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On 14 August 1409,
Teutonic Grand Master Ulrich von Jungingen declared war on the Polish-Lithuanian
State. He also proposed an armistice with his neighbours, as neither side was
ready for war, and for the time being, Jahaila(Yagailla) and Vitaut accepted
that. It was obvious that this state of affairs could not last for ever, and
Jahaila said:
"Next year we either conquer the Crossed Knights or we perish
as a nation, and as individuals"
The true was to last from 8 October 1409 until sunset on 24 June 1410. During
that time Jahaila(Yagailla) sent spies to the occupied lands to learn all they
could about the powerful enemy. All across Poland and Lithuania that winter
of 1409, preparations were made for military action. Pikes were gives new shafts,
swords were sharpened or annealed if they had lost their temper, horses were
shod and armour was closely fitted. But the same happened in the lands occupied
by the Teutonic Knights, assembling from the farthest reaches of their territory,
and from France and England and Holland as well.
Both sides understood that a titanic battle
would follow.
In the meantime Jahaila(Yagailla) sent some of his own people to Kiev, seeking help from the Tartars, who agreed to send 1500 cavalrymen after May 1410. The Bohemians would send 3000 men under the leadership of Jan Sokol, and help would also come from Moldova and Rus(i.e. Lvov Land), since they understood the importance of this battle. In December 1409, Jahaila, Vitaut, and Dzala-ed-din, the leader of Tartars, met in Brzesc Litewsk, and formulated a plan of how to go to Malbork, and crush the Teutonic Order once and for all.
In the second week of June 1410, only eleven
days before the armistice was due to end, the Polish forces were surprised by
the arrival of three Teutonic Knights in full armour and bright trappings. They
sought to speak with King Jahaila, proposing to him that the armistice should
be extended for three weeks. Jahaila asked why, and the knights answered
that knights from other nations of Europe wished to participate in the crusade,
and that honour should not be denied to them.
Jahaila accepted that proposal, not out of consideration
for the Order, but because these extra days would be useful for better preparing
his army.
Soon Jahaila and Vitaut the Great with their armies and their colours assembled in Mazowsze on 2 July, at Czerwinsk on the river Wisla. On July 3 they started moving towards the enemy. On 8 July the huge army of Jahaila and Vitaut crossed the borders, with the intention of marching against Malbork. But Grand Master Ulich von Jungingen, a brilliant leader and fearless warrior, tried to trap the enemy. He knew from his own spies where the enemy would pass, and positioned his Teutons Knights on the opposite side of the river from Yagailla's army, near the small village of Drwecy. But the Polish King and Vitaut did not want to fight in that area, where the Teutons(Krzyzacy) would have an advantage, and decided to approach Malbork from the other direction, via the occupied town of Dabrowno.
The Teutons would take another route, to
head them off, with the intention of opposing the huge enemy army in Grunwald,
or in Frygnowo, or Rychnowo. On 13 July the Polish-Lithuanians reached the city
of Dabrowno, occupied by the Teutons. Within a few hours of storming the city,
the Poles and Lithuanians captured it. No defending Crusader managed to survive.
They were all killed. So strong was the hate for the Teutons, and the feeling
of revenge in the army of Poles and Lithuanians, that the town was totally burned,
in the full knowledge that this would be seen by Teutons who were kilometres
away, following the army of Vitaut and his cousin. The fire and heavy smoke
was indeed seen that night by the Grand Master and his army, who observed that
Dabrowno had been captured and burned, and he predicted that a wild battle could
not be avoided? We should not let them cross our borders, said one Crusader
Commander to his Grand Master.