On a makeshift platform in the Crusader formation, Laszlo and his accompanying generals gazed into the distance at the Ottoman chariot formation.
Although the sides of the chariot fortress were somewhat chaotic due to a large number of untrained muslim volunteers, its core, a temporary fortress formed by chariots connected end-to-end, looked very orderly, indicating that the chariot fortress troops opposite had undergone extensive and rigorous training.
From the equipment, it was clear that the Janissary Corps, Mehmed II's pride, was deploying the Hussite War Wagon.
The recruits for this Corps primarily came from the "blood tax" paid by Christians in Ottoman European territories, meaning young boys who were rigorously trained from a young age, adhered to Sufism, and maintained absolute loyalty to the Sultan — at least for now.
With the complete loss of European territories, the Devşirme system had entirely collapsed, and the Janissaries once faced difficulties in replenishment.
There were simply no longer enough Christian boys for the Sultan to brainwash, forcibly convert, and train as slaves.
Thus, Mehmed II could only choose to relax restrictions, selecting suitable strong young men from muslim families in specific regions to be incorporated into the Janissaries.
Although the Janissaries were widely considered "the Sultan's slaves," this merely signified the Sultan's direct authority over them; to outsiders, the Janissaries and the Christian bureaucrats selected through the Devşirme system were both privileged classes within the Empire.
It is worth noting that during Mehmed II's more than ten years of rule, two of the three grand viziers were Balkan Slavs who originated from the Janissary Corps.
Consequently, many of those selected felt joy at this honor.
Although such measures would inevitably lead to the Janissaries losing their former purity and even undermining their past absolute loyalty, Mehmed II could not afford to worry about such things at the moment.
He tried every possible means to maintain the Janissaries' strength amidst frequent wars, yet even so, the personal guards at his disposal numbered no more than five thousand.
It is worth remembering that more than a decade ago, at the beginning of Mehmed II's reign, he had grandly expanded the Janissary Corps to over ten thousand; now, excluding the two battle groups assigned to his two princes, the size of his personal guards had indeed shrunk significantly.
Apart from these few thousand personal guards, the only other somewhat effective fighting force he possessed were the professional soldiers tied to land under the Timar system; combined, these two parts barely reached a force of ten thousand, while the remaining troops were almost entirely holy warriors who had rallied under his banner in response to the call for Jihad, among whom a small portion were skilled Ghazi warriors, with the vast majority being a disorganized rabble.
Laszlo felt some admiration for Muhammad for being able to lead such a large group of rabble onto the battlefield and even arrange them into a military formation.
"It seems Muhammad is well aware of his significant disadvantage and plans to hunker down in the chariot fortress like a turtle," Laszlo said, his tone a mix of helplessness and sarcasm.
The surrounding generals chuckled in agreement, but the Austro-Hungarian Army generals who had used and were still using chariot fortresses found it less amusing.
Although they had semi-abandoned the chariot fortress, only using it to construct well-protected temporary camps, their previous combat methods were identical to those of the Ottomans now.
"This is probably a smart choice. After all, the Sultan always likes to crush opponents with several, or even dozens, of times the numerical superiority. Now, his army is not only numerically inferior to ours but also not particularly outstanding in quality. I fear the Sultan is utterly unwilling to fight this decisive battle with us."
Prince Vlad, who was with Laszlo, speculated and analyzed Mehmed II's psychology.
He knew his "childhood friend" too well, and now meeting him on the battlefield, he was eager to see what expression Muhammad, who had almost never fought a losing battle, would wear.
Surely, the Sultan, who always loved to overpower others, must be sweating profusely by now?
Thinking this, Vlad couldn't help but feel pleased.
However, the image of his younger brother, Radu, suddenly flashed in his mind, and his gaze towards the opposite side immediately turned gloomy and venomous.
"Muhammad has, after all, only learned the form of the chariot fortress, but cannot grasp the true essence of war," Laszlo said, shaking his head, as if letting out a sigh for his opponent.
The chariot fortress, at its core, was merely a "poor man's tactic" adopted by Bohemian peasants out of desperation when facing unstoppable knightly lords.
The initial chariot formation was even made of wooden carts used by farmers; it was only later, under the guidance of Jan Žižka's many years of war experience, that this war technique gradually matured.
