| The most celebrated exploits of Dracula were directed agains the Turks in 1461-1462. After refusing to pay tribute to the Sultan, Vlad attacked the Ottoman fortresses along the Danube. On one occasion he stole into a Turkish camp at night with a small force and slaughtered thousands in their beds. When the Turks retaliated and marched on Wallachia he scorched the land in their path and towards Targoviste, Vlad impaled 20,000 Turks planting the stakes together. The sight broke the nerve of the exhausted and demoralized Ottoman army, and it fled. |
