While the Bosporus Army marched towards Erzurum, Hamza and Sheikh Hassan, who were defending Erzurum, were heavily persecuting the local Armenians.
However, despite the fact that it was persecution, these Turkmen people believed they were merely carrying out righteous acts, such as punishing heretical traitors, completely disregarding that the 'traitors' they spoke of were loyal subjects who had been paying taxes to the tribal alliance until now.
And to be honest, their actions of labeling Armenians as traitors were far too extreme.
Even though the White Sheep suffered a crushing defeat in Erzincan and Bayburt, the vast majority of Armenians under their rule still did not choose to raise a rebellion; at most, under the indirect propaganda of the Armenian Church controlled by Bosporus, they secretly embroidered purple eagle flags overnight, awaiting the Bosporus Army to take control of the city.
Everything else remained as usual: paying taxes to the Crescent Sect rulers, helping them maintain public order and repair engineering equipment, or reciting scriptures.
After all, the Romans entering the city was only a potential future event, while being ruled by the Turks was an ongoing reality, and most Armenians prioritized their daily lives.
But the local Turkmen rulers, out of fear and apprehension of the Bosporus Army, and the lack of Armenian resistance against the Romans in the conquered Bosporus territories, led the White Sheep Turkmens, including Sheikh Hassan and Hamza, to develop extreme, unilateral distrust towards the Armenians under their rule.
This distrust, after a short period of fermentation, evolved into a panic of being backstabbed, even though such a backstabbing was completely groundless in Erzurum.
In short, under these circumstances, which were mixed with various complex emotions, the muslims, who had initially only intended to increase taxes on the Christians of Erzurum, within a few days escalated to openly persecuting them.
The first to suffer were the local Armenian Apostolic Church and wealthy merchants.
The former were first ordered to stop publicly reading scriptures like the Bible, and a day or two later, this escalated to forcing Apostolic Church priests to wear headscarves, with those who refused even facing lynching; the latter fared much worse, directly labeled as Jewish under the instigation of powerful enemies and the Ulema, they were on the verge of losing not only their property but also their lives.
Although Sheikh and Hamza did not formally approve of these actions, they tacitly allowed them to happen, even secretly instructing their soldiers to profit from them.
For the Armenian community of Erzurum, the only thing that could be considered fortunate was that as slaves, who were not free citizens, they suffered no other ill-treatment beyond receiving more disdain, because they had nothing left to lose except their wretched lives.
Incidentally, due to the self-inflicted chaos and perverse actions within Erzurum city, the various tribes in the West Armenia region, which had been severely damaged in previous battles, found it difficult to organize effective resistance.
Therefore, while the persecution of Armenians in Erzurum was in full swing, the Bosporus Army, on the evening of the fourth day after their departure, had already reached a village called Aziziye, not far from the city.
Compared to the White Sheep, who had already caused all sorts of outrageous behaviors, the Armenians, who had lived in the area for generations, very decisively chose to defect to these Romans who had come from afar, after the Bosporus invaded the area.
After all, if they were to be subjects anyway, they might as well find a good master.
Thanks to Erzurum's chaotic measures, Bosporus's rule over its occupied territories became more stable.
After allowing Posadas to lead soldiers in massacring the remaining muslims in the area, Manuel also learned about the situation in Erzurum from the local Christians.
"Do they think we won't take advantage of their weakness?" he felt quite exasperated after learning about the White Sheep Turkmens' misdeeds.
"I apologize, I do not know, Your Majesty," the old priest of the Armenian Apostolic Church before him bowed respectfully, reiterating the veracity of these intelligence reports with utmost reverence.
After rewarding them and promising the local residents a reduction in various complex taxes, Manuel borrowed an earthen hut from them, summoned the accompanying generals, and announced his decision.
After briefly explaining the situation in Erzurum city, Manuel eagerly threw out his idea, "I personally believe this is the best opportunity granted by the Holy Father.
We should seize this moment to capture Erzurum and force the Aq Qoyunlu Dynasty in Diyarbakir to recognize our control over the Erzincan area."
Regarding his idea, after a brief and noisy discussion, most generals unanimously shared the same view as their respected Majesty.
Subsequently, with the assistance of Tukharovsky, Manuel finalized the plan for the Bosporus Army to launch a full-scale assault on Erzurum.
The next morning, which was early September, the Bosporus Army, after briefly clearing out scattered Turkmen tribes in the surrounding area, arrived at the gates of Erzurum city.
Although the White Sheep defenders, led by Sheikh and Hamza and the remaining tribal generals still guarding Erzurum city, had realized they were the next target after Bosporus began eradicating Turkmen tribes, they had not expected the Christians' shift in focus to be so rapid, turning their attention to the city within a few hours.
Indeed, the White Sheep defenders, using their own Turkmen nomadic mindset to interpret the enemy, initially guessed that the Bosporus forces, like themselves, relied on plundering wealth to boost morale, and largely failed to consider that the enemy's actual goal was to reduce unstable factors during the siege.
So, when the Bosporus artillery began bombarding the city, the White Sheep generals, whose forces had been severely depleted by previous defeats, became frantic.
It wasn't until the western earthen wall was on the verge of being breached that Sheikh finally made up his mind, allocating a large contingent of troops that had been suppressing Armenians to assist in the defense, and together with Hamza, summoned the city's jurists, hoping they could persuade some Ulema to go to the city walls to chant scriptures and offer condolences, thereby boosting morale.
However, these jurists had their own concerns, primarily fearing that they would be killed by the Bosporus Army in this siege battle.
Furthermore, the defenders had openly requested aid from Diyarbakir a few days prior, and out of a sense of lucky, most of these Ulema spoke vaguely, refusing to actively go to the upper levels to lead prayers during broad daylight.
This excuse nearly infuriated most of the defending generals, who immediately began endless bickering and recriminations.
What they didn't know was that, at this very moment, their plea for help had just bypassed the mountain plateau and reached the White Sheep Sultan Kara Osman, who had once again gone to Mardin to guard it.