Last Thursday was the 408th anniversary of the legendary Siege of Nagykanizsa, including an Austrian army with ten times more soldiers than the ones in the Ottoman fortress in Hungary that the Habsburg was trying to capture. And the Ottoman fortress was commanded by a hashish-addict Turkish general, who was actually a military genius!
The Ottoman-Habsburg Wars of 1526-1791, one of the biggest political/military struggles of European history which I am personally interested in, was at its height in the year 1601. A Habsburg-led coalition besieged the Ottoman fortress in Nagykanizsa, western Hungary.
The siege began in September 9. Habsburg had 100.000 troops (although some give the figure of 130.000) and 47 cannons. Inside the fortress, Ottomans had just 9.000 troops and 100 cannons, which were smaller in caliber comparing to the Habsburg weaponry.
Considering the numbers, it was basically impossible to defend the fortress, but the Ottoman Empire was lucky to have a confident, almost crazy general in charge of this frontier fort: Tiryaki (Hashish-addict) Hasan Pasha.
Hasan Pasha, who refused to surrender even in these impossible conditions, was a master of deceit, whom Sun Tzu would surely be proud of.
For winning the battle against the ten times bigger army of crusaders, what did this old Turkish commander do?
1) As the Habsburg forces initiated the siege, Hasan Pasha didn't initially fire his cannons and he didn't send his cavalry out of the fortress soon. So the enemy set up their military encampment inside the Ottoman artillery range. Moreover, they thought that Turks didn't have any cavalry, so they didn't take any precautions.
2) Hasan Pasha was writing letters to the Ottoman grand-vizier, asking for urgent help. After a few days, he was assured that nobody would come here to help him. Anyway, he wrote letters, addressing to himself. As if the Grand Vizier was saying that a big Ottoman army was on the way to the fortress. Hasan Pasha made sure that the enemies will seize these fake letters.
3) Fooled by two royal letters to Hasan Pasha, Habsburg troops were panicked. A third letter even made them to seriously evaluate the lifting of the siege. It also boosted the morale of the Ottoman troops.
4) At nights, Ottoman commandos were going out of the fortress, organising surprise attacks in the Habsburg encampment. When they capture Habsburg soldiers, they were ordered not to kill but kidnap them alive.
5) Days passed by and the resources inside the fortress were diminishing. However, Hasan Pasha was feeding the captured enemies with the best honey and milk. Then he was slyly letting them escape. These runaways were telling the Habsburg commanders in awe that Turks don't have any food shortage.
6) Hasan Pasha wasn't even closing the fortress gates. Habsburg commanders were sure that the fortress had got plenty of defenders inside. This should be why they were so confident. Lots of food, lots of soldiers...
7) Habsburg army kept firing their cannons, making huge holes on the walls of the fortress. Hasan Pasha's men were quickly filling them with a thin layer of stones first and then pillows and bed sets!
8) After 84 days, Hasan Pasha was anxiously watching the enemy behind the perished walls of his fortress. The next day, he decided that the enemy was now so demoralized that he could beat them with 1/10 of their soldiers.
9) In November 18, the counter-attack began. Firstly, Hasan Pasha fired his last 100 cannonballs at the same time. Habsburg army knew that this was the way that the Ottoman army saluted its recently arriving grand-vizier and the reinforcements.
10) There were no reinforcements, but Hasan Pasha was sure of his psychological warfare tactics. The next move was ordering the Army Band to play the Attack March. Finally, when the first wave of janissaries and -surprisingly- cavalries were rushing out of the fortress with their spine-chilling war-cries, the Habsburg troops were already dispersing in a flurry and dread.
Following the incredible victory in Hungary, Sultan Mehmed III promoted Tiryaki Hasan Pasha to the rank of Vizier. After being humbled by the laudatory letter from the sultan, Hasan Pasha was literally crying.
Somebody asked why. This hashish-addict, but still pious general explained in a way that shows that he was not just a genius military commander, but also a political visionary, predicting the ill-fate of the Ottoman Empire, which was at its peak at that time:
"All I did was a small contribution to the Empire. I didn't deserve such praises from the Sultan. Suleyman the Magnificent didn't use such words even when he appointed Ibrahim Pasha as his vicegerent. Piyale Pasha, as the son-in-law of Selim the Grim, won bigger victories in the Mediterranean but he was not promoted to vizierdom. The Caliphate of the Islamic World starts to send official letters to praise the commanders of insignificant fortresses like Nagykanizsa, awarding such humble services. And vizierdom is given to old people like me now. What can be more tragic for the Empire? Why shouldn't I cry?"
Tiryaki Hasan Pasha has been in charge of Hungarian provinces for 10 years until his death. Sultan Mehmed III died in 1603. After the reigns of four more sultans, namely Ahmed I, Osman II, Murad IV and Mehmed IV, the growth period of the Ottoman Empire ended in 1683, as it was foreseen by the hashish-addict general.
