In 1503, a new ruler stepped in, Ivan VI. Nicknamed Ivan the Celibate, he also succeeded in bringing additional fortune to the Kingdom of Ryazan.
Ivan VI: I'm the sixth Ivan ever.
vladimir: I'm the only Vladimir.
Ivan: Nice to meet you!
Meanwhile, Hungary was turning into a swirl of rebellion, dissent, and sucession. Bosnia, Bulgaria, and Serbia all declared their independence, and Ryazan was 'at war' again. Further, several provinces, such as Ruthenia, rejected Hungary as ruler and went over to Poland. The very quick total disassembly of Hungary was beginning.
Ivan: I wish we could help. Can we send troops?
Vladimir: The Lithuanians and the Poles would probably be against that.
In 1513, Ryazan again declared war on Tver, with a new idea.
Vladimir: Okay, so let's let Tver take back their capital.
Ivan: What? Why???
Vladimir: If we don't, we can't take it at all, and we'll only get Karelia out of the deal. But if we can take their capital...
Ivan: We can make any demand we want!
Vladimir: You've got it!
Kexholm had a huge army waiting in it, and we attacked with an even larger force. Roughly 80,000 men battled for Kexholm, with Ryazan booting the Tver force out. Tver quickly began marching toward their capital to retake it from Moscowy. They did so quickly, as the Ryazan armies sieged both Kexholm and Karelia. Ryazan then fell on Tver, eventually taking the capital again, as well as Karelia, and finally Kexholm. Ryazan offered peace, taking just Kexholm and Karelia, but leaving Tver with no army to speak of.
Moscowy quickly took advantage, marching on Tver, retaking it, and annexing Tver in June, 1516, after 78 years of war.
Vladimir: I'm older than that war...
Ivan: My grandfather was born the year that war began.
In 1518, Hungary tried again against Serbia, trying to revassalize it directly after Serbia cancelled the vassalization. This was the first time Ryazan noticed that Hungary had added Poland to their military alliance.
Vladimir: Poland is on OUR side? Now that's an interesting turn of events...
Ivan: It's not too late for Tula.
Vladimir: Not bad!
The time was ripe. On July 21, 1518, Ryazan declared war with Lithuania, and for the first time ever, called upon her allies for aid. They both accepted, thankfully, with Georgia joining in on Lithuania's side.
The goal of the war was Tula. That was all. Sieges started in Vorones, which had passed to Lithuania after a war with the Golden Horde, Tula, and Welikia. Lithuania's army was tough, but also had the Polish army breathing down her back. Hungary was incapacitated for the most part, and of no help whatsoever, as Ryazan often was to her. The alliance with Hungary had really only been for protection against the powerful Poland-Lithuania alliance which had formed in earlier years. Now with this alliance shattered, Ryazan felt it would be at least a fair fight, and a quick battle for a few territories was finally possible.
All sieges were lost, and resieged after. But the political situation was not what Ryazan had thought. On May 3, 1519, Austria declared war with Hungary, pulling Poland away from the Lithuanian front. Baden, Bulgaria, and Bohemia all joined with Austria in the war.
Ivan: Uh oh.
Vladimir: Don't worry, we're still beating Lithuania - just get some provinces from them, make peace for Tula, and then nobody can get to us again.
Ivan: I thought I was Czar?
Vladimir: Heh. Good one.
In November, 1519, Smolensk fell to Ryazan. But Ryazan's armies were being driven back on other fronts. Tula was slowly falling, not nearly quickly enough. In Feburary in 1520, good news came - Bohemia, who had dishonored her alliance when the Ottoman Empire attacked Bulgaria, paid indemnities to Hungary and ended at least one portion of the war.
Ryazan continued to pump forces into Lithuania, trying to take Tula and another province in order to get Tula in a peace offer. Lithuanian armies were sieging Smolensk, and it appeared that the sieges were going to take forever. Attrition was not helping, and the manpower of Ryazan was running out, refreshing too slowly even though Ryazan favored quantity over quality of troops.
On February 20, 1521, Hungary accepted Georgia's generous peace offer of 14 ducats in indemnities. The dream of Tula was shattered.
Ivan: Expletive!
Vladimir: Better to be out of that war, anyway. We need Poland and Hungary focused to really be victorious. And Czars don't say things like 'Expletive'. Say a real one.
Ivan: This story is PG, no way!
But more possibilities loomed for Ryazan.
Ivan: I shall order our men sent to Hungary to assist in the wars. It's time for Ryazan to give back to the community that is our alliance with Hungary and Poland.
Vladimir: They'll never come back.
Ivan: I know, I'm eying some of their wives.
11,000 men were in Lithuania when peace was declared. Instead of marching home, these brave souls took a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and marched onward to Hungary, to finally do some good for the alliance that had kept Poland-Lithuana off her back. Austria held the capital of Hungary, and they were tasked with taking it back, and helping in any way possible in any war Ryazan had been called into by Hungary.
On June 16, 1521, Moldavia, The Knights, and Bosnia added their names to the list of countries against Hungary. Ryazan kept in the alliance, but Poland had had enough. Ryazan began the siege of Magyar, to retake it from Austria.
On August 2, heart finally took the place of ire, and Poland rejoined the alliance, declaring war on Moldavia. On December 27, Hungary regained control of Magyar, the first victory for Hungary since this period of strife began.
Vladimir: Woohoo!
Ivan: Woohoo is right! This was my best idea yet!
Svetlana: Is my husband still alive?
Ivan: He won't be.
On January 17, 1522, the 11,000 men moved onward to Presburg, destroying the Austrian army there and initiating a siege. Fending off repeated attacks, they continued the siege, until finally in April Austria drove them back. On September 20, in a battle against Moldavia, the news of peace with The Knights finally reached the front lines. Moldavia would get Transylvania from Hungary. The tale was beginning to end for this regiment, as they lost battle after battle, men lost with each one. Attempting to raise a siege off Pest, the regiment was completely destroyed.
Ivan: Finally!
Svetlana: I need to mourn for a year.
Ivan the Celibate: Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! Vladimir! Issue a decree, that all Ryazan citizens will be celibate for a year in memory of these good men!
In February, 1524, Austria finally accepted peace with Hungary, taking Banat, Krain, and Serbia, with Wallachia going to Bulgaria. Hungary was no longer a power to be feared. Without the Ryazan regiment, it is projected that things would have been even worse, such as vassalization with one province remaining.
And so it was that peace came once again to the land of Ryazan, left owning all of Russia save 4 provinces - Tula, Tver, Moscow, and Kola, but with Moscow and Tver owned by a vassal.
Vladimir: Gotta' catch 'em all... Russian Provinces!
