[2] Following turmoil in the Serbian Despotate after the deaths of the Serbian rulers Đurađ Branković on 24 December 1456 and his successor Lazar Branković (who swore allegiance to Mehmed II in 1457) on 20 February 1458, Mehmed decided to send an army under the command of the Grand Vizier Mahmud Pasha to Serbia while he was campaigning in the Peloponnese.

[2] The Hungarians waited until the onset of autumn (when a part of the Ottoman forces would annually disband following the end of the summer campaign season) to launch their offensive, a tactic commonly employed by John Hunyadi.

[5] The Pasha and Mehmed the Conqueror ensured that some units were kept under arms instead of being disbanded in case the Hungarian army attacked before winter set in after the Ottomans withdrew.

[6] During autumn, the Hungarian army under the command of Corvinus crossed the Danube near Belgrade and entered Ottoman lands in Serbia.

[7] The invaders soon marched on the Ottoman castle of Tahtalu (near Drvengrad) in the Mokra Gora - Užice region and began to plunder the surrounding areas.