The Battle of the Ice 1242

The Battle of the Ice took place on the 5^th April 1242 during the Northern Crusades in Europe which were directed against Pagans and Eastern Orthodox Christians. This battle was fought between the Republic of Novgorod and the Livonian Order of the Teutonic Knights, and marked the end of the Crusaders campaigns against the Orthodox Novgorod Republic for the next century.

In the wake of the Mongol and Swedish invasions of the Novgorod Republic, the Teutonic Knights, in an attempt to exploit the nations weakened state, attacked in 1240 and occupied Pskov, Izborsk and Koporye. As the Teutonic Knights advanced deeper into the Republic’s territory, the local citizens called to the City of Novgorod itself the 20 year old Prince Alexander Nevsky who had been banished earlier that year.

Throughout his campaign in 1241 Alexander managed to retake Pskov and Koporye from the crusaders. In spring 1242 the Teutonic Knights defeated a detachment of Novgorodians before they met with Alexander’s forces at Lake Peipus (between modern day Estonia and Russia).

On April 5^th 1242 Alexander, intending to fight in a place of his choosing, retreated in an attempt to draw the over confident Crusaders onto the frozen lake. The Teutonic Knights charged across the lake at the Novgordian militia. The Novgordian force caused the crusader attack to slow, and successfully held the enemy force. A little after two hours of close quarter fighting, Alexander ordered the left and right wings of his army to enter the battle.

The crusader army by this time was exhausted from the fierce fighting on the icy surface and began to retreat in disarray further onto the ice, then the appearance of the fresh Novgorod troops and cavalry made them retreat in a panic.

The battle ended in a decisive victory for the Novgorod Republic. It halted the eastward expansion of the Teutonic Order and established a permanent border between Eastern Orthodoxy and Western Catholicism. The crusaders defeat at the hands of Alexander’s forces prevented the crusaders from retaking Pskov and leaving a lasting mark which made the crusaders never mount a serious challenge eastward again.

 

(The images used are artist’s interpretations of events and we do not own the rights to them, full credit to the owners of the images)

Battle of Kolubara 1914

On the 16^th November 1914 the battle of Kolubara began when the Austro-Hungarian armies, under the command of Oskar Potiorek, reached the Kolubara River during their third invasion of Serbia in 1914, after capturing the town of Vaijevo.

The Austro-Hungarians reached the Kolubara River on the 16^th November and launched an assault against the Serbian defensive positions there. The Serbs managed to force the Austro-Hungarians back and over the next five days they fought a series of battles suffering heavy casualties in heavy rain and snowfall, resulting in many soldiers succumbing to frostbite or hypothermia.

During the night of the 18^th November the Austro-Hungarians moved into position to carry out a further assault which began the following morning. The Austro-Hungarian’s main goal was to break through the defences of the Serbian army in order to drive them back towards the town of Gornji Milanovac, so they could capture the strategic town of Lazarevac. This town’s capture would give the Austro-Hungarian’s access to the Mladenovac railroad and an ability to outflank the Serbian forces guarding the road to Belgrade.

The Austro-Hungarian’s managed to capture the village of Vrace Brdo by the evening of the 19^th November and seized the higher ground from the Serbs in the South. The Serbian army was forced to retreat giving the Austro-Hungarian’s the ability to advance deeper into Serbia. By the 24^th November the Austrian commander Potiorek predicted that Serbia would be defeated within a matter of days.

Although the Serbian Army had put up fierce residence and inflicted heavy casualties on the Austro-Hungarians, the Serbian commander Putnik became concerned that his lines were over extended and began to plan for another strategic retreat, one which would include the evacuation of Belgrade. On the 29^th November 1914 the Serbian Supreme Command decided to abandon the capital Belgrade. On the 1^st December the Austro-Hungarian’s entered the city prompting celebrations in Vienna. They now believed that their war with Serbia would soon be over and began preparing for the countries occupation.

