Early the next morning, after promoting Arnavutlu Iskender Pasha, the former General of the Ankara Legion, to the Rumelia Legion, Murad II personally led this high-spirited army eastward.
To ensure a swift and complete victory this time, he also ordered Kandar to provide 4,000 auxiliary troops, and Janik Bey Emir personally joined the army as a General, coordinating with the military servants and laborers conscripted by the Ottoman.
With the addition of these auxiliary troops, Murad could now confidently claim to have an army of 20,000.
The large-scale Ottoman advance did not escape the notice of Bosporus's scouts, or rather, their decision to march so ostentatiously was precisely to declare to the enemy: the Ottoman has arrived.
"This is a provocation, a complete and utter provocation! Lord, can't thunder and fire severely punish these infidel dogs?!" At the outskirts of Samsun, Dungar, temporarily stationed in the local military camp, angrily threw the document containing this military intelligence to the ground.
"Calm down, calm down," Badars, with a peaceful expression, picked it up from the ground and tidied it, even having the leisure to joke, "Also, the Holy Father is not Zeus, don't keep talking about thunder and fire."
"Then what was Sodom burned down by?" Dungar, enraged by the Ottoman, immediately turned his anger on his colleague, wishing he could contend with this Goth.
However, just as they were about to continue their argument, their monarch, already clad in armor, strode into the tent.
Facing their Caesar, both men immediately composed themselves.
Manuel, however, paid no attention to their behavior; instead, after taking his seat at the head of the table, he waited with a hint of anxiety for one of his subordinates to arrive.
About fifteen minutes later, the person he was waiting for arrived as scheduled.
"Falero… Governor, have all the fleets retreated to the port?" Upon seeing his former mentor in naval warfare and the Autocratic State's naval Governor, Manuel immediately became tense.
"Yes, Caesar," Falero bowed, "They have all retreated to the port. Now the Ottoman fleet openly controls the Black Sea."
"But only openly." At this, a sinister smile appeared on Manuel's handsome face.
However, he quickly controlled his expression and turned to his other subordinates to confirm something, "Are the fortifications left by Janik in Ordu still usable?"
"Completely sufficient, Caesar." Dungar bowed, indicating that the relevant troops were prepared for a long defense.
Caesar nodded slightly in approval, then casually inquired about another matter to his Commander of the Guard, "How much longer until Commander Tukharovsky is finished? Will he be able to arrive on time?"
"Reporting to Caesar," Badars bowed and replied, "Commander's task is over ninety percent complete. If nothing else comes up, he will arrive as scheduled this afternoon."
"Very good," Caesar clapped his hands and chuckled softly, "Next, issue my order: all troops stationed in Samsun are to retreat to Ordu. Do not engage the Ottoman on the plains and grasslands."
"Yes, Caesar," all the Generals and soldiers present shouted in unison, "Loyalty!"
Two days later, Murad II led his army in a swift assault, capturing Bafra in the morning.
After confirming that all Bosporus Army in the area had fled, the Sultan intended to lead his army into the city to re-establish his rule there.
But to his surprise, the road leading into the city was unusually quiet, so quiet that it felt somewhat eerie.
"The Romans haven't ambushed a force of suiciders in the city, have they?" Murad voiced his concern to his subordinates, immediately halting his horse and sending Rom Pasha with a unit of Kapikulu soldiers skilled in urban warfare to scout ahead.
Receiving the Sultan's direct order, Rom Pasha dared not delay, quickly leading his troops into the city.
Upon entering the city, the desolate scene before them shocked these Ottoman—
In Bafra, from the outer city to the city center, everything was a scene of desolation: shops were all closed or even collapsed, most residential buildings were abandoned, and many showed traces of burning; mosques were not only stripped of their exteriors, but even their internal decorations were plundered and removed, and some mosques even had small triangular piles of human heads, made from the heads of Ulama; while Christian churches generally had intact frameworks, the clergy and valuables inside were also gone; guilds, granaries, seaports, and; human head piles and other man-made landscapes were numerous, with one to several on every major street, and upon closer inspection, it could be found that they were mostly constructed from the heads of Muslims.
The most terrifying thing was that such a large town was extremely empty; Ottoman soldiers searched for a long time, and besides pile after pile of human head piles made from Muslims, they did not encounter a single living person!
"Is this really Bafra?" Rom Pasha was stunned; this was the third most prosperous town in the Janik region, how could it be so devastated?
Soon, relevant intelligence was presented to Sultan Murad and others.
After some thought, Murad understood everything, "Damn Romans, they actually used such a thorough scorched-earth tactic!"
This was not the first time the Ottoman had encountered scorched-earth towns and villages.
Since they entered the Janik region, all the medium to large towns they saw had clear signs of scorched earth, and the local grain and fodder had all been harvested in advance, making it impossible for the Ottoman to resupply locally.
Because of this, Murad had no choice but to change his established plan, and supplies could only be transported from the Ottoman's direct territories.
Fortunately, these areas were all plains, making the transport of provisions and fodder not very difficult, and with units flying the Ottoman military banner transporting them, the various tribes in Anatolia dared not plunder them.
Therefore, the current Ottoman supply chain was also without problems.
Incidentally, the pitifully unlucky Janik Bey Emir burst into tears on the spot when he learned that his beloved town had been scorched to this extent.
Subsequent developments were much the same.
Under the Bosporus's brutal scorched-earth tactics, even after capturing Samsun by early October, the Ottoman was still completely unable to obtain any effective supplies locally.
In response, Murad II could only curse Bosporus furiously, finding it difficult to make an effective countermeasure.
Because during this period, he had not encountered the main force of the Bosporus Army at all, and even enemy scouts and other reconnaissance units were rarely seen.
Because of this, he could only assume that the Romans feared his military might and only dared to avoid battle.
At the same time, the culprit behind the de-urbanization of the Janik area, with a calm expression, learned of the Ottoman's movements from his subordinates in the military camp on the outskirts of Ordu.
Learning that the large Ottoman army had not halted its march due to his scorched-earth tactics, Manuel was somewhat surprised, "Did I not slaughter enough?"