Circle of Willis
Well-known member
Context. Long story short, the battle was one of the largest (if not THE largest) and most decisive in late medieval Eastern Europe, and set the stage for Polish-Lithuanian ascendancy over the next few centuries while also dooming the Teutonic Order to decline (and, eventually, its transformation into the Protestant Prussian duchy).
At one point in the hard-fought battle, a Teutonic knight named Diepold von Kokeritz launched into a dramatic charge at the position of the Polish king, Wladyslaw Jagiellon (who was also previously Grand Duke of Lithuania, and cousin to the incumbent Grand Duke Vytautas), just as the latter was committing the Polish reserves to the fight. He almost killed the king, but was stopped by Wladyslaw's secretary and future Cardinal Zbigniew Olesnicki. The Lithuanians, who had retreated earlier in the battle, returned sometime after this episode and stomped the Teutons flat between themselves and their Polish allies. Grand Master Ulrich von Jungingen was among the many, many Teutonic knights who lay dead at the battle's end and the Teutons lost their strength to not only contend with the Polish-Lithuanian alliance, but also to control their restive subjects. (In fact, the spark for this entire war was an anti-Teutonic revolt in Samogitia, which was supported by the Polish & Lithuanians)
So I think that's the best POD to achieve a Teutonic victory: Olesnicki either dies earlier in the battle or is otherwise a little too slow to stop Von Kokeritz from charging home and striking King Wladyslaw down. The Polish half of the allied army, shaken by the demise of their king, routs before the Lithuanian half can return to the fight, allowing the Teutons to concentrate their full strength against the latter instead of being crushed between both. Vytautas is also killed, leaving the Polish-Lithuanian army quite thoroughly mauled & leaderless (much as the Teutonic army was IOTL) while Grand Master Ulrich stands alone as the uncontested master of the battlefield when the sun sets on July 15, 1410.
What's next for Poland, Lithuania. the Order and Eastern Europe as a whole?
At one point in the hard-fought battle, a Teutonic knight named Diepold von Kokeritz launched into a dramatic charge at the position of the Polish king, Wladyslaw Jagiellon (who was also previously Grand Duke of Lithuania, and cousin to the incumbent Grand Duke Vytautas), just as the latter was committing the Polish reserves to the fight. He almost killed the king, but was stopped by Wladyslaw's secretary and future Cardinal Zbigniew Olesnicki. The Lithuanians, who had retreated earlier in the battle, returned sometime after this episode and stomped the Teutons flat between themselves and their Polish allies. Grand Master Ulrich von Jungingen was among the many, many Teutonic knights who lay dead at the battle's end and the Teutons lost their strength to not only contend with the Polish-Lithuanian alliance, but also to control their restive subjects. (In fact, the spark for this entire war was an anti-Teutonic revolt in Samogitia, which was supported by the Polish & Lithuanians)
So I think that's the best POD to achieve a Teutonic victory: Olesnicki either dies earlier in the battle or is otherwise a little too slow to stop Von Kokeritz from charging home and striking King Wladyslaw down. The Polish half of the allied army, shaken by the demise of their king, routs before the Lithuanian half can return to the fight, allowing the Teutons to concentrate their full strength against the latter instead of being crushed between both. Vytautas is also killed, leaving the Polish-Lithuanian army quite thoroughly mauled & leaderless (much as the Teutonic army was IOTL) while Grand Master Ulrich stands alone as the uncontested master of the battlefield when the sun sets on July 15, 1410.
What's next for Poland, Lithuania. the Order and Eastern Europe as a whole?