After receiving orders from their monarch, this border defense unit immediately hanged most of the chattering and arrogant Turkish tribesmen, and escorted their leaders to Trabzon for subsequent interrogation.
However, that is a story for later.
At this moment, Manuel was waiting somewhat anxiously for his generals to arrive.
He had keenly sensed an ominous atmosphere from the border report he had just read, and if he did not prepare in advance, he was certain that the Pontus region, which he considered his future core ruling area, would suffer damage that would be difficult to recover from in a short time.
"But still, how many surrounding forces has Alexander colluded with? Will the first attack be on the harbor or the west?" As he thought about these questions, his brows furrowed.
It seemed he needed to quickly expand the scope of the Dark Department's activities and its infiltration intensity in Asia Minor.
Just as he was troubled by this, his generals, who were still stationed in Trabzon, had received the imperial decree and arrived at the palace on time.
Once they were all present, Manuel detached himself from his unhelpful worries about the current situation and fully immersed himself in the military conference.
After a brief communal prayer and exchange of greetings, Manuel, as monarch, immediately had Badars read aloud the border defense unit's report, thus getting straight to the point.
After his Commander of the Guard finished reading, he had him return to his seat, and then asked the assembled generals with a serious expression, "Gentlemen, what do you think?"
Faced with the solemn question posed by their lord, the generals, who had not been particularly concerned, had to think seriously.
After a moment of thought, Adian, a Filakas general, was the first to propose the most obvious and superficial hypothesis, "Caesar, could it be that these Turks are simply making things up under the name of Janik Bey?"
"If it were normal times, that would probably be the case," Manuel replied, first nodding, then shaking his head, "but according to some recent reports, I personally believe this is no coincidence."
At this point, he roughly disclosed the intelligence that the Venetian envoy Gracio had told him about half a month ago, concerning the high possibility of Genoa taking the opportunity to attack Pontus.
As he finished speaking, the atmosphere in the meeting became much more serious than before.
But Manuel still had no intention of stopping there; since this possibility had been brought up, he would go all out and reveal all relevant intelligence here, to see what his subordinates could suggest.
"Let me add one more point.
My exiled cousin, Alexander Komnenos, who covets Trabzon, his wife is the daughter of the lord of Lesbos, which is under Genoese rule."
As he spoke of this, his expression became even more solemn, "Therefore, I intend to treat this matter with strictness."
Faced with the bombardment of these facts, all the generals became serious.
They seemed to have forgotten that they were initially just discussing how to deal with a group of audacious Turk bandits and their possible backing forces.
"Since that is the case, Caesar," the Army Commander Tukharovsky, whom he highly valued, cautiously suggested, "then we should temporarily halt all civil construction and reconstruction, and continue to focus on military matters."
This suggestion was exactly what Manuel wanted.
"Hmm, well said.
I will hold another imperial council later to discuss specific measures for a state of war."
"However, the series of policies regarding the establishment of farmer-soldier units in West Armenia must continue."
He was referring to the decision made in the imperial council last month to experimentally establish a farmer-soldier system in Armenia.
To this, all remained silent, indicating their presumption.
After all, such matters were not, in principle, for them, the military generals, to question, and only figures like Tukharovsky, who also had a seat in the imperial council, could be involved in this matter.
Except for Dungar, who had only recently joined this system; he looked as if he was about to speak, but quickly suppressed himself.
Afterward, several generals offered various suggestions, both large and small, and Manuel adopted or rejected them as appropriate, based on the current situation.
"Fortify the defensive works along the western border, rebuild the coastal fortresses at the port, and experimentally deploy coastal artillery batteries…" As the meeting neared its end, Badars stood up again to summarize and list the miscellaneous approved items for his esteemed Caesar and colleagues.
And as he spoke, Dungar, sitting below, still had his mouth slightly agape, looking as if he wanted to offer advice but had reservations.
Manuel, who had been observing him for a long time, made his decision after some thought.
When Badars finished his summary, and the generals were about to rise, express their thanks, and depart, Manuel suddenly waved his hand, signaling Dungar, who was seated below him, to speak freely and share his strategic ideas for the near future.
Faced with his lord's intention, Dungar immediately rose, flattered, and offered prayers of thanks.
After doing so, he cautiously asked his monarch, "Caesar, in my humble opinion, if those Tukish Beys truly intend to engage us in battle, it would be best to hire some Turk nomads from Asia Minor to act as mercenaries to assist us."
As soon as he made this suggestion, there was a considerable outcry of opposition from below.
"Hire Turks? Those of the same clan as those Beys? Those lackeys of Lucifer will probably sell us out directly on the battlefield."
Regarding this reaction, Manuel looked down at the majority.
As expected, most of the dissenters were his old subordinates from Tauris.
"Indeed, previously, whether in Eastern Europe or West Armenia, our army's manpower mostly came from Christians of the same faith and similar culture.
So, it's only natural that this proposal sparked widespread opposition."
"However, this is Asia Minor, which has been Turkified for hundreds of years and is still undergoing Turkification.
If we continue to primarily recruit Christians, as we did in Eastern Europe, it is highly possible that we could lose too many Christian subjects, who form our ruling foundation, in high-intensity wars."
"Although during the war with the White Sheep, we gained an upper hand strategically by vigorously attracting the still-majority Armenians in the West Armenia region, thereby temporarily preventing this problem from surfacing.
But if we were to face an attack from multiple Muslim regimes or the Ottoman Sultanate at its peak, this weakness would likely be directly exposed.
Although foreign and culturally different Turks are ultimately not very trustworthy, it is still better than draining our own people's blood."
Thinking of these things, he had those below him cease their clamor and listen quietly to Dungar's opinion.
Treated thus by Caesar, the young Anglo-Irish noble felt immeasurable gratitude.
To this, he expressed his thoughts without omission, "Caesar, and gentlemen, because you have been in Eastern Europe for so long, you may find it difficult to understand the logic of the Turks in Asia Minor.
Having been immersed in the local culture for nearly three years, I can assure you that these tribesmen differ from the Muslims you have in mind.
The most important thing is that their belief in the New Moon Sect and their willingness to fight fellow believers for wealth are not contradictory at all.
In other words, if they serve as our mercenaries, they can be a powerful and usable fighting force."
Manuel had not thought of this aspect at first, but after pondering it with his knowledge from his previous life, he found it to be true.
Many of these Turk nomads continued to rebel happily even after the Ottomans had conquered all of Anatolia, although this was fundamentally related to the Ottomans not treating them as human beings.
Dungar then presented several more arguments to support his view, and these arguments were also within Manuel's consideration.
Finally, after gaining the approval of most of the generals, Caesar Manuel also nodded, allowing the resolution to preemptively hire Turk nomads to pass.
However, even though he himself believed that recruiting mercenaries was necessary, he still did not intend to recruit too many, lest it backfire.
"Then, finally, and most importantly," seeing that most matters had been resolved, at the end of this strategic military conference, he finally pointed out the most crucial strategic question, "If we are indeed attacked by Janik and other Tukish Beys, if we successfully repel them, do we choose to defend within our borders, or do we directly counterattack into their territory?"