alternatehistory.com

This part will be short, because I lost the original draft to the abyss of AH.com.
After the Greater Polish Civil War and the coronation of Siemowit I in Krakow, the land finally entered a brief period of peace. The last 20 years of wars, from the Battle of Blue Waters to the wars in Poland, continuously drained the life out of the Lithuanian nation, both literally, with the men and women of it's lands dying in wars, and figuratively. There needed to be some time of recovery - to train up a new generation of warriors, to let the land rest, to grow. And Jogaila, the baptized Grand Duke of Lithuania, was quick to use this as an opportunity.

1385 was the year of the first mention of the title of Vaivada of Vilnius - the first viceroyal appointed position in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since the nation's conception.[1] "Vaivada" is the Lithuanian transliteration of the Slavic term "Voivode", so researchers suspect that the powers of this institution mirrored the voivodeships in, say, Poland. The Vaivada would then basically be the appointed governor of the specified province, working as the executive force of the Grand Duke in the territory - collecting taxes, upholding laws and keeping order within the province, as well as organize and lead the levy of the province in times of war. Along with that, he would uphold the Magdeburg rights of the cities within the territory. The same year, the Eldership of Samogitia, organized in a similar manner, was also founded, with many more Voivodeships to follow. This was the first step towards something new, something major - a slow, but visible period of continuously increased centralization of the state. It was in the interests of the Grand Duke to hold as much power within the realm as possible and replace the Gediminid dukes with loyal viceroys - something that would later clash more and more with these lower monarchs, but that is a story for another time.

In 1386, an official mission from the Byzantine Empire, organized by the Patriarch of Constantinople, arrived to the city of Vilnius. It was an observatory expedition - the news that the last pagan state in Europe, one that spread fear and worry among the people of Eastern Europe for it's massive conquests, converted to Christianity reached the ears of the head of the Orthodox faith almost immediately. Along with the expedition, Jogaila brought 150 hired Greek architects and artists - for his court and for the city.[2] This was the first introduction of Byzantine art and culture into the ethnic Lithuanian lands, which, with the age of Renaissance becoming more and more of a reality, was definitely a boon. The Grand Duke sought to learn Greek, too. This was also the beginning of positive relations between the ERE and Lithuania - the former saw the latter as a possible ally against the Ottoman Turks, while the latter hoped to return the Metropolite back to Kiev. On slightly less political news, 1386 is also celebrated as the beginning of the Lithuanian education system - the first known mentions of a monastic school for children in Vilnius come from this period.[3]

Despite all of this peaceful development, war was still the first thing on Jogaila's mind. And in 1386, terrible news arrived to his court from the East - defeating the upstart pretender near the Kalka River, Tokhtamysh successfully crushed the Blue Horde under Mamai, finally becoming the sole Khan of the Golden Horde. The chance of a united Muscovite-Lithuanian attack against the Tatars started to fade, and Dmitry of Moscow immediately wrote a scolding letter to Jogaila for his craven behavior and not taking the chance to strike the Mongols and eliminate their yoke over Rus' when they had the chance.[4] This letter argument continued for about a month, until it was ended by the sudden news of Tokhtamysh's invasion into Central Asia, clashing with Tamerlane. Dmitry and Jogaila agreed to put the argument on hold and seek for a chance to strike the Tatars when they are weakened, but the latter used the time to turn to another direction.

In 1387, Jogaila and Siemowit I met in secret in Lublin to discuss possible plans for the war against the Teutonic Order. Both of these feudal lords had their own claims and hopes - Lithuania wanted to acquire East Prussia, held by the Balts since ancient times, and thus also acquire a port in the Baltic Sea through Memel, while Poland wanted to regain Pomerelia, conquered by the Teutonic Order and depriving the nation from sea access. Siemowit proposed the idea of the nations marching separately and connecting near Marienburg to siege the castle down, but Jogaila shot down this plan. The army of the Teutonic Order was stronger than each one of the Coalition members separately, not to mention better armed, and the lands of Prussia, where the Lithuanian forces would be marching, was chock full of castles and swamps, both of which would drag the troops down. Finally, it was decided that the Poles and Lithuanians would connect in Kujawy and Dobrzyn and march north in a united force, two years from now, in 1389.

1388 looked like a calm year from the outside, but the nation of Lithuania was bustling with activity. Jogaila tightened the taxes across the nation and even increased them in many parts of the nation, and most construction projects, like the renovation of the Cathedral of the Theotokos[5] in Vilnius, were put on hold to hoard the treasury for a war. Artisans and workers in Vilnius, Kiev, Polotsk, Smolensk, Chernigov and other cities made hundreds upon hundreds of new blades, axes, shields and sets of armor for the military, ordered by Jogaila. The summer and fall of 1387 and 1388 were spent hunting across the Lithuanian forests, both for the troops to gain experience in handling weapons and to prepare enough meat for food supplies. Messengers traveled far and wide, from the still majority pagan Samogitians near the Baltic Sea to the cities of Smolensk and Bryansk deep in the Rus' to call all men capable of handling a blade and horse to war. The Russian principalities, with promises of allying against the Tatars, were also called to war.

