Why Poland and Hungary say ‘Never again.’
“With the cry of ‘Jezus Maria ratuj’ (Jesus Maria help), the whole Polish line rode down upon the Turks. Encased in glittering steel that covered head to thighs, with their tiger and leopard pelts fluttering in the wind and eagles’ wings affixed to their backs, the leading units of hussars presented an almost unearthly spectacle. Armed to the teeth with a 19-foot pennon-tipped kopia lance, a curved and a straight saber, four pistols, and a battle hammer, and mounted on a powerful armored steed, the hussar was the epitome of the Polish cavalier.
“Following the hussars were pancerny and kwarciany. Likewise made up of Polish aristocrats, the cavalrymen of the pancerny wore helmets, mailed shirts and shields and wielded short lances, falchions, the handzar dagger, poleaxes, and musketoons or bows. The kwarciany light cavalry of the poor Polish gentry and foreigners wore little armor and brandished short lances, sabers, and the occasional pistol. Leading the whole attack was Sobieski himself, his armor decked out in blue, luxurious semi-Oriental garb, his hand holding the bulawa marshal’s baton. On his side, curved saber in hand, rode 14-year-old Prince Jakób.”
http://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/military-history/the-1683-battle-of-vienna-islam-at-viennas-gates/
Polish cavalry broke the Turkish attack, ended the siege of Vienna and saved Central and Western Europe from Muslim conquest.
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