The Battle of Smolina Lake

Using the fact that the main forces of the Russian state were occupied by the siege of Smolensk , Walter von Plettenberg decided to besiege Pskov and Izborsk defending it. On September 2, the Confederate army stormed Izborsk, but to no avail. On September 6, Walter von Plettenberg launched a three-day siege of Pskov , which also ended with the withdrawal of the troops of the Livonian Confederation. Seeing the departure of the Livonians, in pursuit of them went the regiments of the Novgorod governors of the princes D.V. Shcheny and V.V. Shuisky.

The army of the Livonian Confederation, which participated in the campaign against Pskov, numbered 25 thousand people, but of these, only about 5 thousand Livonians participated in the battle at Lake Smolina. They had a battle with the approaching Grand Duke's army. The Russians surrounded the Livonians, but Plettenberg managed to break through the ring, presumably in the place where the Pskov militia had disturbed the order in the regiments and began to rob the captured Livonian convoy. After that, the Russians attacked the Livonian infantry, which suffered heavy losses, but repelled the onslaught, as it was supported by field artillery. Thus, the Livonians managed to keep the battlefield, but to take some other actions, except to return to the borders of Livonia, the battered army of Plettenberg could no longer.

According to various Livonian sources, the number of Russian troops participating in the battle ranged from 18 to 90 thousand people, and his losses amounted to 8000 people killed. Both those and other data, in all probability, are greatly exaggerated ^[1] . Yu. G. Alekseev calls credible only the Livonian data on 5 thousand soldiers (2.5 thousand horsemen and 2.5 thousand Landsknechts ) who took part in the battle from Plettenberg. Several sources refer to the loss of Livonians in 400 people during the Russian attack on the Livonian infantry, that is, without taking into account losses during the previous breakthrough of Livonians through the environment.

In memory of the Battle of Smolin, Master Walter von Plettenberg ordered the September 13 triumph annually as a victory. In fact, for Livonia it was a tough battle when retreating after an unsuccessful campaign near Izborsk and Pskov. The success of the battle at Smolina Lake from the Livonian side was to avoid defeat, preserving a substantial part of the army and returning it home.

In the winter of 1502, the troops of the princes Semyon Starodubsky-Mozhaysky and Vasily Shemyachich made a return raid on the lands of the Livonian Confederation. In April 1503, a Blagoveshchensk truce was concluded for a period of 6 years. This truce was extended from 1504 to 1522, then to 1531, and again to 1551. ^[2]