After successfully taking the village and town of Henichesk, Manuel, as previously stated, first ordered a halt to the army's slaughter, and then had his soldiers begin to restore order in the village and town.
This made the remaining residents of the village and town vaguely feel that Theodoro might incorporate them into its rule.
Well, not 'might'; Manuel intended to incorporate this village and town into the Principality's rule.
However, given the current situation, this was not a priority for now, so he merely restored order in Henichesk and did nothing more.
For him, the most urgent tasks were to block information, prepare thoroughly, and simultaneously probe Crimea's attitude.
In the village hall of Henichesk, Manuel, having just settled down, found a room with a somewhat presentable environment and pondered alone what he should do next.
"According to the latest intelligence from the Secret Department, Crimea has fewer than five thousand garrisoned soldiers remaining in the south, and their quality varies.
If my four thousand men here are fully prepared, it's not impossible to fight them."
"But merely being able to fight them is not enough.
According to the current situation and the previously formulated plan, Theodoro needs a victory, and a victory where casualties can be controlled.
If possible, we must also try our best to break the Crimean Khanate's military deployment in the south.
Although prolonging this war might not be without benefits for the Principality, the longer it drags on, the more variables there will be, and wasting too much time on the Tatars will affect the Principality's development rhythm."
"But to achieve this, at the very least, Crimea's response must be delayed, so that the Principality has enough time to prepare for this decisive battle.
And where should this battle ideally take place? Henichesk? Keziyar? Or should we directly strike their stronghold in Adamakha?"
"It's truly difficult to decide.
Although detailed and meticulous plans have been made over the past few months, ultimately, plans can never keep up with changes.
Fortunately, taking Henichesk completes the first step; now, let's prepare for the second step."
Manuel made a silent decision after finishing his thoughts.
After ordering a blockade of information to Crimea that Henichesk had fallen into Theodoro's hands, Manuel temporarily put aside these thoughts and summoned the three generals accompanying the army to tally the casualties and gains from taking Henichesk.
The detailed information was largely available the day after Henichesk was captured.
Reading the overall battle report for the capture of Henichesk, Manuel felt quite relieved.
According to the report, the Principality's casualties in taking Henichesk were barely over three digits, which, proportionally, could be said to be the most favorable casualty ratio among the battles in this war so far.
Although it was a case of outnumbering the enemy, an unfair victory... it wasn't like the Western European lords playing at 'chivalry' with their fancy moves.
Why talk about martial virtue when fighting infidels?!
After comforting and commending the soldiers and generals, Manuel immediately began preparing to transfer more supplies, provisions, and military equipment from Northern Crimea to prepare for the next step of action.
At the same time, he ordered the navy to increase the frequency of harassing Southern Crimea, even emphasizing the need to plunder more wealth and slaves from these areas to increase local desolation and deplete their vital forces, although due to Theodoro's blockade of over a year, the desolation of the Crimean Khanate's coastal areas was already very high.
The purpose of doing all this was to crush Crimea's southern army.
According to Manuel's vision, the best scenario would be for Giray to be exhausted fighting the Golden Horde, unable to pay attention to the central and southern regions, while Southern Crimea would remain oblivious, like an idiot, constantly kept in the dark by Theodoro, ultimately being crushed in one blow by Theodoro and completely paralyzed.
The worst-case scenario, however, would be for Giray to have good fortune, protected by Allah, performing exceptionally well on the battlefield, repelling the Golden Horde army in one blow and leaving them demoralized.
Then, all of the Principality's informants and spies embedded within the Khanate would be completely rooted out by Crimea.
In a state of complete blindness, the Principality's main force would be annihilated by a large army of eight thousand or even ten thousand personally led by Giray, completely ending their dream of expansion.
Both possibilities existed, but neither was highly probable.
Even so, to guard against the most troublesome situation, Manuel very cautiously began to set up safeguards for the Secret Department's intelligence system, having the Secret Department start operations with the Principality's allies as well, to prevent being completely blind if the intelligence network in the Crimean Khanate was lost.
He also prepared many more transport ships for rapid retreat, in case they encountered the full-strength Crimean Army and were wiped out like chopped-down wooden stakes.
"There is no such thing as an airtight wall, and the Crimean Tatars are not fools.
The news of Henichesk's loss can be kept secret for a while, but not forever.
Therefore, what we need to do is to maximize the information gap to make the most thorough preparations possible."
"The purpose of doing all this is also very simple and clear: to deliver a head-on blow to these Tatars!"
At a military meeting held shortly after, Manuel leaned his hands on the birch round table and gravely explained his reasons for doing these things.
Upon hearing this, even the most puzzled generals understood their next strategic direction, and after careful consideration, all affirmed it.
And while Theodoro was busy with a battle plan whose feasibility was still unknown, the Crimean Khanate was indeed temporarily unaware of the situation in Henichesk due to the Principality of Theodoro's information blockade.
In the city of Adamakha, the most fiercely debated issues among the Khanate's noble elites were never whether the Principality of Theodoro would advance north, but rather whether to expand conscription, raise taxes on their subjects, whether they should proactively attack Theodoro, and whether to try to fund local forces within the Golden Horde Khanate...
In other words, even if they lost all of Northern Crimea, where the Khanate's capital was located, they still did not consider Theodoro a more significant threat.
Instead, based on their stereotypes, they stubbornly believed that the Principality of Theodoro was not a major enemy, and that they could easily overpower those Christians if they wanted to.
It was no wonder; in their memory, a state like Theodoro survived by constantly paying tribute and seeking the protection of the northern Khanate.
In the past, even a few isolated groups of mounted bandits could force them to stay within their castles and fortresses, refusing to come out.
Unbeknownst to them, in this way, the military strength of Theodoro in Southern Crimea began to catch up with, and even equal, the southern military strength of the Crimean Khanate.