However, Jan Žižka used the chariot fortress to achieve invincibility, while his successor, Prokop the Great, also used the chariot fortress but ultimately died on the battlefield, leading to the Tábor faction's demise in the long river of history.
Was it Jan Žižka who was strong, or the so-called Hussite War Wagon? The answer is quite obvious.
The reason why the Austro-Hungarian Army's chariot fortress could repeatedly win was, on one hand, because this tactic indeed had very high strength in defensive counterattacks, proving remarkably effective against enemies with numerous cavalry, and on the other hand, Laszlo continuously tried to strengthen the army's firepower, elevating the chariot fortress's strength by another level.
It was effective for bullying those enemies who charged mindlessly, but once it encountered enemies who understood how to maneuver and delay, the clumsiness of the chariot fortress would become obvious.
At such times, open-field combat was the true key to victory.
As Laszlo knew, Mehmed II's defeat at the hands of Uzun Hasan, Khan of the White Sheep Dynasty several years ago, was due to his inability to react in a sudden encounter battle, leading to the rapid collapse of his troops under enemy assault.
However, after decisively defeating the Karaman main army with a slight numerical disadvantage outside Konya, Muhammad now had no doubts about the strength of the chariot fortress tactic.
Unfortunately, this tactic was very effective against numerous cavalry and muslim allies who had never seen a chariot fortress, but it was somewhat superfluous when used against Laszlo and the Austro-Hungarian Army, who were equally skilled in this art.
"Your Majesty, let's just bombard these Ottomans with cannons. They are now pinned in place, serving as live targets for us. There couldn't be an easier target for artillery fire."
Karl, the Austro-Hungarian Army commander and the general who had used the Hussite War Wagon for the longest time among the Crusaders, quickly proposed his solution.
The dense formation of the chariot fortress was one of the ideal targets for artillery in this era; although the power and accuracy of cannons were quite limited, concentrating them could still cause some damage.
"Hmm, that's a way. We did the same when we dealt with the Hussite rebels in Bohemia.
However, we only brought about seventy cannons to Asia Minor, and most of them are light artillery, so I'm afraid it will be difficult to make much of an impact on the chariot fortress in a short time."
Laszlo looked at the other generals, awaiting their insights.
"Your Majesty, we can send troops to outflank them from both sides and trap the Ottomans here," Commander Ester of the Imperial Guard suggested.
The Emperor had numerous light and heavy cavalry from Wallachia, Székely, Hungary, Austria, and the Empire, whose numbers could even overwhelm the Ottomans opposite.
With the support of these cavalry units, facing the Ottomans entrenched in their chariot fortress, trapping them was certainly a good method.
"I fear the Ottomans will not let us succeed so easily. Mehmed II has probably considered this possibility, which is why he has left a good number of Sipahi Cavalry and infantry on the hillsides flanking the chariot fortress, forming a defensive angle with it."
Laszlo pointed out the difficulties facing this suggestion with a slight sense of regret.
Although Muhammad was somewhat dull in battle, his basic skills in terrain recognition and troop deployment were still present.
The main reason he often suffered astonishing defeats at the hands of the many fierce men in the Balkans was that his opponents were all contemporary heroes who almost never followed conventional tactics in battle, giving Muhammad, who only wanted to push forward after setting up his operations, a constant headache.
Such as Vlad, who dared to launch a night raid on his hundred-thousand-strong army camp with just a few thousand men, and Stephen, who dared to outflank and surprise attack his hundred-thousand-strong army with tens of thousands of men, not to mention Skanderbeg, who, with a group of old, weak, and sick, beat him black and blue in the mountains of Albania.
In this regard, Laszlo felt quite sympathetic to him and even didn't want to mock him, because even Laszlo himself might not be able to defeat those hardcore Balkan strongmen on their home turf.
Of course, defeating Muhammad, whose military skill was on par with his own, was still easy at the moment.
"Your Majesty, General Paul has sent someone to inquire if he should lead his troops forward. According to his observations, the Ottomans have likely kept their main cavalry force outside the chariot fortress, concentrated on the side directly facing the Hungarian army."
A messenger hurried over, reporting this new discovery to the Emperor.
