The news of this disaster took some time to reach the West, and by the time it was known there, information was also received that the indefatigable Hunyadi was again girding himself up for a second expedition. This ended with some small advantages in Wallachia. Again, in 1448, he tried another mode of entrance into the Sultan’s territory, passing this time among the Albanians, on whose aid he reckoned without avail, since they were fighting on their own account against the Turks. The Servians, too, held aloof. The second battle of Kossovo (October 17, 1448) ended in a defeat for the Hungarians, although the Turkish losses were very severe. Under the hammering of Hunyadi, the Janitschars were obliged to give way, but they withdrew in good order with unbroken ranks. There was a truce for three years after this battle, much to the relief of both sides, since Murad had encountered an aggressive Albanian leader in Scanderbeg, who seemed likely to rival Hunyadi as an enemy of Ottoman rule. For some time this Albanian champion, whose name in Albanian is equivalent to Alexander, had been kept as a page at the Sultan’s court. During the confusion caused by the campaigns of Hunyadi, the young man had managed to escape, but before doing so, he had forced the Sultan’s secretary, under menace of death, to sign an order directing the commander of Croia to give up the place to Scanderbeg. On reaching his home in the mountains, the Albanian chieftain put himself at the head of 600 warriors. Entering Croia alone he presented his written order to the governor, who immediately turned over the place to him. In the night he brought his men into the town and the Turkish garrison was massacred.