One of the bright pages of Russian history, which for many centuries excites the imagination of boys and has been of interest to historians, is the Battle of the Ice or the Battle of Lake Peipsi. In this battle, Russian troops from two cities, Novgorod and Vladimir, led by the young prince Alexander Yaroslavovich, already then nicknamed Nevsky, defeated the troops of the Livonian Order.
What year was the ice battle? The battle on Lake Peipsi took place on April 5, 1242. It was a decisive battle in the war with the forces of the order, who, on the pretext of spreading their faith, were gaining new lands for themselves. By the way, this war is often referred to as a war with the Germans, however, this is not entirely true. The Livonian Order was located in the Baltic. The structure of the troops included the actual knights of the order with their retinue, their Danish vassals and militias from the Chud tribe, the ancestors of modern Estonians. And the word "German" in those days called those who do not speak Russian.
The war, which ended on the ice of Lake Peipsi, began in 1240, and at first the advantage was towards the Livonians: they took cities like Pskov and Izhorsk. After this, the invaders began to seize the Novgorod lands. They did not reach some 30 km to Novgorod itself. I must say that by that time Alexander Yaroslavovich was in power in Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, where he was forced to leave Novgorod. At the end of 40, the inhabitants of the city called the prince back, and he, ignoring the old grievances, led the Novgorod army.
Already in 1241, he recaptured from the Livonians most of the Novgorod lands, as well as Pskov. In the spring of 1242, an reconnaissance detachment left the stronghold of the forces of the Livonian Order, the city of Dorpat. At 18 miles from the starting point, they met with a detachment of Russians. It was a small detachment marched in front of the main forces of Prince Alexander Nevsky. Due to the easy victory, the knights of the order were inclined to believe that the main forces would be able to defeat just as easily. That is why they decided to give a decisive battle.
All the army of the order headed by the master himself came out to meet Nevsky. They met with the forces of Novgorod on Lake Peipsi. The chronicles mention that the Battle of the Ice occurred near Raven Stone, however, historians do not undertake to determine exactly where this happened. There is a version that the battle took place near the island, which to this day is called Raven. Others believe that the Raven Stone was a small rock, which now under the influence of wind and water has turned into sandstone. And some historians, based on the Prussian annals, which say that the killed knights fell in the grass, conclude that the battle actually took place on the very shore, so to speak, in the reeds.
The knights, as usual, were lined with a pig. This name was called a battle formation, in which all weak troops were placed in the middle, and cavalry covered them from the front and flanks. Nevsky met his opponents, building his weakest troops, namely the infantry, in a battle formation called heels. Wars lined up like a Roman letter V, with a notch forward. Enemy wars entered this recess and immediately found themselves between two lines of opponents.
Thus, Alexander Yaroslavovich imposed on the knights a long battle, instead of the usual victorious march through enemy units. Engaged in battle with the infantry, the invaders from the flanks were attacked by more heavily armed troops of the left and right hands. Such a turn of events was completely unexpected for them, and in confusion, they began to retreat, and after a while it was just shameful to flee. At this moment, an equestrian ambush regiment entered the battle.
The Russians drove their adversary through the whole of Lake Peipsi. It is believed that it was at this moment that part of the enemy army went under the ice. It is widely believed that this was due to the heavier armament of the knights of the order. In fairness, it is worth saying that this is not so. The heavy plate armor of the knights was invented only a few centuries later. And in the XIII century, their weapons were no different from the weapons of the princely Russian warrior: helmet, chain mail, breastplate, shoulder pads, leggings and bracers. And not everyone had such equipment. The knights fell under the ice for a completely different reason. Presumably Nevsky drove them to that part of the lake where, due to various characteristics, the ice was not as strong as in other places.
There are other versions. Some facts, namely, that the record of drowned knights appears only in chronicles since the XIV century, and in those that were drawn up in hot pursuit there is not a word about it, and that no records have yet been found on the bottom of the lake traces of the knights of the Livonian Order, suggest that this is only a beautiful legend that has nothing to do with reality.
Be that as it may, the Battle of the Ice ended in the complete defeat of the order. Only those who closed the system, that is, the master himself and some of his associates, were saved. Subsequently, peace was concluded on extremely favorable terms for Russia. The invaders abandoned all claims to the conquered cities and ceased hostilities. The boundaries established in those days were relevant for several centuries.
Thus, it can be seen that the Battle of Ice in 1242 proved the superiority of the Russian troops, as well as the Russian battle technique, tactics and strategy over the European ones.