The Estonians were able to annihilate the Swedish presence, but by the winter of 1220 nearly all of continental Estonia had been conquered by the Germans and Danes, and the population declared Christian.
In order to secure the initial military success, mercenary Russian troops were invited from Novgorod and Pskov and stationed in several key fortresses, such as Viljandi and Tartu.
In addition to the local population from Ugandi, many diehard freedom fighters had gathered there from Sakala and other neighboring provinces (vicinas omnes provincias).
[4] On 15 August 1224 the crusader army, reinforced with a large number of Christian Latvian and Livonian troops, returned in force to Tarbatu.
At night the fighting didn't stop either: the combatants shouted at one another, and made noise with their swords, playing drums, fifes and horns.
The relief troops from Novgorod had reached Pskov when they received the news from Tartu, whereupon they decided to cancel the expedition and make peace with the Germans.