The roar of gunshots, the clash of weapons, the sound of horses, groans of the wounded - this is a typical image of a battle struggle. And when we add to it the dark night, although the eye is a deviant, the alcohol bubbling in our veins and the ubiquitous, but incomprehensible to many shouts, a strange battle appears to us. A battle in which the army defeated itself - and it could have been completely different, if the otherwise known motto had not been adhered to then, that no one would tell us in foreign languages what to do ...
It has been known for a long time that where two fight, the third one uses. Apparently, the Austrian Emperor Joseph II Habsburg wanted to follow this motto. The war between Russia and the Ottoman Empire since 1787 was a great moment to implement his plans. The ruler of the Holy Roman Empire realized that the Turkish state was going through a serious crisis and that its glory days were behind him. Apart from the wars with the Russian Empire and Austria, the state of Sultan Abdulhamid I was also shaken by internal rebellions in Syria and Morea. So the opportunity to partition the Turkish lands in a way, or even to take a piece of their vastness, was perfect.
Preparing for war
Despite the assumed weakness of the Sultan's state, Joseph II in no way intended to underestimate his opponent. He knew that Abdulhamid, who was considered a pacifist, understood the need to modernize his outdated army. The Sultan tried to reform the Janissary troops and the navy. He also began adapting artillery to the requirements of the then battlefield. In this situation, the emperor issued a huge, numbering about 245 thousand. soldiers, a well-equipped army. The scale of the preparations is also evidenced by the number of 898 guns that were to sweep away the Turkish defense. At the same time, the commanding officers had at their disposal 800 tons of flour and 200 slaughter oxen a day to feed such huge masses of the army. In addition, the emperor had the support of Tsarina Catherine II, who, while waging a war with Turkey, tied her considerable forces.
Commander of the Ottoman forces Abdülhamid I
However, the Turkish state, already embroiled in one war, managed to expose 100,000 to Austrian needs. well-trained and punitive soldiers. These forces were divided into two corps, of which the greater, 70,000 people, was commanded by the Grand Vizier Yusuf Pasha. Although the sultan's forces were much inferior to the army of Joseph II, apart from perfect training (the famous Janissaries, against whom Europe and Asia continued to tremble), they had an important advantage - it was an army that was culturally and… linguistically uniform. This was not the case for the large but ethnically mixed army of the Holy Roman Empire.
The imperial ranks were fought by the impassive Germans, Hungarians, Croats, Slovenes, Czechs, Italians, Poles and Ukrainians. And as if that was not enough, the command was of course German and the command was in the same language. And the subordinates, as the classic would put it: knew the language, but could not . Joseph, however, regardless of what would turn out to be a significant handicap of his army, declared war on the Port. The original plan was to strike against a strategically important but defended by weak forces Belgrade . Ultimately, the emperor decided to move more to the east. To this end, he divided his forces and at the head of the 125,000th corps he set off deep into the Sultan lands.
Libation?
On the night of September 17-18, 1788, the imperial troops reached the Temes River in the town of Karánsebes. The hussars sent ahead were to secure the bridgehead on the other bank, so that the main forces could cross over on the following day. As it turned out, Wallachian Gypsies had set up their camp near the cavalry of the advance guard. There would be nothing wrong with that, if not for the fact that they had a heavy load of alcohol. Cavalry fantasy did not allow such an opportunity to be missed - the hussars commandeered the booze and indulged in libation for the best. When the first infantry units reached the bridge, there was only one barrel left to dispose of. However, at the request of the infantrymen to share the prey with them, the hussars strongly refused. There were quick insults and mutual scuffles .
Józef II Habsburg
The first shots were fired and some took their sabers. Using empty barrels, the hussars additionally fortified their position, preparing for a longer siege. The desire to quench the thirst of the walkers was so great that they resorted to deception in this situation. Wanting to force the cavalrymen to abandon their ramparts, they shouted:Turci !, Turci! The effect of the shout exceeded the wildest expectations of infantrymen. The drunken hussars did come out from behind the barricade, but they did it with such force that they tumbled across the bridge towards the bewildered walkers. The cavalry picked up on the cry of terror at the Turks, which was carried on by the successive groups of soldiers.
The sounds of gunfire and galloping hussar horses only increased the panic. On top of that, the general confusion was joined by the startled workhorses from the infantry camp. The shouts of Halt !, Halt! officers trying to control the chaos. Worse yet, since most of the Imperial soldiers were not linguists, they understood the desperate cries of the officers as:Allah !, Allah! It only motivated everyone to flee even more.
An army that defeated itself
Soon the tumultuous mass of animals and people began to dangerously approach the advancing forces of the main imperial forces. The horror of the situation was heightened by the moonless night, which made it impossible to recognize the approaching troops. After a while, an avalanche of lead fell on the panicked crowd - it was artillery of the main forces, believing they were indeed Turks, trying to stop this insane attack. The earth ran down with the blood of comrades-in-arms, but the panic worsened even more. The soldiers disintegrated, firing at each other. The corpse was thick, and nobody paid any attention to the screams of the wounded. Even the emperor himself tried to control everything, but a furious crowd of refugees ran into him, pushing the ruler and his horse into the river. However, he managed to get out of trouble and withdraw with some of the survivors. As day approached, the Austro-Austrian battle was over.
What must have been the surprise of the Grand Vizier when he reached the place of the expected battle with the troops of Joseph II with his forces. Instead of the enemy ready to fight, he found the field around the crossing littered with the bodies of about 10,000. imperial soldiers . Yusuf Pasha eagerly took advantage of the "easy victory" to turn out to be a conqueror of the Austrian army in the eyes of the Sultan. The Ottoman soldiers fished, taking equipment and weapons abandoned by fleeing enemies with whom they had not exchanged a single shot. Additionally, the vizier ordered the heads of the fallen (also wounded) beheaded, as for each of them he could receive up to 10 ducats of the prize.
The Turks did pursue Józef's forces, but this time they avoided confrontation with the Ottoman troops. Ultimately, the imperial field marshal von Laudon managed to capture Belgrade, but it was actually the only major success of the Austrian side, which signed a peace treaty with Turkey in 1791.