Carlo Merlo was not unaware of the enemy's thoughts.
To outsiders, his capture of these villages seemed overly simple, but he knew that to quickly surround Kaffa, he had already lost over 500 soldiers to enemy ambushes and strongholds.
"Is it going to be a decisive battle at Kaffa? That really fits my image of these heretics," Carlo thought bitterly.
By early July, the Genoese army, having made thorough preparations, finally entered the outskirts of Kaffa.
They quickly encountered the first wave of resistance, but this resistance was negligible in front of the well-equipped Genoese army.
Soon, the intercepting forces retreated into the city, and neither side suffered many losses.
What followed was a siege process quite common in that era.
The Genoese army quickly surrounded Kaffa and began attacking the city walls with siege weapons such as cannons, siege towers, trebuchets, and catapults, while also using the Eastern Orthodox captured from various villages and towns as cannon fodder.
However, the Kaffa defenders, being well-prepared with sturdy city walls and ample provisions, cleverly fended off all of the Genoese army's offensives.
After about a week of such assaults, the Genoese were surprised to find that they were running out of able-bodied men.
As mentioned earlier, Manuel had already moved most of the Eastern Orthodox population into the city.
Furthermore, the Genoese army was notoriously brutal; Eastern Orthodox they captured were typically subjected to initial acts of violence, then forced into labor to maintain their supply lines, and only finally used as able-bodied men for the siege.
As a result, the already limited number of usable captives were quickly depleted in the high-intensity siege warfare.
When Vargas sought instructions from Carlo Merlo regarding this, Carlo pondered for a while.
Finally, he issued a new military order: "Regardless of gender, age, status, or infirmity, all surplus usable people are to be thrown in.
This blood-and-flesh siege must not deplete our own regular soldiers."
Vargas rubbed his hands together, "General, wouldn't this go against the spirit of chivalry?"
Carlo Merlo looked at him with a very strange expression, "Why would you speak of chivalry to heretics?
Would you pray to bread? In other words, would you care how many slices of bread you ate?"
"This is the General. What if these heretics, fueled by hatred, manage to gather a large number of conscripts within a few months?"
This was a problem that Carlo had once been troubled by, but now he had fewer worries.
"Conscripts are just cannon fodder, easily defeated by elite mercenaries."
Thus, by the second week, the defending soldiers witnessed a scene that greatly enraged them.
The previous able-bodied men were replaced by groups of the old, weak, and sick.
Most of them couldn't even lift the wood and stones that the previous able-bodied men could carry.
They were dressed in rags, their faces covered with sores from recent overwork, their steps faltered, and their eyes were filled with fear, as if begging for survival.
This tragic sight caused some of the defenders on the city walls to soften, but when they thought of last week's experiences, the consequences of the city falling, and the reprimands of the supervising officers behind them, they hardened their hearts.
They constantly hypnotized themselves, aiming their bows, crossbows, and cannons at them and the Genoese supervising soldiers behind them, becoming as numb as before.
But the seeds of anger and deeper hatred had already been sown in all the soldiers and officers present, waiting for their time to bloom.
Meanwhile, inside the city, upon learning of the enemy's atrocious actions, Manuel inwardly spat at this group of Genoese soldiers, and an unnamed fury also rose within him.
However, he quickly calmed down.
If he were to attempt a breakout now, the chances of success would be greatly reduced.
Therefore, he had to suppress his desire to immediately sally out and engage in open battle.
Approximately two weeks later, after even these old and weak cannon fodder were largely depleted, Carlo Merlo was forced to temporarily halt the attack.
He sent messengers to Matrega and Tana, instructing the two local vice-consuls to conscript able-bodied men from the area to help him maintain logistics and the siege.
He also became curious about the food reserves within Kaffa.
"How much grain have they stored, exactly?"
If Carlo Merlo had known that Kaffa had already stored a year's worth of provisions through Venice, he would probably have directly abandoned this ineffective war of attrition.
Unfortunately, all the spies he sent into the city were rooted out by the loyalists, led by Badars and the Arno family, through various means.
This left him completely unaware of the specific situation inside the city, such as Kaffa's emergency military expansion over the past few weeks, and its communication with Mangup via several pre-prepared carrier pigeons.
By early August, both sides remained in a stalemate.
Although the Genoese navy had arrived to assist during this time, due to the incredibly strong coastal fortresses of the city, and Carlo's unwillingness to waste troops on an unstable landing operation, the Genoese navy merely blockaded Kaffa.
In the morning, inside Kaffa, Manuel was sitting in the temporary palace, making urgent arrangements for some people.
After roughly finalizing the arrangements, Manuel instructed Badars, "Alright, settle them in for now.
Also, if the city falls, proceed according to my contingency plan.
Speaking of which, she seems to have been quite busy lately."
"I don't know," Badars hesitated, "Your Highness, what will you do then...?"
"Badars, isn't your mission to prioritize my orders?"
"Yes, Your Highness."
"Then do as I say.
Moreover," at this point, Manuel smiled confidently, "my escape route—ah, no, my retreat route—is more numerous than you can imagine."
After arranging their escape route, Manuel began to inspect the plague patients in the city.
During a siege, outbreaks of disease were common.
After Manuel left, Badars, who had just finished arranging what His Highness had instructed, ran into Barbara in the temporary palace.
"Ah, hello, Princess Barbara," Badars said with a gentle smile.
"Hello, Sir Badars, I have something I hope you can help me with."
"Oh, what is it?"
"Regarding my fiancé, I'd like to ask for your cooperation in taking him out of the city," Barbara said, frowning with worry.
"Ah?"
"I've already found several boats that can take us out of the city.
We've calculated the patterns of the Genoese navy's movements.
As long as it's at a specific time, a few small boats leaving the city won't be stopped."
Looking at the princess in front of him, who could be described as innocent, Badars almost burst out laughing.
He then felt envious that his respected Highness had a fiancée who cared for him so much.
"Hmm, unfortunately, His Highness has more important things to do.
Oh, by the way, His Highness also instructed me to do something else."
"Ah?"
At this moment, the guards Badars had arranged had already arrived beside them.
He quickly gave a look, and the guards, seeing this, immediately restrained Barbara.
"I'm very sorry, Princess, but according to the Crown Prince's instructions, you should stay quietly in your room for now.
To be direct, His Highness is worried that you might do something foolish for him, so he has decided to keep you safe this way.
If anything unforeseen happens, he will personally come and take you away."
On the other side, Manuel, who was listening to Isaac Arno's report on the city's patients, food, and water sources, interrupted him and asked, "There's a slight difference between the city's water source and what the Genoese are using, isn't there?"
"Yes, Your Highness.
According to information from Mangup and our scouts' dangerous investigations outside the city, the water sources used by the Genoese army outside the city are mostly different from ours," Isaac said, handing him a map identifying the water sources.
"Good," a cunning smile appeared on Manuel's face as he ordered the official beside him, "Pass on my command: three days from now, all water within the city, especially military water, must be boiled before drinking.
Violators will be punished by military law, and anyone who dares to actively spread unboiled water will be executed without mercy."
"And then, for the bodies of patients who have contracted the plague, find a way to transport them out of the city and secretly bury them at these locations outside the city."
Manuel highlighted several locations on the identification map.