Ottomans Besiege Koszeg

1532

A small Croatian garrison of seven hundred men held off Suleiman's enormous army at the tiny Hungarian border fortress of Koszeg for three weeks. The delay spoiled Suleiman's campaigning season, and he withdrew before he could reach Vienna. Small garrisons, it turned out, could still matter in gunpowder warfare. The commander negotiated a symbolic surrender allowing Suleiman to claim victory while the fortress remained in Habsburg hands, saving Vienna from a second siege.