Soon after Murad issued detailed operational orders, the Ottoman Sultanate finally began its long-awaited full mobilization.
Within a single month, hundreds of thousands of Ottoman civilians were conscripted into the army, and the Ottoman, which had been continuously recruiting, expanded directly from a pre-war size of fifty to sixty thousand to over one hundred thousand.
These one hundred thousand men were quickly deployed to the two fronts where the Ottoman was engaged.
On the western Rumelia front, thanks to Halil Pasha's timely contact with pro-Ottoman factions in Serbia, coupled with the joint efforts of Turahan Bey, Kasim Pasha, and Arnavutlu Iskender Pasha, the Serbian Despotate, which had only recently defected, had its South Serbia region occupied, including the resource-rich Kosovo.
Its Despot, George Branković, was routed and forced to retreat north to join the Polish-Hungarian allied army that had recently moved south.
On the eastern Anatolia front, due to Ankara's strong walls, Suleiman's failure to capture the fortress during the initial night attack indicated that he was out of luck in this war.
Furthermore, with the successive counterattacks by Murad II and Sultan Aladdin Ali, Bey was eventually forced to abandon the siege of the city in mid-June, quickly withdrawing from the central region.
He attempted to reorganize the situation by leveraging Karaman's prestige in these old territories, aiming to force a peace with the Ottoman, much like the Bosporus did in the past.
But Murad clearly would not give him that chance.
To quickly stabilize Anatolia, which would serve as the grand rear in this war, the Sultan spared no effort: he personally led the main force of the Anatolia Legion to deal with Karaman, while only leaving the Rumelia Legion in Europe, attempting to eliminate the threat from Asia Minor first.
However, what surprised Murad was that after all these years, the Karaman people had unexpectedly grown much stronger.
To be precise, the individual combat strength of a Karaman soldier had not changed much, but their army's organizational capability and overall command level had visibly improved, making them truly worthy opponents that could give the Ottoman a headache.
The reason, naturally, was the series of reforms Suleiman had implemented domestically after successfully seizing power.
Although the effects were not as significant as those of his close friend Manuel, they effectively reorganized the Karaman army, making the old adversary, the Ottoman, feel a rare sense of threat.
"Are these the reforms made by the son of that Benji Ali?" In mid-July, at noon, after a more difficult-than-expected victory over Karaman's most elite Armenian Imperial Guard in Kütahya, southwest of Ankara, Murad lamented inwardly with a touch of unwillingness.
He had initially thought he could quickly resolve the Karaman issue this year by concentrating his forces, but it seemed he, and indeed the entire nation, would have to expend more effort than anticipated.
Meanwhile, the Crusaders had already entered Serbian territory, helping Despot George, who had recently fled from the south, stabilize the northern lands that were almost lost, and officially launched a counterattack.
During this interlude, the main army temporarily rested in the outskirts of Kragujevac, which had just been recaptured, for a period, regrouping while also allowing high-ranking officials such as the young King Ulaslo I to process the current information.
"Your Majesty, the current situation is that Murad has gone to Anatolia to try and quickly subdue the Karaman people.
But it is highly likely that the infidel Sultan will keep the main forces of the Europe section west of the Sea of Marmara, attempting to resist our army's advance to buy time, allowing him to return after resolving the situation in Asia Minor," Cardinal Cesarini, the Papal envoy armored and accompanying the army, reported, summarizing the known intelligence and presenting a universally known conjecture, based on his private discussions with Hunyadi.
However, the young King did not appear overly anxious or worried; instead, he sat comfortably on a stone chair, nodding thoughtfully, "In other words, even the mighty Ottoman Turks cannot truly fight on two fronts, can they?"
"That's not entirely accurate, Your Majesty," Hunyadi, as the commander-in-chief of the entire army, immediately rose to advise, "At least, what the infidels are outwardly demonstrating is that they are indeed fighting on two fronts.
Although it might be true that they cannot truly manage both fronts simultaneously."
"That is enough," the young and spirited Ulaslo I stood up with a confident smile, drew his sword from his waist, and swung it in a half-circle in the air, "Then, Sir Hunyadi, what we need to do is very simple: destroy the Ottoman army and its foundations here, once and for all, before the Sultan returns to Europe."
"By the way, please also tell me, what is the situation with the various reinforcements now?"
Cesarini, hearing this, bowed and reported, "The situation with the other participants is that the fleets of the Knights Hospitaller and the Kingdom of Burgundy, unable to land on Ottoman soil, can only continue to harass them along the coast, disrupting their maritime trade.
However, the Ottoman doesn't seem to have much maritime trade anyway…
"The Romans, whether the Basileus or the Bosphorus Caesar, currently show no intention or sign of entering the battlefield in recent months.
It seems we cannot count on these Romans until the Crusaders truly achieve a great victory.
"As for Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia, Your Majesty is aware that they have all genuinely committed their main forces, and all but the last have even entrusted command to your hands.
Therefore, I humbly request to not elaborate further on this.
"And as for your brother, the Kingdom of Lithuania, although they claim to have sent people, Your Majesty, do you know their whereabouts?"
"They are probably bickering with the Wallachians," the young King, who had a clear understanding of the Eastern Europe situation, smiled helplessly, "If those two Danube Principalities decide to participate quickly, perhaps the Lithuanian reinforcements will arrive soon."
As Władysław III spoke, Vlad II, Prince of Wallachia, and Stephen II, Prince of Moldavia, along with their retinues, had nearly concluded their talks on the banks of South Bessarabia at the border.
The content of this meeting was simple, revolving around two questions: first, whether to participate in the war, and second, how to distribute the spoils of war if possible.
It now seemed they had already reached a consensus.
"After the war, North Dobruja will be transferred to your country for tax-free use, while remaining under our country's possession.
Additionally, the river mouth along the Dobruja will also be given to your country, and the rest of Dobruja, and potentially Sistria, will belong to your country.
How does that sound?" At the end of the negotiations, Vlad II, now a middle-aged man, handed the document to Stephen II and asked seriously.
Regarding the proposal from the monarch of the neighboring country, Stephen II calmly took the document and replied peacefully, "That sounds good." With that, he unhesitatingly signed his name on the document.
"It seems we already reached a consensus on the first point long ago!" Seeing the other party's decisive response, Vlad II burst into laughter, "Finally, we can break the chain the Turks have put around our necks, "War! Declare war on the Ottoman!"