Facing Skanderbeg, who had made his stance clear, Mana immediately turned around and smiled as he responded to the Prince, "Since that is the case, in the name of the Holy Father's will, let us now discuss how to deal with the Ottoman, the Catholic Curia, Naples, and Venice?"
"As you wish." Skanderbeg politely bowed slightly, then sat down with the envoy from the Bosphorus to discuss strategies for dealing with neighboring countries.
On December 26, 1443, the Bosphorus Despotate was the first to recognize the Principality of Albania and high-profilely announced its relations with it. As soon as January 1444 arrived, Skanderbeg immediately submitted a memorial to the Kingdom of Naples, requesting to recognize King Alfonso I, also known as Alfonso III of Aragon, as his suzerain. Less than three days after Alfonso gladly granted his request and sent envoys with the Pope to Krujë to bestow honors upon him, Skanderbeg announced his conversion to orthodox and simultaneously advocated for church unity. Although the Roman Curia had some reservations about his actions, Pope Eugene IV did not make a big deal out of it, given the current tense situation.
Although the Christian nations were celebrating the assistance to the newly formed Principality of Albania, Skanderbeg's defection was clearly not good news for the Ottoman. Sultan Murad II, who was at a stalemate with the Karaman people on the Aksaray front, was furious when he heard the news. This was because ever since Skanderbeg's rebellion, his deeds quickly resonated with the Albanian highlanders and Greeks who had been oppressed by the Ottoman for years. Soon, waves of resistance against Ottoman rule rose one after another. Bulgaria saw an independent rebellion erupt under the influence of the Crusaders, Western Macedonia experienced a movement to restore the Eastern Roman Empire, and other Albanian local lords quickly dealt with the Ottoman officials under their rule, poised to side with either party.
To make matters worse, at the end of winter and beginning of spring, the holy fire disease within the Ottoman territories became increasingly severe. Although it did not cause irreparable damage to the Ottoman's agricultural production, it was enough to make the Sultanate's High Porte take it seriously.
It was during this period, in the Zlatitsa Pass in the Bulgarian region, that a major battle that would once again influence the war situation broke out.
This was a battle that took place before Christmas, and the belligerents were basically old adversaries. Although the Ottoman Rumelia Legion suffered a crushing defeat at Nis, with the exception of Skanderbeg, who was then Arnavutlu Iskender Pasha, other Ottoman generals, when fleeing, deliberately implemented a scorched-earth policy along the way to slow down the Crusaders' march.
However, in front of the skilled Crusader commander Hunyadi, the Ottoman's scorched-earth tactics were basically ineffective. In less than 10 days, Hunyadi, at the cost of abandoning Hussite war wagons and heavily armored infantry, led over ten thousand Hungarian soldiers, half of whom were cavalry, to continuously break through the already collapsed Ottoman defenses in South Serbia and the Vidin region, directly entering the northern section of Emos Mountains. Now, only the pass north of Zlatitsa stood before Hunyadi. As long as this point was breached, the Crusaders could advance directly into Sofia and Philippopolis, and even directly threaten the Ottoman capital, Edirne.
However, unlike the previous battle at Nis, after learning from the crushing defeat at Nis, and to prevent the Crusaders from breaking through the defenses, Murad II, aware of the importance of this defensive line, made a bold choice: he had his eldest son, Ahmed, take his place to hold down the already faltering Karaman people, while he himself led eight thousand Anatolian Legion soldiers to quickly cross the strait and take over the overall command of the Rumelia Legion.
When he made this arrangement, Hunyadi was still in the dark, thinking that his opponent was only the Rumelia Legion, which had been utterly defeated not long ago.
It was under these circumstances of intelligence mismatch that the Battle of Zlatitsa broke out.
On the morning of December 12, 1443, the Hungarian army reached the Zlatitsa Pass. Before arriving, Hunyadi believed that the Ottoman would not expect him to choose to break through from here. But he was wrong. Through scout reports, Murad II quickly caught the direction of the Hungarian army's march and led twenty thousand troops to the Zlatitsa Pass, ordering the local garrison to block the pass in advance.
As a result, on the morning of the 12th, Hunyadi found that the pass he intended to break through was blocked by large rocks and felled trees, making any Crusader attack difficult. At the same time, at Zlatitsa, the Hungarian army encountered a heavily guarded Ottoman army for the first time. Coupled with the severe cold weather favoring the Ottoman defense, George Branković, the Despot of Serbia who was marching with him, quickly advised Hunyadi to immediately abandon the attack and retreat to the Vidin region, which was currently under Crusader control, to await an opportune moment.
However, Hunyadi directly refused him. He firmly believed that in the face of the Hungarian army's cannons and heavily armored cavalry, the Ottoman would suffer a crushing defeat just like they did at Nis.
Unfortunately, his estimation was completely wrong. When Murad II appeared under the red banner with a yellow crescent, all Crusader generals, including Hunyadi, were astonished. And the several cannons subsequently brought out by the Ottoman army made Hunyadi realize his mistake on the spot.
Thus, the Battle of Zlatitsa, with an almost foregone conclusion, broke out. When Hunyadi gave up the idea of forcing a breakthrough at the pass and attempted to retreat, the astute Murad ordered Kasim Pasha and Turahan Bey to lead Sipahi heavy cavalry to attack from both flanks, delaying the Hungarian army's withdrawal. At the same time, he brandished his scimitar and ordered the artillery to fire at the Hungarians simultaneously, attempting to force the enemy to charge towards his central army, to annihilate this large army as he had defeated other enemies before.
But the experienced Hunyadi did not fall for his trap at all. As soon as he noticed the Ottoman cannons beginning to volley fire, he immediately ordered the entire army to retreat, avoiding contact with the Ottoman army's central force. However, the Sipahi cavalry led by Kasim Pasha and Turahan Bey quickly blocked the Hungarian army's retreat. Clearly, they would not let this enemy leave.
"Your Excellency Hunyadi, what should we do now?" Seeing the gradually approaching Ottoman heavy cavalry, Cardinal Cesarini, who was with the army, felt as if he was on the edge of heaven, just one step away from instantly entering it.
"Ahem," Hunyadi shared the same feeling. At this critical juncture, he inadvertently scanned the wagons and war wagons in the army and immediately had an idea, "To the entire army, those who can still move, bring the wagons and war wagons to the front line. For God, Hallelujah!"
On the afternoon of December 12, after leaving behind over four thousand corpses, the Hungarian army suffered a crushing defeat at the Zlatitsa Pass. Fortunately, Hunyadi reacted in time, having his soldiers move the war wagons and wagons to the front line, successfully blocking the Ottoman cavalry's pincer attack and escaping with the most elite part of his forces.
This battle caused the Crusaders' original plan to quickly expel the Ottoman Turks to fail, and calls for peace with Murad II began to rise. As for what the ultimate outcome would be, that would depend on the attitudes of the main protagonists, Pope Eugene IV and Władysław III.