Vlad the Impaler Chapter 21

 The Ottoman Battles

21.

The defenses were set up at possible landing areas along the Danube River. Ramparts and moats were dug at the possible sites and sentries were posted there. Vlad’s army was stretched thin but he managed to get them to ride on short notice to reinforce the ones at the landing sites.

Under the Romans, the Danube formed the border of the Empire with the tribes to the north almost from its source to its mouth. At the same time, it was a route for the transport of troops and the supply of settlements downstream. Soon the Danube became the traditional trade route in Europe.

Spies were deployed on the Ottoman’s side. It was fruitful when the news came back to the Lord.

“They are attempting a landing at Vidin.” Vlad was told.

“Deploy the army---” Vlad was stopped by Janus.

“I heard of other landing sites. We need to be prudent.” Janus told him. “I was told the column there was not huge. Send in the detachment of archers. We can spare the five hundred archers in the flank.”

It was agreed and the first attempt was at Vidin but was repulsed by the archery defenses but the Ottomans had other plans. Just as the Wallachians have their spies, the Turks held theirs too

“The defense is weaker there at Severin. We will land there with the Janissaries. They will go over on the boat and secure the area. The others will be shipped in the larger barges.”

Three hundred Janissaries landed there by boats. Then came the Janissaries turn at Severin.

This was the report of one Janissary Yuzbasi, who was Serbian-born.

‘When the night began to fall, we climbed into our boats and floated down the Danube and crossed over to the other side several miles below the place where Vlad's army was stationed. There we dug ourselves trenches, so that cavalry could not harm us. After that, we crossed back over to the other side and transported other janissaries over the Danube, and when the entire infantry had crossed over, then we prepared and set out gradually against Vlad's army, together with the artillery and other equipment that we had brought with us.”

“We had engaged the enemies. We were delayed by the ramparts and moats that I had the cannons set up to lay fire on the rampart.”

“During that time, three hundred janissaries were killed and the enemies were to mount a counter-attack. We defended with the one hundred twenty guns which we had brought over and fired. We fired salvos at the enemies and then at the rampart. It turned the tide of the battle.”

That report was substantiated by the defending Wallachians.

“We were winning then. The hundred of Janissaries were defeated and the men wanted to take the fight to the Turks.” Janus was there and tried to instill discipline in the assembled army of peasants and mercenaries. “They won’t take to my command. They took to the beach but they have not faced a barrage of cannons before. The men were slaughtered and the ones who survived sought shelter. I saw many of the peasants with wounds of cannon pellets. The hot iron balls blew their limbs if not their lives. The healers were few and fewer were the potions to heal the wounds.”

“I had no choice but to retreat.”

Janus seeing that he could not prevent the crossing withdrew.

After that, the Sultan crossed the Danube with his entire army and gave us thirty thousand coins to be distributed among us. No one asked of the dead Janissaries but we were told that their families were given gifts.”

The Ottoman had landed across the Danube and formed the beachhead.  

“We are invaded.” Vlad was told. He knew that for he was there with Janus but his reinforcements were too small to make a difference. He had called for a withdrawal and to regroup.

“Give up on the defenses. We will regroup at our lands.” Vlad called for the retreat. Some of the leaders wanted to fight on but the Lord was adamant about it. He gave the new order then.

“We cannot just retreat. Burn the stores and harvests. Leave nothing to the Turks.” Vlad gave the command. The order went out. It was a policy of scorched earth, poisoning the waters, and also creating marshes by diverting the waters of small rivers. Traps were created by the digging of pits and then covered with timber and leaves. The population and animals were evacuated to the mountains.

“Leaver nothing for them.” The Ottoman army paid the cost of it with no food and above all, fatigue. All was expected then but Vlad had more ideas.

“We will take them on in skirmishes. Small groups to harass them and flee when they are done.” Vlad was not giving up. He assigned the groups to the skirmishes while he diminished his strength waiting for the reinforcements that were not arriving.

Then a new idea came to his defenses.

“There are those with the plagues. Send them not away but to the Turks. Let them infect the enemies.” Janus carried out the order and sent in people with plagues to intermix with the enemies. It worked for the Turks advances were stifled.

And the diseases spread among the Turks.

“My Sultan, we are stretched to the limits.” The Sultan was told. Sultan Mehmed was not keen to give up and insisted to march to Bucharest.

“There we will find food.” Sultan Mehmed gave this order but they failed in the attempt. The Ottoman army was forced to camp near Targoviste.

It was the eventful battle that shaped the Lord’s name as the leader of valor.

“We must be made to pursue a demon.” The Turk mercenary seated by the fire was picking at the wild berries he had picked on the trail. “Vlad the Impaler is truly a demon.”

“I agree with you. I am in mind to ride with Mongols and have my meals of meat daily.” Another replied. Food was scarce and the men were told to eat what they could find but the horses were to be spared. The Sultan valued the horses for his cavalry troops.

