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The Battle of Valea Albă was an important event in the medieval history of Moldavia. It took place at Războieni, also known as Valea Albă, on July 26, 1476, between the rather small Moldavian army of Ştefan cel Mare and the invading Ottoman army which was commanded personally by the Sultan Mehmed II.
[edit] Background
[edit] The battle
The battle began with the Moldavians luring the main Ottoman forces into a forest that was set on fire, causing huge casualties to the attacking Ottoman army. According to another battle description, the defending Moldavian forces repelled with steady fire from hand-guns several Ottoman attacks. The attacking janissaries were forced to crouch on their stomach instead of charging headlong into the defenders positions. Seeing the imminent defeat of his forces, Mehmed charged with his personal guard against the Moldavians, managing to rally the Janissaries, and turning the tide of the battle. Ottoman janissaries penetrated inside the forest and engaged the defenders in man-to-man fighting.
The Moldavian army was utterly defeated (casualties were very high on both sides, and the chronicles say that the entire battlefield was covered with the bones of the dead, a probable source for the toponym (Valea Albă is Romanian for "The White Valley").
[edit] Aftermath
Ştefan cel Mare was forced to retreat with his remnant armies to his strongholds at Cetatea Neamţului, Suceava and Hotin, while the Ottomans continued to raid the country.
[edit] References
