Chemical weapons came from distant Asian fields and were known for causing destruction. A soldier would appear and suddenly disappear with the wrong step. The Mongolian war of 1241, which was led by the grandson of Genghis Khan, ended in a compromise on the divided land of Poland. Tatar was killed, Krakow damaged, and Mongolian forces faced huge opposition on the western borders of Poland. Henrik the Pious stood strong near the borders of Legnica, but he was murdered by Tatar. It is still unclear whether he died in the war or was martyred by his opponents.
The cruelty of Tatar appeared for the first time on the eastern borders of the country in the year 1241. It was a time when a strange-looking warrior was in power; he had a flat head, small eyes, and a flat nose. He used to carry a curved sword, bows, spears with hooks, and quivers full of arrows. Suddenly, he appeared on his horse with his sword and killed ruthlessly. No one could escape – not the sick, the elderly, or the children. And slaves deemed worthy were captured with rope and exposed severe weather. Those captured who couldn’t ultimately keep up were killed.
Soon, he commanded more than 100,000 Mongolians soldiers and exposed them to severe conditions. After this feat, the name “Tatar” was used as a synonym for Mongols at that time in Europe. The Tatar tribe was the only tribe present in the Mongol empire, and it became well known among other empires. Even worse, “Tartarus” means “Hell” in Greek.
Under the guidance of Batu Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan, a major part of the army headed towards Bela IV, the King of Hungary. At the same time, a small fraction of the army led by Baidar headed towards Poland to plunder and invade so that no one from there could support the King of Hungary.
An Asian warrior came as an emissary and set Lublin and Zawichost on fire; it was the only possible option and was good enough to create fear among the neighboring cities. The commander would have remembered the path so he could return home soon with his army.
Tatar Blitzkrieg
More than 10,000 soldiers attacked Mongols in February 1241. A large number of soldiers on horses launched a deep attack on the city. In such a difficult situation, bands of Asian warriors reached Sandomierz. They were the one who had been inspired by the tales of Tatar’s cruelty. Sandomierz was a city of warriors who defended their home bravely. During the war, they managed to kill an important Mongolian warrior – one of the prominent warriors in the Mongolian army. Everyone wanted to bury his dead body on their land. But on February 13, 1241, the brave warriors of Sandomierz were defeated, and Tatar’s army killed everyone in the city.
After the fall of Sandomierz, a huge number of steppe riders stood strong against the Polish horsemen in their field for the first time in history. Under the leadership of Włodzimierz, they managed to gather numerous brave warriors and divided them into two armies, Stratos and Krakow. Both the armies met in the village of Tursko Willkie. They managed to gain some advantage in the beginning of the war, forcing Tatar to run from the battlefield. However, when they thought the battle was over, they started looting the belongings of their opponent’s army –their weapons and personal belongings; they even took the clothes of dead soldiers. Suddenly, a troop of Tatar’s army attacked them, driving them from the battlefield.
The battle was not a complete defeat, but the Mongols faced huge losses and hid in a forest for some time. Later on, they returned to Russia.
Once they were strong again, their army of more than 10,000 soldiers was led by Orda, Genghis Khan’s grandson.
Another army of 10,000 soldiers headed towards the north. Just before the arrival of the Asians, Krakow was fully locked and full of refugees. An atmosphere of immense fear saturated Chmielink when they heard about the defeat of another Polish knighthood. After hearing this news, the 15-year-old prince of Sandomierz ran away to Hungary and the local people ran towards the forest to find safer shelter. Tatar arrived in Krakow on April 1, 1241, but the whole town was almost empty except for the Okol crew. They defended themselves, and the Mongolian didn’t come at them – probably because they were insignificant. However, they destroyed the buildings of Krakow and headed towards Silesia.
At that time, a huge foreign force and Prince Henry the Pious were waiting for Tatar in Silesia. The Polish knights almost lost the battle of Małopolska, but they succeeded in pausing Mongolian expansion. However, the prince managed to gather a huge force with the help of neighboring districts, and he added to his army of 1,000 soldiers with a European army of 6000–7000 soldiers.
Medieval Chemical Weapons
A completely new form of weapon – “war gas” – was used. Many historians also believe that “war gas” was first used by Mongolians 700 years earlier, not first by the Germans in the first World War. Around 700 years ago, this kind of weapon would have been borrowed from China.
A Prince with Six Toes?
Prince Henry bravely defended himself when he was surrounded by his opponents near the entrance, but he was soon surrounded by a huge number of Asians. It was almost impossible to save him. However, even today, how Prince Henry died is still unclear. Many have theories regarding his death, but they don’t have any strong evidence.
However, it is said that Prince Henry’s wife identified his dead body on the battlefield based on one of his physical abnormalities – he had six toes on one of his feet. Did he really have six toes? We can’t know that for sure. His body was stored in the church of St. Wincentego but then moved to Germany. From there, his body was stolen without a trace.
Epilogue
The warrior from hell was supposed to have ridden into the palace with the prince’s head on a spear, after which he destroyed many nearby villages and went south to support Batu Khan’s army.
