 25 km from the Line). Received from the treasury, gunpowder, lead. It was a gross, serif business, the elimination of damage, the "withdrawal of damage" by the local population. For conscientious service to watchmen, land allotments were increased, monetary incentives were encouraged. For the 3rd year of service, 3 rubles were given out to buy a second horse. When changing watchmen, the old ones vouched for the new ones. Everything was done to densely populate the line of the Line. Serving Tatars, the local aboriginal population (Mordovians) went on guard. The formidable king wisely ordered the fugitive people to be taken into custody! Serfs, criminals and just in search of a better life fled here. According to the decrees, they were forgiven and accepted into the service; even the Smolensk gentry, captured in the war with Poland, were settled for a while or “for eternal life”. All these people received land, were exempt from taxes, and when the enemy appeared, they fought for their homes and thus for the rest of Russia. Soon the number of settlers grew so much that they fielded up to 35,000 horse riders!

The guard functioned well along the entire steppe border from the Dnieper to the Volga, was strictly controlled, negligent ones were punished. They served in such a way that "there would not be a single hour without watchmen until the big snows fall." Forward posts conducted constant observation from the ancient Scythian burial mounds, visible to this day in the south of Russia, at a distance of direct visibility, watchtowers and signal towers were set up. The news of the enemy was conveyed with the help of smoke and mirrors. For better visibility and to deprive the enemy cavalry of food, extensive grass burns were undertaken. Usually the enemy was discovered even before he approached the Line, the inhabitants were hidden in fortresses, cattle in the forests, and the garrisons went into position with the task of delaying, exhausting, weakening the enemy. In 1572, the guard service played a significant role in the total defeat of the Crimeans at Molodi.

In addition to the stationary guards, there were also mobile patrols on the Line. From April 1 to December 1, villages, mobile outposts of 50-100, patrolled the frontier sector assigned to them, 30-50 km wide. The personnel were divided into 8 queues, each served for 2 weeks. By July 15, the entire outfit was exhausted, and the second line began in the same order. If the weather favored the raid, patrols would start earlier and end later. When the autumn thaw made the roads impassable, everyone returned home, and until early spring the line was not guarded by anyone. Advanced patrols were sent from the villages - watchmen with a force of up to 6 people, leaving for 4–5 day marches from the Line; lying on the steppe sakms, fords, they watched their site. Seeing the dust of the moving horde, they rode with a message to the next watchman, and so the alarm quickly reached the fortress.

The Cossacks took an active part in the creation and protection of the serif lines, covering especially dangerous areas. "Ryazan Ukraine" from the side of the Don / Azov was obscured by the "Ryazan" Cossacks. Well acquainted with the local conditions, they pursued the Crimeans in the Wild Field, recaptured the booty and prisoners. The "Putivl" Cossacks guarded the Seversky lands along the Dnieper from the Lithuanians. On the Volga and "Kazan Ukraine" were "Meshchersky" Cossacks - detachments of Tatar service princes with a center in Kasimov. "Donetsk" guarded the Muravsky Way, "Shatsk" guarded the Nogai road. There were Cossacks "sevryuk", "white local", "city", etc. The Cossacks played an important role in the steppe patrol, tracking the enemy all year round, maintaining communication between the lines. Their exact number at the end of the 16th century: Putivl - 138, Ryazhsk - 500, Yelets - 600, Novgorod-Seversky - 103, Pronsk - 235, Mikhailov - 400, Dankov - 500, Dedilov - 376; in the middle of the 17th century. the number reached 15,000 sabers. Long-range reconnaissance, which went into the steppe hundreds of miles from the watchman line, was also on the Cossacks.

Management: "state business"!

The state vigilantly monitored the state of the Line. The Pushkar order was responsible for it with clearly defined functions. The population paid a tax to strengthen the Line (“zasetsky money”). The border lands were ruled by governors appointed personally by the sovereign. In the fortresses there were military governors, siege heads, commandants of garrisons. Administratively, the notches were divided into links with a manager, a notch head, who was obliged to "meet the enemy with every battle." He sent reconnaissance, monitored the serviceability of fortifications, organized a "tithe plowing" of land to replenish the state grain reserves; he was subordinate to the clerks and watchmen.