“You there. Move into your tents now. It’s the order of the Sultan.” The call was made by a Turkish officer who was doing the patrol. The Sultan did command that the troops not on sentry duties were to remain inside the tents to avoid contact on any illness. It was a known fact to Vlad who learned it from the tortured prisoners.

The officer moved on and looked at the ones who were defying the order. As it was dark, anyone dressed in the armor was considered as an officer but in actual behind the uniform was Vlad. He had defied his advisers including Janus and took to the disguise to walk into the Ottoman’s camp.

“I won’t be alone. There will be my spies in the camp too.” Vlad told Janus but the latter was insistent to protest.

“Janus, I know their ways and above all, even if I die there, or here, it has to be done.”

“My Lord, you are the leader. Why do you insist on such reckless acts?”

“I have to. I will know the Sultan’s tent and with him inside, I can kill him. Or die trying.” Vlad was seeking the tent of the Sultan and wanted to kill him. “Don’t stop me, Janus. I am doing it.”

Vlad donned the captured armor and marched in. The sentries did not stop him when he went past them. It was a huge camp but the path was made easier when the men are huddled in their tents. Vlad was told by the sentries, that the Sultan had ordered them to be inside the tents to avoid infections.

That action also included reducing the sentries.

“Who will attack a camp with over twenty thousand warriors? The other camps are nearby and in strength, we are over two hundred thousand strong. Not even the demon will attempt it.” The sentries were murmuring to reinforce their courage. They feared not the enemies but the infections more.

Vlad then chanced on the Sultan’s tent. It was a huge tent among the other tents. The tent held two guards outside. He then returned to his men hidden in the forest.

“They are in their tents and the sentries are few.” Vlad looked to his men. “We attacked from four directions. The ones dressed as Turks to silence the sentries and then the others moved in. Set fire to the tents and killed anyone who comes up. Kill their horses or mounts and destroy their armory. Make it looked as if the demons had descended on them.”

It was a simple order and twenty thousand men waited while the scouts took out the sentries. Once that was done, Vlad’s men went in with their jugs of oil and torches. Meanwhile, Vlad rushed towards the Sultan’s tent. He was with Janus and his guards.

They killed the two sentries and rushed in. They found not the Sultan but the two Viziers studying the maps.

“Who are you?” The Vizier Ishak Pasha was there with his counterpart, Mahmud Pasha. Vlad was still in his Turkish armor then.

“Wallachian’s Lord.” Vlad slashed his sword across Ishak Pasha’s chest while Janus took down the other Vizier. They searched the tent but the Sultan was not there.

“We have to leave now.” The call for arms had sounded. Vlad turned to leave and saw the camp was under attack. It would have worked better if only some of the tents were not alight in a hurry. The fire did spread but it also alerted the other camps nearby.

“Kill them all!” Vlad roared out. “Spare no one. Impale them all.”

It was then Janus had grabbed a Turkish warrior with the spear impaled in the throat. He stood the dead man with the spear on the ground. His guards then did the same and lined up the dead men in a row.

“We must leave, my Lord. The reinforcements are coming.” Vlad heard the other and retreated. The Turks were in a disarray for in the dark, they could not make out who were the enemies. And it was made worse by the screams and screeching of the wounded with the names of demons called out.

“Syaitan is upon us.” It was chaos and more wat daybreak.

The aftermath of the battle was in confusion with the counts of death reported with differing results but the Sultan was more upset that his tent was attacked. He had moved to a nearby tent to rest while leaving the viziers to confer on the next battle.

“I want the whelp hunted.” The Sultan was upset. He did not know his actual losses and wanted to retreat to regroup. He heard the men talking of demons and brimstones that was the night attack. He saw the men of his impaled like hunted preys to dry in the sun. He had seen himself the beheading and even the ones stoned to death but to see a living soul being impaled was beyond his horrific vision.

“I will return across the Danube. More of my army of will regroup there.” Sultan Mehmed told his Kaymakams.

“My Sultan, the morale of the army here is low. Without food, they will still serve but to see you leave now, they will be ---” A Kaymakam voiced out.

“What? Demoralized when I was almost killed?” Sultan Mehmed roared out. He knew that his last order to reduce the sentries could have led to the attack. “What do you suggest I do?”

“We can do so to recall the columns here. It’s the best way then for us to regroup and with the fire vengeance in us for what ----” Another Kaymakam had offered his advice.

“I was nearly killed. I was humiliated by a smaller army. I ---” Sultan Mehmed looked to Radu who standing there among the Kaymakams. He wanted to kill Radu for what Vlad did but held back his anger.

“Recall all the columns here. We marched in strength from now.” Sultan Mehmed gave the order and then looked at Radu. “How many mounts did you lose?”

“Not many. I can ride now.” Radu looked to the Sultan.

“Pursue the insolent one. Do not attack but keep me advised on his whereabouts. We will have him impaled.” Sultan Mehmed told Radu.