While the two sides had not yet officially engaged, Laszlo and his generals still had the opportunity to make final adjustments to their deployment.
In fact, the tactical arrangements had already been finalized in the days leading up to the battle. At the time, Laszlo's idea was simple: he had superior numbers and quality, so a direct charge at the Ottoman army would secure victory.
However, that preconceived plan clearly had to be discarded now, as a mindless charge against a chariot fortress was obviously not a decision a sane person would make.
"Tell Paul not to be impatient, and to wait for the central army's command before advancing."
Laszlo decided to play it safe for now; although the enemy was fighting on their home ground, Laszlo was not far from his own rear.
If Muhammad intended to adopt this tactic, Laszlo could also accompany him to the end, confronting him to see which side's logistical supplies would run out first.
Of course, this was just a thought; in a prolonged war of attrition, the Crusader logistical expenses would not be a small sum, a considerable part of which Laszlo would have to bear.
After holding back the restless Crusader forces on both flanks, Laszlo began to devise a way to break the chariot fortress in his mind.
In fact, all military experiments concerning the Hussite War Wagon were basically completed during the Hussite Wars, including the core of the chariot fortress tactic, which is to arrange the chariot formation according to local conditions, as well as how to break the chariot fortress, and even how to use the chariot fortress against another chariot fortress. For Laszlo, who was familiar with the history of the Hussite Wars, the answers to these questions were all in his mind.
It's just that Mehmed II on the other side evidently didn't have a clear understanding of this, which is why he chose to use the chariot fortress to confront the superior Crusader army.
Similar to history, the chariot fortress began to spread eastward after the Hussite army entered Hungary, reaching the Balkans, and even further into Asia.
As the saying goes, the Roman Emperor praised it, Ismail cursed it, and the Mamluks exclaimed it was invincible.
The Ottomans, due to the Crusaders, encountered the chariot formation tactic earlier than in history, and used it to dominate the Islamic world, rarely meeting an equal.
Only this time, they used the chariot fortress, which originated from Bohemia, against the King of Bohemia, clearly choosing the wrong opponent.
According to the military history records Laszlo had studied, in the Battle of Pilsen, the Imperial Army had broken through the chariot fortress's defenses by concentrating forces to attack a single point, and then quickly routed the Hussite army.
In the Battle of Lipany, which directly led to the annihilation of the Hussite-Tábor faction, the Cup faction army used a feigned retreat to lure Prokop into pursuit, ultimately killing him and wiping out the core military strength of the Tábor faction in one fell swoop, thereby bringing the First Hussite War to an end.
In addition, artillery was proven to be a powerful weapon universally effective in both chariot fortress defense and anti-chariot fortress operations, and it could also play a significant role.
Logically speaking, a feigned attack and retreat should be the easiest method, luring the enemy out of the chariot fortress and then annihilating them, thereby greatly reducing offensive losses.
However, feigned retreats require a relatively high quality of troops, and given the impure composition of the Crusader army, Laszlo was concerned about overcomplicating things and ultimately turning it into a genuine rout.
Moreover, given Mehmed II's cautious personality, even if he saw the Crusaders retreating, he might not rashly launch a pursuit.
Considering this, Laszlo still decided to adopt a foolish but very effective method: concentrate forces to assault certain parts of the chariot fortress, break through it, and then engage the Ottomans in a major battle, relying on military superiority.
However, this process would be a test of resilience for both the Crusaders and the Janissaries, and before that… "Karl, as you said, order all cannons to be concentrated. Lead your men to protect these cannons and advance them to an effective firing range. Fire all the cannonballs and let those timid Infidels taste the cannonballs first."
Laszlo turned and instructed.
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
After receiving the order, Karl immediately went to execute it.
Soon, before the main forces of both sides began to move, the roar of cannons first echoed across the battlefield—not only the Crusader cannons but also those placed by the Ottomans within the chariot fortress.
Heavy stone projectiles cut across the sky, soon smashing into the open plain between the hills and the sea, kicking up large amounts of dust.
Another major battle between Laszlo and Muhammad officially began.
In the early summer afternoon, the scorching sun beat down on the land, tormenting the warriors of both sides locked in a standoff in the wilderness.
