The Battle of Lechfeld 955
Epic Battles of Medieval History
By Attila the Fun
Starting in the early tenth century the Germans had been having lots of trouble with invaders. It wasn’t till a man named Otto of Saxony was crowned king in 936 that that all stopped, when he won the battle of Lechfeld in 955. After that he was crowned king of the holy roman empire.
But Lechfeld was the start of this amazing story. It started when the Magyars began attacking Germany. For many years the Magyars had been successful in raiding until one day they failed to take the city of Augsburg. They managed to retreat beyond the Lech river where they met Otto’s Saxon army. The Magyars set a trap for Otto. They split into two groups: one group, the infantry was supposed to bait Otto into engaging them. After he was to attack them, the other group, the cavalry, was to flank his army. However the flanking group got distracted and started raiding a baggage train. Otto noticed this and sent some of his men to attack them. This caused the whole Magyar army to flee.
After he secured his rear, he was able to focus on attacking the middle column. Before he attacked, legend has it that he gave a very inspirational speech. ‘They surpass us in number, I know, but neither in weapons nor courage. We also know they are quite without the help of God, which is of the greatest comfort to us.’ The Magyars thought Otto’s army was retreating which was a big mistake. Instead after the Magyar’s deployed their cavalry to chase them down, the German army turned around and pushed the attack. The Magyar army, utterly surprised, retreated into the Lech river, where most of them drowned. Some were sent home minus their ears and noses. The battle was won and the Magyars never attacked Germany again.
