Battle of Legnica The Battle of Legnica ( ) , also known as the Battle of Liegnitz ( ) or Battle of Wahlstatt ( ) , was a battle between the Mongol Empire and the combined defending forces of European fighters that took place at Legnickie Pole ( " Wahlstatt " ) near the city of Legnica in the Silesia province of the Kingdom of Poland on 9 April 1241 . A combined force of Poles , Czechs and Germans under the command of the Polish duke Henry II the Pious of Silesia , supported by feudal nobility and a few knights from military order s sent by the Pope , attempted to halt the Mongol invasion of Europe . The battle came two days before the Mongol victory over the Hungarians at the much larger Battle of Mohi . Historical dispute . As with many historical battles , the exact details of force composition , tactics , and the actual course of the battle are lacking and sometimes contradictory . The general historical view is that it was a crushing defeat for the Eastern European forces where they suffered heavy casualties . It is known that the Mongols had no intentions at the time of extending the campaign westward , because they went to the Kingdom of Hungary to help the main Mongol army in the conquest of the country . One of the Mongol leaders , Kadan , was frequently confused with Ögedei ' s grandson Kaidu by medieval chroniclers , and thus Kaidu has often been mistakenly listed as leading the Mongol forces at Legnica . Background . The Mongols considered the Cumans to have submitted to their authority , but the Cumans fled westward and sought asylum within the Kingdom of Hungary . After King Béla IV of Hungary rejected Batu Khan ' s ultimatum to surrender the Cumans , Subutai began planning the Mongol invasion of Europe . Batu and Subutai were to lead two armies to attack Hungary itself , while a third under Baidar , Orda Khan and Kadan would attack Poland as a diversion to occupy northern European forces which might come to Hungary ' s aid . Orda ' s forces devastated northern Poland and the southwestern border of Lithuania . Baidar and Kadan ravaged the southern part of Poland : first they sacked Sandomierz ; then on 3 March they defeated a Polish army in the battle of Tursko ; then on 18 March they defeated another Polish army at Chmielnik ; on 24 March they seized and burned Kraków , and a few days later they tried unsuccessfully to capture the Silesian capital of Wrocław ( Breslau ) . While deciding whether or not to besiege Wrocław , Baidar and Kadan received reports that King Wenceslaus I of Bohemia was two days away with an army of 50 , 000 . The Mongols turned from Wrocław to intercept Henry ' s forces before the European armies could meet . The Mongols caught up with Henry near Legnica at Legnickie Pole ( Polish for " Field of Legnica " ) , also known as Wahlstatt . Composition . Mongols . The Mongol diversionary force , a detachment ( no more than two " tumen s " ) from the army of Subutai , demonstrated the advantages of the tactical mobility and speed of horseback archer s . The Mongol tactics were essentially a long series of feigned attacks and faked withdrawals from widely dispersed groups , which were designed to inflict a constant slow drain by ranged fire , disrupt the enemy formation and draw larger numbers away from the main body into ambush and flank attacks . These were standard Mongol tactics used in virtually all of their major battles ; they were made possible by continual training and superb battlefield communication , which used a system of flags . The Mongol commander found the highest ground at the battle site , seized it and used it to communicate to his noyan s and lesser commanders their orders for troop movement . The Mongol system was a stark contrast to the European systems , in which knight s advanced with basically no communication with supporting forces . The numbers involved are difficult to judge . European accounts vary as to Mongol numbers — some suggest more than 100 , 000 at Legnica alone . These are gross overestimates , given that this number is far larger than the entire Mongol force in all of Europe , as well as not taking into account the weaknesses of 13th - century Mongol logistical support in Western Eurasia . Current estimates suggest the Mongol force numbered , at most , 20 , 000 light archer - cavalry . The " Historia Tatarorum " by the Franciscan C . de Bridia Monachi suggests a Mongol force of 10 , 000 troops , which would have been reduced to 8 , 000 after casualties suffered earlier in the campaign . What Mongol sources remain state that the Polish invasion was a raid in force of two tumens ( 20 , 000 men ) , and part of Subutai ' s master plan to destroy the European armies one at a time rather than allowing them to mass in force . Allies . According to James Chambers , Henry ' s force numbered at most 25 , 000 troops . Lesser trained forces included an army from Opole under Duke Mieszko II the Fat ; Moravians led by Boleslav , son of the Margrave of Moravia Děpolt III ; conscripts from Greater Poland ; and volunteer Bavarian miners from Goldberg ( Złotoryja ) . Henry ' s better trained troops were his own gathered from Silesian Piast duchies , mercenaries and very small contingents of French Knights Templar and Hospitallers . Historian Marek Cetwiński estimates the allied force to have been 2 , 000 strong , while Gerard Labuda estimates 7 , 000 - 8 , 000 soldiers in the Christian army . A contingent of Teutonic Knights of indeterminate