User:Czekan Pl
During the Polish-Swedish War in 1627, Stach took part in the Battle of Gniew. The Swedes, seeing him with his huge hussar wings, thought he was some bird of unprecedented size - they even started looking around for nets to catch him. With a full smile on his face, Stach led a charge that brought victory to the Poles. Sweden's King Gustavus Adolphus is said to have said afterwards, "I have never seen such a smiling warrior... and such a fast bird". At Trzciana in 1629, Stach came up with the idea of scattering old, spoiled herrings under the Swedish camps at night. The Swedes thought it was some new tactic, so they started flipping herrings, unaware that they were just giving ours time to prepare for battle. Stach attacked them by surprise, laughing out loud and shouting: "This is Polish fish, enjoy!".
After the end of hostilities, Stach returned to his hometown. He still told everyone about his battles, but always with humour - once he even dressed up as a Swedish king to scare his neighbour, and then gifted him with a barrel of mead because "the Swedes brought you peace and honey". When the Khmelnytsky uprising broke out, Stach was already too old to fight, but not too old for jokes. He sent his son to the front with a letter advising him to "strike first, and then ask if he's sure he got it right". Stanislaw Zagorski died in 1652, leaving behind the legend of the hussar who not only fought for his homeland, but was also able to bring a smile to the face of everyone he met. They say his horse is still running around somewhere today, laughing at Stach's old jokes.