By June of the year 1389, the army of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania had assembled in Vilnius and began to travel southwest. Polish forces assembled around this time, too, Greater Polish and Lesser Polish separately. Teutonic scouts were quick to notice this massive movement in troops, and the Grand Master, Konrad von Wallenrode, was informed.[6] It didn't take long before the first action was taken in the war - a Polish unit of about 1000 men marched north from Bydgoszcz and began incursions the southern parts of Pomerelia, west of the Vistula. Under the impression that this will be where the Coalition will strike, the Teutonic army was hastily assembled in Schwiete, near Kulm.[7] The sizes of the armies are still disputed. The Lithuanians had 45 banners - 9 Lithuanian, 3 Russian and 33 Ruthenian ones, along with allied Russian forces from Novgorod, Pskov, Moscow, Tver and Rostov-Suzdal, with 2, 1, 3, 2 and 2 banners respectively, the Poles had 50 banners and the Teutons 51, but it is not clear how many troops a banner represented. Modern calculations put Lithuania at 30 000, Poland at 40 000 and Teutons anywhere from 41-45 000. Outside of the main forces, the Coalition hired a band of Czech mercenaries and had help from an expeditionary force from Moldavia. Even a Tatar contingent, composed of former members of the Blue Horde who fled to Lithuania, was present. The Teutons called crusaders from across all of Europe, receiving supporters mostly from Germany, though over 21 nationalities were present in their army. There was even a Burgundian and Italian unit respectively, though both small.

The diversion by a Greater Polish army worked - the main Polish force crossed Vistula on June 14th near Plock on a pontoon bridge without any problems, and connected with the Lithuanian army a day after. Siemowit I and Nikolai I Jogaila were leading the Coalition forces, and on June 22nd, upon crossing the Polish-Teutonic border and beginning the siege of Lautenburg, a border fort, Lithuania and Poland both declared war on the Order, starting the Polish-Lithuanian-Teutonic War. Lautenburg, witnessing the massive army in front of it, surrendered in less than a day, and the Polish-Lithuanian forces continued to move north. Upon learning of the diversion and the main Allied army marching towards Marienburg, von Wallenrode was outright furious. The Teutonic forces were immediately ordered to march northeast to catch the allies before they reach the capital first. Meanwhile, the Coalition sieged down one castle after another on a direct course towards Marienburg. Neumark fell, then Lobau. Jogaila allowed looting, but strictly forbade touching the churches, knowing that the Teutons can use this as an opportunity to declare him as a pagan and continue their invasions. The terrain in front was the Masurian Lakes - a wet, forested area covered in lakes and rivers, a terrible battleground both for attack and for defense, but the Allies nevertheless marched on, slowly, not trying to overexert themselves, often setting up camp and sending scouts to determine the route instead of blindly marching through the night. Which is exactly what Konrad von Wallenrode was doing - desperately trying to reach the enermies before they captured Marienburg, he forced his troops to march as fast as possible. June 29th was exceptionally cold and rainy, with summer hail and thunderstorms. Allied forces rested in Deutsch Eylau, while Konrad continued marching north despite the weather.

On the morning of June 30th, the two forces met about three kilometers from Eylau.

The battleground of what became the greatest battle of the 15th century in Eastern Europe was a plain between two elongated lakes, partially covered in forest - not a good battleground for heavy cavalry, which is what von Wallenrode was relying on in his army. Upon stopping, the Allied force set up camp next to a nearby forest, while the crusaders slowly advanced forward in formation during the day. While yesterday was rainy, the 30th appeared to be brighter and brighter, with a clear sky, to cook up the Knights in their armors even more. The Teutons were divided into two flanks, led by Grand Master von Wallenrode and Grand Marshal Engelhard Rabe von Wildstein respectively. According to Jan Dlugosz, right before the beginning of the battle at noon, Konrad himself rode out of the ranks, standing on the empty field between the opposing forces where the battle was soon to begin, then laid out a mocking speech directed towards the Polish King and the Lithuanian Grand Duke, saying that they, as pagans, schizmatics and allies of both, will not receive God's support in the battle and thus perish. A Polish knight was about to order the troops under his helm to fire a stream of arrows and kill the Teuton there and now, but Siemowit discouraged him from it.

