In early March, temperatures gradually rose across the Balkans, and the armies of the Eastern Roman Empire began to assemble.
Vitus continued the previous year's strategy, setting out from Ćuprija and advancing north along the Great Morava River.
The objective for this phase was to reach the Danube and capture Smederevo and Belgrade.
The route from Ćuprija to Smederevo stretched roughly sixty miles. The terrain was complex, with alternating hills and plains, unsuitable for deploying large concentrations of cavalry.
Thus, Vitus's attacking force remained predominantly infantry, its core formed by the Tuna, Attica, and Varangian Legions, totaling fifty-six thousand men.
March 9, the small town of Bela Crkva, meaning "White Church" in Serbian and known in later times as Smederevo Palanka.
This was the main camp of Jagiellon's coalition army. Twenty miles farther north lay the banks of the Danube.
That morning, Hunyadi finished a military conference and went out to inspect the surrounding countryside. Nearly forty thousand troops were gathered here, their countless tents spread around the town in a bustle of noise and confusion.
As the ice and snow melted, the country roads became muddy quagmires. Supply wagons left deep ruts in the road, some filled with murky puddles that reflected the gray-blue sky.
A bitter wind blew as Hunyadi walked toward the stream to the south, his boots sinking into the soft earth, making every step harder than usual.
The stream had swollen, carrying broken ice and dead branches washed down from upstream as it flowed slowly onward. Large numbers of warhorses gathered along its banks, their heads lowered to drink.
Nearly half this army consisted of Hungarian cavalry. The Black Army had expanded to twelve thousand men, while the remaining eight thousand were Serbian levies.
The enormous herd consumed vast quantities of grain and fresh