And the Polish units, abandoning a hesitation which delayed them, threw themselves with many regiments at the enemy, who were positioned in sixteen regiments, in which found refuge also those who had suffered defeat under other banners, and the Poles waged a mortal battle against them. And although the enemies put up a resistance for some time, ultimately, surrounded by great numbers of the king's army, they were put to the sword and virtually all units fighting in the sixteen regiments either perished of were taken prisoner. After defeating and crushing the enemy's army, during which - as it is known - Grand Master Ulryk, marechals, commanders and all the more prominent knights and lords of the Prussian army perished, the remaining crowd of enemies beat a retreat and once they turned tail they began to run away with determination.
And the Polish king won a delayed and difficult victory, but one that was nonetheless full and decisive over the Grand Master and the Teutonic Order. It was then that the knight Jerzy Gersdorff, who carried the banner of Saint George in the Teutonic army and who preferred to be taken prisoner than to shamefully run away, stood in the way of Przedpelk Kropidlowski, a Polish knight of the Dryja clan, together with forty comrades in arms. He fell to his knees and was taken prisoner, like a knight, as was his wish, after also surrendering his banner. Two princes, who were helping the Teutonic knights with their own armies and under their own banners, were taken prisoner: Kazimierz of Szczecin was taken by Skarbek of Gora; Konrad Bialy of Olesnica by Czech Jost of Salc. In addition, many knights from different armies and of various nationalities were taken prisoner. A considerable number of knights who escaped from the Prussian units found refuge behind the Prussian supply columns and in the camp. Attacked fiercely by the king's army as it fought its way into the supply columns and to the camp, they perished or were taken prisoner. Also the enemy's camp, filled with all kinds of riches and wagons, as well as all the possessions of the Prussian master and of his army, were plundered by the Polish knights. They found in the Teutonic camp several heavy wagons loaded with fetters and chains which the Teutonic knights had brought to shackle the Polish prisoners, since they had promised themselves a sure victory, without considering God's intervention and without thinking about the battle, but only about a triumph. They also found other wagons full of pine fire-brands soaked with tallow and tar, also arrows greased with tallow and tar, with which they were going to chase the defeated and escaping soldiers. In their delusion caused by pride, they were too eager to anticipate an outcome which rested in God's hands, not leaving any room for God's power. But according to God's just verdict, obliterating their pride, the Poles were putting them in those fetters and chains. It was an event worth watching, and also surprising, when it comes to pondering matters concerning human fate, that the lords were put in their own fetters and chains, which they themselves had prepared, and the enemies' wagons, amounting to several thousands, were plundered within a quarter of an hour by the king's army, to such a degree that not a trace was left of them.
In addition, there were many barrels of wine in the camp and on the Prussian wagons, which the king's army, exhausted by toils of battle and summer heat, descended upon after defeating the enemy, in order to quench their thirst. Some knights quenched their thirst by scooping up the wine with their helmets, others used gloves, and still others boots. And the Polish King Wladyslaw ordered the wine barrels destroyed and smashed, fearing that his army, if they got drunk with wine, could become inefficient and be easily defeated by a cowardly enemy, if somebody had enough courage to begin a battle, and also that the army could become prone to sickness and weakness. When, following the king's order, the barrels were quickly smashed, the wine flowed over the corpses of the dead, a big pile of them in the place where the enemy's camp was. It was seen flowing mixed with the blood of the dead people and the horses in a red stream up toward the meadows of the Stebark village and because of the swift current, it formed a streambed. They say that it gave rise to tall stories among the people, to stories that described how in that battle so much blood was spilled that it flowed like a stream.
Later they found not far from the enemy's camp in a little forest covered with trees that we call birches, seven Teutonic banners left by the fleeing army, carefully stuck in the ground, which were immediately carried to the king. The commander of Tuchola, Henryk, who had ordered two swords to be carried in front of him and would not be swayed from this proudful order by his good advisors, when he arrived in Wielchniowa in his shameful escape from the battlefield, was caught by his pursuers and died in a pitiful way, by decapitation, and suffered a terrible but just punishment for his lack of reason and his pride. Some pious and humble men, who were allowed to see it by God's mercy, saw in the air during the battle an illustrious man clothed in a bishop's robes, constantly blessing the Polish army, as long as the battle went on and the victory was on the side of the Poles. It was believed that it was Saint Stanislaw, bishop of Cracow, patron of the Poles and the first martyr, thanks to whose intercession and help the Poles, as is known, won this famous victory.
