Chapter 401: Polish-Lithuanian Teutonic War

Chapter 401 Poland-Lithuania-Teutonic War

"Sir, the Grand Duke has sent a message, saying that he hopes you can give a reply, whether Moscow should attack Lithuania."

At this time, Mihaly has already secured the position of the Archon of Novgorod, and commanded the people to build a new port in the northern region. After Samogitia was taken by Lithuania, he was also preparing to attack Livonia.

"Tell the Grand Duke that I support all his actions, but I hope he can make the right decision."

This ambiguous approach is to kick the ball back to Moscow, but in Mihaly's view, this is not the right time to attack Lithuania. Moscow has only been unified for a few years, and it still has to face the attack of nomadic tribes in the east. Unless you are absolutely sure, don't act rashly.

Now let's focus on the Baltic Sea, the nearby Reval, the new port under construction, and the northernmost fortress near the Karelia Isthmus. It is the three vertices of northern Moscow. And there is also a trend of heading west.

The border between Sweden and Novgorod is vague, which gives Mihaly a lot of room for maneuver. I can move the border little by little. Anyway, there is nothing but ice and snow here, which is useless. And most of them are tribal people, whose cultural level is low, so they can be included in their own side.

Although the Northern Crusades have passed for many years, the Swedish king in the eastern region is a little careless. This is not like the warm land in the south, which is fertile. Whether there are any minerals, it will be used as an open space for a long time. Most Swedes are concentrated in Turku in the west, and there are almost no people in other places.

And Mihaly wants to expand his territory once, but he has not succeeded before. The large tracts of land in the Kalmar Union and Lithuania are prepared for him. As long as there is a strong army, he can push it directly.

And Vasily in Moscow is thinking of taking the opportunity to take over the land of Lithuania, because he has reached an agreement with Rome before, the northern region is his own, and the southern region is his. And even if he doesn't take it all, at least Polotsk will be taken.

Polotsk is not far from Smolensk, and also not far from Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. Taking this place not only adds another fortress, but also directly threatens Vilnius, and Vytautas will not be able to sleep.

At this time, Władysław and Vytautas agreed on the following common strategy: the armies of the two countries will join together to form a single large army and march together to Marienburg, the capital of the Teutonic Knights. The Teutonic Knights, who were on the defensive, did not expect the two countries to join forces to launch an attack. They were preparing for separate invasions from Poland and Lithuania. The former would march along the Vistula River to Gdansk, and the latter would march along the Neman River to Lagnit.

In order to counterattack the threats he perceived, the commander Ulrich von Jungingen concentrated his forces in Schwyz, which was located in the middle. No matter which direction the enemy attacked from, the knights stationed here could fight back quickly. To conceal his plans and confuse the Order, Vytautas launched several raids in the border regions, keeping the Order's soldiers busy.

In June, the Greater and Lesser Polish armies met at the pontoon bridge over the Vistula River and met with the armies of Masovia and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. They then marched towards Marienburg, the headquarters of the Order.

The Teutonic Knights marched north along the Drewenzi River, crossed the river at Lebau, and then marched eastwards, parallel to the Polish-Lithuanian army's march. The allied forces plundered the village of Girgenburg. Grand Master von Jungingen was angered by the allied brutality and vowed to defeat the invaders in battle.

The Grand Master withdrew his army from Schwyz and organized a defensive line on the Drewenzi River. The river crossing was reinforced with stakes, and defenses were added near the castle. After meeting with the headquarters, Jagiełło decided to flank the enemy from the east, and he continued through Soudau and Netenburg on his way to Marburg on his attack towards Prussia. The town was severely damaged, and the Keggenburg was looted and razed to the ground, creating a large number of refugees. After the two castles were occupied, the road to Malbork was opened. Half a month later, the two armies met in a village near Grunwald.

The Polish-Lithuanian coalition army had 39,000 people, while the Teutonic Knights had 27,000 people. The soldiers of the Polish-Lithuanian coalition belonged to different nationalities and religions: the Roman Catholic Poles and Lithuanians fought side by side with the Samogitians, the Orthodox Ruthenians and Tatars. The Teutonic army participating in the war was composed of 22 different nationalities, mainly Germanic people.

The Knights hoped to provoke the Poles and Lithuanians to take the lead in the attack, and gave two swords to Jogaila and Vytautas to "help them fight". The two swords were called the Sword of Grunwald.

The Lithuanians took the lead in the attack, but after more than an hour of fierce fighting, the Lithuanian light cavalry retreated completely. The Polish army and the Knights began to fight fiercely, even to Władysław's base camp. A knight of the Knights charged directly at King Jogaila, but was stopped by the royal secretary.

The Polish army then gradually gained the upper hand, and the Lithuanians returned to the battlefield. The Grand Master of the Knights was killed while trying to break through the Lithuanian front. The Teutonic Knights were leaderless and surrounded, and began to retreat to their base camp, hoping to form a defensive chariot formation. However, the defense was instantly breached and the base camp was destroyed.

The Teutonic Knights were defeated in the battle. About 8,000 Teutonic soldiers died and 14,000 were captured. Most members of the Order died in battle, including most of the leadership of the Order. After the battle, the Polish-Lithuanian army remained on the battlefield for 3 days, and then marched only 15 kilometers a day, delaying the attack on the Teutonic capital of Marienburg.

The Polish-Lithuanian procrastination gave the Teutonic Knights enough time to deploy their defenses. Władysław also sent his men to attack other Teutonic fortresses, which usually surrendered without a fight. By the end of the month, only eight castles were in Teutonic hands.

The Teutonic Knights turned to their allies for help, Wenzel, Rome, and some princes who supported them. But apart from some financial support, there was nothing else. The most help was that some knights stayed on their own to supply and participate in the war. At most, there were nearly 4,000 people working for the Teutonic Knights.

The coalition forces besieging Marienburg expected the Teutonic Knights to surrender quickly, and were not prepared for a long-term battle. They were troubled by problems such as lack of supplies, low morale, and the spread of dysentery. Taking advantage of the opportunity, the Teutonic Knights launched a counterattack against Poland and recovered a lot of land. At this time, the three countries had already suffered from the decline of people's livelihood and the population was halved, so negotiation became the best option.