On April 25, the Battle of Smederevo ended.
Vitus left two thousand auxiliary troops to garrison the ruins and led his main force west.
After marching along the riverbank for most of the day, the vanguard reached the edge of the Šumadija Hills.
The ground ahead rose and fell, layers of treetops stretching into the distance like a slowly surging green sea. The broad, level main road narrowed here. Damp, rotting leaves carpeted the mountain paths, whose depths lay dark and silent, as though concealing deadly intent.
"There must be an ambush."
Boranov yawned and instructed the deputy commander of an auxiliary brigade, "Follow the plan. Take two battalions and seal off the exits connecting the mountain paths to the outside. Stay alert."
Upon receiving their orders, the two auxiliary battalions broke formation and began building a camp on a defensible slope. Boranov did not venture into the hills. Instead, he continued west along their edge to block the next mountain exit.
Early on the morning of April 27, in the northern Šumadija Woodland.
László sat beside his father with his breakfast and complained offhandedly, "A snake tried to crawl into my tent last night. Luckily, the guards spotted it. That insect-repellent powder didn't work."
"It's insect repellent, not snake repellent." Hunyadi tore his white bread into small pieces and soaked them in his vegetable soup. Sunlight filtered through the treetops onto him, driving the chill from his body.
After breakfast, Hunyadi leaned against a tree trunk and basked in the sun, waiting for reports from the sentries ahead.
The woodland was vast. Crossing it from south to north took a full day, making it an ideal place for an ambush.
A week earlier, Hunyadi had scouted the terrain throughout the area and positioned several ambush forces. Whichever road