Zasechnye forests were on a reserved regime: it was forbidden to plow, mow hay, cut down trees, hunt, pick mushrooms, berries, and even just go into the forest, "so as not to impose stitches." For damage to structures and felling, they were fined and even executed! The fine was also collected from the guards. It was possible to pass through the notches only in certain places - the notch gates. The results of the patrol and work were to be written to the sovereign himself! And the acceptance of the Zaokskaya line was made by Ivan the Terrible himself, who traveled around it for a whole month with "all the service people." There were rules for inspecting the notches (“are there any bare spots”); arranging blockages (“to bring a tree for tyna from outside, and to take notch trees only for blockage, so as not to expose the notch”); work orders. Zasechny business has reached a high level in Russia, the complex of protection of borders has been maintained at a high level for centuries.

Result

Hundreds of battles have taken place on the Line. About the raid on Tula in 1518, the chronicle reports: “The roads were spotted and many Tatars were beaten through the forests, drowned along the rivers, and others were caught alive.” A huge horde was repulsed in 1521 and 1531 near Belev, in 1534 - on Bobrik near Belev; in 1565 they successfully fought back in Bolkhov. Annually going on a raid, the enemy managed to break through to Russia only 2 times in 38 years (1558-1596). He succeeded, as a rule, with the help of traitors. So, in 1571, the boyar Sumarokov led the horde through the notches and the Oka - and Devlet-Girey burned Moscow, killed 60,000 inhabitants, and took the same number into captivity.
The "spotting" of the forest was invented by the Rus at the dawn and was used until the 19th century. Taking into account the length of the borders, the terrain, the tactics of the equestrian nomad, the notch features were the most optimal military engineering way to protect the Russian land.

From our dossier
A small fortification was a prison. It had a rectangular shape, a tyn with loopholes, 4 towers in the corners and 1 over the gate, 2-3 guard huts. Outside, a circular dry / water ditch was made 3 m deep at a distance of 1.5 m from the tyna. Effective against an enemy of little skill in military affairs, stockades were used on the borders with nomads; were residential, with a population, and standing, for the service of shifts of 50 fighters.

From our dossier
Observation posts "bird's nest" were made ("to sit on tall trees day and night, holding ready bodies with birch bark and resin, which should be lit in view of the enemy"). Here and there, "gaps" were left in the defense in order to let the enemy into the depths of the spotted, surround and destroy. Complicated labyrinths in the age-old forest led the column, opening clearings and awakening the hope that "this damned forest will end soon", because "The steppe is afraid of the forest." The stranger did not suspect that dozens of vigilant eyes were watching him. And then it suddenly turned out that there was no further way, the beating of the “uninvited” began, and they left their lives here, coming for the lives of others.

From our dossier
A typical example: the ancient Russian fortress Sudzha at the intersection of ancient Slavic routes to the southern seas and Tatar paths to Russia; it was surrounded by 3 rivers, swamps, a moat, a rampart, oak walls with 14 towers and 4 gates; outside there were wood-and-earth bastions with cannons / squeakers, inside in case of holes in the walls - rolling log cabins. Drawbridges led across the moat and river. In the center stood Ilmov prison surrounded by a moat, rampart and oak tyn with a high travel tower. There was a governor's yard, a guard's hut, a powder magazine. There were 260 courtyards in Suja, and 522 more courtyards behind the wall. In the XVIII century. the fortress lost its military significance, and no traces of it remained.

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Anti-horse and anti-personnel barrier "garlic": a three-dimensional figure of 4 sharp steel spikes connected at an angle of 120 ° to each other in all planes. The length of the spikes is 5 cm, the thickness is 1 cm, there may be notches, like on a fishing hook. The shape of the product always ensures its position with one spike up, the rest give a stable support. Virtually invisible in grass and snow; the application is effective with a minimum of three products per 1 m2 and a field depth of 100–150 m. Effective against cavalry; when attacked, the thorn pierces the hoof and incapacitates the horse immediately (falling, crushes the rider under him), at best, he is out of action for months, remains lame, at worst, he dies a few days later from blood poisoning. Near Poltava, the flanks of the Russian army were covered by 6,000 pounds of "garlic"; near Borodino - already 72,000 pounds, which thwarted Napoleon's plan to bypass the Russian left flank with cavalry; in 1914, the stocks of "garlic" in the warehouses of the Russian army amounted to 400,000 pounds, but it was not used. In Vietnam, the Yankees tried to use boots with steel plates in the soles for protection, but with a density of more than 1 product per foot area, “garlic” slows down movement even in special shoes with thick soles. The formation of the attackers is broken, they are preoccupied with protecting their legs, they have no time for fire on the enemy.

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