But even with the intense heat, making them sweat profusely and feel uncomfortable all over, no one was willing to shed their thick, stuffy armor, for it was one of their few lifelines in the impending battle.
In fact, this confrontation had already begun in the morning. The Ottomans, who had force-marched to the location, quickly set up defensive positions about three kilometers south of the Crusader encampment, facing the Crusaders who were arrayed in full battle order.
Between two small hills, approximately one kilometer apart, the Janissaries formed their most common chariot fortress, providing shelter for His Majesty the Sultan's more than ten thousand infantry, preventing them from being shattered the moment they engaged the Crusaders.
This was not an exaggeration but a factual event that had occurred in history.
Eighty years prior, during the Nicopolis Crusade, Sultan Bayezid I, rushing to aid the Nicopolis fortress, divided his army into four lines. The first and third lines consisted of jihad volunteers and irregular troops, forming defensive lines with wooden stakes, chevaux de frise, and earthen ramparts. The second line featured mobile mounted archers, while the fourth line comprised the main Ottoman cavalry and Serbian cavalry ambushed nearby.
The French knights, charging mindlessly into the Ottoman defensive lines, broke through the first three lines in less than an hour, unleashing a bloody massacre on the muslim irregulars.
However, just as they were exhausted, the true main force of the Ottoman Empire launched a sudden counter-charge, ultimately crushing the French, along with the Hungarian army that was rushing to their aid.
Since then, the Sultans understood that Latin knights were mostly brainless fellows, but at the same time, they acknowledged the powerful impact these iron cans had on the battlefield and their ability to easily defeat irregular troops.
If Mehmed II were not so keen on chariot fortress tactics now, he probably wouldn't have had the chance to construct a complete four-line defense like his ancestor Bayezid in such a short time. In that case, the direction of the war would likely have been very clear: the Crusaders would charge, and the Ottoman army would collapse and scatter.
Seeing that the Ottoman army had already begun to form the main part of the chariot fortress before the Crusaders could complete their assembly and deployment, Laszlo was not in a hurry to charge.
He was not like those hot-headed brutes of the Burgundy family who, upon seeing an enemy, would impulsively lead a charge. War, more often than not, required calm judgment; valor was important but not essential.
Coincidentally, the French knights who charged into the Ottomans' premeditated defenses were led by John the Fearless, the grandfather of Charles the Rash, the current Duke of Burgundy. The two were indeed cut from the same cloth in terms of personality.
In contrast, Philip III the Good, who was in between them, was as calculating and averse to war as John's father, Philip II. He used marriage alliances, coercion, and bribery to expand Burgundy's territory.
Laszlo was almost speechless at this family's strange generational inheritance, only able to conclude that a person's character truly deserved the hardships they encountered.
The roar of cannon fire brought Laszlo's attention back to the battlefield before him.
He had already advanced his army some distance, staying out of range of Ottoman artillery, but ready to launch an assault at any moment.
Further forward, almost all of the Crusader artillery, such as culverins and sakers, were now concentrated on the front, launching a fierce and dense bombardment against the Ottoman chariot fortress.
If it weren't for the trouble of moving already-set-up trebuchets, Laszlo would have even wanted to bring over siege cannons, to let the Ottomans experience the power of heavy artillery in open battle.
Even if Muhammad claimed to be blessed by allah, it seemed allah's blessing was not very effective at this moment.
The chariot fortress was the perfect stationary target for the Crusader artillery; the Ottomans had nowhere to run.
Low-flying cannonballs whistled as they pierced the fragile wooden planks, and the flying splinters quickly wounded the Ottoman soldiers hiding behind them, causing them to let out pained wails.
More cannonballs, due to the high-arc trajectory of the short-barreled cannons, landed in the central area of the chariot fortress. The Ottoman soldiers crammed inside were struck by the sudden projectiles; perhaps one second they were all praying to allah together, and the next, their comrades beside them were torn to pieces.
The sustained bombardment briefly caused minor disturbances within the chariot fortress, but they quickly saw Sultan Mehmed, who was enduring the cannon fire with them, and the unrest subsided. However, fear would not dissipate so easily; it would only spread and deepen with time.
In contrast, the Ottoman bombardment on the opposite side was not weak, but unfortunately, their fire was too scattered, evenly distributed across the entire front of the chariot fortress, in the gaps between the chariots, pouring fire furiously onto the open ground far in front of the Crusaders.
