When Manuel, accompanied by his guards, rode into the Bosporus-controlled city of Mtskheta the next morning, the Philaka Soldiers who had participated in the battle had already formed neat formations inside and outside the city gate, awaiting the arrival of their monarch for inspection.
"Your Majesty, the Philaka await you. Loyal! True!" The first to salute Caesar was Barbaro Talostos, who had been temporarily integrated into the Philaka Legion. As someone favored by Caesar in secret and the most valiant Philaka Soldiers in the assault on the West Gate, after internal discussions and recommendations within the legion, they unanimously decided to let him speak first to welcome the Caesar to whom they were loyal.
Manuel merely nodded slightly in acceptance, for this was precisely what he wanted to see. Beyond that, he also secretly made a mental note of those who had distinguished themselves, intending to reward them all after he conquered the Inner Caucasus. Thinking of this, he confidently and firmly waved to the soldiers, allowing his purple-robed figure to shimmer brightly under the warm winter sun, entering the city with the self-assuredness of its rightful monarch.
The news of Mtskheta's fall reached the Tbilisi court that same afternoon. This was nothing short of a crushing blow to the Georgian high-ranking officials gathered there. Crown Prince Vakhtang, who had planned to depart after Christmas to take over Mtskheta's defenses and boost morale, was stunned upon learning of the Bosporus's surprisingly rapid progress.
Ultimately, it was the old King Alexander I who reacted first. On one hand, he sent envoys again to try to persuade the Bosporus to retreat; on the other hand, he immediately began preparing to defend Tbilisi. Furthermore, at the Crown Prince's suggestion, the King finally sent a letter to his younger son George, who managed Kakheti, requesting him to bring the vast majority of his garrison to the capital to defend the King.
However, while formulating the defense plan, the Tbilisi court noticed a major, severe problem: if they merely defended, Tbilisi, which had only been breached by the Black Sheep Dynasty a decade or so ago, seemed unlikely to withstand the various artillery pieces equipped by the Bosporus.
"Father King, why don't we give it a try?" Finally, Vakhtang, overriding all objections, seriously proposed a suggestion, "Don't we still have a heavy cavalry corps specializing in mountain warfare?"
Alexander I was momentarily stunned upon hearing this. Even deploying the elite heavy cavalry mentioned by his eldest son, the Royal Monaspa, which the royal family was proud of, he did not see a full certainty of success in forcing the Romans of the Bosporus to retreat.
But what if it truly could work?
Seeing his father's hesitation, Vakhtang immediately continued to persuade him, hoping to gain his support, "Father King, 'raise soldiers for a thousand days, use them for an hour.' Was the Royal Monaspa not born for this very moment? What's more, if we can defeat the Romans once in a field battle, bringing the front line into a stalemate, wouldn't our prestige surpass that of the young Roman Caesar, causing the lords who temporarily obey them to cease their support for the enemy? In this way, the Romans, fighting on foreign ground, might retreat in the face of difficulties, and we would at least have a chance to reclaim the vast territory from Mtskheta to Sukhumi."
These words moved Alexander I. Finally, after an afternoon of detailed discussions, the King agreed to the Crown Prince's plan, deciding to deploy the Monaspa, including the Royal Monaspa, in an attempt to thwart the Bosporus's offensive in one fell swoop and try to turn defense into offense.
While the Kingdom of Georgia decided to stake everything by dispatching the Monaspa, Manuel, having stabilized order within the city, was also discussing with his subordinates how to capture Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia.
"After bypassing the Jvari Monastery, the last truly treacherous section west of Tbilisi is the Zages region." In the city hall, the Caesar, temporarily occupying the place, was discussing the next main attack direction with his generals and lords, "As long as this area is occupied, then only a gentle river valley remains for Tbilisi. Besides the local ancient city walls, there is basically nothing left to obstruct our army."
"But Your Majesty, the Georgians certainly won't surrender without a fight..." Dungar spoke, stroking his chin, cautiously raising this possibility.
"But hasn't the Tbilisi court basically not engaged in field battles since Your Majesty's arrival?" Atabeg Ivan II of Samukhetsi stood up, subtly praising Manuel's military prowess with a hint of flattery.
However, Ivan II's words indeed made Caesar reconsider. After all, since he had arrived in Georgia, apart from a few small-scale field battles at the beginning and Posadas's destruction of the main Imereti force, the Bosporus had indeed not engaged in many field battles with Georgia. In other words, the enemy's living forces seemed not to have been completely annihilated yet. If that was the case, even if the opponent acted like a shrinking turtle, it would be impossible for them to continue to cower in Tbilisi. If they were annihilated without proper resistance, even Manuel would feel wronged for the deeply rooted Bagration Dynasty.
"Get ready. Zages must be taken, and we will face the main force of the Tbilisi court sooner or later." At the end of the meeting, Caesar concluded thus, and then ordered the entire army to prepare for the assault on Zages several days later.
Several days later, on the first day of the new year 1438, on a morning just after a heavy snowfall, a Bosporus Army of over two thousand men emerged from Mtskheta and marched through the snow towards the Zages region, ready to capture their last obstacle before besieging Tbilisi.
But as the army approached its destination, Dungar, appointed by Caesar to command this force, grew more nervous. In the dead of winter, his gloveless hands, tightly gripping the reins, were sweating cold. The reason was simple: if Manuel was not mistaken, then the Georgians would likely take the initiative this time.
As he was pondering this, suddenly, the sound of arrows whistling came from ahead. In an instant, a shower of arrows rained down from the northern mountains onto the orderly marching Bosporus Army. In the blink of an eye, a large number of unarmored soldiers were struck in their limbs and even vital areas.
"Retreat! To the southwest, retreat!" Realizing the source of the enemy's arrows, the Army Commander leading the troops immediately made a judgment, ordering the entire army to retreat towards the southwestern mountains controlled by the Bosporus, while also commanding the heavy infantry in the front ranks to raise their shields, which they had rarely raised on the march, protecting the remaining soldiers as they retreated into their controlled area. His Caesar had somewhat prepared for the Georgian counterattack before his departure; this was far from a desperate situation.
Just as Dungar was thinking about how to safely withdraw the remaining soldiers, a unit of fully armored cavalry, both men and horses, charged out from a bend ahead, wielding sharp and sturdy short spears, and attacked the Bosporus Army.
This was Georgia's last trump card—the Royal Monaspa.
Under the cold winter sun, the glint of these short spears appeared exceptionally chilling to their enemies, no different from the temperature of the surrounding air.