I just finished an Ottoman documentary on Mehmed the conqueror. I learned a few things about his battle with Vlad the Impaler that I didn't know.

I know Vlad was brutal and staked people, leaving bodies just there for the intruding army to see. I even spent time touring his castle and visited Romania. (Current day Wallachia)

Maybe I wasn't paying attention during to visit, but I always thought Vlad defended the lands for the intruding army. I assumed he won. He didn't. Mehmed faught his way to the capital and place Vlad's brother Radu on the throne.

See Vlad and Radu grew up in the Ottoman court with Mehmed and they were close for some time. Vlad always felt like a prisoner and wanted his country to be free and not a vasal state. Radu, the younger brother, was more accepting of the Ottoman way of life and stayed on the throne.

Vlad was eventually tracked down and beheaded by the Ottomans, but not for years after he vacated his throne in Wallachia.