This casualties of this battle totalled 8000-15,000 Ottomans killed and 5000 captured, 12,000 dead or wounded defenders and 4500 dead or wounded Holy League Troops.Poland’s kings are a fascinating bunch, ranging from great scoundrels like Boleslaw the Bold, who hacked up St. Less than three hours after the cavalry charge, the Christian armies had been victorious and saved Vienna. The cavalry headed for the Ottoman Camps and Kara Mustafa’s headquarters, and the remaining Viennese garrison charged out of their defences to join the attack. The charge easily broke through the Ottomans lines who soon began to leave the battlefield. 18,000 horseman charged down the hills creating the largest cavalry charge ever recorded in history led by the legendary Polish Winged Hussars. Three of these Polish and one from the Holy Roman Empire. The Polish King ordered the cavalry attack in 4 groups. The Polish Cavalry now arrived onto the battlefield with cheers from the infantry. The Ottomans were now in a desperate position caught between the Imperial and Polish Forces who by 5pm had now become very close to the Central Turkish position. On the Right Flank of the Ottoman army the Polish advanced and managed to take the village of Gersthof which would serve as a strong position for a cavalry charge. The defenders were able to locate and disarm these mines while the Ottoman force was occupied with the relief forces. The Ottoman force largely focused on taking Vienna still however, their sappers prepared a large final detonation to breach the walls with a total of 10 mines set to explode. The Imperial Army attacked on the left and Centre and after heavy fighting managed to take several key positions from the Ottomans by noon. The German forces were the first to counterattack. On September 12 th the Ottoman force attacked trying to disrupt the Holy Leagues Troops. The relief army were racing against time to save the city and created an effective leadership structured around the Polish King and the Winged Hussars. On September 6 th the Polish under King John III Sobieski crossed the Danube northwest of Vienna at Tulin to join the Imperial troops of the Holy Roman Empire along with soldiers from Saxony, Bavaria, Badan, F ranconia and Swabia, giving the Polish King 70,000 men under his command. This greatly helped in creating enough time for a relief force to arrive in September. However the defenders knocked down large trees to help bolster the old palisade delaying the Ottoman attack. In order to take the city the Ottomans mined tunnels under the city walls to blow them up using large amounts of Black Powder. Kara Mustafa Pasha who led the Ottoman force ordered his men to dig trenches towards to the city to help protect his troops from the defenders cannons as they advanced. On the 14 th July 1683 the Ottoman army of 150,000 men laid siege to Vienna. In this treaty it promised that the Holy Roman Empire would support Poland if the Ottomans attacked Krakow and in return the Polish would come if Vienna was attacked. The Holy Roman Empire made an alliance with the Polish in 1683 called the Treaty of Warsaw. The Ottomans repaired and established roads and bridges leading to the Holy Roman Empire as well as moving cannons and ammunition into the Balkans. The Ottoman Empire wanted to take the City of Vienna for its control over the Black Sea to Western Europe, Southern Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean to Germany’s trade routes. This battle is largely marked as the end of the Ottoman invasions into Europe. The battle of Vienna is one of the most significant battles in European History, it took place in September 1683 between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Holy Roman Empire and Habsburg Hungry against the Ottoman Empire.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |