Editing Battle of Mohács (section)

==Preparation for Mohács==
The general apathy that had characterized the country forced Tomori to lean on his own bishopric revenues when he started to repair and reinforce the second line of Hungary's border defense system. ([[Pétervárad]] would fall to the Turks on 15 July 1526, due to the chronic lack of castle garrisons.) Three years later, an Ottoman army set out from [[Istanbul|Constantinople]] on 16 April 1526, led by Suleiman the Magnificent personally. The Danube River was an extremely important transport route for the Ottoman army in the region, so it was clear to everyone that the Ottoman army would follow the line of the Danube. For about {{convert|400|km|abbr=on}} along the banks of the Danube between Pétervárad and Buda there was no single Hungarian fortification, town, or even a village of any sort.

The Hungarian nobles, who still did not realize the magnitude of the approaching danger, did not immediately heed their king's call for troops. Eventually, the Hungarians assembled in three main units: the [[Transylvania]]n army under [[John Zápolya]], charged with guarding the passes in the [[Transylvanian Alps]], with between 8,000 and 13,000 men; the main army, led by Louis himself (beside numerous Spanish, German, Czech, and Serbian mercenaries); and another smaller force, commanded by the [[Croats|Croatian]] count [[Christoph Frankopan]], numbering around 5,000 men. The Ottomans deployed the largest field artillery of the era, comprising some 300 cannons, while the Hungarians had only 85 cannons,<ref name="Jeremy Black 2013 85">{{cite book|author=Jeremy Black|author-link=Jeremy Black (historian)|title=War and Technology|publisher=Indiana University Press|year=2013|page=85|isbn=978-0253009890|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xs8qAAAAQBAJ&q=cannons+gunpowder+%22louis+I+of+Hungary&pg=PA85}}</ref> though even this number was greater than other contemporary Western European armies deployed on the battlefields during the major conflicts of Western European powers.

The number of regular professional paid soldiers ([[Kapıkulu]]) employed by the [[High Porte]] throughout the Ottoman Empire did not exceed 15,000–16,000 men in the first third of the 16th century.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Frank Tallett|author2=D. J. B. Trim|title=European Warfare, 1350–1750|page=116|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=2010|isbn=978-1139485463|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gLAhAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA116}}</ref> During this time Suleiman could raise an army between 50,000–60,000 for campaigns.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Frank Tallett|author2=D. J. B. Trim|title=European Warfare, 1350–1750|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=2010|isbn=978-1139485463|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gLAhAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA116 |page=116}}</ref>

The Ottomans obtained most of the [[arquebus]]es for their janissary army from Hungarian and Venetian gunsmiths. This phenomenon was so widespread and severe, that in 1525 the Hungarian Parliament had to pass a law against the export of Hungarian-made arquebuses for the Ottoman Empire.<ref name="web.archive.org">18 August 2022 Interview with Balazs Németh, assistant professor of the Department of Military History, Philosophy and Cultural History of the Hungarian National University of Public Service, member of the Mohács 500 research group, we talked about the weaponry of the Battle of Mohács.Link: [https://web.archive.org/web/20221108120928/https://vasarnap.hu/2022/08/18/mohacs-500-nemeth-balazs-bertok-gabor-hadiregeszet-csataterkutatas/]</ref>

Contrary to popular belief, the Hungarian infantry was so well equipped with arquebuses that, it had an unusually high firepower in a comparison with contemporary Western European standards. Both armies faced a tactical challenge, namely that they could not move their firepower very well. As a result, they were only able to use it effectively if they fired from a defensive position.
The question was who could force the other to start the attack on the battlefield, that is, to attack positions that could then be defended with cannons and arquebuses.<ref name="ReferenceB">János B. Szabó, historian of the Budapest History Museum, in an interview given to the online magazine vasarnap.hu on 29 August 2020 on the occasion of the anniversary of the Battle of Mohács. Arhív LINK: [https://web.archive.org/web/20211027045254/https://vasarnap.hu/2020/08/29/a-mohacsi-csatavesztes-utan-a-hit-is-elveszett/]</ref>

The currently known division of the Hungarian army by arms includes: 3,000 armoured knights from the Hungarian noble [[banderium]]s, the king's bodyguard (1,000 armoured knights),<ref>Tamás Elter: The Unconventional Memory of Mohács (Origó 2016.08.29) URL:[https://web.archive.org/web/20210729034919/https://www.origo. hu/tudomany/20160829-mohács-battle-ii-lajos-i-sulejman-hungarian-church-mag-habsburgs-uthority-osman-empire-i. html]</ref> 4,500 light cavalry (mainly [[hussar]]s of Serbian origin), 6,700 mainly Hungarian infantry, 5,300 papal infantry (mainly German {{lang|de|[[Landsknecht]]e}}, but Italian and Spanish contingents were also represented in smaller numbers) and 1,500 Polish infantry, with an unknown number of artillerymen. Available data do not allow a detailed reconstruction of the rest of the army.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20221108104252/https://historyandwar.org/2022/11/06/sizes-of-armies-during-hungarian-ottoman-wars/ historyandwar.org Archive link]</ref>
[[File:Battle of Mohács, Turkish miniature.jpg|alt=Battle of Mohács (1526), Turkish miniature, currently on display at the Castle of Szigetvar, Hungary|thumb|Battle of Mohács (1526), Turkish miniature, currently on display at the Castle of Szigetvar, Hungary]]
The geography of the area meant that the Hungarians could not know the Ottomans' ultimate goal until the latter crossed the [[Balkan Mountains]], and when they did, the Transylvanian and Croatian forces were farther from [[Buda]] than the Ottomans were. Contemporary historical records, though sparse, indicate that Louis preferred a plan of retreat, in effect ceding the country to Ottoman advances, rather than directly engaging the Ottoman army in open battle. The Hungarian war council – without waiting for reinforcements from Croatia and Transylvania only a few days march away – made a serious tactical error by choosing the battlefield near Mohács, an open but uneven plain with some swampy marshes.

Fichtner writes that before the Battle of Mohács, there was a breakdown of communication between Louis and his brother-in-law, Archduke Ferdinand. Ferdinand was unaware of the urgency of the situation. To make the matter worse, Louis and the Hungarian court failed to inform him that they had decided to fight a decisive battle on the plain of Mohács (this decision was made on 26 August, one day before Ferdinand's departure: in a conference in Louis's camp in Bata, the chancellor [[Stephanus Brodericus|Stephen Brodarics]] advised the king to wait for reinforcements from Austria and Bohemia, but a group of impetuous nobles managed to persuade the king to engage in an open, immediate battle on the plains of Mohacs against the numerically superior Ottomans). Ferdinand, facing religious tensions and uprisings in his own lands as well as his brothers' requests for more troops for other theaters, decided to tend to what he thought to be more urgent affairs first.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fichtner |first1=Paula |title=An Absence Explained: Archduke Ferdinand of Austria and the Battle of Mohacs |journal=Austrian History Yearbook |year=1966 |volume=2 |page=17 |doi=10.1017/S0067237800003386 |s2cid=146229761 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/austrian-history-yearbook/article/abs/an-absence-explained-archduke-ferdinand-of-austria-and-the-battle-of-mohacs/022FD0E489190773FA9AF55F86A6BEA0 |access-date=19 September 2022 |archive-date=11 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240611172146/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/austrian-history-yearbook/article/abs/an-absence-explained-archduke-ferdinand-of-austria-and-the-battle-of-mohacs/022FD0E489190773FA9AF55F86A6BEA0 |url-status=live }}</ref> According to Stephen Fischer-Galati, that literature shows that Louis himself seemed to be unable to fully understand the seriousness or immediacy of the Turkish threat. It was possible that Louis based his confidence on the assurances of John Zápolya and his supporters, who promised to help. Magnates who feared Habsburg interference desired a total Hungarian effort to either contain (militarily or diplomatically) or reach a truce with the Porte.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fischer-Galati |first1=Stephen |title=Comments |journal=Austrian History Yearbook |date=January 1966 |volume=2 |pages=17–18 |doi=10.1017/S0067237800003398 |s2cid=245989338 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