After the capture of Belgrade, it became increasingly clear to both Potiorek and Putnik that the Austro-Hungarian supply lines were over extended, so on December 1^st Potiorek ordered the advancing 6^th Army to wait for the 5^th army to secure the supply lines resulting in a pause of all Austro-Hungarian operations. The Serbians exploited this respite and withdrew the 1^st Serbian army from the front line allowing his soldiers time to rest. The Serbian’s then converged around Mount Rudnik where it received its long promised supplies from its allies. After he and his forces had rested and were resupplied, Putnik’s confidence in his forces ability to counterattack returned.

On December 2^nd 1914 Putnik ordered an attack on the Austro-Hungarian front line and told his officers that the offensive was solely for the purpose of raising Serbian morale. Determined to play his part, the Serbian king Peter I also took a rifle and accompanied his troops to the front. The attack caught the Austro-Hungarian’s completely by surprise who were at the time holding a military parade through the streets of Belgrade. The Austro-Hungarian’s had not prepared a defence for a Serbian counter attack as their artillery was positioned far behind the front line and could not be used in the defence. By the night of December 2^nd the Serbian’s had advanced far into Austro-Hungarian lines inflicting heavy casualties and taking many prisoners. The offensive’s initial success served to greatly enhance the morale of Serbian troops, just as Putnik had wanted. Significantly weakened, the Austro-Hungarians did not have time to recover before the offensive resumed the following morning and they were forced into retreat by the end of the day abandoning their weapons and equipment as they fled.

The Serbs anticipated that their opponents would entrench themselves and attempt to block the Serbian Army’s advance, but the Austro-Hungarians had failed to construct any defensive networks and were in no position to block the Serbian offensive. Their lack of prior preparation meant that the surrounding hills were devoid of any significant defensive positions. The Serbs exploited this weakness by maneuvering around the hills and encircling the Austro-Hungarians, suffering minimal casualties while breaking through.

By the 9^th December the Austro-Hungarian counter attack lost all momentum and began to retreat to the city center. On the 10^th December the Serbian’s captured the lower reaches of the Drina forcing the surviving Austro-Hungarian forces back across the river. By the 13^th December the Austro-Hungarian’s in Belgrade could not hold the city for much longer and were ordered to withdraw from the city. On the 15^th December the Serbian Army re-entered Belgrade and was in full control again by the following day.

Battle of Okehazama 1560

During the 1500s Japan was in Civil War with local warlords seeking control of the country. Imagawa Yoshimoto a leading warlord in the Tōkaidō Region of Japan, led 25,000 men to march on Kyoto. On the march they entered Oda territories belonging to the much weaker warlord Oda Nobunaga.

Imagawa Yoshimoto took the border fortresses of Washizu and Marune before setting up camp in the wooded gorge known as Dengaku-Hazama. Oda’s scouts reported all of this to Oda who then moved his own forces of 2000-3000 men into a temple called Zebshio-ji.

Oda Nobunaga’s force was heavily outnumbered and his own generals urged him to surrender. Oda however had a reputation for being reckless and unpredictable even thought of by some as being mentally unstable, he ignored the advice from his generals instead ordering a dummy army be constructed at Zensho-Ji with a large number of banners to give the impression this was to be the location of his main force.

Meanwhile Oda ordered an attack and led his main force of 2000 men through the forest undetected to the rear of the Imagawa Army camped at Dengaku-Hazama. The Imagawa samurai were celebrating their recent victories at camp and did not expect and attack. A thunderstorm that took place that night shielded Oda’s men’s advance.

As soon as the storm passed, Oda’s men charged into the camp onto the drunk and unprepared army who lost all discipline with large numbers fleeing from their attackers. They left the commander’s tent largely undefended and the Oda warriors closed in. Yoshimoto unaware of what was happening heard the noise and came outside to order his men to quit their drunken activities and return to their posts. By the time he realised that the samurai in front of him were not his own it was too late to organise a defence. Yoshimoto was attacked and although deflected their initial attacks was killed by two of Oda’s samurai Mori Shinsuke and Hattori Koheita.

With Imagawa Yoshimoto dead and only two senior officers left alive, the remaining Imagawa force joined Oda’s army. Soon after the Imagawa faction was no more and Oda Nobunaga was at the front of military power.