Christmas of 1433 found Manuel outside the capital once again. Unlike previous wartime Christmases, this time, to appease the Armenian Apostolic Church within his controlled territory, he specifically returned to Erzurum. Shortly after leading an orthodox mass there, he made a point of observing the local Armenian Apostolic Church's mass. Afterward, he actively engaged in discussions with local dignitaries, giving them ample face while also making numerous empty promises. Before nightfall that day, he even organized a large-scale public speech in the city center, drawing huge crowds, to encourage the military and civilians to continue working together, promising them future rewards for their efforts.
After these activities, Manuel immediately returned to his camp on the city's outskirts under the cover of night, continuing to direct the war from there. The day's relentless activity left him quite fatigued, and the battle report Badars presented to him shortly after forced his barely rested mind back into rapid thought.
"The Aq Qoyunlu Dynasty's troops spent over half a month clearing out the tunnels we dug? Is Kara Osman, that old man, really that energetic?" After a quick glance, Caesar, in a foul mood, slammed the battle report face down on the table.
If he remembered correctly, after the New Year, Kara Osman would be 78, just one year shy of his recorded death in Manuel's previous life's timeline. Yet, in Manuel's eyes, this old Sultan, who should have been at an age to 'drop gold coins' (die), was still able to ride into battle, plowing through all the obstacles his enemies had set for him, making Manuel's scalp tingle with genuine dread.
Badars, dressed in cotton clothes and iron armor, heard his Caesar's complaint and didn't know what to say. He simply bowed slightly, remaining silent, to show his obedience.
Fortunately, after a few curses, Manuel immediately stood up, refocusing on how to force the White Sheep back. It now seemed that the previously prepared mountain defenses and tunnel harassment tactics had all failed, and the Bosporus Army also lacked the time to set up more temporary obstacles and defensive lines. If nothing unexpected happened, at the beginning of the new year, the White Sheep Army would directly march on Erzurum. At that point, they would have to face the valiant Turkic cavalry.
But he couldn't truly let his own soldiers directly face the most formidable elite Turkic Ghazi of this era. Even conscripts, to him, were not like leeks that grew from the ground, at least not in a military sense.
"We can't win a direct confrontation. Only by holding the city fortresses can we last until other nations launch a counterattack." Thinking this, Manuel shook his head in frustration, then waved his hand, dismissing Badars for the time being, "I need to think quietly for a while." Once his Commander of the Guard had left, the young Caesar, in a bad mood, simply picked up a pen and casually wrote something.
Even so, half an hour later, he summoned his generals to discuss how to deal with the White Sheep Army. Unexpectedly, yet logically, the outcome of this meeting ultimately boiled down to one word: defend.
"It has come to this; there is no other way." In the end, he had to seriously consider how to put the day's conclusion into practice.
Less than half a month later, just as Manuel and others had expected, Kara Osman, having cleared all obstacles and confirmed that his enemy truly had no decisive hidden moves, decisively led his army one midday to attack Erzurum, a former stronghold of the Aq Qoyunlu Dynasty.
To decisively crush the enemy, he even adopted an almost surprise attack method after receiving detailed reports from scouts, heading directly for the enemy's camp on the city's outskirts. However, to his surprise, when he arrived in the area with his army of nearly eight thousand, he found only about a hundred camp followers remaining. These malnourished, physically weak enemies reacted in various ways upon seeing them. Some hurried to flee, others rushed to surrender, but few raised their weapons to attempt a desperate resistance.
Facing such an unmotivated enemy, although most of the White Sheep were confused, they prepared to accept them as usual. However, before all the dispatched White Sheep could arrive, a somewhat sturdy "camp follower" who had remained behind immediately knelt to the ground, lit a torch, and held it against something.
Instantly, a series of small explosions quickly occurred on the ground of the former Bosporus camp. However, the scale of these explosions was quite ordinary; besides the perpetrator dying on the spot, they only killed or wounded a few dozen eager camp followers and a dozen White Sheep soldiers who were preparing to accept their surrender.
But this act by the enemy completely enraged Kara Osman himself. He had never expected the opponent to pull off such a ruthless move while at a disadvantage. If he had been more enthusiastic about accepting the surrendered soldiers and had stepped forward, it might have been him lying on the ground.
This was indeed the work of the Bosporus. In fact, Manuel had long foreseen that the enemy would launch a surprise attack soon, which is why he had his main forces move into Erzurum without a moment's rest after the New Year.
Even so, Manuel himself was unwilling to abandon the suburban camp where he had stayed for a long time. So, after the main army withdrew, he specifically assigned about a hundred unimportant camp followers to stay there, and also buried four small jars of gunpowder, entrusting a loyal peasant soldier to guard them, hoping by chance to blow Kara Osman himself sky-high.
From the results obtained so far, this only further enraged the White Sheep Sultan himself, providing absolutely no benefit.
The enraged Kara Osman, after personally interrogating the remaining camp followers, ruthlessly massacred them. Afterward, he quickly had his three sons lead troops to Erzurum, dividing their forces to surround the city.
Meanwhile, the main Bosporus forces had already received general intelligence during the White Sheep Army's attack on the forward camp and had made all necessary preparations for defending the city. Manuel himself, for instance, personally donned scale armor and directed troop movements from the southern city wall.
"They've really come," he murmured, watching the enemy surge forward. These Muslim soldiers wore dark blue uniforms under their armor, gathering together like a rapidly flowing deep-sea current, a stark contrast to the gray-white snow of the season.
Upon reaching Erzurum, Sheikh Hassan, commanding the vanguard, eager to atone for his mistakes, impatiently ordered the nomads, who were considered cannon fodder, to ascend the city walls using siege ladders and other siege equipment, charging onto the ramparts with a roar.
But this old method of siege was all too familiar to the Bosporus Army. As soon as enemies climbed the upper half of the ladders, nearing musket range, the defenders quickly raised their matchlock guns and fired in unison at these reckless foes. After the few closest to the wall fell, the defenders, led by their officers, pushed all the siege ladders down, successfully thwarting the White Sheep Army's first assault.