After Sheikh Hassan's initial reckless assault was thwarted, other White Sheep Army commanders led several sieges of varying scales later that day.
However, with the concerted efforts of the city's military and civilians, all of them ended in failure.
During this period, the Armenians in the city actively cooperated with the Bosporus Army, who were outsiders, without concealing their current stance, much to the chagrin of the Turkmen, who had recently been their masters.
If not for the demands of war, the fanatics within the White Sheep Army would have truly wanted to make a few rounds in the surrounding areas at this time, to slaughter the Christians, especially the Apostolic Church followers, in the vicinity.
The news of the Armenians' active cooperation with the Bosporus even reached Kara Osman's ears that very evening.
Confirming this, the old Sultan couldn't help but feel both angry and amused; they were clearly reclaiming the old territories of their tribal alliance, so how did these enemies make it seem like they were invading the other side's border?
However, his shrewdness quickly detected a major anomaly: how did these Armenian Christians, who were always obedient subjects under anyone's rule, suddenly turn to strongly support the Romans who had come from afar?
As far as he knew, historically, the relationship between Armenians and Romans was complex, but it could not be described as truly harmonious.
It was probably because these Romans had made some concessions again, Kara Osman speculated.
His intuition told him that if West Armenia was lost this time, it would be very difficult for the Aq Qoyunlu Dynasty to reclaim it later.
Considering this, his resolve strengthened a few points, "This time, we absolutely must drive these Romans back to the Pontic Mountains!"
For the next three days, the White Sheep did not have the fierce momentum of the first day, instead adopting much more cautious tactics than before.
The defenders also did not attempt to break out rashly, but instead held their ground firmly on the city walls, maintaining the defenses they had prepared earlier.
In other words, both sides were in a stalemate during these days.
But this stalemate did not last long.
After these three days, the White Sheep Army, led by its Sultan, began a large-scale assault on the city.
The first to bear the brunt was the southern city wall, closest to them.
To conquer this area, the White Sheep deployed over two thousand Turkmen nomads, carrying newly made simple wooden siege equipment, attempting a direct breakthrough of the South Gate.
Facing such a swift offensive, the defenders dared not show the slightest slack.
Soon after the enemy began the siege, Manuel personally rushed to the southern city area to command and oversee, boosting his troops' morale while doing his best to guard against any unexpected major moves from the enemy.
Fortunately, the tactics employed by the enemy they faced this time were still within the normal scope.
The defenders, relying on their defensive firearms and sturdy city walls, were sufficient to resist the White Sheep Army, whose offensive methods were still stuck in the old era.
After pushing down and killing a team of Turkmen climbing ladders for the last time, Kara Osman, who had been full of confidence just hours before, had no choice but to order a halt to the direct assault on the city, feeling at a loss.
Because during the short period of intense assault, they had gained virtually nothing except the deaths of several hundred nomads.
On the evening after ordering a temporary halt to the offensive, the old Sultan shook his head in the central army tent, feeling a bit disheartened.
He had seen firearms before; for instance, during border conflicts with the Ottoman, relevant reports had indicated that these not-so-New Moon Sect Turk compatriots generally had a small number of soldiers using firearms in their army.
And when fighting the Mamluk, he had personally witnessed the power of these firearms, which, though not strong, were sufficient.
However, he truly had not expected that in this war, years of experience would lead him to make a mistake.
Judging from the current situation, in the field of city defense, the role played by firearms was clearly no less than that in siege warfare.
It seemed that after this conflict with the Bosporus, he felt it necessary to lead the entire tribal alliance to change the future direction of the entire army's development.
But that was a matter for later; what he should be concerned about now was how to quickly break into Erzurum, which had thousands of defenders, military and civilians cooperating, and ample defensive tools.
Although the nomads, serving as cannon fodder, could be said to be inexhaustible, if this continued, there was no guarantee that the rear would remain stable.
"The city has a large population, the defenders are resolute, and the city's defenses are excellent.
Allah above, it seems we can only use older tactics."
After spending half a minute clarifying his thoughts, the Sultan had some ideas about the upcoming siege strategy, "No matter what, these places must be taken back."
The day after the failed large-scale assault, the White Sheep instead adopted the traditional tactic of surrounding but not attacking.
They primarily used their forces to blockade Erzurum's communication with other areas, rather than concentrating their main force to try and create a breach in the city walls.
Furthermore, out of concern for being defeated one by one, the White Sheep did not divide their forces to harass and attack other West Armenia regions under Bosporus control, but instead focused on conquering the city before them.
However, this did not mean that the Turks gave up on the surrounding areas.
To punish these Armenians for betraying them, with Kara Osman's indulgence, the White Sheep Army dispatched small units to sweep through Armenian villages around Erzurum.
And a week after implementing this measure, they ostentatiously displayed their "trophies" on the outskirts of Erzurum: hundreds of Christian heads, old and young, male and female, of varying ages, specially strung on several wooden crosses.
Before the city's inhabitants could mourn this, the White Sheep did something else that filled them with grief and indignation.
While displaying their "masterpiece," the New Moon Sect soldiers also drove hundreds of scantily clad Armenians to serve as the vanguard for the siege.
The enemy's brutal actions quickly reached Manuel, who was at the West City Wall, and he was dumbfounded by it, finding it difficult to understand such an act that was bound to enrage the military and civilians in the city.
"This might speed up the siege, but do they not want to rule peacefully after taking this place back?
Although Armenians are generally obedient, they are not without temper..."
Ah no, from his historical knowledge in his previous life, Armenians should indeed be considered 'lacking in temper.'
But was the White Sheep Sultan truly not afraid that the Armenians in this area would completely side with the Bosporus?
In fact, his thinking in this regard was somewhat projecting his own views; New Moon Sect rulers have always been like this.
For example, Kara Osman's descendant, Ismail, in order to promote Shi'ism, caused rivers of blood to flow on the Iranian Plateau.
At this moment, to drive away the Romans as quickly as possible, sacrificing more Christians to gain short-term benefits was a perfectly normal thing for the White Sheep Turks, and even for ordinary rulers of this era.
Not all rulers, like Manuel, would ponder deeply and consider future consequences.