The Battle of Otonetta took place on September 27, 1446, in Upper Dibra, Albania. The Ottoman commander, Mustafa Pasha, was sent to Albania, but was confronted by Skanderbeg.
Background
Soon after Skanderbeg united the Albanian lords on 2 March 1444, the Ottoman Empire sent forces to suppress the uprising. The first army sent was defeated in June of the same year at the Battle of Torvioll. Another force was sent a year later, but was again defeated by the Albanians at the First Battle of Mokra. Having established diplomatic relations with many major European powers, Sultan Murad II resumed his campaign to crush all remaining resistance in the Balkans.
battle
As Murad II prepared his forces to launch a campaign against the Byzantine Empire in the Peloponnese, he sent a force of 15,000 cavalry under Mustafa Pasha towards Albania. The Ottoman plan was to wage a war of attrition, plunder and terror against the local population, thus avoiding open battle.
Mustafa Pasha divided his force into two parts, sending one contingent into the fighting and keeping the other in a fortified position at Otonetë. When Skanderbeg learned that the Ottoman army was divided, he attacked the contingent at Otonetë with 5,000 men. The camp descended into chaos as the Albanians attacked, "turning it into a slaughterhouse".
Consequences
5,000 Ottoman soldiers were killed and 300 others were taken prisoner. The entire camp and its supplies fell into Albanian hands. After this defeat, Murad II ordered Mustafa Pasha to defend the border and not to carry out any offensive action that could cause another defeat. ©LAPSI.al
