"What is going on?!" Shilin was astonished and confused as he was thrown from his mount, but before he could fully react, his body had already made a solid "close kiss" with the ground.
But this "kiss" was not sweet, because Shilin fearfully noticed waves of uncontrollable sharp pain emanating from his body.
Looking closely, he saw that his lower abdomen and limbs had all been impaled by bizarrely shaped iron road barriers— These iron road barriers, which he had never seen before, had multiple protruding iron spikes, each about the size of a palm.
The side that touched the ground always had one or two spikes pointing upwards, all made of either pure or rusted pig iron.
These iron road barriers had holes in their centers and were all strung together with iron wire.
These iron road barriers were "caltrops" that Manuel had ordered artisans to custom-make based on his knowledge from his previous life, specifically used as defensive road barriers against enemy infantry and cavalry.
Concealed by the sand, these Tatars did not notice the abnormality beneath their feet, and even if someone did, they immediately met with misfortune.
By the time Shilin reacted, most of the vanguard army he led had already fallen into the ambush.
After the warhorses stepped on the caltrops, a cracked hoof was considered minor; in severe cases, they directly collapsed in pain and had their legs crippled by these caltrops, also implicating the cavalry riding on their backs.
For example, Shilin, if it weren't for the extremely coincidental position where he fell, his head would have been pierced by a caltrop like most others.
But with so many large wounds, even if he miraculously survived, he would be completely crippled.
But all of this was clearly not over yet.
Just as Beijin Xilin fearfully ignored the painful screams of the soldiers around him and looked at the clearly visible wounds on his upper limbs, where he could even vaguely glimpse white bones, he heard terrifying footsteps from not far away that did not belong to them.
But before he could react, he was pierced through the brow by a sharp crossbow bolt and died instantly on the spot.
Along with him, all the Crimean soldiers who had not died under the caltrops earlier also perished on the spot.
It was obvious that the defenders of Theodoro were the ones who shot them.
After confirming that this Crimean vanguard army had stepped into their trap, Manuel immediately reacted, sending archers and artillerymen to the front of the fortress, concentrating fire, and violently shooting at the enemy, striving to kill all those Tatars who were either dead or crippled by the caltrops or attempting to escape.
At the same time, he also dispatched nearly a thousand ambushers to block the communication between the enemy's vanguard army and their main force, ensuring that the enemy's reinforcements could not learn of the current situation and rush to support them in time.
Under such an ambush by the Theodoro Army, this rash Crimean vanguard army, whether Tatar cavalry or the 50 Janissaries, all met a tragic end, either dead, wounded, or captured, with the entire army annihilated.
Although Giray sent several small units to attempt to support them after realizing that an accident might occur, due to Theodoro's strict defense, the Crimean reinforcements had no effect whatsoever, preventing Giray in the Crimean Army tent from receiving accurate information and making correct judgments.
It wasn't until dusk that day that Crimea learned that another large army, not small in number, had been completely annihilated on their side.
"Is this a joke?! Vizier Beijin Xilin Darhkan has fallen? And his body is gone? The 50 Janissary reinforcements are also gone? What kind of joke is this?!" Giray angrily but powerlessly threw the battle report to the ground, shaking his head repeatedly, unable to accept this tragic fact.
Including the casualties from previous offensives, as of now, the Crimean Khanate has suffered over four thousand casualties.
In other words, this mighty army of ten thousand has suffered forty percent casualties.
Although with the Khanate's manpower, he could barely make up for this deficit by the beginning of next year, the current war-weariness in the army could no longer be ignored.
In addition, with the death of Beijin Xilin, one of the three major tribal chiefs and a high-ranking official of the Khanate, he had to consider when to withdraw his troops.
"Damn it! Greeks who deserve to go to hell!" Giray cursed.
Apart from a small rumor that the Christians had used a new type of road barrier, he still didn't even know why the Khanate's vanguard army had been defeated in this battle, what the enemy's deployment was like, and why it was another complete annihilation… These questions shrouded his mind, making him shiver.
"No, I can't retreat just like this.
To withdraw in less than a month? What kind of ridiculous attack is that?! Let's wait another half a month and see, I don't believe these Kafirs have any extra tricks." Out of unwillingness and a glimmer of hope, Giray chose to continue to wear down Theodoro here, rather than attempting to retreat.
Over the next ten days, the Crimean Army no longer attempted large-scale attacks on the Isthmus defense line set up by Theodoro, instead engaging them in a war of attrition.
At least Girai Khan firmly believed that the will of these Christians was not that strong, and the territory currently controlled by the Khanate was, in any case, far greater than that of the Principality.
Even if the Tatar sea route was blocked, the national power behind them was far from comparable to such a weak Principality.
But Giray seemed to have ignored an important fact: Theodoro only occupied Northern Crimea, but the Golden Horde Army was constantly encircling Crimea from behind.
Although his remaining nearly six thousand troops here were enough to block Theodoro's ambitions for the mainland, the garrisons left in various parts of the mainland were not sufficient to withstand the fierce onslaught of the Golden Horde Army.
On the twenty-sixth night of attempting to retake Northern Crimea, an urgent report reached Haji Giray's main tent, making him completely unable to sit still.
"What are you talking about? The Golden Horde Army is about to capture the Cherkassk military town?!" Giray finally panicked.
Cherkassk was the southernmost and currently the last military village and town connecting the eastern and western parts of the Crimean Khanate.
If it were completely captured by the Golden Horde, then given the current situation, the Khanate would be directly divided into two parts, East and West, unable to communicate with each other.
At that time, if they wanted to re-establish communication between these two parts, with the sea route blocked, they would only be able to try to bribe Venice's Black Sea consulate to request military passage.
At this point, Giray finally admitted from the bottom of his heart that the Principality of Theodoro was indeed a tough nut to crack, not only failing to gain any advantage as the superior party and suffering heavy losses, but also allowing the Golden Horde to regain the upper hand.
After a long while, he finally stood up with a bitter, wry smile, then burst into maniacal laughter, "Hahahaha, hahahaha, hahahaha! Damn Christians, I acknowledge you.
Among all the opponents I have faced, no one has caused me as much trouble as you, Manuel Gavras.
I, Haji Giray, am willing to call you my most formidable enemy in this life!"