PINYL: #8 - "Nemesis" (Patreon)

[PATRONS]

In this episode, we watch King Charles XII of Sweden embark on what would become arguably, the warmonger's most infamous journey - the invasion of Russia. It was an invasion which had been conducted successfully by the Poles the previous century, but would Charles be up to the task here? The events of late 1707-spring 1709 would reveal that, contrary to the expectations of all, the Swedish King had gotten more, far more, than he had bargained for in this invasion. This was not the Russia of 1611; it was not even the Russia of a few years ago, when Russian conscripts seemed to flee from the sight of Swedish legions. 

Instead, the Russians who Charles faced stood their ground - and that was if he could get at them to begin with! Tsar Peter implemented in this phase of the war an infamous tactic to match Charles' infamous invasion - scorched earth. This was the first time the regions had seen this approach, and it proved horrendously effective. By his use of it, Peter showed his Swedish rival that he was just as deadly serious about holding his birthright, as Charles seemed to seize it from him. There could be no backing down, as each ruler, the nemesis of the other, faced each other in the largest battlefield known to man - the Russian wastes.