ORDER OF BATTLE // January 1, 1385
Battle of Pločnik
Estimated force strength by side, with confidence labels per surviving record.
Forces engaged
2 sides catalogued · combined 35,000 estimated
Moravian Serbia
15,000
Medium-confidence figure
Ottoman Empire
20,000
Medium-confidence figure
Battle context
The Battle of Pločnik was a Serbian victory over an invading Ottoman force under Sultan Murad I, inflicting casualties of 12,000–13,000 on an Ottoman army of 20,000. The engagement was fought by Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović's Moravian Serbian forces, numbering 15,000, near the village of Pločnik. Within the broader Ottoman Wars in Europe, the battle represented one of the more costly Ottoman reverses of the period, temporarily checking the advance into the Balkans. Despite the scale of Ottoman losses, the victory did not halt the long-term Ottoman drive into Serbian territory; Lazar Hrebeljanović would face Ottoman forces again at the Field of Kosovo in 1389, where the outcome proved far less favorable to the Serbian side.
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