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On December 12, 1586, Stefan Barthori died, and his short ten-year reign laid the foundations of the Federal military, and his rule won the respect and praise of the whole Federation. Royal advisers commissioned the loyal Gdansk to customize the tin coffin for the late king. The coffin, which cost 500 florins, was sent to Gdansk by the Royal Treasury, and the trip also carried a letter to Sweden. The new ruler of Poland, Sygmund Vasa, will also land.
Siegmund III Vasa
The Polish Vasa dynasty kicked off under the gunfire of the War of the Succession. Siegmund and Maximilian III Habsburg were supported by two political parties, zamoyski and Zborovsky, respectively. Determined to pass the throne to her nephew Siegmund, Queen Anna Jagiellonian was elected to Sigmund with Polish Jagiellonian bloodline, and Maximilian led an invasion of Poland and launched the Polish War of Succession 1587-1588. On 14 October 1587 Maximilian III led about 8,000 troops to besiege the castle of Krakow, and Polish Prime Minister and Great Getman Zamoyski led 3,000-4,000 troops to defend the resistance, and on 24 November repelled Maximilian III's general offensive. On 29 November, Maximilian III's army abandoned the siege and withdrew from Poland. The Polish defenders lost about 1,000 and Maximilian III's army lost about 2,000.
Zamoyski was not prepared to let go of the coveters of the Polish throne. On 24 January 1588, Polish troops had crossed the border into Silesia to arrest Maximilian III, who had invaded Poland, and the Battle of Berzina broke out. Maximilian III had 1800 pistol cavalry, 630 musketeers, 230 Polish light cavalry (perhaps Cossack cavalry), 900 Hussar cavalry (350 Polish Husa cavalry and 500 Hungarian Hussar cavalry), and Maximilian III had 1500 musketeers and 1790 spearmen, one of which was a Polish company of 200 pure musketeers, and a Hungarian company of 1190 men with 600 musketeers, the rest of which were German troops. 4 heavy guns, 12 eagle guns. Zamojski had 1950 winged cavalry, 200 pistol cavalry (100 of whom were Scottish pistol cavalry), 100 Transylvanian cavalry, 1470 Kosak cavalry, 500 Tatar cavalry, 2300 infantry (6 Hungarian infantry flags of 1200, 2 selected infantry flags of 500, 3 Polish mercenary flags), and the material does not mention polish artillery. The total polish army was 6,000 men, and Maximilian III had a slightly more than 6,500 troops. In the fog, the Hungarian Hussar cavalry misunderstood the order and withdrew from the battlefield, leading to the fiasco of Maximilian's army. Poland then began to besiege Maximilian's town, and Maximilian surrendered and was captured. Poland lost 1,000 soldiers, and Maximilian lost about 2,000 soldiers. The War of succession ended in 1587-1588.
Moldavian Magnate War
Zamoyski continued the strategy of expanding the sphere of influence of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth to the south. This war plan was supported by some of the magnates and was also an early plan for the War against the Ottomans formulated by Stefan Barthori. In 1595, persuaded by the Moldavian refugees, Zamoyski decided to intervene in Moldavia. The Federal army of about 5,000 cavalry, 2,300 infantry, and several artillery pieces crossed the Dnietzton River and supported its own men as Grand Duke of Moldavia. Zamoisky has reached an agreement with the Ottoman side. However, the Crimean Khan Ghazi II Grey still quickly launched an attack on Zamoysky with Turkish reinforcements led by Ahmet Pasha. On the first day of skirmish, the Polish maharaja Kiriu Rozhski shot the Khan's nephew with a bow and arrow. Although the Tatar army had about 25,000 soldiers, but lacked infantry, the next two days of strong attack, in the face of heavy losses in the Fortified Camp of the Federal Army, Khan concluded that victory was hopeless, and signed a contract to withdraw. The Battle of Tezola in 1595 ended in a Polish victory, Polish authority in Moldavia was recognized, and Ottoman troops withdrew from Moldavia.
