Why did Coloman of Slavonia leave SajΓ³ bridge weakly defended against the Mongols?

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Accepted answer

According to the wikipedia article on the topic:

The Mongol vanguard was killed nearly to a man, with Thomas of Split writing: "the Hungarians immediately charged into them and did battle. They cut down a great many of them and pushed the rest back over the bridge, causing them to be drowned in the river." The Hungarians left some soldiers to guard the bridge and returned to the camp, unaware that the main Mongol army was nearby. Arriving at the camp at around 02:00, they celebrated their victory.

Citing: Sverdrup, Carl. "The Military Operations of Genghis Khan and Sube'etei." Helion and Company (May 4, 2017). Page 318.

In other words, they weren't aware there was a larger army roaming nearby.


Edit: That being said, as raised by Twelfth, the same article goes on to say:

When the fleeing Hungarians arrived at the camp they woke the others. Coloman, Ugrin and the Templar master then left the camp again to deal with the attackers. Others remained there, believing this was also a minor attack and that Coloman would again be victorious. But as Coloman and Ugrin witnessed the horde of Mongols swell, they realised that this was not a minor raid but an attack by the main Mongol force. After some heavy fighting they returned to the camp hoping to mobilise the full army. They were badly disappointed, as the King had not even issued orders to prepare for the battle. Archbishop Ugrin reproached the King for his faults in public. Finally the Hungarian army sallied forth, but this delay gave Batu enough time to finish the crossing.

With the caveat: citation needed. But this being Wikipedia, I'd wager the citation needed was added by someone who didn't bother reading the various sources in the page (chiefly the above and the one below).

It also mentions a slave as you pointed out:

A Ruthenian slave of the Mongols escaped to the Hungarians and warned them that the Mongols intended a night attack over the bridge over the SajΓ³.

Source: J.J. Saunders, The History of the Mongol Conquests, (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001) [No page provided, but presumably around p 222.]

Either way, both hint at some amount of hubris on top of being unaware that a bigger army was nearby.

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