Editing Battle of Lechfeld (section)

==Battle==
[[File:1744 Seeg Schlacht auf dem Lechfeld.jpg|thumb|left|upright|''The Battle of Lechfeld'', a 1744 fresco by [[Balthasar Riepp]]]]
On 9 August, the German scouts reported that the Hungarian army was in the vicinity. Otto I deployed his army for battle the next day.{{sfn|Bowlus|2016|p=11}} It is likely that Otto and Ulrich had communicated in the previous days, and informing the king that the city needed a relief force quickly. He departed from Ulm within seven days at most.{{Sfn|Kristó|1985|p=87}} The order of march of the German army was as follows: the three Bavarian contingents, the Frankish contingent under Duke Conrad, the royal unit (the center), the two contingents of Swabians and the Bohemian contingent guarding the supply train in the rear.{{sfn|Bowlus|2016|pp=11–12}} The Bavarians were placed at the head of column, according to Delbrück, because they were marching through Bavarian territory and they therefore knew the territory best. All of these were mounted.{{sfn|Delbrück|1990|p=118}} They could achieve a maximum distance of 25 kilometers per day.{{Sfn|Kristó|1985|p=87}} The German army marched through woodland that protected them from the Hungarian arrow-storm, but also made it more difficult to see the Hungarian movements.{{sfn|Bowlus|2016|p=170}}
[[File:The Hungarian campaign in the German kingdom from 955.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|The Hungarian campaign in the German kingdom from 955]]
According to the chronicler [[Widukind of Corvey]], Otto I "pitched his camp in the territory of the city of Augsburg and joined there the forces of [[Henry I, Duke of Bavaria]], who was himself lying mortally ill nearby, and by [[Conrad, Duke of Lorraine|Duke Conrad]] with a large following of Franconian knights. Conrad's unexpected arrival encouraged the warriors so much that they wished to attack the enemy immediately."{{sfn|Thatcher|McNeal|1905|p=76}}
The arrival of Conrad, the exiled Duke of [[Lotharingia]] (Lorraine), and Otto I's son-in-law, was particularly heartening because he had recently thrown in his lot with the Magyars, but now returned to fight under Otto I; in the ensuing battle he lost his life. A legion of Swabians was commanded by [[Burchard III, Duke of Swabia]], who had married Otto I's niece Hedwig. Also among those fighting under Otto I was [[Boleslaus I, Duke of Bohemia]]. Otto I himself led the ''legio regia'', stronger than any of the others in both numbers and quality.{{sfn|Bowlus|2016|p=11}}

[[File:Michael Echter Ungarnschlacht.jpg|thumb|left|''The Hungarian Battle of Lechfeld 955'', an 1860 painting by [[Michael Echter]]]]
[[File:Augsburg battle.jpg|thumb|238x238px|Map of the battle{{Sfn|Kristó|1985|p=89}}]]
The main Hungarian army blocked Otto I's way to Augsburg. A contingent of Hungarian horse-archers crossed the river west of Augsburg and immediately attacked the [[Czechs|Bohemian]] legion from the flank. The Bohemians were routed and the two Swabian legions were badly damaged.{{sfn|Bowlus|2016|pp=12–13}}{{sfn|Thatcher|McNeal|1905|p=77}} The Hungarians stopped to plunder the German baggage train and Duke Conrad the Red used the opportunity to attack the vulnerable Hungarians and shatter them.{{sfn|Bowlus|2016|p=170}}{{sfn|Bowlus|2016|p=12}} Conrad returned to Otto I with captured Hungarian banners.{{sfn|Bowlus|2016|p=12}} Conrad's victory prevented the German army from being encircled.{{sfn|Bowlus|2016|p=13}}

