Subtle and barely audible sounds quickly emanated from the snow-covered ground and its surroundings where the small vanguard unit was located.
Initially, due to the faintness of the sounds, most of the Muslim soldiers were unaware, and even those who noticed dismissed them as the work of the winter wind, not worth attention.
But then, these sounds did not disappear; instead, they grew more distinct.
After a quarter of an hour, they even alarmed the commanding officer, "What's going on? What are these strange noises?!"
No sooner had he spoken than a group of suspected enemy soldiers suddenly rushed out from below several tunnel entrances around the White Sheep unit, which were concealed by not-too-thick snow and fallen trees.
They wore padded armor and carried ceramic jars, two palms wide, in their hands.
As soon as they saw the figures of these infidels, they forcefully hurled the ceramic jars from their hands, throwing them directly into the enemy's ranks.
Just as the White Sheep soldiers were caught off guard, these thrown ceramic jars had already hit the ground and them.
The moment they made contact, a high temperature, utterly contrary to the severe cold, instantly engulfed them.
In the blink of an eye, the unfortunate souls who directly touched the ceramic jars were either blown to death or injured on the spot, or their bodies were consumed by the immediately ignited flames.
The officer commanding this unit was also among these unfortunate people.
After their commander was blown into charred and tender dismembered remains, the entire vanguard unit, due to the surprise attack and loss of command, almost collapsed, falling into complete disarray.
Upon realizing that this enemy unit had collapsed so quickly, the Bosporus ambushers, who had originally only intended to strike hard and then retreat into the tunnels, immediately informed the officers hidden underground.
The Greek officers leading them, upon receiving this intelligence, immediately decided to take advantage of the weakness and directly crush these enemies on the spot.
Thus, over the next half an hour, a rather unsightly chase unfolded in the November snow, a pursuit where you chased me and I chased you.
However, this time the pursuers were no longer the commonly seen New Moon Sect Turks, but orthodox Romans and their retainers.
This small-scale battle, which had devolved into a chase, only concluded as dusk approached that day.
Except for nearly a hundred Turkmen Ghazi and their military servants who escaped on horseback, the remaining soldiers were either captured or killed, all falling into the hands of the Bosporus soldiers lurking in the tunnels.
It was not until dusk that Kara Osman learned of the vanguard unit's defeat from the fleeing stragglers.
And after receiving detailed battle information, the old Sultan was dumbfounded on the spot, "Where did these Romans get so many tricks? They are all Romans, so why is there such a huge difference between them and those useless relatives in Pontus? Allah above, this, this, this…"
Meanwhile, in the camp at Erzurum, upon receiving the news of the victory, Manuel's first feeling was immense joy.
"White Sheep, I will burn your lives!" These were the first words that popped into his mind.
It was not in vain that he had painstakingly invested money and manpower into thermal weapons; the effort truly paid off!
The ceramic jars thrown by the Bosporus Army against the enemy this time were privately given a long name by Manuel: "Late Medieval Throwable Grenades," or simply "Grenades."
There were mainly two types: one involved mixing a small amount of white sugar into high-purity black powder, fitting a not-very-effective fuse, and immediately lighting the fuse and throwing it when needed; the other was a throwable "Greek Fire" made from the "Greek Fire" formula provided by Trabzon, with usage largely similar to the former, or rather, the experience of using the former was fundamentally based on the latter.
Speaking of "Greek Fire," it is necessary to correct some common misconceptions.
Many people misunderstand "Greek Fire," believing that this early thermal weapon was completely lost after 1204.
This is not true; this early incendiary bomb, made from oil and saltpeter or phosphorus and sulfur, continued to shine and burn brightly even during the Siege of Constantinople in 1453 in official history, and even effectively repelled several small Ottoman warships.
Although it was quite regrettable that, under the circumstances at the time, it was also powerless to turn the tide and could not decide the outcome of the battle.
Finally, on May 29th of that year, after the city gates were breached, its true formula, along with Rome, vanished into the long river of history.
Incidentally, when the Ottoman first landed on the opposite bank of the Dardanelles Strait, they encountered the painful blow of "Greek Fire" contained in ceramic jars used by Roman soldiers.
As a result, the studious Ottoman quickly imitated them, stuffing black powder into ceramic containers, establishing a rudimentary "grenadier" branch of service, also known as the "Humbara Corps" (literally "piggy bank").
This corps later joined the Sultan's direct "Kapıkulu" guard, and is currently still contributing to the expansion of the Sultanate.
"So why do the Ottoman call grenadiers—which is the official term, I suppose—piggy banks? Logically, what does a throwable grenade that stores gunpowder have to do with money, or ducats?!" Manuel, recalling this knowledge, for the first time in a while, grumbled to himself.
However, after a brief excitement, his heart was filled more with worry and tension.
Although this tunnel warfare tactic, combined with grenades, was enough to blind the enemy and demonstrated its effectiveness in actual combat, Manuel knew that the role played by such "clever tricks" was more about delaying time.
If such tactics could win large-scale battles, then the Emperor of Constantinople would have long since led his army to bombard the Ottoman capital, Edirne.
"We need to drag this out until the surrounding powers of the Aq Qoyunlu Dynasty decide to intervene or Kara Osman, that old man, dies suddenly," Manuel began pacing inside his tent, muttering in thought, "Only then will there be a chance to use him as the biggest bargaining chip.
As for direct resistance, hah, I'm not an idiot.
We can't win a direct confrontation; only by desperately harassing them along the way and in the rear can we continue to hold on."
Despite these concerns, he was not a monarch who would be deterred by such needless worries.
After a brief period of contemplation, he immediately summoned his subordinate generals and reiterated the plan previously set.
In the following days, while actively using tunnels to harass and vex the opponent, the Bosporus did not slacken in the slightest on the repairs to the city walls of Erzurum.
As for their opponent, they initially found it quite unbearable, to the extent that in mid-December, a serious incident of large-scale desertion by conscripted nomadic militias even occurred, which then affected the morale of the entire army.
However, under Kara Osman's iron-fisted rule, these problems were quickly suppressed by force.
Afterward, he used his rich experience and expended great effort to lead his army to clear out the enemy tunnels leading to the outskirts of Erzurum, right up until the approach of the new year.