The Ottomans had advanced toward Mohács almost unopposed. While Louis waited in Buda, they had besieged several towns ([[Petrovaradin|Petervarad]], [[Ilok|Ujlak]], and [[Osijek|Eszek]]), and crossed the [[Sava]] and [[Drava]] Rivers. At Mohács the Hungarians numbered some 25,000 to 30,000 soldiers. The only external help was a small contingent of [[Kingdom of Poland|Polish]] troops (1,500 soldiers and knights) led by the royal captain Lenart Gnoiński (but organized and equipped by the Papal State).<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mohacs.hu/en/info/attractions/monument/lengyel-hosi-emlekmu.html |title=Lengyel Hősi Emlékmű – Mohács |access-date=2 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181201133428/http://www.mohacs.hu/en/info/attractions/monument/lengyel-hosi-emlekmu.html |archive-date=1 December 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The Ottoman army numbered perhaps 50,000,<ref name=Stavrianos>Stavrianos, ''Balkans Since 1453'', p. 26 "The latter group prevailed, and on 29 August 1526 the fateful battle of Mohacs was fought: 25,000 to 30,000 Hungarians and assorted allies on the one side, and on the other 45,000 Turkish regulars supported by 10,000 lightly armed irregulars."</ref><ref name=Nicolle>Nicolle, David, ''Hungary and the fall of Eastern Europe, 1000–1568'', p. 13 "Hungary mustered some 25,000 men and 85 bore cannons (only 53 being used in actual battle), while for various reasons the troops from Transylvania and Croatia failed to arrive.</ref> though some contemporary and modern-day historians put the number of the Ottoman troops at 100,000.<ref name="Battles That Changed History 2010">Spencer Tucker ''Battles That Changed History: An Encyclopedia of World Conflict'', p. 166 (published 2010)</ref><ref name="ReferenceA">Gábor Ágoston, Bruce Alan Masters: ''Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire'', p. 583 (published: 2009</ref><ref name="Christian P. Potholm page 117">Christian P. Potholm: ''Winning at war: seven keys to military victory throughout history'', p. 117 (published in 2009)</ref><ref name=Duiker>William J. Duiker, Jackson J. Spielvogel: ''World History'', Volume: I p. 419, (published: 2006)</ref><ref name="Stanley Lane-Poole 2004">Stanley Lane-Poole: Turkey, p. 179 (published 2004)</ref><ref name="Stephen Turnbull 1699">Stephen Turnbull: ''The Ottoman Empire, 1326–1699'', p. 46</ref><ref>[https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/387567/Battle-of-Mohacs Battle of Mohács article] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150503150855/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/387567/Battle-of-Mohacs |date=3 May 2015 }} ''Encyclopædia Britannica''</ref> Most of the Ottoman Balkan forces registered before this battle were described as Bosnians or Croats.<ref name="Fine2010">{{cite book|last=Fine|first=John V. A.|author-link=John V. A. Fine|title=When Ethnicity Did Not Matter in the Balkans: A Study of Identity in Pre-Nationalist Croatia, Dalmatia, and Slavonia in the Medieval and Early-Modern Periods|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wEF5oN5erE0C&pg=PA215|year=2010|publisher=University of Michigan Press|isbn=978-0472025602|page=215}}</ref>

The Hungarian army was arrayed to take advantage of the terrain and hoped to engage the Ottoman army piecemeal. They had the advantage that their troops were well-rested, while the Turks had just completed a strenuous march in scorching summer heat.