The fighting continued, with the "brave" Mihaly briefly unifying Romania after hostilities with the Confederation. In September 1600 Zamoisky led 20,000 troops (winged cavalry, Kosak, mercenary infantry, elected infantry, 3-4 thousand Zapozhian Cossacks, Moldavian army, Hungarian army) again penetrated deep into Moldavia. Mihay had 17,000 soldiers (Moldavian army, Wallachian army, Serbian army, mercenary infantry) and led Zamoisky to Bukovo. After shelling between the two sides, Zamoysky, at the suggestion of Marek Sobieski and Stanisław Zhukewski, used the cover of heavy fog, and the infantry was frontally contained while the cavalry attacked around the rear. About 1,000 Wallachian troops were killed, thousands were captured, and a large part of the army disintegrated. The Poles captured 95 military flags, the entire camp and all the artillery. Victory in the war was reinforced by Jan Potocki, and on 25 November Potocki led a Polish army of 1,450 men (including 950 winged cavalry) to defeat 4,000 Wallachian troops, 1,500 killed, 17 flags captured by Poland; the defeat reached Mihay, and the last 3,000 uninvolved soldiers under his command defected in an instant. Several victories established Poland's sphere of influence in the south, and pro-Polish candidates were placed on the duchy's throne. However, the gains of the victory could not be consolidated, and in the north, the Polish-Swedish war was raging.
1600-1611 Polish-Swedish War
Siegmund Vaasa's extreme Catholicism and lack of religious tolerance led his uncle Karl IX to take the throne. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Kingdom of Sweden were at a protracted war over the Swedish throne. In 1600 The Swedish garrisoned Estonia and then began a full-scale military campaign. On 19 August, a strong Swedish army of 10,000 soldiers landed at Reval and Narva. When Estonian nobles and conscripted peasant infantry joined, the Swedish army reached 14,000 soldiers. The commander of the Polish army in Livonia, Jerzy Fallensbach, had only 2,400 conscripts (including 800 winged cavalry and 1,000 infantry). When the contingents of the city of Riga, the Courland reinforcements, the Livonia conscription army and the Lipka Tatars arrived, the Confederate army reached 4500 soldiers. On 29 October 1600, Carl IX's illegitimate son, Carlsen Gillensheim, led 1,500 soldiers to invade Livonia, and at Carlsy was crushed by an army of 1,200 conscripted cavalry, Tatar cavalry, and conscripted troops under the command of Livonia's Getmanj Farunsbach, and less than half of the Swedish soldiers survived.
Despite the field victories, Farensbach had too few soldiers to prevent the Swedish army from capturing the castle. In 1601, the day after the fall of Dorpat, more than 3,000 Swedish soldiers unexpectedly attacked the Polish-Lithuanian camp near Cēsis. The Polish-Lithuanian army, commanded by Macey Debinsky, although surprised, soon prepared for battle and began to attack. At the same time, Jerzy Fallonsbach arrived with reinforcements, increasing the Polish-Lithuanian army to 700 soldiers (350 winged cavalry). At the beginning of the campaign, the Swedish pistol cavalry tried to use the semi-slalom tactic, while the Federation wing cavalry launched a cavalry charge. The fighting did not last long, and the Swedish cavalry began to flee. When swedish warhorses entered the frozen Gavia River, the ice shattered under the trampling of the horses, causing further damage to the Swedish side. Worse still, the Swedish infantry suffered huge losses when they were completely defeated because they refused to retreat – Raven data acknowledges that 300-1900 casualties were lost, 100 soldiers were captured and all artillery was lost. Poles and Lithuanians suffered only 10 deaths and 60 wounded. Raven data emphasizes that this was the first confrontation between the Swedish army and the Federal wing cavalry.
In the same year, the great Lithuanian Geitman "Peren" Radziwiłł assembled the Lithuanian magnate army, recruited troops, and selected infantry to Go to Livonia to surround the 1,800 garrison of Kölkenhausen Castle. In May, Laziwiłł defeated the first Swedish reinforcements (Sweden lost 600 soldiers, 2 artillery pieces); on June 8, Khodkević arrived, the Lithuanian army reached 4,000; on the 22nd, the Swedish reinforcements of 4,000 cavalry, 900 infantry, and about 17 artillery reinforcements were relieved by Carlson Gillensheim, and the Lithuanian army counterattacked with 2,900 cavalry, 300 infantry, and 17 artillery pieces (9 in the field, 8 still under siege), and Lithuania defeated the Swedish army with mounted artillery. Lithuanians lost 100-200 troops, Sweden lost 2000, the castle defenders were isolated and surrendered, and 4 heavy guns, 2 mortar guns and 5 small guns in the city were also returned to the Lithuanian army. However, the victory was not fully utilized, and even with the addition of the Lithuanian army, the Federal Army of the Livonian Theater was still insufficient. After the departure of the magnate army, the Lithuanian army had only 2,000 soldiers left, and after the recovery of several castles in mid-August, the Lithuanian army was finally only 1,400 soldiers.
