A Polish and Lithuanian counterattack in 1330…

A Polish and Lithuanian counterattack in 1330 had resulted in a temporary peace, with the Order returning part of military gains to Poland, but over the next year, the fighting continues.

The Teutonic Order attempts to take Brześć Kujawski after standing all day in the sun.

The German army from the Teutonic Order has seven thousand men, and is opposed by a Polish army of five thousand men.

On September 27, 1331, one-third of the Teutonic Order's force of knights under Dietrich von Altenburg leaves the blockaded peasant town of Płowce.

The Poles, under Władyslaw and his son Casimir, immediately attack in a frontal assault.

They are immediately joined by Polish detachments hiding in a forest to the left of the town.

Reportedly, during the first phase of the battle Prince Casimir was ordered to depart so as not to deprive the Polish Kingdom of the presumptive heir.

Despite this, in three hours the Teutonic knights have been defeated and their leader captured.

The Polish forcesare victorious in this phase of the battle, take prisoner fifty-six knights, and free many Polish captives.

However, upon hearing the sounds of battle from Płowce, rear elements of the German formations rush to aid their fellow knights, and soon another third of the Teutonic Order's forces arrives.

The long and bloody battle resumes and continues until dark, with high casualties on both sides.

Poland scores a clear victory, with Reuss von Plauen, commander of the German army, and another forty knights taken prisoner by the Poles.

After fleeing Płowce, the knights withdraw to Toruń (Thorn).

Despite the Polish victory on the field, the battle is traditionally regarded as inconclusive given that the Teutonic Order was not destroyed.

Nevertheless, it is an important battle for Poland, which is just regaining its stature as a country on the international scene, and has held its own against a powerful military force.

An estimated over four thousand men (combined) are said to have fallen on the field of the battle.

Of these, seventy-three were Knight Brothers of the Teutonic Order (the highest-ranking members of the Order).

Over one half of the dead were Germans, whose fellows have to retreat back to Toruń, their death toll climbing to one third of all their knights taking part in the war.

The Polish armies, also suffering heavy casualties, do not follow the retreating Germans.