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Warmatrix

War Matrix - Hussites

Late Middle Age 1300 CE - 1480 CE, Armies and troops

Hussite wagenburg
Hussite wagenburg
The Hussites were innovators in both religion and military tactics. They are known for their use of wagon fortresses.
The Hussites were followers of the Bohemian religious reformer Jan Hus. The Hussite movement was a forerunner of the protestant reformation and caused strife with the catholic church. When king Wenceslaus of Bohemia died in 1419 CE, a full scale revolt broke out between the Hussites and several kingdoms in the region, lasting until 1434 CE.
The majority of Hussites were commoners with little military training or heavy armor, but they had a very capable commander in Jan Žižka. He knew that he needed time to make his troops strong. At first the Hussites had no power base and were constantly on the move. So Žižka made them use "wagenburgs", squares or circles of wagons and carts that acted as battlefield fortresses. These wagons were equipped with loopholes for firing guns, bottom flaps to prevent attackers from crawling underneath and chains and hooks to chain them together. According to one account, each wagon was defended by four to eight crossbowmen, two handgunners, six to eight soldiers equipped with halberds, pikes or flails, two shield carriers and two drivers. They also dug ditches and employed field artillery to boost their defensive and offensive capabilities.
Enemies were lured into attack by missile fire from the wagenburgs. The men wielding polearms and other melee weapons kept them at bay. The wagenburgs often were not completely closed, but formed mazes that lured the boldest attackers in, where they could be attacked from all sides. When the attackers were sufficiently weakened, the Hussites would launch a counterattack with infantry and some cavalry, preferring to attack the enemy in the flanks. When they scored a victory, they did not take prisoners. The knights who faced them, disdainful of the capabilities of a bunch of commoners and aggravated by their gunfire, fell again and again for Hussite tactics. Eventually they learned their lesson and started to lure them out with feigned retreats and apply artillery fire to the wagenburgs.
The catholic pope proclaimed no less than five 'crusades' against the Hussites in 11 years. These were defeated again and again. After 1425 CE Hussite strength had grown to five armies of 6,000 men maximum (though often much smaller) and they had gained the support of several towns. This allowed them to respond by launching raids into neighboring lands that had supplied soldiers to their enemies. Despite all the fighting, neither side showed any sign of weakening. Eventually it was internal dissent that brought the Hussites down. In 1434 CE, the moderate "Ultraquists" defeated the more radical "Taborites" and resubmitted to the king of Bohemia and the catholic church, ending Hussite military adventures.