In mid-July, John of Nassau, Orange's nephew, began rearming the Swedish army. In late August, Karl IX led 12-14,000 troops to besiege Riga by land and sea. The Lithuanian army was attacked by the Swedish pursuers and lost 300 heavy vehicles and several artillery pieces due to excessive and slow movement of heavy vehicles (probably 3,000). On 2 September the Lithuanian army successfully entered Riga, and the garrison of Riga under Fallensbach consisted of 1,100 German and Scottish infantry and several cavalry flags. At the end of September, the Swedish army dropped to 9,000, abandoned the siege and moved to the castles.
In October 1601, Zamoyski led 15,000 Polish troops to the Battlefield of Livonia. On 18 October, Zhukewski reached the 1,000-garrisoned city of Walmart, but the siege of the castle began on 8 December, and after 10 days of continuous bombardment by 50 artillery pieces (including 15 heavy artillery), Zamoysky personally led the assault, and the next day, the remaining 519 Swedish soldiers surrendered, and Carlson Gillensheim, Jacob de La Gardi, and other officers were captured. The following spring, Zamoyski decided to resume fighting and besiege Ferin. On 25 March, the royal army forwards led by Zhukewski arrived. A few days later the main forces arrived, but it was not until the arrival of heavy artillery (19 April) that they began to blockade the fortress. On 4 May, when the gap in the city walls reached the appropriate size, the Polish army began a strong offensive. Soon the city was occupied by infantry and Zaporizhian Cossacks, and the Swedes retreated to the castle, continuing their tenacious defenses. Another assault on the castle was launched on 16 May, and many Polish soldiers were killed in heavy fighting, including Jerzy Farensbach, who was mortally wounded. Eventually, the siege was repulsed, but when Zamoyski intended to throw his troops into the attack the next day, the castle's defenders agreed to surrender. Only a few Finns refused to accept defeat and lit gunpowder martyrdom. Leaving the defenders behind, Zamoyski and the other armies (with only 2,000 soldiers left) headed to Biavercamieen.
The crown great Geitmanyan Zamoisky besieged Białekamien, and the cavalry banner led by the crown domain, Steinisław Zhukewski, intercepted the siege of the Revel army assembled near Revel. On 30 June, Zhukewski threw two winged cavalry flags into battle and sent light cavalry flags to bypass enemy positions and attack from the rear. The Swedish army collapsed unable to withstand the blows of the light cavalry flag and the frontal attack of the winged cavalry. The victory at the Battle of Revel cut off swedish reinforcements from the Castle of Biavercamin, and after a strenuous siege battle, on 30 September Zamoyski broke through the castle, where 700 soldiers and local peasant citizens were stationed, and the defenders surrendered. After conquering several smaller forts, Zamoyski moved his forces towards Dolpat. Almost all of Livonia and Estonia were in the hands of Poland and Lithuania. Zamoisky still wanted to test Narva and eastern Estonia, but he could not persuade the unpaid troops to take further action. In October 1602, Zamoyski himself paid part of his salary, most of the cavalry returned, infantry garrison, he relinquished command in Livonia and returned to Poland. Khodkević succeeded him as commander of the forces remaining in Livonia and Estonia.
Khodkiewicz had only 3,000 soldiers at his disposal. In early 1603, Khodkević, with only 800 soldiers, noticed that swedish troops were planning to attack Lacqueville Castle, which had recently been captured by Lithuania. Getman immediately decided to take only 4 cavalry flags (300 soldiers) to break the siege, and the rest of the army surrounded Dolpat Castle. After Joining Getman's army, Lacwell's 500 defenders were confronted by 1,000 Swedish troops led by Krist Som, and the battle evolved into a one-way massacre of Swedish infantry by wing cavalry due to the fear of wing cavalry by Swedish pistol cavalry. Lithuania lost 1 soldier, 2 wounded, Sweden lost 100 Estonian militiamen and 70 German mercenaries. The battle hastened the surrender of 1,052 defenders in Dorpat, some German mercenaries switched to the Commonwealth, and Lithuania took over the castle with all 80 guns. In June, Khodkević plundered Livonia like no man's land.
In 1604, 2,000 Federal troops under the leadership of Hodkević once again defeated the Swedish army of 7,000 infantry and horsemen, and the German infantry commanded by the Spanish mercenary Alonzo Cacho de Canuta was the first to be broken, Canuta was killed, and the other Swedish armies collapsed in turn. The Bori army lost 50 dead and 100 wounded, and the Swedish side lost 3,000, losing 6 artillery pieces and 21 flags.
Ruthenia during the Polish-Swedish War
In the north, the Lithuanian army was fighting with the Kingdom of Sweden in Livonia. In the south, Polish troops, led by the Crown Domain, Gatmanjukerwski (the great Defender of the Crown), were also actively garrisoning the border. The war here is equally important and cannot be ignored.
