Ballaban's campaign of 1465

Before he began his campaign, Ballaban offered Skanderbeg several gifts. Instead of accepting them, Skanderbeg sent back a pickax and a plough to remind Ballaban of his origins as a peasant, showing that it would have been more noble to have stayed so than to turn against one's own people. Ballaban was offended and made an oath of vengeance.[5] Ballaban planned to march two armies into Albania. Ballaban's force of 24,000 men was to march from Debar and Jakup Arnauti's force of 16,000 men from Berat. The plan was to march onto Kruja and take it after Skanderbeg would have moved against one of the two armies. From there, the other would move into Skanderbeg's rear and hopefully annihilate his army.[6]

Many Albanian princes allied to Skanderbeg—most notably Moisi Golemi—began to advocate a purely defensive campaign to thwart the Ottoman invasion. But Skanderbeg felt that he must, at all costs, prevent the linking up of the two armies sent against him, especially now that he had received fresh troops and supplies from King Ferdinand I of Naples, bringing his forces' numbers to 12,000 men. He therefore marched against Ballaban first.[6]

Skanderbeg bivouacked his forces near Oranik, in the fields of Vajkal, where Ballaban was to march. Ballaban, before moving into the fields, sent out men to Skanderbeg's posts to bribe them into not going out to guard during a late hour. Skanderbeg, however, expected such a stratagem and surreptitiously moved his forces into the wooded areas around the area where Ballaban's army would be moved to; 8,000 cavalrymen and 4,000 infantry were set up on both sides. He marched out for eight miles to find Ballaban's army and upon seeing Skanderbeg, the latter ordered all of his forces out to capture Skanderbeg and defeat his army afterwards. After reaching his men, Skanderbeg exhorted them to fight bravely in order to finish off the Turks. He soon split up his forces into four groups: this first to Tanush Thopia; the second to Pal Engjelli's brother in-law who ruled over Durrës; the third to Zaharia Gropa; and the last to himself.[4]

The Ottoman forces who were wary of following him so with his own group he continually harassed the Ottoman soldiers until they were driven into his chosen field of battle. Once the Turks had neared, all of the Albanian forces sprang out of their positions, encircling the Turks. The latter attempted to hold out, but they could not resist and so they took to flight, leaving many dead and wounded behind. Ballaban, however, managed to escape by hiding out in a secure place with a portion of his forces, waiting to escape as soon as the Albanians marched off. Ballaban got his opportunity when Skanderbeg received news from his sister that Jakup Arnauti's forces had reached central Albania, destroying much of the land they marched through. Skanderbeg immediately set off and Ballaban returned to the Sultan defeated.[4]

Arnauti marched into Albania expecting to meet his colleague, Ballaban, but he instead was about to meet Skanderbeg. Before he set off for the march, Skanderbeg exhorted to his men that since they had already beaten an army twice their size, they should expect a quick victory over an army of only 16,000 men. The Albanians moved toward Kashari, near little Tirana, where Arnauti's forces were waiting. Upon reaching the place, Skanderbeg sent out 500 cavalrymen to provoke Arnauti into making a rash decision. Skanderbeg's intentions were fulfilled and Arnauti split his forces into three in order to surround and defeat the Albanian cavalrymen who continued to be chased without being stopped. When the Ottoman forces were spotted by the Albanians, a powerful charge was launched onto the unsuspecting Turks resulting in an initially fierce battle. Here, Jakup Arnauti was spotted by Skanderbeg in battle and the latter struck the former with his spear right below the chin. Arnauti's death devastated Ottoman morale, resulting in most of the force fleeing and being pursued by the Albanians who inflicted heavy casualties.[4]