Several field squares formed by Austrian troops protecting the artillery, due to bad luck, ended up taking a few hits, losing over a dozen soldiers. Laszlo had already prayed in his heart for these unfortunate warriors, wishing them a heaven without cannons.
The artillery preparation lasted for over an hour, until even the bronze cannons from Graz, known for their sturdiness, began to show dangerous cracks, and only then did the Crusader bombardment cease.
Before the bombardment ended, most of the artillery carried by other units had already been completely rendered useless.
When Laszlo saw a group of soldiers pulling a cannon manufactured by Frankfurt artisans, which fired rectangular stone bricks, pass by him, even the well-informed Laszlo couldn't help but marvel at the wonderfully useless ingenuity of the Empire's artisans.
The main reason Laszlo's Crusader army could maintain sufficient firepower until the cannon barrels gave out was that the Venetians, after their submission, lifted the saltpeter blockade on Austria. Laszlo acquired a large quantity of saltpeter that the Venetians had purchased from the East at a favorable price—though the price was still very high, these were indispensable expenses.
Therefore, in this war, Laszlo had enough gunpowder to sustain his forces, no longer needing to be as meticulously frugal as before.
Although it was unknown how much damage this prolonged artillery preparation had inflicted on the Ottomans, judging by the front line of the chariot fortress, which was already riddled with holes, their situation was certainly not optimistic.
After showering the Ottomans with tons of cannonballs, a heavy, mournful horn blast signaled the advance of the already prepared army, moving forward in an orderly fashion according to the earlier plan.
The first to advance were the Hungarian forces on the Crusader left wing, with the vanguard commanded by Hervoye, general of the Split Army, consisting mainly of over a thousand light infantry from Croatia.
Following them was a square formation jointly composed of the main infantry from three Hungarian legions, commanded by Bátori, general of the Buda Legion.
Paul Kinizsi, general of the Timisoara Legion and commander-in-chief of the Hungarian army, led nearly three thousand Hungarian cavalry in an attempt to maneuver on the flank, seeking an opportunity to dislodge the Ottoman infantry and cavalry stationed on the high ground.
The center then also began to advance, enduring Ottoman artillery fire and ranged attacks.
Bohemian and Balkan vassal state troops were placed on the front line; they had not received much formal drill training, so they adopted a loose formation and slowly advanced towards the front of the Ottoman chariot fortress. Some soldiers pushed giant shields mounted on wooden carts, providing cover for the warriors behind them.
The Crusader archers, crossbowmen, and arquebusiers continuously returned fire during this process, attempting to suppress the fierce firepower of the Janissaries within the chariot fortress, but without much success.
The three Austrian legions were arranged in sequence, following the irregulars leading the charge. All cavalry was kept at the rear, with Laszlo ordering Vlad to command them.
In the direction closer to the coast, the Duke of Saxony, Albrecht, only twenty-two years old and already impatient from the long wait, commanded the left-wing Imperial allied forces to depart a little later, but their vanguard soon overtook the center and charged fiercely towards the high ground on the other side of the chariot fortress.
William and the Italian Crusader warriors, held in reserve at the rear, quickly moved to position themselves around the Emperor, ready to receive orders at any moment.
The Ottoman cannons continued to roar, though their intensity was considerably weaker than before.
Cannonballs gouged deep craters in the ground, and some valiant Crusader warriors fell under the bombardment. Many more were shot down by the dense ranged fire of the Janissaries after approaching the front of the chariot fortress.
Laszlo coldly observed every change on the battlefield, trying to find a weakness in the Ottomans.
The fierce fighting on the main front was exceptionally bloody and brutal, with large numbers of infantry searching for gaps between the chained chariots, attempting to pour into the chariot fortress through them.
The prolonged artillery bombardment earlier had indeed destroyed some of the chariots forming the long wall of the chariot fortress, but the Ottomans had quickly made some repairs, blocking the gaps formed by the damaged chariots with obstacles.
This indeed had some effect during the first hour of the battle, but as more Crusaders joined the fight, even if the Ottomans maintained a very high rate of fire, they had to contend with more enemies rushing towards them.
