he exited his castle and confronted some of the Turks that were lurking on his land. Thereafter, he took one of their flags and sent it to a Hungarian friend as proof of his bravery. The Ottoman casualties were reported as 45,000, including four Pashas killed and a hundred standards taken. Jan Długosz writes that "all but the most eminent of the Turkish prisoners are impaled", and their corpses burned. Only one was spared – the only son of the Ottoman general Isaac Bey, of the Gazi Evrenos family, whose father had fought with Mircea the Elder. Another Polish chronicler reported that on the spot of the battle rested huge piles of bones upon each other, next to three immured crosses. Aftermath After the battle, Stephen sent "four of the captured Turkish commanders, together with thirty-six of their standards and much splendid booty, to King Casimir in Poland", and implored him to provide troops and money to support the Moldavians in the struggle against the Ottomans. He also sent letters and a few prisoners and Turkish standards to the Pope and Hungarian King Matthias Corvinus, asking for support. In response, "the arrogant Matthias writes to the Pope, the Emperor and other kings and princes, telling them that he has defeated a large Turkish army with his own forces under the Voivode of Wallachia." The Pope's reply to Stephen denied him help, but awarded him with the "Athleta Christi", while King Casimir pleaded "poverty both in money and men" and did nothing; his own men then accused him of sloth, and advised him to change his shameful behaviour or hand over his rule to someone else. Chronicler Jan Długosz hailed Stephen for his victory in the battle: Praiseworthy hero, in no respect inferior to other hero soldiers we admire. He was the first contemporary among the rulers of the world to score a decisive victory against the Turks. To my mind, he is the worthiest to lead a coalition of the Christian Europe against the Turks. Stephen tried to create a new coalition with the European powers, arguing that Mehmed's best troops were lost at Vaslui. Upon hearing about the devastating defeat, Mehmed refused for several days to give audience to anyone; his other plans of expansion were put to rest as he planned revenge on Stephen. In the following year, Mehmed invaded the country with an army of 150,000, which