===The Role of Firepower===
The earliest type of Turkish [[hand cannons]] are called as "Şakaloz", which word came from the Hungarian hand cannon "Szakállas puska" in the 15th century.<ref>{{cite book|author=Brett D. Steele|title=The Heirs of Archimedes: Science and the Art of War Through the Age of Enlightenment|publisher=[[MIT Press]]|year=2005|page=120|isbn=978-0262195164|url=https://www.google.com/search?q=+%24akaloz+Hungarian|access-date=11 February 2020|archive-date=10 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221110133123/https://www.google.com/search?q=+$akaloz+Hungarian|url-status=live}}</ref>
Hungary had a long tradition of unusually extensive use of handheld firearms ([[arquebus]]) as early as the 15th century, for example in the famous [[Black Army of Hungary|Black Army]] of the late ruler King [[Matthias Corvinus]] (r. 1458 - 1490). The Hungarians abandoned the use of the bow and crossbow completely in the last decade of the 15th century and switched entirely to firearms.

The Ottomans obtained most of the [[arquebus]]es for their janissary army from Hungarian and Venetian gunsmiths. This phenomenon was so widespread and severe, that in 1525 the Hungarian Parliament had to pass a law against the export of Hungarian-made arquebuses for the Ottoman Empire.<ref name="web.archive.org"/>

Contrary to popular belief, the Hungarian infantry was so well equipped with arquebuses that, it had an unusually high firepower in a comparison with contemporary Western European standards. Both armies faced a tactical challenge, namely that they could not move their firepower very well. As a result, they were only able to use them effectively if they fired from a defensive position.
The question was who could force the other to start the attack on the battlefield, that is, to attack positions that could then be defended with cannons and arquebuses.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>

Only half of the jannisaries used arquebuses and muskets, the other half still belonged to the traditional archery. The Ottomans have no numerical superiority regarding to handheld firearms during the battle of Mohács.
<ref>{{cite book|author=Nic Fields|title=Lepanto 1571 The Madonna's Victory|publisher=[[Pen & Sword Books]]|year=2021|page=148|isbn=9781526716538|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GcktEAAAQBAJ&dq=janissary+archery+moh%C3%A1cs&pg=PT148}}</ref>

During the battle, the Ottomans utilised the [[firearm]] kneeling position, [[List of inventions in the medieval Islamic world#Ottoman Empire|the first of its kind]], with 200 ''tüfenks'' ([[muskets]]) forming "nine consecutive rows and they fired their weapons row by row" in a "kneeling or standing position without the need for additional support or rest".<ref name="Ágoston 2008 24">{{Citation |last=Ágoston |first=Gábor |title=Guns for the Sultan: Military Power and the Weapons Industry in the Ottoman Empire |page=24 |year=2008 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SadmQgAACAAJ |location=[[Cambridge]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0521603911}}</ref> This method was later adopted by the [[Ming dynasty|Chinese]], with writer Zhao Shizhen deeming Turkish muskets superior to European ones.<ref name="Needham 1986 449–452">{{cite book |last=Needham |first=Joseph |author-link=Joseph Needham |title=Science & Civilisation in China |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-521-30358-3 |volume=7: ''The Gunpowder Epic'' |pages=449–452}}</ref><ref name="Cambridge University Press">{{cite book |last1=Needham |first1=Joseph |author-link=Joseph Needham |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hNcZJ35dIyUC |title=Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 5, Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Part 7, Military Technology: The Gunpowder Epic |date=1987 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-521-30358-3 |page=444}}</ref> [[Volley fire]] with [[matchlocks]] was also first used in this battle by [[Janissaries]].<ref name="Andrade 2016 149">{{cite book |last=Andrade |first=Tonio |author-link=Tonio Andrade |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1jRJCgAAQBAJ |title=The Gunpowder Age: China, Military Innovation, and the Rise of the West in World History |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |year=2016 |isbn=978-0-691-13597-7 |location=[[Princeton, New Jersey]] |page=149}}</ref>

The Ottomans deployed the largest field artillery of the era, comprising some 300 cannons, while the Hungarians had only 85 cannons,<ref name="Jeremy Black 2013 85"/> though even this number was greater than other contemporary Western European armies deployed on the battlefields during the major conflicts of Western European powers.