In January 1474 the Turks renewed their incursions into Albania. Skanderbeg on his deathbed had entrusted the task of defending his country to the Venetians, which they, with the help of the Montenegrins and some Albanian tribes, attempted to do. They themselves held various towns on or near the coast, including Scutari, which was now besieged by an immense Turkish army. Among the defenders were several Ragusans, and the Republic was throughout the siege well supplied with news of all the operations. The Turkish leader was Suleiman Beg, a Bosnian renegade, while the Venetians were led by Andrea Loredano, and their allies by Ivan Crnojevnić, a Montenegrin. Hostilities began with the defeat of the Turkish fleet at the mouth of the Boiana by Gritti, but by May the enemy had invested the town. The garrison consisted of only 1300 men, while it contained 700 non-combatants, but it was well provided with arms, ammunition, and food. The besiegers brought up much heavy artillery drawn by camels. The Ragusan Senate was convinced that if Scutari fell it was all up with Albania and Dalmatia, and that even Italy would be in danger. The Turks delivered an attack and effected a breach in the walls; the garrison not wishing to exhaust themselves, waited until the enemy had entered, and then fell upon them with such fury that they drove them back, killing 2000 and wounding an immense number. Suleiman Beg announced this disaster to the Sultan, and then abandoned the siege, having lost 7000 men killed and 14,000 wounded in all. As some Ragusans had taken part in the defence, the Sultan again raised the Republic’s tribute to 10,000 ducats.[423] In 1477 the Turks attacked Kroia, Skanderbeg’s old stronghold, and as the Venetians could not relieve it, it fell, while numerous bodies of Turkish cavalry made inroads into Friuli from Bosnia. The Venetians finally made peace, giving up Scutari and Kroia, and agreeing to pay 10,000 ducats a year for trading rights in the Turkish dominions. They now held only Durazzo, Antivari, and Butrinto, all the rest of Albania being occupied by the enemy. During these operations Ragusa was more than once in serious danger, and Pope Sixtus V. granted full indulgence to all those who contributed to the defence of the city, whether natives or foreigners. He said of it: “In oculis Turchorum quasi propugnaculum sita existit, maribus satis munita, florenti populo decorata ac armis et aliis instrumentis bellicis abundans, et hominum suorum virilitate parata adversus prædictorum incursus semper existit.” The Sultan, he adds, was planning to attack it with an immense army, and it could not hold out unless other Christians came to its assistance.[424] The city, however, was saved once more by the crushing defeat of the Turkish army by the Hungarians in Transsilvania.