costly defeat for the Rus' princes, with Richard Gabriel claiming that they lost 50,000 men, while the Mongol losses were minimal. All the engaged coalition forces were caught with their backs to the river, and thus had no feasible line of retreat. Only Mstislav the Bold was able to save some of his army. Out of the Rus' primary sources, The Primary Chronicle gives a number of 10,000 killed while the much later (and much less reliable) Nikonian Chronicle cites 60,000 killed. The Novgorodian First Chronicle (the most reliable), contemporary to the battle, gives no figures at all, but does say that only 1 in 10 soldiers made it back home, suggesting the number of killed was equivalent to almost the entire army. Out of the Rus' princes, the wounded Daniel of Volhynia and Mstislav the Bold managed to escape the battle. This battle was a significant defeat, given that many of the Rus principalities lost much of their armies, with the notable exception of Vladimir-Suzdal. Historian Robert Marshall describes the raid as follows: "The rest of Subutai's campaign has entered the annals of military history as one of the greatest adventures of cavalry warfare." The Mongols executed Mstislav of Kiev and the Kievan nobles with the traditional Mongol caveat reserved for royalty and nobility: without shedding blood. Mstislav and his nobles were buried and suffocated under the Mongol general's victory platform at the victory feast. Meanwhile, Mstislav the Bold managed to reach the western side of the Dnieper with what remained of his army. To stop the Mongols from crossing to the western side of the Dnieper, Mstislav destroyed all the boats he could find. After the battle, the people of Rus trembled in fear of this unknown scourge who had emerged from the frontier and destroyed the flower of their army. However, the Mongols were not there to conquer, and merely marched east after plundering. What the Rus' feared would happen did not come to pass, as the Mongols pursued the Prince of Halych and plundered a few towns in the south before turning around. The Mongol army crossed the Volga River near modern-day Volgograd and passed through Volga Bulgaria. The Mongol army was routed by the Bulgars at the battle of Samara Bend and the remainder of the army continued marching east towards their rendezvous. The Mongols followed this up by attacking the Qanglis Cumans, who had