number is traditionally believed to have joined the allied army . However , recent analysis of the 15th - century " Annals of Jan Długosz " by Labuda suggests that the German crusaders may have been added to the text after chronicler Długosz had completed the work . A legend that the Prussia n Landmeister of the Teutonic Knights , Poppo von Osterna , was killed during the battle is false , as he died at Legnica years later while visiting his wife ' s nunnery . The battle . Henry divided his forces into four sections : the Bavarian miners led by Boleslav of Moravia ; the conscripts from Greater Poland along with some Cracovians led by Sulisław ; the brother of the killed palatine of Kraków ; the army of Opole under Mieszko , possibly with some Teutonic Knights ; and , under Henry ' s personal command , the Silesians , Moravians , Templars and Hospitallers . According to Chambers ' description of the battle , the Silesian cavalry initiated combat with the vanguard ( mangudai ) of the Mongol army . After the Silesians were repelled , the cavalry of Greater Poland , led by Sulisław , and the cavalry of Opole then attacked the Mongols . The Mongol vanguard retreated , inducing the allied cavalry to pursue , thereby separating them from the Polish infantry . Although the mangudai fled , Mongol light cavalry flanked the Polish forces . A smokescreen was used to hide the Mongol movements and confuse the Europeans . While the Mongol light cavalry attacked from the flanks and the heavy cavalry attacked from the front , Mongol archers peppered the Polish forces with arrows . Erik Hildinger indicates that the levies of Boleslav led the attack , instead of the Silesians . He adds that after the Polish cavalry began their pursuit during the Mongols ' feigned retreat , a rider shouted " Run ! Run ! " ( in Polish ) to the Polish forces , confusing Mieszko , who ordered his Opole contingent to retreat from the battle . This withdrawal led Henry to order his own reserves and cavalry into the fight . The Mongols had much success in the battle by feigning their retreat . After the European knights detached from the main body of allied forces in pursuit of the fleeing Mongols , the invaders were able to separate the knights from the European infantry and defeat them one by one . The " Annals of Jan Długosz " also describes the battle , although it was written in the 15th century , not when it actually occurred . The army of Henry II was almost destroyed — Henry and Boleslav of Moravia were killed and estimates of casualties range from 2 , 000 to 40 , 000 , essentially the entire army . The Templar Grand Master Ponce d ' Aubon reported to King Louis IX of France that the military order lost 500 of their number , among them nine brothers , three knights and two sergeants . Mongol casualties are unknown ; a perfect execution of their standard tactics would have minimised losses , but the Mongols endured sufficient casualties to dissuade them from attacking the Bohemian army . The Mongols cut the right ear off of each fallen European in order to count the dead ; supposedly they filled nine sackfuls , though this has as much validity as European accounts of the numbers of Mongols . Henry was struck down and beheaded while attempting to flee the battlefield with three bodyguards , and the Mongols paraded his head on a spear before the town of Legnica . Conclusion . Wenceslaus I of Bohemia fell back to gather reinforcements from Thuringia and Saxony , but was overtaken by the Mongol vanguard at Kłodzko . However , the Bohemian light cavalry was able to ambush a Mongol detachment . As Baidar and Kadan ' s orders had been to serve as a diversion , and they were facing a regrouping opponent , they turned away from Bohemia and Poland and headed southward to join Batu and Subutai , who had soundly defeated the Hungarians at the Battle of Mohi . After the battle the Mongols had great success in seizing the cities of Germany and Poland . However , when Batu heard in 1242 that Grand Khan Ögedei had died the previous year , the Mongol army retreated again eastward . As was traditional , the Mongol army returned to the capital to elect a new Great Khan . After Batu Khan returned from Mongolia , his relations with his cousins were so poor that not until the election of Möngke Khan as Khagan did he again consider turning westward to Europe . However , he died in 1255 before those plans could be put into motion . Under the rule of his brother Berke , the Golden Horde was preoccupied with the conflict with their cousins in the Ilkhanate , led by Hulagu Khan , whom Berke Khan despised for the Battle of Baghdad and the murder of Caliph Al - Musta ' sim . The Mongols never again seriously looked westward for conquest , only raiding for loot , and even then they were not able to commit the bulk of their forces , which had to guard against other Mongols . Led by Burundai , the Mongols successfully raided Poland in 1259 . They raided again under the leadership of Tulabuga and Nogai Khan , successfully in 1286 and unsuccessfully in 1287 . Because these raids were not aimed at conquest , Poland and Hungary were not seriously threatened again after 1241 , although the Russian lands to their east remained under the rule of the Golden Horde for the next two centuries . However , Subutai and Batu Khan were finalizing a plan for a winter invasion of Central Europe , potentially leading to the " Great Sea " ( the Atlantic Ocean ) , when Ögedei died .