The Ottomans were not content to allow the Federation's sphere of influence to include Moldavia and Transylvania, and continued to compete with the Federation in Moldavia. Ottoman also ordered Crimean forces, which had relied on plunder to survive, to launch a retaliatory expedition against the Federation. Among them, the "blood sword" Kantemir, which established an independent Nogai tent state in 1603, is the most prominent. In January 1606, the Tatar invasion began. In three attacks on 12, 14, and 17 January, Stanisław Zhukewski warned that the enemy was ready to invade "in a very short time." In a Feb. 4 letter to the provincial council, Mr. Geitman reported the repulsion of two attacks on Jan. 23 and 25. On 24 January, Geitman set out from Bratslaw with 1,100 men and confirmed that the Tartars had crossed the South Bug River. Despite the discovery of the enemy, the fog prevented the pursuit from unfolding. Getman sent an army of 400 men to completely destroy a Tatar army, saving his own civilians. From the captives, Getman learned that Kantermir was directing the invasion and was accompanied by seven Mirs. Zhukewski did not wait for reinforcements, approaching first but not directly attacking this thousands of Nogai Tatar troops. In this way, in the vicinity of Kalinik within three days, reinforcements from private armies, conscripted troops and Cossacks arrived, and the Polish army and the Nogai Tatars reached 10,000 soldiers. During the battle, the right wing of the Tatar army engaged the Polish right wing army, while the Polish left wing army made flanking maneuvers. When the Tatars noticed this, they tried to pretend to retreat, but soon turned into a real defeat, the pursuit lasted for an hour and a half, five Mirwe and more ordinary soldiers were killed, and the Polish army captured 2,000 Tatar horses in addition to the plundered civilians and cattle and sheep.
1600-1611 Polish-Swedish War (later)
The Battle of Gilholm in 1605 was one of the greatest battle victories won by the Federation. Karl IX surrounded Riga with 8,500 infantry, 2,500 cavalry and 11 artillery pieces, and the Swedish army included mercenaries from the Netherlands, Scotland, and Germany. Khodkiewicz had 1040 infantry, 2400 cavalry, 4 or 7 artillery pieces, including Courland pistol cavalry, Tatar cavalry. Karl IX divided the infantry into 13 and a half regiments, each with 600 to 650 soldiers. On the other hand, the cavalry was divided into 11 and a half regiments, each with 200-220 soldiers. Khodkiewicz used a strategy of pretending to retreat, luring Karl IX's army in a phased pursuit, caught in infantry and heavy artillery fire, and then the cavalry attack destroyed the Swedish pistol cavalry and the infantry they were protecting. Sweden's first-line army collapsed, which led to chaos in the second-line army. The Polish cavalry charge worked, and one Swedish army after another disintegrated. The Swedish army lost as much as 70% of the whole army, about 6000-9000 soldiers were killed, of which the infantry loss was as high as 90%, a large number of Swedish officers were killed, and Karl IX only survived with the sacrifice of war horses by the Livonian noble pistol cavalry Henrik Red. On the Federation side, 100 soldiers were killed, of whom only 13 winged cavalry and armored cavalry companions, 200 wounded and 150 horses were lost.
Although victory in the battle did not help the Confederacy gain all of Livonia, the Siege of Riga had been lifted and Sweden could not recover from such a defeat. Sweden signed an armistice, but never seriously observed it, and the confrontation was still going on throughout 1606. In 1607 there was a revolt of the nobility in the country, and Khodkiewicz's army was transferred back, and Białecamian fell the following year. Lithuania had previously been completely devoid of military expenses, and Alexander Lisovsky (one of the first commanders to form such an alliance in 1604) led his soldiers to form an uprising alliance to demand a salary. Against this difficult backdrop, Khodkiewicz will continue to create military miracles.
In 1608, the Swedish army invaded again, and Fellin, Cokenhausen, and Dinanmünde all fell. As the Federal forces were involved in the Polish-Russian War, Khodkiewicz was accompanied by few people, returning to Livonia alone, accumulating 18 flags and 2019 cavalry with his great personal prestige. They fought extensive guerrilla warfare and inflicted heavy losses on the Swiss. Soon after, the Lithuanian magnate army marched to the front. Unable to stop the reinforcements sent by the Château de Pärnu to Dinumünde, he set out for Pärnu, marching 200 km in 6 days with cavalry to a mile from the Château de Pärnu. Under the leadership of Khodkević, the Lithuanian army quietly moved toward the castle, hoping to surprise the defenders. When the Swedish defenders defending Pärnu proved vigilant, Getman stopped his troops in the forest and ordered complete silence. Because Oftman's strict prohibition of making fires, the army waited hungrily for hours in the cold wind.
