At this moment, watching the Ottoman central army finally begin to move on the opposite front, Manuel, who was in the Bosporus vanguard, felt his heart race and involuntarily recalled the time months ago when he began preparing for war.
After recovering from the disastrous defeat on the outskirts of Sinop, the young Caesar squeezed the manpower and financial resources of Asia Minor under his rule in a sustainable, albeit exploitative, manner, hoping to recover quickly and piece together an army capable of confronting the Ottoman.
As for the feelings of his subjects, to be honest, that was not important to him at the time.
If he failed, what good would so much manpower be?
Manuel thought to himself.
This was the premise for his subsequent series of plans.
After retreating to Giresun, he seemingly focused only on defending the city, but also tried his best to gather his troops to quickly restore their morale, which had been temporarily shattered.
During this period, he not only secretly bribed the Venetians, allowing five hundred elite soldiers stationed in Tauris to secretly cross into Asia Minor on Venetian merchant ships under the guise of merchants, but also successfully conscripted over five thousand militiamen through forced conscription and enticement, so as not to be outnumbered by the enemy.
In addition, Caesar also spent heavily, bribing many able-bodied Turkmen nomads in the area who lived in dire conditions, harbored resentment towards the Ottoman, and lacked any piety, organizing them into a mercenary force of over four thousand men that was of decent quality.
As for why he didn't recruit more, besides financial difficulties, it was also because he always remembered that mercenaries were only used to reduce casualties, so he did not recruit them beyond the expected upper limit, to avoid the recruitment of mercenaries becoming a habit in the future.
Thus, by December, although the Bosporus Army appeared as weak as when it fled Sinop, its actual size had grown to over fourteen thousand men.
However, Manuel was very clear about the true quality of most of them, so he was not entirely confident in launching a large-scale counterattack against the Ottoman.
It wasn't until last month, after he personally verified that the Ottoman's medium artillery lacked the capability for a strong siege, that he decided to begin implementing and perfecting the plan he had devised one night several months prior.
The first step was the military conference held that night within Giresun.
As mentioned before, that was half a month ago—
"The artillery used by the Ottoman this time is powerful, but it hasn't had the expected impact on the siege.
Therefore, I am considering making a move."
After all the generals had arrived, their monarch analyzed the current situation and then made this extremely serious conclusion.
Upon hearing Caesar's decision, they couldn't help but be astonished as they carefully processed the information.
"Caesar, are we really going to counterattack?"
Dungar was somewhat dazed.
"Once the Ottoman's heavy artillery arrives, we will have no chance."
Manuel seriously tapped the table, "So I decided to attack immediately after the Ottoman's heavy artillery arrives.
Time is running out for us, so now, we must consider how to put the results of our previous simulations into practice."
In order to ultimately defeat the Ottoman, he gambled everything he could.
If he lost this time, he would either be completely driven back to Eastern Europe or his country would perish, and the Autocratic State of Bosporus, which was forcefully held together by his prestige, would likely crumble; but if he won, he could firmly establish himself in Asia Minor, and his Roman dream could...
Just as he was recalling this, the roar of cannons from behind him pulled his thoughts back to the battlefield.
Fortunately, his recollection of the past was brief, so Manuel still had a few seconds to review the current state of the battlefield and the implementation of his plan.
First, he ordered Admiral Falero to lead the navy out of the port, seize control of the coast, initiate naval bombardment, confuse the enemy's vision, and disrupt their formation.
Afterward, Balin and other cavalry generals were to lead their cavalry to charge and disperse the Ottoman cavalry amidst the chaos, and he would also dispatch the most expensive of the elite Filakas guards, a hundred heavily armored cavalry, to participate.
According to the Ottoman's usual tactical style, their Sultan should allow his two flanks to move out of sight.
However, what Bosporus intended was not to crush their flanks, but to hold them back.
Because what he truly wanted to do was to engage the Ottoman with the long-stored firearms of Bosporus, attempting to achieve parity or even suppress the enemy in terms of gunpowder weapons.
Now, it seemed both steps were very successful, with the six thousand strong Ottoman, who had been divided, being at a disadvantage in the intense clash of firearms against Bosporus, even their conscripts and auxiliary troops, used as human shields, fled in all directions.
And now, the Sultan finally stopped waiting, personally leading the Ottoman central army of over three thousand men to charge him.
To be honest, this move by the Ottoman was somewhat unexpected by Manuel.
In his estimation, the Ottoman should have been more rigid.
But even so, facing the formidable Ottoman, he did not flinch, but instead ordered the entire army to hold its ground, using his combined front, middle, and rear armies of seven to eight thousand men to directly withstand the charge of the Ottoman central army.
Thus, in less than five minutes, the direct confrontation between the two sides began.
Initially, as Murad firmly believed and Manuel feared, the well-trained and exceptionally brave Kapikulu Corps first suppressed the Bosporus soldiers under artillery fire.
The Janissaries among them were individually invincible, facing Turkmen mercenaries, orthodox militiamen, peasant soldiers, or Philaka Soldiers without any fear.
"I won."
Watching the Christian and Turk mercenaries being beaten back by the Janissaries, Murad's smile grew brighter.
Although it took some effort, these Romans, who didn't know their place, would ultimately be defeated by him!
Just as the Ottoman Sultan was mentally applauding for the imminent victory, Manuel, on the verge of despair, finally decided to deploy a weapon he himself was not entirely confident in: "Musketeers, activate!"
At his command, some of the peasant soldiers and regular soldiers in the Bosporus central army, under the cover of their comrades, took out their pre-loaded improved matchlock guns and fired volleys of lead bullets at the not-too-distant enemy.
Under the dense musket fire, the bravest of the Ottoman soldiers fell.
Although the accuracy of the muskets was as unreliable as ever, the concentrated fire barely compensated for this flaw and severely dampened the enemy's morale, plunging them into a brief, top-to-bottom state of panic and confusion.
And this extremely brief window of opportunity often determines the outcome of a battle.
Although in less than five minutes, the Ottoman soldiers recovered under the command of their Sultan, the situation had already reversed.
Taking advantage of these brief five minutes, the peasant soldiers and regular soldiers of the Bosporus central army began to shift from defense to offense, actively charging the unstable Ottoman army and tearing a small opening in their lines.
Facing such a good opportunity, the remaining mercenaries and militiamen also began to follow, together widening that opening, and then tearing apart Murad's proud central army.
And with the collapse of the central army's formation, the Ottoman finally showed signs of decline.
Even so, the Ottoman Army still held out for four to five hours before admitting complete defeat.
Even two to three thousand guards, along with the arriving Sipahi cavalry, escorted their Sultan Murad II away from the battlefield.
"But no matter what, I won."
Manuel wiped the blood from his face, looking at the setting sun, and smiled with extreme exhaustion and happiness.