Eastern Serbia was quickly occupied, but on the southern front the Serbian army successfully stopped the Ottoman advance, defending the fortified positions around Aleksinac for more than two months.

[7][4][8] The Russian Empire brokered a ceasefire in autumn of 1876 by threatening military intervention, and the European Great Powers then organized the Constantinople Conference to settle the war and wider issues in the Balkans.

On the western border, a Serbian army of about 20,000 men crossed the Drina river and invaded Bosnia, but was unable to take Bijeljina and retreated back to Serbia after several days.

In fact, although the Ottomans have successfully occupied the Timok Valley the only route from there into the rest of Serbia was through but two mountain passes (Čestobrodica and Bovan Gorge near Sokobanja), which were already fortified and heavily defended by the Serbian eastern army.

Such an armistice lasting for two months was granted on November 1, 1876 and subsequently extended until March 1, 1877, when a definitive peace treaty was signed between the Ottoman Empire and the Principality of Serbia.