Battle of Lignitz

 

The following is a post on the historical forum, www.allempires.com, about the Battle of Legnitz.  In summary, the Teutonic Knights did not participate in the Battle of Legnitz, where the Polish and Mongolian armies clashed, and unlike what was known, the Mongol and Polish armies mobilized 7,000 to 8,000 troops on both sides.   And the Jan Dugots Chronicles depicting the Battle of Legnitz is translated into English on http://www.impub.co.uk/dlug3.html. 1. Did the Teutonic Knights participate in the Battle of the Legnitz? According to Polish historian Gerard Labuda, a recent medieval historian, an error was found in the "Jean Dugots Chronicles" depicting the Battle of Legnitz.  The Jan Dugots chronicle said that the first four Polish units participated in the battle, but suddenly listed the names of the units, adding a fifth unit, the Knights of the Tuton, in addition to the Polish Army.  A thorough analysis of the Jan Dugots chronicle showed that the participation of the Teutonic Knights was likely to have been added later.  According to the Chronicles, the 5th unit to participate in the Battle of Regnitz was the Knights of the Tuton, led by General Popovon Austern, and the Knights of the Tuton were annihilated by the Mongol army, including General Austern.  However, according to records at the time, Popovon Austern became Knight Commander of the Teutonic Order in 1256, 11 years after the Battle of Legnitz, and was buried in St. Jacob's Church, where Prince Henry, who commanded the Battle of Legnitz, was buried in 1263.  The chronicle seems to have been adapted into the way that the Knights of the Tuton participated in the Battle of Legnitz because of the fact that the Duke of Henry and the leader of Austern were buried in the same church.  Various circumstantial evidence suggests that the Knights of the Teutonic Order did not participate in the Battle of the Regnitz. 2. What are the forces on both sides of the Legnitz? The "Jean Dugots Chronicles," which depicts the Battle of Regnitz, only states that Batu and Kadan commanded the Mongol troops who invaded Hungary and Transylvania, but does not mention the actual Mongolian troops or commanders who invaded Poland.  The history of Tatar, a newly discovered history book of the time in 1965, solved this question to some extent.  "The History of Tatar" is a chronicle written by Francesco monk Jand Piano Caprini, who visited Mongolia in person between 1245 and 1247.   The History of Tatar seems to be quite mysterious because it was written based on the testimony of Mongolian soldiers who participated in the Battle of Legnitz not long after the Battle of Legnitz.  According to Tatar's history, Batu then went to Poland and Hungary.  And at the border of these two countries, they split their armies into two, and they gave Ordu 10,000 warriors to attack Poland." So according to Tatar's history, the Mongol commander who had invaded Poland in the direction of Legnitz was Ordu, and one bayonet had invaded Poland.  Considering the battles between the Soviet Union and the siege in Tursk, Chimirink, Krakow, Rashborg, and Kuyavia before reaching Legnitz, the Mongolian army seems to have lost at least 2,000 troops.  In other words, by the time of the Battle of Regnitz, the total number of Mongolian troops would not have exceeded 8,000. The size of the Polish forces against this is unclear.  However, scholars have estimated that there are between 30,000 and 40,000 Christian troops against the Mongolian army.  But it's hard to believe that 150 years later, given that the much stronger and richer Kingdom of Poland had only 25,000 troops against the Teutonic Knights who had invaded Poland.  Considering that Kuzavi and Mazovian knights did not participate in the war, and the Polish troops suffered losses in Tursk and Chimirink before the Battle of Legnitz, the size of the Polish troops is further reduced. Polish transcriptionologist Professor Mare Chettwinski calculated Legnitz's Polish army to be around 2,000 and Professor Gerard Labuda calculated to be around 7,000 to 8,000.  Professor Chetwinski's 2,000 calculations are too small, and Rabuda's 7,000-8,000 Polish troops are the most convincing at the moment. In short, the Mongols and the Poles, who fought at the Battle of Legnitz, mobilized about 7,000 to 8,000 troops each.   3. Reproduction of the battle The Polish Army was deployed in the following manner. - Moravian frontier Boslav's army was the main force of the Polish army. - Sulisaf's troops, and Obolan's Prince Meitsko's troops, were deployed behind Boslav's forces to protect their interests. - The troops under Prince Henry's direct command were left as reserves. The Mongolian army, like the Polish army, divided the entire army into four units, and the three units were commanded by Commander Ordu in the front took the role of a reserve unit in the back.  The left and right sides of the Mongolian army were kept away from the central unit, so they were out of sight of the Polish army.  Ordu apparently aimed to encircle the Polish forces by deploying them in this way.    The Polish army was red, the Mongolian army No. 1 was Boslav, No. 2 and No. 3 were Sulisaf and Meitsko, No. 4 were Prince Henry's SS, No. 6 were Mongolian Central, No. 5 and 7 were Mongolian left and right, and No. 8 were at the center of Mongolia.  Then the hidden left and right wing forces of Mongolia surrounded Boslav's forces on both sides.  In the first clash, Boslav Kangebaek is killed and his troops suffer near destruction.  Sulisaf and Prince Meitsuko's troops (No. 2 and No. 3) attacked the Mongol army from behind while Boslav Kangebaek's troops were attacked. The Polish army collapsed the Mongol army's formation and pushed the Mongols violently.  Then Polish knights heard the 'retreat' order in Polish.  Prince Meitsuko decided that the "retreat" order belonged to his allies and retreated his troops.  The story appears simultaneously in both Jan Dugots' chronicle and Tatar's history.   Seeing Prince Meitsuko's retreat, Prince Henry immediately led his troops to attack the Mongols.  However, the Mongolian army has yet to participate in the battle, led by Commander Ordo.   When Prince Henry came out to support our troops, a unit with a large X-marked flag appeared on the Mongolian side.  And suddenly a terrible smell of smoke came out of the Mongolian army (poison gas?) and Polish knights were put out of action.  And the Ordu troops who were in the battle until then attacked the Polish army, and the war completely tilted toward Mongolia.  Grand Duke Henry of Poland led the knights to escape, but in the end he was captured. After that, Prince Henry was beheaded by the Mongols and his head was sent to Batu.  The Mongols then showed Prince Henry's head to the defenders who were defending Legnitz Castle with flowers in their windows, and forced him to surrender.  When the defenders refused to surrender, the Mongols devastated the surrounding villages and moved to Haute-Mochov. The source is from DICO's trebla78.