Khodkiewicz is a recognized master of wing cavalry. Due to the lack of infantry and the shortage of regular Lithuanian siege troops, Khodkević set an example and led the Lithuanian wing cavalry to join the siege. At midnight, Khodkiewicz set out to attack the city, surprising the defenders. Before the Swedes realized what had happened, the Lithuanian army had already blown up three gates and rushed into the city for hand-to-hand combat, and the Lithuanian army attacked the castle. When they got there, they lit the gates of the castle. The Swedish defenders lost hope and surrendered on 2 March. The Swiss army lost 100 men and 300 captured, while the Lithuanian army lost 45 soldiers. Among Swedish prisoners of war, 155 Scottish mercenaries were transferred to the Lithuanian Army. 104 cannons, 2 merchant ships and many other ships and barges were additional prey. After conquering Pärnu, Khodekewicz left 200 soldiers in the city and set off for Riga, where he fought an extraordinary naval battle at Salis along the way.
On the way to Riga, Khodkiewicz realized that he could take the opportunity to destroy the Swedish squadron stationed at the port of Salis. The two ships captured at Pärnu were equipped with infantry and cannons brought from Pärnu Castle. Khodkiewicz also recruited a number of sailors, mainly from Livonia. Such a temporary fleet was also reinforced by several hastily armed merchant ships (possibly five), which had been purchased from British and Dutch merchants, as well as several fireships, some of which were filled with gunpowder, tar and other flammable materials. On the night of 23-24 March, Hordekiewicz's fleet unexpectedly attacked the Swedish fleet. It is possible that the Getman also managed to bribe some members of the Swedish crew. Taking advantage of favorable inland winds, the leased Livonian ships brought several fireships into the harbor (most likely four, the first use of fireships in the modern Baltic Sea), set them on fire and pushed them towards Swedish ships anchored in the harbor. The Swedish fleet panicked, and the crew cut off the anchor cables in an attempt to save themselves by escaping. Despite this, two Swedish ships were burned down and quickly sank. Parts of the Swedish ships retreating from the port were sunk by gunfire from waiting Polish-Lithuanian ships. Surprised by Khodkiewicz's surprise attack, the Swedish fleet did not even attempt an artillery battle and quickly fled to the waters of the Gulf of Riga. The Units of the Federation were slower than the Swedish ships and did not pursue. The entire port of the city of Sarris, along with the supply of weapons, ammunition and food, fell into lithuanian hands. Khodkiewicz then traveled to Riga and defeated the Swedish army besieging Riga under Frederick Joachim Mansfield, and according to records, 2,000 Swedish soldiers were killed, 100 were captured, Lithuania captured 18 flags, and the army immediately surrounded dinamimünde Castle.
However, the one who really defeated federal Getman was never the enemy. At a meeting in Vilnius in July, King Sigismund III informed Khodkević to move his army to Moscow, so that the Lithuanian army fighting in Livonia was not only receiving reinforcements, but also not even paying the arrears of wages. Faced with the general trend of opening the front against Russia, Geitman not only made the soldiers build an alliance, but also joined the alliance himself, in solidarity with the soldiers who had been making great sacrifices in battle, who faced great damage on the battlefield and some unfair treatment from the king. The last major battle of the entire war was about to be dramatic, with the Lithuanian army forming a complete alliance strike in September and the arrival of the Swedish army on October 2, causing the Lithuanian army to compromise with Getman. Considering that Khodkiewicz had only 2,500 men under his command and was encircling Dinanmünde, Mansfield's 5,000 Swedish troops (including mercenaries from France, the Netherlands, and Scotland) finally attacked the Lithuanian camp after a series of avoidances. Khodkiewicz's cavalry charge defeated the Swedish army, and according to Getman's letter, it is estimated that hundreds of Swedish soldiers were killed, 100 soldiers were captured, and about a dozen artillery pieces were captured by Lithuania. After all this happened, Dinant Matilda surrendered. It was the last major victory of the Lithuanians in this war, as the unpaid army completely refused to continue to serve. The great Lithuanian Geitman Hodkiewicz is about to travel with his brother-in-law, the Polish territory of Geitmanjukiewski, to the icy land of Moscow, where a new story will be told.
This article is the most beautiful original manuscript in history. Editor-in-chief Gun Jun, author of The Hermit King. Some of the image sources are online, if you have copyright questions, please contact us.