After responding to his subordinates with such words, the Ottoman military meeting came to an abrupt end. Murad then changed his strategy in response to the situation; instead of quickly expanding occupied territory by dividing his forces, he concentrated his troops to push the front line, aiming to crush the enemy's various central points.
Of course, if internal and external conditions were met, he wouldn't rule out using a similar method to the former, having the legions stationed in the heartland cooperate with him to flank the Bosporus occupied territory and reclaim the hilly mountains of Janik. However, the Karaman Beylik, which currently occupies the Anatolian heartland, is ostensibly embroiled in civil war, but in reality, Mamluk forces are suspected of being deeply involved. In such circumstances, Murad could not risk the Ottoman's years of operations in the plateau heartland and had to remain on standby, wary of any faction in the Karaman civil war going crazy and, in the midst of fighting, running into Ottoman territory, treating Ottoman land as a battlefield to continue their conflict. One must guard against Christians, but even more so against Muslims; this is the accumulated wisdom of the Ottomans' hundred-plus years of nation-building.
As for these Bosporus Romans, while they were indeed annoying to deal with, based on their current tactics of only daring to engage in guerrilla warfare and harassment on the battlefield, Murad could conclude that the enemy forces were indeed far inferior to his own. In other words, his current force of fifty thousand men was sufficient to directly overwhelm the opponent; there were no fundamental problems except for not having captured the enemy's main force.
"Very well, I will conquer cities and territories like this. I'll see how long your main force can continue to hide," he declared. Therefore, in the end, besides sending someone to contact the Rumelia Legion across the Dardanelles Strait, ordering them to send over a thousand men to Asia Minor, he made no other unnecessary moves.
Next, the Ottoman continued to follow their original strategy, launching a series of fierce attacks directly on the coastal plains. The results were quite satisfactory to the Sultan; in just over half a month, they not only captured coastal villages and towns like Unye but were also about to lay siege to Ordu, to reclaim the second-largest city in the Janik region.
On an afternoon in late October, facing the advance of the Ottoman, the Bosporus, as expected, "lost" the defensive positions guarding Ordu. Faced with the enemy's retreat, Murad naturally showed no mercy, mercilessly bringing the positions under the control of the Ottoman, and ordered the entire army to sharpen their blades, load gunpowder, and prepare to conquer the fortified city.
At the same time, somewhere on the outskirts of Ordu, was the main encampment of the Bosporus Army. To ensure concealment, Manuel did not station his troops within the city or on the plain, but chose a spot outside the city at the junction of the city wall and the hills, and arranged some cleanup teams within the city to mislead the enemy.
And now, since the Ottoman made no secret of their impending attack on Ordu, this intelligence was successfully scouted by reconnaissance and reported to the military officer in charge of that area.
"Caesar, the Ottoman are attacking again, what should we do?" At dusk, after receiving this intelligence, Badars anxiously rushed into the tent, reporting the situation to Caesar inside. The moment he burst in, he directly witnessed his respected Caesar currently instructing a military servant to help him pack his luggage.
"?"
Faced with the loyal subordinate's astonishment, Manuel showed no intention of stopping his packing, merely tilted his head slightly and explained, "The Ottoman have already taken so many villages and farms; their next target will definitely be Ordu itself. So I'm just preparing in advance."
"But Caesar," Badars asked with some hesitation, "are we just withdrawing like this?"
"What are you thinking?" Manuel thought he was referring to something else. "I will certainly ensure the entire army withdraws safely."
"That's not the issue," the Commander of the Guard and head of the secret department took a deep breath. "In my humble opinion, if we keep giving up cities like this, our soldiers might..."
"What else can we do? Just like we've always done before." Manuel, while putting a set of armor into his luggage, turned his head to look at his subordinate. "You are the confidential secretary of the Autocratic State; you should understand how rare it was for our previous 'single-target' victory to be achieved safely and intact. Now, the morale of the newly recruited mercenaries and militias has not fully recovered, and our army has no basis whatsoever to clash with the Ottoman.
"So, we retreat. Moreover, Ordu's current city defenses cannot withstand the furious bombardment of the main Ottoman force. Those Turk dogs are so skilled with their artillery; we have no chance in Janik."
Faced with such an explanation, Badars finally gave up thinking and chose to accept, "Yes, Caesar, loyalty!"
Thus, that night, the Bosporus Army, following the orders of their Caesar, after laying some "traps," directly withdrew from Ordu and its surroundings under the cover of night, repeating an old trick.
Running away is shameful, but it works! Manuel thought to himself.
And at this time, far in the Asia Minor heartland, Suleiman, who had been leading his army in fierce fighting on the Aksaray front for a long time, finally received news that night that filled him and his faction with immense joy: his uncle, Ibrahim II's main force, had been completely crushed in the engagements during this period.
"Excellent, thanks to Allah's protection." Suleiman, wearing his battered iron helmet after the great battle, dismounted with great delight and spontaneously performed a prayer on the dry ground.
Just as he was about to remount his horse and order the clearing of the battlefield, an envoy sent by the Mamluk suddenly arrived, surprising the Bey-to-be who had not yet officially ascended the throne.
"What happened?" Suleiman asked with great concern. He hoped Cairo hadn't chickened out and decided to abandon him; he certainly didn't want that!
Fortunately, he had worried for nothing. Because what the Mamluk envoy was about to tell him was not only unrelated to that thought but quite the opposite.
After the envoy finished delivering the message, Suleiman's tone gradually filled with uncontrollable excitement, "So, this is the Caliph's will, right?"
"Precisely," the envoy replied with a smile, "Your Highness, please prepare to your heart's content. This is Allah's command."
Hours later, along the southern coast of the Black Sea, the Bosporus Army had all withdrawn to their designated new encampment. At this moment, Manuel, thinking that his plan had advanced a step further, couldn't help but raise his arm and shout towards the direction where the Ottoman were most likely to be:
"Murad, this is my escape route! When it comes to wit, you Ottomans truly can't outplay me!"
Watching her husband's wild laughter, Barbara, who had been serving him closely during this period, felt her head spin: what kind of fake victory declaration was this? They were clearly abandoning the city and fleeing right now.