However, what happened next shook the arguments of the peace faction. During Hunyadi's retreat to Vidin, this divinely skilled General repeatedly broke through the ambushes the Ottoman had set on the Hungarian army's return path.
He even defeated Turahan Bey, the General of the ambush, and captured Mahmud Pasha, the Sultan's son-in-law, the brother of Grand Vizier Halil Pasha, and a figure no less important than the Governor of Rumelia, successfully withdrawing into the Crusaders' controlled territory.
This series of defeats infuriated the Sultan, who had just returned to Edirne. In his rage, after clarifying the recent battle reports, he attributed the Battle of Nis, the ambush, and the capture of Mahmud Pasha to Turahan Bey.
In early 1444, he imprisoned this great General in the capital, awaiting future disposition. At the same time, he quickly rushed back to Anatolia to continue commanding the Anatolia Legion in their assault on the Karaman Beylik.
By March 1444, at the call of Skanderbeg, the Prince of the Albanian Autocratic State, who had achieved successive victories against the Ottoman, the vast majority of Albanian lords who had previously submitted to Ottoman rule had chosen to raise the banner of rebellion against the Sublime Porte in Edirne.
Therefore, by the 2nd of that month, Skanderbeg, believing the time was ripe, met with all the Albanian lords who had broken away from Ottoman rule in Lezhë, a neutral city under Venetian control, to discuss whether to establish a unified Albanian state.
Albania successfully gained independence, Serbia broke free from Turk shackles, Bulgaria began to experience independence rebellions, and an armed movement for the return to the Empire also appeared in Western Macedonia. Everything seemed to be developing in a direction favorable to the Christian states.
But at the end of March, bad news from Anatolia interrupted the Christians' optimism.
At the end of March, under the command of Murad II, the Ottoman army finally pushed through the salt lake region in the center of the peninsula and reached the city of Konya. However, considering the current situation, which had already resulted in over ten thousand casualties, the Sultan also proactively sent envoys into Konya to negotiate peace with Karaman.
In response, Bey Suleiman and his subordinates, who had long anticipated such a move, all agreed to the other party's proposal. Ultimately, on April 2, 1444, Karaman agreed to return the Eastern Hamid region, which it had occupied eight years prior, and pay 1,000 dukats in compensation, in exchange for a safe withdrawal from the war.
At this moment, Murad II was finally able to fully focus his energy on the West. However, the holy fire disease that had begun to spread in the autumn and winter of the previous year thwarted the Sultan's ambition, and several previous defeats also caused the turbulent court to doubt whether the Sultan, who favored peace, could completely expel the infidels.
Therefore, upon returning to the capital, Murad, feeling somewhat weary from prolonged warfare, also responded to the voices of the Crusader peace faction and began to engage in peace talks with them.
To put more pressure on the Ottoman side, on April 25 of that year, with the overt support of Crusader states such as Venice, Naples, the Papacy, and Hungary, Skanderbeg gathered the princes and lords of the Albanian region and announced the merger of the Principality of Zaharia, the Principality of Dukagjini, the Principality of Spani, the Scuria Principality of the Thopia Family, the Principality of Arianiti, the Pulat territory of the Dushmani family, the Principality of Muzaka, the Misia territory of the Balšić family, the Upper Zeta territory, and his own Albanian Autocratic State, the Kastrioti family territory.
They formed a loose alliance feudal kingdom with him as the Despot, known as the "League of Lezhë," externally referred to as the Albanian Despotate.
The complete secession of the Albanian Despotate was a huge blow to the Ottoman side, and during this period, the Rumelia Legion's troops sent to Suppression these mountain people were either annihilated or returned without success, further strengthening the Ottoman's inclination towards peace talks.
Facing the calls for peace within their own camp, the high-ranking Crusaders chose to temporarily utilize them. After the young King Władysław III secretly met with Pope Eugene IV once, a bold plan was on the verge of being unveiled.
On June 12, 1444, the peace talks between the Crusaders and the Ottoman concluded. The treaty stipulated that the Ottoman Sultanate would withdraw from Serbia, Albania, and the area north of Lacul Razim, and promised not to deploy troops or build defenses in the Danube basin.
The Crusaders, in turn, swore to conclude a "permanent peace treaty" with the Turks and never to invade Ottoman territory.
At the end of that month, after the peace treaty was concluded, in the Ottoman Edirne Palace, Murad II wearily looked at the Janissaries gathered outside the palace and sighed helplessly.
"Also, Sultan, the Sublime Porte requests an explanation from you," Grand Vizier Halil Pasha said to the Sultan with a troubled expression, but he immediately added, "However, if you, Sultan, wish to step forward to stop these troublemakers, or to mobilize Kapıkulu or Sipahi into the city, your humble servant will firmly support you…"
"No need," Murad turned, closed his eyes, and made his decision. "For Allah's sake, I am also tired. So be it, let this succession to the throne be peaceful."
On June 28, Ottoman Sultan Murad II announced his abdication, ceding the Sultanate to his beloved son, Sultan Aladdin Ali, and retreating to Brusa.
When the news spread, the entire country was shaken.
Not long after these events, in the Trabzon Palace of the Bosphorus Despotate, the 32-year-old Bosphorus Caesar Manuel was sitting in his office, accompanied by several of his trusted aides, reading reports from Europe.
As he read, he came across the oath sworn by the formidable leader Skanderbeg when he declared the establishment of the Albanian Despotate—
"'If our chronicles do not lie, then we are in rebellion. But you must know that in this place beneath our feet, our ancestors fought arduous and extraordinary wars with the Romans. Silence is a disgrace, and rising up is our glory!'" Reading this, he immediately placed the report on the table and burst into appreciative laughter, unable to stop himself from clapping.
"Good! Good! Good!"
"Sultan, what is this?" Seeing the Caesar in such a fit of laughter, his subordinates were all bewildered, and his Commander of the Guard even stood up worriedly, attempting to inquire about the reason for his demeanor.
"It's nothing, I was merely praising him." In an instant, Manuel regained his original expression and then picked up another report from the table. "Let's change the subject. Murad II has abdicated?"
"Yes, Sultan." The Prime Minister nodded, then asked with a puzzled expression, "How strange, he abdicated after losing to the Crusaders? Is something amiss in the Ottoman court?"
"No matter how chaotic the court is, it wouldn't influence the Sultan's decision." Manuel lowered his left hand and lightly tapped the wooden table. "He solidified his Sultanate through war, and even if there were unrest in the army, with the current strength of the Ottoman and his own abilities, he could completely suppress it."
"So, this is the Sultan's own will?" MegasCancellarius George swallowed nervously, a little fearful.
"Let's assume it is," at this, the Caesar's expression became noticeably serious, but beneath this composure, there was a hidden, almost imperceptible, ecstasy. "However, Ulaslo I and these Catholics will surely misinterpret this as the Ottoman being in disarray.
"Therefore, after this halftime break, it will be our time."