Page 84 - All About History - Issue 52-17

Greatest Battles

Unfortified camp
Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa blundered by
failing to occupy, patrol and defend the
high ground of the Wienerwald west of the
sprawling Ottoman camp against an enemy
advance from that direction.

Mining the walls
Vienna’s garrison defended a
6.4-kilometre circuit of walls in the two
months before the relief army arrived.
Turkish sappers detonated explosives
in tunnels under the outer walls in
order to collapse them. Although the
Turks captured most of the outerworks,
they were unable to break into the city.

Rough ride
The Kahlenberg was a ridge with three
separate peaks northwest of Vienna. Its
rocky slopes were pockmarked and scarred
with boulders and ravines that made it
unsuitable for cavalry operations. For this
reason, Polish King Jan Sobieski and his
generals led their horsemen onto the plain
below before ordering them to charge.

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