The next afternoon, Emir Bey, who was in charge of logistics in the rear, became excited upon hearing the news that the enemy had retreated without a fight in front of the Black Sea Janissary Corps led by Özil Pasha: this was exactly what he wanted to see!
"Excellent! Allah be praised!" Emir shouted joyfully to his Vizier Mesaoglu, his armor rattling.
"The Janissaries have defeated them all! The Janissaries are invincible! Our Janissaries are truly amazing!"
"Bey, accurately speaking, those Janissaries are not ours," Mesaoglu said with a hint of helplessness to his monarch, who was lost in excitement.
"Furthermore, Özil Pasha and his men are actually here to monitor us. If Edirne finds out that you used your connections to mobilize a unit this time, Sultan will certainly impose a punishment."
"It's fine. As long as we can force these Greeks to surrender, I can bear that small punishment," Emir said, waving his hand to indicate that it was not a concern.
In contrast, Özil, who had almost run into the main Bosporus Army, was much calmer than his client. "To decisively abandon skirmishing with my army based on his own judgment? Should I call it cowardice or wisdom?" But he ultimately did not directly clash with this army, and their true strength remained unknown.
To guard against ambushes, Özil Pasha, after a quarter of an hour of deliberation, finally turned his back on the setting sun and led his entire army back to Bulančak, preparing to wait and see.
At the same time, Manuel had led the main Bosporus Army back to Talipri.
After ordering his soldiers to rest in the village, he gathered the generals, commanders, and relevant subordinates accompanying the army and briefly explained his reasons for the temporary withdrawal.
"Holy Father, I will just state the most important points: according to the scout reports, the unit they encountered was clearly the elite Janissaries, a crack guard unit under the Ottoman.
First, the Janissaries are an Ottoman force. Before continuing the fight, we must confirm whether the Ottoman has intervened or intends to intervene in this war.
Otherwise, if Ottoman Sultan Murad II orders intervention, we, with our current strength, simply cannot resist the strongest power in Asia Minor."
"Secondly, even based solely on this encounter, while we know the composition of the enemy's forces, we do not understand their total strength.
At such a time, our army is like being in a fog; if we rashly engage, even if we win, we will suffer losses that will be difficult to recover from in a short time.
Our soldiers and peasant militia are not like the Turkmen under those Tukish Beys or Sultan, who grow back like grass after being cut.
orthodox veterans are lost one by one; they cannot be wasted in battles where victory is not assured."
The seasoned generals and commanders under Caesar Manuel fully understood and accepted his explanation.
Having been immersed in battle for so long, they understood, whether instinctively or through deduction, the risks of remaining on the battlefield at that time.
Only Serenus, the clerk, remained half-comprehending. "Your Majesty, I still don't understand why you say we likely don't have an advantage?
According to subsequent reconnaissance reports, the enemy's numbers are only between 3,000 and 4,000.
Eight thousand against four thousand, the advantage is on our side."
"Serenus, you must understand," Manuel, feeling slightly exasperated, could only patiently respond with an inequality, "An advantage doesn't equal a win."
This statement directly choked the Chief Secretary of the Autocratic State.
But Manuel did not intend to stop his rebuttal and pursuit of dissent there. "Speaking of which, aren't you from Peloponnese?
If so, then shouldn't you understand the combat effectiveness of the Janissary units and their importance to the Ottoman even better?"
Upon hearing this, Serenus's short beard trembled slightly.
Although he had served by Moria Despotate Constantine's side for a long time before coming to Tauris, as a minor noble who had made his name through commerce and military achievements, he indeed did not understand the Janissaries as well as the generals and soldiers present.
His impression of these enemies was mostly based on various legends circulating on the battlefield.
Besides that, there was also a more subtle reason: out of a certain personal motive from Constantine, he did indeed have a hidden desire to see how the Bosporus Army, in which he and his old superior secretly placed some hope, would fare if it clashed with the Ottoman Janissary units.
But as a noble, he could not admit the former; and as Constantine's confidant in a certain sense, he could not admit the latter.
So, in the end, his choice was to obediently shut his mouth, observe the actions of these generals, and honestly follow Caesar, taking notes.
After suppressing this unnecessary questioning, Manuel gave Badars an urgent order, instructing him to urge the Shadow Division to quickly ascertain the origin of the Janissary unit opposing them and the Ottoman Sultanate's attitude towards it within a week.
"The sooner the better," he instructed, staring intently at his Commander of the Guard at the end of the order.
Over the next four or five days, the Bosporus Army steadfastly held the areas they currently occupied, neither advancing nor retreating.
The enemy, on the other hand, attempted small-scale assaults, but each time they were repelled, even when it was Özil's Janissary unit.
This uneventful period was not without good news; for instance, on the third day of their defensive stance, Manuel was delighted to learn that Tauris, to support their Caesar's war efforts, had once again raised the tax rate in their homeland under the direction of the two regents.
But after a moment of joy, he calmly considered that if this policy of a seven-tenths tax continued for another year or so, the likelihood of a popular uprising or rebellion in Tauris would likely increase significantly.
If his homeland were to face major problems for such reasons at that time, he estimated he would not even have the financial means to secure loans.
Just as the young Caesar was contemplating whether the Ottoman would intervene and how to resolve the war as quickly as possible to prevent his homeland from being overwhelmed by public outrage, good news from the Shadow Division finally arrived in Talipri on the morning of the fifth day.
"So, this Janissary unit's deployment was not Edirne's intention either, right?" Manuel said slowly after confirming the matter.
"Yes, Your Majesty. Just like when we faced the Crimean Khanate back then," Badars reported, bowing with a hint of excitement.
However, Manuel did not become impassioned again as his subordinate had imagined; instead, he irritably tapped the wooden table with his index finger.
"This is Asia Minor. If I had directly confronted this Janissary unit, would Murad truly have remained unresponsive, as Tauris did back then?" Manuel frowned, filled with worry.