Ottomans are impossible to estimate. Military details This section summarizes Davies and Amin in sources. Geography The Ottoman Empire held forts along the north shore of the Black Sea and on the eastern side of the Balkans. Azov kept the Don Cossacks out of the Sea of Azov. Kaffa dominated the Crimean Khanate. Or Kapi behind the Perekop trenches guarded the entrance to Crimea. Ochakov at the mouth of the Dnieper kept the Dnieper Cossacks out of the Black Sea. Khotyn on the upper Dniester watched the Polish Commonwealth. The Turkish border was close to the current Ukrainian border along the Dniester. Polish claims extended to the Dnieper except for Kiev. Russia had a very vague border about 100 or more miles south of the current border. The semi-independent Zaporozhian Cossacks were along the Dnieper bend. The Crimean Khanate and its Nogai steppe allies raided Poland and Russia and sold the captives to the Turks at Kaffa. Before 1735 In 1722 Russia and Turkey took advantage of Persian weakness to capture the northwest part of the Persian empire. Russia took the west side of the Caspian and the Ottomans got as far as Tabriz. Nader Shah slowly restored Persian power. By 1734 Persia was reconquering its land south of the Caucasus and it was clear that Russia could not hold its gains. In 1733 or 1734 the Turks ordered Crimea to send a force across the north Caucasus to attack the Persians. Eropkin on the Terek River tried to stop him and lost 55 men. The army went down the west shore of the Caspian as far as the Samur River, where it was recalled by Turkey for unexplained reasons. 1735: War starts In 1735 the Crimean khan led 80000 men across the North Caucasus and south to Derbent. At the end of 1735 he heard of Leontev’s raid on Crimea and turned back. He spent time foraging in Kabardia and reached Crimea in the spring of 1736. Crimean interference in the Caucasus was one pretext for the war. In March 1735, by the Treaty of Ganja, Russia returned its gains to Persia and allied with Persia against Turkey. With Crimean troops away from the peninsula and the Turks tied down with Persia, Russia now had the opportunity for a surprise attack. General Münnich went south and found that his army would not be ready until next year. In order