Of course, the battle could not be stopped. Soon after noon, the Teuton left flank charged, attacking the Lithuanians, which were based right next to a forested hill. The fighting was fierce and took about half an hour, and after an hour, Jogaila's forces seemingly started to scatter, retreating to the forest behind them. Thinking that by completely destroying one of the Coalition armies, he'd crush the remaining enemy morale enough to achieve victory, von Wallenrode ordered the left flank to pursue the Lithuanians while the right flank clashed with the Poles. This proved to be a massive mistake, as the Crusaders that dismounted and marched into the forest were soon mailed and destroyed by the reorganizing Lithuanian troops inside - the scatter was merely a false retreat, a tactic inherited from the Tatars. Troops from the Russian principalities - Muscovy, Tver, Suzdal and Smolensk - were left in the center, holding the majority of the Teuton forces off while the right flank turned into a slaughter for both sides, massive losses inflicted everywhere. And they did their job, no matter the odds. Despite the crusaders fighting fiercely, the Poles started to slowly outweigh them by numerical superiority alone, though bleeding heavily, and when, in a shock, Jogaila's Lithuanians charged from the forest with a javelin charge and attacked the Teutons from the rear, the pot turned into a slaughter. Thousands of knights were felled that day, and as peace finally stilled after almost a day of fighting, the Grand Master, Grand Marshal, dozens of Komturs, foreign Knights and Order leaders laid dead. It is still not known who killed Konrad von Wallenrode - some say it was a lowly Samogitian peasant with a club attacking him off-guard, some say it was the Polish knight Zbyslaw Kamenecki, some say he was felled by a Lithuanian javelin while charging towards the Poles. Nevertheless, Teuton remnants that escaped the bloodbath retreated towards their camp, with Poles the first to follow. The first thing they found was barrels of wine. Barrels upon barrels of wine. Fearing that even a defeated enemy can defeat his knights if they end up drunk, Siemowit ordered the barrels to be destroyed. The flowing wine, mixed with the blood of the slain warriors, seeped into the lakes nearby, covering them in a shade of red for days to come...

The Battle of Ilawa, called Battle of Ailava by Lithuanians and Battle of Eylau by Germans and most Western languages, was an astounding success that echoes across the courts of Europe for decades! Such a heroic battle, with the last great stand of the Teutonic Knights, and such a display... However, the war was still not won. The Coalition took about 4000 prisoners - all of them were counted and sent to Poland and Lithuania for later ransoms. Even though Jogaila wanted to stay and celebrate, believing that the war has already been won, Siemowit managed to persuade him to march forward with him, and two days after the battle, the Coalition forces continued their march forward, reaching Marienburg - one of the greatest castles of Eastern Europe of the time and the capital of the state of the Teutonic Order. The castle housed about 1000 defenders, led by Konrad von Jungingen, the Komtur of Osterode.[8] Osterode was one of the castles in the way of the Allied army, but, to not waste time, the Coalition decided to leave it be for the time being, to be captured later. von Jungingen did not participate in Eylau, moving around the Allies with a small dispatch of troops to get toe Marienburg first, and he did. Poland and Lithuania began to lay siege on this massive castle, for one of the first times in Eastern European siege warfare employing bombards and cannons, but it appeared like the fortification was going to stall for months. von Jungingen had his own problems, too. The Livonian Order was not willing to help out, numerous Teutonic cities were prematurley surrendering, like Elbing and Danzig... Finally, on September 15th, the walls of Marienburg were opened, and it appeared as if the siege was about to be over... and then the Komtur agreed to settle for an armistice, in the name of the Teutonic Order, agreeing to numerous land concessions as well as monetary ones.

This was finally solidified in the Peace of Thorn in 1390, where the Order, among other things, agreed to relinquish it's claims on all territories of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland, numerous land concessions as well as large war reparations and hunting rights. The war was over, and even though the Teutonic Order was still intact and the Livonian ones were still raiding the land, it was a start...

Especially when some urgent news arrived to the court of Jogaila soon after the peace was signed...


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I decided to do these number mark things to more easily explain why this or that is happening without breaking out of character:

1. OTL

2. In OTL, the first major Byzantine visits to Lithuania happened during this period. Of course, because of the Orthodox baptism, the mission is more important to the ERE than OTL...

3. Also OTL

4. In OTL, Mamai was defeated in the battles of Vozha and Kulikovo and then in the Second Battle of the Kalka River in 1380, then executed. Since neither Vozha nor Kulikovo happened ITTL due to Muscovy's weakness and the Lithuanian Civil War, the Tatar succession crisis continued for 6 more years, though still ending in Mamai's defeat.

5. Built in 1346 for Algirdas's Orthodox wife Uliana of Tver. After the Christianization, there was no need to build a Cathedral from scratch, it was already there!

6. Technically Wallenrode only took helm in 1391, but it's such a small difference that, even though this is only 20 years after the POD, we can safely butterfly Konrad Zollner away before 1389.

7. Same thing happened in OTL, albeit later

8. Insert discount Heinrich von Plauen