At this moment, seeing the prospective Karaman Bey who decided to cooperate with them, Serenus breathed a huge sigh of relief.
Nearly a month ago, his monarch secretly pulled him aside and had him lead a small delegation to contact Suleiman, who had already ignited the Karaman succession dispute, to get details of the front lines within Karaman.
Furthermore, his Caesar also secretly instructed him that if Suleiman gained an absolute advantage in this civil war and was very likely to establish a firm foothold, then he should persuade him to prepare for action, and without harming the other party's interests, have Karaman help their Bosporus with a "small favor."
From the current situation, their most desired objective had been achieved.
Thinking of this, Serenus couldn't help but feel a sense of pride; it seemed he truly had a knack for diplomacy.
However, if Suleiman knew what this "old acquaintance" in front of him was thinking, he would surely helplessly order someone to pour wine down his throat and tell him not to overthink it: if it weren't for the close friendship he formed with Manuel during his previous stay in Bosporus, he probably wouldn't even listen to such a request.
But now it was quite good; the Bosporus's proposal also brought him many benefits.
Meanwhile, Manuel was unaware that his subordinate had completed the hidden mission he had assigned; he was currently filled with fear and anticipation, nervously watching the movements of the Ottoman.
"The Ottoman are attempting to divide their forces to conquer the mountain fortresses currently controlled by our army?"
He tried his best to control his anxiety, confirming the matter with his subordinate with great concern.
"Yes, Caesar," Tukharovsky's condition was no better than his, "The Ottoman Sultan seems to believe that we are nothing more than a push-over, so he plans to directly divide his forces into five teams to capture the various mountain fortresses under our control."
"Holy Father, these descendants of devils!" Caesar immediately gnashed his teeth and slammed his fist on his table, "Then let these Turk see the price of playing 'Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers' in reality."
Although Tukharovsky didn't quite understand the meaning of "Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers" from his Caesar's mouth, he could roughly guess that it referred to the Ottoman's reckless tactic of dividing their forces.
"Could it be another inspiration Caesar got from reading Eastern military treatises?" The Army Commander's mind wandered.
Manuel's subsequent question quickly brought his thoughts back, "Speaking of which, Tukharovsky, do you think the forces we currently have deployed in various fortresses and strongholds are enough to hold back the Ottoman for a week?"
"If supplies are not interrupted, and the commanding officers think normally and logically, given the solidity of the local fortresses, it should not be difficult to do so," the Rus commander, whose thoughts had been pulled back, quickly replied.
"Good," Manuel clapped his hands and said with a slight smile, "According to the indications from relevant intelligence, there are still about four or five days until the Ottoman launch their attack.
During this time, let's prepare well and give Murad II a little 'surprise.'"
Five mornings later, in the city of Samsun—
Murad II was reviewing the army in the empty city's square, preparing to divide it into five routes, while he himself would personally lead two thousand elite soldiers to capture the strategically important town of Amasya.
In his eyes, although the recent series of victories, large and small, achieved by these Romans from north of the Black Sea had indeed made him slightly wary, based on his previous encounters with them, Romans were still Romans, and militarily, they were still so pathetic.
So now he relaxed his mind and decided to deal with them in the same way the Ottoman usually fought against those small Christian nations.
With this as a premise, Murad made preliminary arrangements for his army, which was nominally twenty thousand strong: all the most elite Sipahi heavy cavalry were personally led by him, in addition to a full thousand Janissaries directly under his command, plus the Kapikulu Corps, primarily composed of siege artillery, and other necessary components of the Kapikulu Corps, he nominally commanded four thousand troops, two thousand of whom were skilled elite soldiers.
Although the remaining half were auxiliary troops who could not directly participate in combat.
As for the configurations of the other four routes, they were not as lavish as his, the Sultan's; they generally consisted of several hundred Janissaries paired with a thousand or so ordinary conscripted cannon fodder, plus more or less auxiliary units.
Since Murad intentionally divided their numbers very evenly, these other four routes could also claim to have four thousand soldiers each.
After making the final distribution, the Sultan waved his hand, allowing the other four routes to first launch attacks on their predetermined targets: Andrapa, Four Towns, Ünye, and Niksar, respectively, to capture less important but quite annoying strongholds with minimal cost.
And only after his subordinates had departed did he, as if making a grand entrance, lead his army out of Samsun with great fanfare.
All of this was observed by the Turk scouts sent by Bosporus.
Although these scouts were Turk, the various attempts by the Ottoman to bring them under control and reduce their autonomy had already caused considerable dissatisfaction among these nomads, and Manuel took the opportunity to send people to intervene, using both real and imagined benefits to entice these Muslim, who would not be immediately suspected by the Ottoman, to side with him and work for the Bosporus Army, who were infidels.
At this very moment, it was time for his substantial investment to pay off.
Less than an hour after Murad set off, Manuel, who was stationed on the outskirts of Ordu, received this information.
At this point, having already prepared for the contingency, he pondered for a moment before immediately issuing the order, "Proceed according to plan!"
Upon receiving Caesar's personal order, the Bosporus Army immediately set off, preparing to deliver a fierce blow to the Ottoman, who had grown accustomed to their arrogance in recent days.
It was early October, and the chilling atmosphere of autumn grew increasingly Rich, yet Rom Pasha, leading less than half of the Ankara Legion and other auxiliary armies, was not at all affected by this climate.
Dispatched to retake the Four Towns, his heart was filled with elation and pride, hoping to use this achievement of capturing the city to demonstrate his abilities before the Sultan, rise to Rumelia, and enter the court of Edirne.
Therefore, after merely glimpsing the hills where the Four Towns were located, he ignored the current state of the entire army and impatiently issued an order for a forced march, hoping to capture the town as quickly as possible and become the first victorious general.
But completely contrary to his expectations, when he eagerly rushed to the edge of the Four Towns, what greeted him was not scattered and disorganized stragglers, but a large group of elite soldiers clad in sturdy armor and armed with sharp blades and spears.
At this moment, Rom Pasha suddenly wanted to awkwardly smile at the enemy in front of him and say:
"Hey, can we reconcile?"