[7] The Ottoman forces were under the command of Hadım Yakup Pasha, sanjak-bey of the Sanjak of Bosnia, and the Croatian army was led by Emerik Derenčin, ban of Croatia, who served under King Vladislaus II Jagiello.

Around the same time, clashes had been raging in Croatia between the House of Frankopan and the Croatian ban, but news of the Ottoman incursion forced them to make peace.

Poor tactics, and the choice of an open battle done by ban Derenčin against more experienced Ottoman cavalry, resulted in the total defeat of the Croatian army.

They would ride into Christian territory and plunder the countryside during spring and summer, avoiding the fortified border towns and direct military conflict.

On their way back, the Ottomans were intercepted by the army of Croatian ban Ladislav of Egervár and Count Bernardin Frankopan near Udbina, and were defeated in the Battle of Vrpile.

[10] In the summer of 1493, Hadım Yakup Pasha raised an army of 8,000 light cavalry (akıncı) and attacked Jajce, but failed to capture its fortress.

[3] The same year, a war broke out between the newly appointed ban of Croatia, Emerik Derenčin (Hungarian: Imre Derencsényi), and the Frankopans, allied with Karlo Kurjaković (of the Gusić's), for control over Senj and several other towns.

Ultimately, Derenčin's opinion prevailed[12] and Croatian commanders agreed to face the Ottoman army in an open battle at the Krbava field, near the town of Udbina in central Croatia, although Ivan Frankopan Cetinski argued that an ambush in the canyons and ravines would be a better option.

[15] Although the plan was to fight the Ottomans on the open plains, the Croatian army was initially deployed on the slopes of the eastern part of the Krbava field, near the village of Visuć.

[15][18] The Ottoman forces were at first pushed back, and started a feigned retreat, which lured Croatian army into pursuit that led them into the ambush.

The Croatian army suffered a total defeat and only a small number of men managed to reach safety in the nearby fortified town of Udbina.

According to H. E. Efendi, in battle climax, Derenčin went into a duel with one of the akinjis who struck him off his horse, only to be dragged off to pasha with rope tied around his hands and neck.

Among the killed Croatian nobles were Ivan Frankopan Cetinski, Petar II Zrinski, Juraj Vlatković, and ban of Jajce Mihajlo Pethkey.

[26] Following the battle, and in later decades, due to constant Ottoman attacks, local Croatian populations moved into safer areas; north-west Croatia, the coast and the islands, and also outside the country.