Otto I rallied his men with a speech in which he claimed the Germans had better weapons than the Hungarians. Otto I then led the German army into battle with the main Hungarian force, defeating them.{{sfn|Bowlus|2016|p=13}} How the main Ottonian military defeated the Hungarians, however, is somewhat unclear. This is because Widukind's account of the battle is remarkably short and lacking in detail, which is surprising considering the significance of the battle.{{sfn|Bowlus|2016|p=119–121}} This has left some historians to speculate how the battle played out, based on the strategies outlined in Vegetius's ''Epitome of Military Science'', which heavily influenced Ottonian strategy. According to these historians, while the infantry approached the center of the Magyar formation, Conrad's cavalry, posted on the left wing and protected on its flank from nearby cliffs, would stay out of range of the Hungarian archers but would also attempt to draw them more to their right. Meanwhile the royal legion, under Otto I's personal leadership, engaged the enemy from the right. Although the King's forces suffered losses from the archers, this gave the royal legion the opportunity to directly assault the Magyars in close combat, which was not the Magyar's area of strength. Conrad's forces would then wheel in from Otto I's left wing, putting the Hungarians in danger of being enveloped.{{sfn|Bowlus|2016|p=127–128}} Seeing the day going against them, the Hungarians retreated in ordered formations across the Lech to the east. Otto I's army pursued, killing every captured Hungarian.{{sfn|Bowlus|2016|p=10}} The Germans took the Hungarian camp, liberating prisoners and reclaiming booty.{{sfn|Bowlus|2016|p=13}}

However, Otto I wisely and for several reasons did not chase the Magyars much longer that day. Although the Hungarians suffered heavy losses, so did the king's forces. Three legions, in the rear of the relief column, had been decimated. Furthermore, because of their heavy equipment, Otto I's men were no doubt more affected by the stifling heat than their lightly armored opponents. Simply put, the King and his men were in no position to pursue and destroy the Magyars that day, leaving the initial battle a draw. The Magyars were also known to pull off feigned retreats, when they would lure their opponents into more advantageous positions, like open fields, then they would turn and defeat them, a notable example having occurred in 910 against East Frankish forces.{{sfn|Bowlus|2016|p=131}} This time the King instead opted to spend the night after the battle in Augsburg.{{sfn|Delbrück|1990|p=118}} On 11 August he specifically issued the order that all river crossings were to be held.{{sfn|Bowlus|2016|p=11}}{{sfn|Delbrück|1990|p=122}} This was done so that as many of the Hungarians as possible, and specifically their leaders, could be captured and killed.{{sfn|Bowlus|2016|p=11}} This strategy proved successful, as Duke Henry of Bavaria captured a number of their leaders and killed them.{{sfn|Bowlus|2016|p=11}}{{sfn|Delbrück|1990|p=123}} Some Hungarians tried to flee across an unknown river but were swept away by the current.{{sfn|Bowlus|2016|p=13}} Some sought refuge in nearby villages.{{sfn|Thatcher|McNeal|1905|p=76}} The destruction of the Hungarian army continued on 12 August, when heavy rainfall and flooding allowing the German troops, operating from nearby fortifications, to kill almost all the fleeing Hungarian soldiers.{{sfn|Bowlus|2016|p=13}}{{sfn|Bowlus|2016|p=172}} The majority of these fortifications had been built and fortified during the reign of Otto I's father, Henry I of Saxony, as part of his [[defense-in-depth]] strategy against enemy invaders.{{sfn|Bowlus|2016|p=47}} If these had not been in place, it is very likely that the Hungarians could have completed an orderly retreat once the floodwaters had receded and the Battle of Lechfeld would have remained a draw.{{sfn|Bowlus|2016|p=140}}

The captured Magyars were either executed or sent back to their ruling prince, [[Taksony of Hungary|Taksony]], missing their ears and noses. The Hungarian leaders Lél, Bulcsú and Súr, who were not [[Árpáds]], were executed after the battle.{{sfn|Engel|2001|pp=14–15}} Duke Conrad was also killed, after he loosened his mail armour in the summer heat and an arrow struck his throat.{{sfn|Bowlus|2016|p=181}}