CHAPTER LXXVIII.
And war had burst forth at last. Not abounding in battles, and during the early moments not over favorable to the Poles. Before the Polish forces had come up the Knights of the Cross captured Bobrovniki, levelled Zlotoria with the ground, and invaded the unhappy land of Dobryn, won recently with so much effort. But Bohemian and Hungarian mediation allayed for a time the storm of war. A truce followed, during which Vatslav, King of Bohemia, was to arbitrate the dispute between Poland and the Order.
Neither side ceased, however, to assemble troops and concentrate them during the months of winter and spring. When the King of Bohemia, who was bribed, gave his decision in favor of the Order, war of necessity burst forth anew.
Meanwhile summer came, and with it arrived the "nations" under Vitold. After crossing the river at Chervensk both armies united, and the regiments of the princes of Mazovia joined them. On the other side, in the camp at Sviet, were a hundred thousand Germans encased in iron. Yagello wished to cross the Drventsa and advance by the shortest road to Malborg, but when the crossing proved to be impossible, he turned from Kurentnik to Dzialdova, and after destroying Dombrovna, or Gilgenburg, a castle of the Order, he encamped there.
He, as well as the Polish and Lithuanian dignitaries, saw that a general battle must come soon, but no one supposed that it could come before a number of days had passed. They supposed that the Grand Master, having stopped the road before the king, would give rest to his legions, so that they might come to a life-and-death battle fresh and unwearied. With this expectation the armies of the king halted for the night at Dombrovna.
The capture of the fortress, though without orders, and even against the will of the military council, filled the hearts of the king and Vitold with pleasure; for the castle was strong, surrounded by a lake, it had thick walls, and was held by a numerous garrison. Still the Polish knights took
