Once camp was set, Hussars were sent to scout out the surrounding area to see if any Turks were nearby. No Turks were spotted; what they did find however were a group of Gypsies selling schnapps (liquor). The Hussars bought barrels of the stuff and then proceeded to get drunk.
It wasn't long after getting drunk that the Austrian infantry soldiers crossed paths with the Hussars and demanded that they share their liquor. They refused, in fact, they built forts around the barrels to prevent anybody from taking their liquor.
Angry at the selfishness …show more content…
of the Hussars, the Infantry men devised a plan to get back at them. The plan was simple: they would yell “Turci! Turci!*” (Turkey! Turkey!) and fire a single shot into the air, this would result in the Hussars running away scared. Unfortunately, the plan worked a little too well, and the single shot that was fired into the air, ended up being the shot that started the Battle of Karánsebes.
Unaware of the infantry's plan, the Austrian army thought they were in the midst of an ambush and started firing back, into the darkness,at the humanoid shapes; unaware that those humans were in fact their own comrades.
In an effort to try and settle the soldiers down, German officers started yelling, in German, “Halt! Halt!” But here’s the problem; the Austrian army was composed of soldiers from different countries who spoke different languages, and as a result, when they heard "Halt! Halt!" they misinterpreted it as “Allah! Allah!
It wasn't long until the Austrian camp was in complete and utter chaos. What made matters worse was when a corps commander ordered an artillery fire when he mistook the men running through the camp as the enemy.
Eventually, the entire camp awoke to a battle raging on outside. While some soldiers picked up their gun and started firing at the targets they perceived to be the enemy, others decided to flee while they still had the chance. Soon the fighting got so bad that the Austrian army decided to retreat from the fictitious enemy they created.
Two days later the real Turkish army arrives to find 10,000 wounded/dead Austrian soldiers lying on the ground in a now unprotected town of Karánsebes, which they procedeed to take with
ease.