Editing Moldavian Magnate Wars (section)

== Battle of Cecora and its aftermath (1620–21) ==
{{main|Polish–Ottoman War (1620–1621)}}
The next phase of the Ottoman-Commonwealth conflict would begin in 1620: the Cossacks' burning of [[Varna, Bulgaria|Varna]] proved the last spark. The new young Ottoman sultan Osman II made peace with Persia and promised to burn the Commonwealth to the ground and "water his horses in the [[Baltic Sea]]". Żółkiewski's forces went deep into Moldavia to strike at Ottomans before they were ready, but a large Ottoman force had already invaded Moldavia to remove hospodar Graziani.

In early September 1620 the Royal Grand and Field Hetman's Zolkiewski and his protegee, future hetman [[Stanisław Koniecpolski]], assembled 8,000 men and marched south. However, Graziani's contribution comprised just 600 men. At the [[Battle of Cecora (1620)|Battle of Cecora]] (September 18 to October 6, 1620), on the river [[Prut]], Zolkiewski met the 22,000-strong army of Iskender Pasha, withstanding repeated attacks during September 1620. On September 29 he ordered a retreat, and for eight difficult days discipline held despite enemy attacks. On approaching the Polish border, order in much of the army melted and the forces disintegrated on the spot. The Ottomans attacked and much of the Commonwealth army was destroyed. Zolkiewski was killed, his head sent to the Sultan as a trophy, while Koniecpolski was captured.

The following year, in 1621, an army of 100,000–160,000 Turkish soldiers led by Sultan Osman II in person advanced from [[Adrianople]] towards the Polish frontier, but the disaster of Cecora caused the Commonwealth to mobilise a large army (of about 25,000 Poles and 20,000 Cossacks) in response. Hetman Chodkiewicz crossed the [[Dniester]] in September 1621 and entrenched himself in the fortress of [[Khotyn]] on the very path of Ottoman advance. It was here that, for a whole month (September 2 to October 9), during the [[Battle of Khotyn (1621)|Battle of Khotyn]], the Commonwealth hetman held the sultan at bay, up until the first autumn snow. The deaths of his men compelled Osman to withdraw. However, the victory was to be dearly ransomed by Poland. A few days before the siege was raised, the aged grand hetman died of exhaustion in the fortress on September 24, 1621. After his death the Polish forces were led by [[Stanisław Lubomirski (1583–1649)|Stanisław Lubomirski]].

Chodkiewicz wasn't the only one to die as a result. Sultan Osman himself paid the highest price for the failure of his plans. After the tides turned, the defeat and subsequent retreat of the Ottoman armies, coupled with internal matters, triggered the [[rebellion of janissaries in 1622]], during which Osman II was murdered.

An honorable peace ([[Treaty of Khotyn]]) was agreed, based on that at [[Busza]], and the Commonwealth-Ottoman border was to be fairly quiet until the [[Polish–Ottoman War (1633–1634)]].