Experienced soldiers quickly tried to move aside the giant shields or obstacles in the gaps between the chariots, then attempted to rush into the chariot fortress.
The Ottoman soldiers, in imitation of what the Austrians had once done, held up long spears in dense formations, impaling every person who tried to flood into the chariot fortress.
Several members of the Knights Hospitaller were the first to breach the defenses. They narrowly dodged a hail of bullets and arrows, evaded the flails constantly hurled down by the Ottomans on the chariots, and withstood the spears thrust at them, opening a gap at a connection point of a chariot shattered by cannon fire.
More and more warriors poured in through this breach, quickly engaging in battle with nearby Ottoman soldiers.
However, this situation had not yet caught Laszlo's attention. On the gentle hill to the left, only forty to fifty meters high, the situation underwent a dramatic change.
On the left flank of the Crusaders, a "rout" seemed to be unfolding.
Hervoye, leading the Croatian light infantry in an uphill assault on the high ground, was unfortunately struck in the chest by an arrow, falling from his horse. He was rescued by his personal guards and taken to the rear.
The Croatian army, which had already suffered considerable casualties due to the tenacious resistance of the Ottoman forces on the high ground, immediately began to retreat.
Soldiers shouted things like "The general is dead!" and began to turn and flee down the slope.
The desperate wails almost stunned the Buda Legion, which was following closely behind, ready to fill the gap. Bátori, seeing that the situation seemed somewhat unfavorable, was about to lead his troops back a little when a new development occurred on the high ground.
"Brothers, the enemy has been routed by us! Now, follow me immediately in pursuit and utterly annihilate those hateful Hungarians!"
On the high ground, Suleiman Pasha, an Ottoman noble general promoted on the front lines by Mehmed II, declared his victory to his Sipahi Cavalry with an air of triumph.
"General, His Majesty the Sultan's order is for us to hold the high ground!"
The military supervisor beside him quickly tried to dissuade him.
Although he also wished to pursue and slaughter the retreating enemy before him, the Sultan's orders were inviolable, otherwise the most severe punishment would surely follow.
However, Suleiman, eager to vindicate the traditional Ottoman nobility and contemptuous of Janissary-affiliated generals, was no longer listening to him.
"Charge!"
At his command, a large number of Sipahi Cavalry began to bypass the slow-moving infantry and charged towards the enemy, who had exposed their backs to them.
"allah is the greatest!"
"For the Sultan!"
The Ottoman cavalry shouted their slogans, brandishing their scimitars and wantonly harvesting the lives of the fleeing Croatians.
The mounted archers, like hunters showcasing their skill, drew their bows and arrows, precisely shooting down their targeted enemies.
Arrows plunged into their backs, piercing through their chests. The fugitives fell to the ground, struggled in agony for a few moments, and then completely lost their lives.
However, when the cavalry, in the midst of their fierce pursuit, saw the scene ahead, they were greatly alarmed.
"Maintain formation!"
The shouts from various captains echoed below the high ground. The Hungarian infantry, their feet rooted in the mud, held their long spears high, their arm muscles tensed like iron and stone.
Their long-term rigorous training finally manifested at this moment. They held back their fleeing comrades outside their ranks, nervously awaiting the Ottoman cavalry's impact.
The downhill charge caused immense damage, yet more Ottoman cavalry, unable to stop, crashed into the gleaming steel thorns and perished.
The momentum of the cavalry charge was abruptly halted. The front was littered with struggling warhorses and dying warriors, including Ottomans impaled and dismounted, and Hungarians trampled by horses.
Paul, who had been performing an encirclement, suddenly noticed the anomaly on the battlefield when he charged the high ground from the flank. He quickly divided his cavalry into four teams: one to harass the trailing Ottoman infantry, one to seize the lightly defended high ground, and the remaining two teams to launch a two-pronged attack on the flanks of the bogged-down Ottoman cavalry.
In less than half an hour, the Ottoman mobile forces, numbering less than half of the Hungarian army, began to rout. Large numbers of cavalry were slaughtered, and the survivors scrambled to escape towards the side gate of the chariot fortress, hoping to hide inside to save their lives.
By the time Mehmed II noticed the Hungarian royal banner fluttering on the flank, it was already too late.