♦Confidence of Sobieski.♦ From the castle of Leopoldsberg about sunset Sobieski surveyed the scene with mixed feelings. He saw that he would have to make his advance over most precipitous and difficult ground; but his experienced eye was not dismayed either by the imposing array of the Turkish tents or by the multitude of their occupants. Writing to the queen the same night he shows his old confidence: “Humanly speaking, and while putting all our hope in God, one must believe that a general, who has not thought of concentrating or entrenching himself, but is encamped as if we were a hundred miles off, is predestined to be beaten.” He complains, however, that he had not been warned of the steepness of the descent, and must change his order of battle. During the night the noise of the Turkish cannon was such that “we could not close an eye,” and the wind was so high that “it seemed as if the Vizier, who is reputed a magician, had unchained against us the powers of the air.” ♦Advance of the allies.♦ When day dawned on Sunday, the memorable 12th of September, the wind fell, and the heat was most severe. John attended mass with the Duke of Lorraine in the old church of Leopoldsberg, and received the sacrament. ♦Their order of battle.♦ He then mounted his horse, and ordered the advance. The right wing was occupied by the Poles, under Jablonowski; the centre by the Germans, under the Prince of Waldeck; the left wing by the Imperial troops, under the Duke of Lorraine.[92] The king directed the whole; but his post was in the right wing. ♦Battle of Vienna.♦ The ground in their front was broken by gullies and rough eminences, and here and there by rude parapets of earth, which served as the boundaries of the vineyards. The Turks in vain attempted to defend these positions; they were driven from point to point by the impetuous hussars, and the Polish artillery, dexterously handled by Konski, did such execution that by midday the army had reached the plain. After an interval of rest the advance was continued, and the villages of Nussdorf and Heligenstadt were carried by the hussars at the lance’s point, not without some loss. At five o’clock the order was given for a halt, and John proposed to rest his wearied troops before the final struggle. Meanwhile the Vizier, who had been gallantly repulsed by the besieged, had hastened to check the retreat of the Turks. He saw with uneasiness the horse-tails on the Polish lances, and feared that after all the king might be present. At a conspicuous point in the lines he caused the hoisting of a red pavilion, which was surmounted by the standard of the Prophet, and tried to raise the spirits of his troops by his own cool assurance. Seating himself under its shade with his two sons and the Tartar khan he ordered coffee to be served.