800 Ottoman Army Defeats 70 Thousand Serbian Army

In the Çirmen raid carried out under the command of Lala Şahin Pasha, the raiders and their commanders followed thanks to their tactics and their courage they were able to win the battle.

So how did they really succeed in defeating the Serbian army, which is almost 90 times more than themselves and has been preparing for this war for months, with great superiority?

The Balkan states were afraid of the Ottomans.

When Sultan Murat I came to the throne, the raids of the Young Ottoman Empire in Rumelia and the Balkans gained momentum. The Ottomans quickly invaded the Balkans. Turkmen families was placing.

All Balkan states, especially Rumelia, if the Turks cannot be stopped the next incursion may be to their country she worried.

The grudge they had in the Meriç War would set the stage for Çirmen.

Formed by the Kingdoms of Serbia, Hungary and Bulgaria upon the call of Pope Urban V. Crusader army of 80 thousand peopleHe went on an expedition to the Ottoman Empire. The army was preparing to go to Edirne when they set up camp by crossing the Meriç River.

In this battle known as the Meriç War, the Ottoman army of 8 thousand people by night raid He had destroyed the armies of the Crusaders. This defeat would fuel the Grime War.

For this war, where kings and princes would stand at the head of the army, 70 thousand soldiers were gathered.

In the following years, at the call of the Pope, all three kings of Serbia united and managed to gather an army of 70,000 men. However, many of the soldiers were immature youths who were forced into persuasion and did not even know how to hold a sword properly.

Still, there were close to 2000 knights in the army, and the kings at their head had been preparing for this war for years. Even even kings and princes He would stand at the head of the army in battle.

Ottoman spies had noticed the army.

Meanwhile, Sultan Murat, who was unaware of anything, left Edirne in order to prevent the conflicts in Anatolia. Serbs, this taking the opportunity They set out for the region, but Ottoman spies noticed them.

In the absence of Sultan Murat, Edirne To Lala Şahin Pasha it was entrusted to Having heard from the spies, Şahin Pasha immediately sent his messenger to Sultan Murat, but Sultan Murat and his army would not be able to catch up.

The only and last chance of the Ottoman raiders and the commander was tonight.

The spies were following the Serbian army step by step. They followed them to the food they ate. During their lifetime, consisting of 800 people with him ran from war to war Lala Şahin Pasha, who took the raiding army, was advancing with them near the Serbian army.

The army, which came to Çirmen from the banks of the Meriç River, would camp here to rest. The next day, they thought that they would carry out the Edirne raid they had planned. Commander Şahin Pasha last chance it was tonight.

The raiders, carrying torches for 2, had panicked the enemies.

The Serbian army, which had camped with its back to the Evros River, was planned to be surrounded on three sides. The Serbs would fall into fear and panic when the drummers stationed in the hills struck their mallets as the raiders took action. Raiders descending from the hills 2 torches they would create an image as if they were 2 people by carrying them.

When it was pitch dark, the order to “attack” was given, and the drummers began to strike their mallets, and the raiders began to descend with torches. When the raiders entered the camp, they carried their torches. throwing in tents they started a fire.

Tens of thousands of Serbian soldiers drowned in the river.

The knights rushed towards the center to protect the kings and commanders because of their heavy armor. they couldn’t move fast and became the target of raiders.

Commanders and two kings die in their tents, one of the kings managed to escape but was killed by Lala Şahin Pasha.

Tens of thousands of soldiers trying to escape with the shock they experienced, in the Meriç River dying by drowning the rest surrendered. Serbia, which lost its kings, came under the rule of the Ottomans.