Battle of Keresztes The Battle of Keresztes ( Also known as the Battle of Mezőkeresztes ) ( ) took place on 24 – 26 October 1596 . The battle was fought between a combined Habsburg - Transylvania n force and the Ottoman Empire near the village of Mezőkeresztes ( ) in northern Hungary . The battle ended with a victory by the Ottoman Empire . Lord Kinross , a early 20th - century historian , said that if the Ottoman Empire had been defeated , they would have lost Hungary and part of Bulgaria . Background . On 23 June 1596 , an Ottoman Army marched from the city of Constantinople . Commanded by Sultan Mehmed III , the army marched through Edirne , Filibe ( now known as Plovdiv ) , Sofia and Niš to arrive at Belgrade on 9 August . On 20 August , the army crossed the River Sava by bridge and entered the Austrian territory of Siren . A war council was called at Slankamen Castle , and it was decided that they would begin a siege on the Hungarian fort of Eger ( Erlau ) . The fort controlled the communication routes between Habsburg Austria and Transylvania , all of whom were in revolt against the Ottoman suzerain ty . However , news soon arrived that the Austrians had besieged and succeeded in taking over the Castle of Hatvan and had killed all the Ottomans housed there , including the women and children . The Ottoman Army started a siege on the fort of Eger on 21 September 1596 , and by 12 October the castle had capitulated . As a retaliation to the Hatvan castle massacre , the defenders of this castle were all executed . Not long after , Ottoman command received the report that a mixed army of Austrians and Transylvanians were advancing towards the Ottoman expeditionary force . A war council was conducted under Grand Vizier Damat Ibrahim Pasha . It was decided that the Ottoman Army should march out of the Erlau castle so as to meet the Austrians at a suitable battle terrain . The Sultan thought that the Ottoman army should disengage and return to Constantinople ; it was with great difficulty that he was persuaded to engage the enemy forces . Battle . The Ottoman army marched through several passageways of marshy terrain and reached Haçova ( Turkish meaning : Plain of the Cross ) , exhausted after a long siege and a hard , long march . The two armies faced each other on the plains of Haçova ( ) . The Austrian - Transylvanian army , under the joint command of Archduke Maximillian III of Austria and King Sigismund Bathory of Transylvania , was in position in fortified trenches . When the Ottoman army attacked the Austrian trenches , the Battle of Haçova commenced and continued for two days , from 25 – 26 October 1596 . Early firearms ( cannons , rifles ) were used extensively in the battle . The Austrians , being entrenched around the old ruined church , succeeded in driving back the Ottoman assaults with a barrage of cannon and musket fire . By the second day of battle the Ottoman Army appeared to have been defeated . According to the 17th Century Ottoman historian İbrahim Peçevi : " The Christians broke through the Ottoman army , but the soldiers of the Islam had not yet felt the defeat . Then , they started to plunder and taking of booty at the command headquarters of the Ottomans . Under a few flags , a large group of Christian soldiers attacked the tent where the chests of gold money of the Ottoman Exchequer were kept . They killed and otherwise eliminated the Janissary and household cavalry soldiers guarding the State Treasury . The Christian soldiers got on the Treasury chests of gold coin and put up their flags of cross over them and started to dance around them . " Commander Sultan Mehmed III wanted to flee from the battlefield . However , first he asked for the opinion of his tutor , the high cleric Hoca Sadeddin Efendi , Efendi told the Sultan that he should continue the battle till the end . Heeding this advice , Sultan Mehmed III ordered that the battle should continue . On the second day of the battle , the fighting intensified . Troops from the Austrian army had reached the Sultan ' s tent , which was surrounded by the viziers and the teachers at the Palace Pages School for protection . While some troops were trying to enter the Sultan ' s tent , the other Austrian army ' s soldiers disengaged , in search of booty and plunder instead of continuing the engagement . The Ottoman horse groomers , cooks , tent makers , camels minders retaliated against the plunderers with whatever arms they could find , including cooks ' spoons , blocks of wood , hammers for tent making , adzes , and axes for cutting wood . The Austrians were surprised and retreated in confusion . The cries of " the Christian enemy is fleeing " were heard by the Ottoman troops still fighting what seemed like a losing battle on the frontline . The boost of morale allowed them to recover the battle . With a major action from the artillery , the Ottoman forces started another attack on the Austrians across the front and outflanked the Austrian - Transylvanian army , routing them . Aftermath . Soon after victory , Mehmed III appointed Cigalazade Yusuf Sinan Pasha as the new Grand Vizier . He sent an imperial victory proclamation to Constantinople giving the news of the conquering of Egri ( Erlau ) Castle and the victory at the Battle of Haçova ( Keresztes ) . This reached Constantinople in October and there were public celebrations and public meetings organized in the city . During these celebrations , four galleys full of state procured sugar from Egypt arrived at Constantinople harbor , which added " sweetness " to the news of a military victory . Mehmed III was awarded the epithet of ' Conqueror of Egri ' . The Sultan ' s army marched for a month , returning to Constantinople victorious . With the army in place , a great victory procession was organized . A victory procession and many accompanying spectacles were carried out . The poets of Constantinople wrote special works about the victory . In the streets and markets of the city , town - criers were sent to announce that the streets of the city would be decorated . The warehouses and stores were all decorated with ' valuable cloths ' . This display of colour all across the city is described in a poem by the poet [ Kemal ] : " All the shops of the city became colored due to conquerors wishes < br > Each of which were decorated as if it were the kerchief of the sweetheart ”