Siege of Belgrade
1787 CE.
Shown on the map at 44.817°, 20.467°.
There were attempts by the Austrian army to besiege Belgrade, a strategically important city on the Habsburg–Ottoman border, on 2–3 December 1787 and 18 January 1788 that failed. Austria planned to take Belgrade by surprise, before a declaration of war. The operation of taking Belgrade without a fight was always part of Austrian tactics throughout the 18th century. Emperor Joseph II tasked major general József Alvinczi with taking Belgrade without battle. Alvinczi went to Zemun (opposite Belgrade, Habsburg territory) and conspired with Orthodox priest Nikola Radomirović, Živko Milenković and Jovan Novaković Čardaklija to open the Nebojša Gate, Dizdar Gate in the lower fort and Defterdar Gate between the forts, which they did, on the night of 2–3 December 1787. Serbian Free Corps commander Radič Petrović and Austrian captain Mack with 200 Serb volunteers arrived at the fort foundations with boats on the Sava. The planned 12 Austrian battalions with artillery at Zemun, who were to disarm the Ottoman soldiers sleeping in the barracks and capture the Vizier, never reached due to heavy winds stopping their chaikas.
Text from the Wikipedia article Siege of Belgrade (1787–1788), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.