Ţepeş asks the Hungarian king for assistance—even offering to convert from Orthodoxy to Catholicism in order to gain support from Corvinus.

He receives no support despite promises made by Corvinus and instead calls for a mobilization.

Various sources mention the strength of his army to be between twenty-two thousand and thirty thousand nine hundred, with the most popular accepted number set at thirty thousand.The letter of Leonardo Tocco, which puts the numbers of the Turkish army at an exaggerated strength of four hundred thousand, exaggerated also the Wallachian strength, which is estimated at two hundred thousand.

The majority of the army consists of peasants and shepherds, while the boyars on horseback—who are few in numbers—are armed with lances, swords, and daggers and wear chain mail armor.

Vlad's personal guard consists of mercenaries from many countries and some Gypsies.