Baidar defeated many Poles, Russians, Germans and Moravians. On 13 February 1241 the Mongols crossed the frozen Vistula. The town of Sandomierz was taken and plundered. Further to the west, on 18 March Orda and Baidar met the Polish army under the command of Duke Boleslaw V (not present at the battle) at the battle of Chmielnik. The Poles were heavily defeated and Boleslaw with a part of his troops fled to Moravia. On 22 March the Mongols stood before Kraków, many of whose inhabitants had already made their escape. On Palm Sunday the Mongols set the town on fire and took prisoner large numbers of the people who had remained. Moving further west, Orda and Baidar reached a place east of Opole, where they forced Duke Miecislaw's army to retreat. Near Racibórz they crossed the Oder. Racibórz w