The battle of Podaitse (today's Piodaitsi, Ukraine) is one of the most interesting in history. In it, the Polish general - at the time - Ioannis Sobieski managed, with only 3,000 regular soldiers, to defeat 10 times as many opponents.
In 1667 Poland and Russia divided Ukraine. However Cossack warlord Petro Doroshenko he did not accept the agreement and allied himself with the Turks, becoming a vassal of the Sultan.
The Turks asked their Crimean Tatar subjects to support Doroshenko. Thus an army of 15,000 Cossacks, 18,000 Tatars and 3,000 janissaries was gathered in western Ukraine.
In response Sobieski moved into the area at the head of 3,000 troops. However, around 6,000 farmers of the region, Orthodox Ruthenians of Galicia, joined him. , who preferred Poles to Turks and Tatars.
Sobieski camped at Podaice. On October 4, 1667, the army of Cossacks, Tatars and Turks arrived in the area.
The battle breaks out
Two days later the Tartars under Khan Adil Jirai first attacked Sobieski's force which also had 18 light but heavy guns . The Poles and the Ruthenians faced the attack and after inflicting significant losses on their opponents counterattacked and pushed them back.
The three allies also tried their luck in the following days trying to outflank Sobieski's forces, but constantly maneuvering, the Polish general's men repelled all attacks mainly due to the inability of Cossacks, Tatars and Turks to coordinate. strong>
Nevertheless, due to their numerical superiority, they managed to pressure Sobieski and force him to take refuge within the city of Podaice. His opponents besieged him but did not achieve anything. So Doroshenko decided to negotiate with Sobieski.
Based on the agreement reached by the united army of Tatars, Turks and Cossacks they retreated. For this success, Sobieski was appointed commander-in-chief, taking the first step towards the Polish throne.