Mars 72033 Polish infantry Mercenaries "Hajduki" (30 years war)

Hajducy (other terms: Hungarian infantry or colloquially "Hungarians") is a formation of the Polish infantry, which was first formed by Stefan Batory at the end of the 16th century. It was often treated as a kind of personal guard of Polish kings and Polish and Lithuanian hetmans. Hajducy were formed into small units of 100 to 600 soldiers, with a relatively small staff. In the case of a formation with more than 100 soldiers, haiduks were formed into the left and right wings, and those for tens. The whole was commanded by the Hungarian infantry hetman, and smaller units - most often a captain, with a lieutenant and a standard-bearer to help. The Hajducy men used long handguns as their main weapons - initially, matchlocks and arquebuses, later muskets. Side weapons were, for example, berdysze, sabers and axes. In fact, long bladed weapons, such as pikes or halberds, were not used at all. The hajduk tactics were necessarily based primarily on the use of firearms and the use of volley fire. On the battlefield, the haiduks were used, among others, to storm fortified enemy positions and to defend their own fortification works.