After the military exercise, Manuel arranged a discussion with his "old friend" Gracio, a Venetian nobleman, and as he expected, he received a promise from these Latins.
"So, Caesar, you can rest assured. As long as the Bosporus does not act irrationally regarding the Tana estuary, we will do our utmost for our ally. As for Veneto proper, they are busy in the Italian Peninsula; how could they possibly manage the Black Sea frontier? And no matter what, aren't we brothers who believe in the same Lord?" The young man, of similar age to Caesar, had the same smooth smile as other Venetians, revealing the attitude of their Black Sea consulate and the limitations of their homeland, providing a reassurance for the Bosporus Romans.
Although Manuel felt somewhat relieved by the Venetians' promise, deep down he was more wary. After all, the reason why the orthodox states along the Eastern Mediterranean coast are in their current half-dead state is largely due to the profit-seeking nature of these merchants. If the Golden Horde could offer more benefits, he had no doubt that these Latins would immediately sell him out.
However, in fact, the current diplomatic relations between the two countries were still favorable. If there was a chance to give them a big one in the future, it was better to continue cooperating with Venice for now.
After concluding his conversation with the Venetian envoy and seeing him off, Manuel also went out to supervise the wrap-up of the military exercise.
As most of the soldiers orderly left under his command, he couldn't help but look up to the east: there, the pure black double-headed eagle banner, symbolizing him and the Bosporus, flew at the highest point of the peninsula, fanned by the salty sea breeze, both conspicuous and small.
Looking at this black eagle banner, the young Caesar felt more pleased and at ease. Secretly, he even, out of habit from his previous life, called the black double-headed eagle on the flag a Black Phoenix.
His wife was puzzled when he said this. "Manuel, what is this 'Phoenix' you sometimes mention? Why is it related to the double-headed eagle?" One night before bed, after they had finished their business, Barbara suddenly asked him curiously.
Facing his beloved wife's question, he, already drowsy at the time, was driven by sleepiness to explain the general reason, "The Phoenix is a legendary bird from an Eastern Dynasty, symbolizing nobility and auspiciousness. People there like to use them to refer to royalty. It's similar to how we Romans like to use the double-headed eagle as a symbol."
"Hmm, that makes sense. But besides both being birds and having similar status, what's the connection?"
"Oh, don't mind those details. Anyway, both the double-headed eagle and the Phoenix are symbols of high status, that's all." He couldn't possibly say that due to the interpretation of a certain scholar in later generations, the Phoenix became conflated with the immortal bird Phoenix, and later on, influenced a bunch of people to lump the similarly-statused double-headed eagle, Phoenix, and Phoenix all into one category, could he?
Fortunately, he quickly fell into a deep sleep at the time, saving him from having to explain more.
Bringing his thoughts back to the present, Manuel looked at the pure black double-headed eagle on the flag and couldn't help but think of some superfluous things: come to think of it, the Palaiologos Dynasty's double-headed eagle was gold on a red background.
"The Phoenix rises from the ashes, reborn in fire." Thinking of this, Manuel smiled softly, gazed into the distance, and recited casually, "Oh, golden Phoenix bathed in raging fire / One day / I shall paint you the darkness of the night sky / And proclaim it to all four corners."
...
A few days later, as the Bosporus Army exercises from the Tatar perspective ended without any unusual movements, Muhammad Khan of the Golden Horde finally decided to personally lead a large army to retake the Kazan region.
On May 12, 1438, the Golden Horde sent an envoy to the Kazan Khanate, ordering them to immediately abandon their independent status by the end of next month, accept subjugation, and return to the embrace of the Great Ulus, and began mobilizing troops.
On May 20, Khan Ulugh Muhammad of the Kazan Khanate executed the Golden Horde envoy, sparing only the life of a shaven-headed deputy envoy and his stableman, sending them back to convey the resolute stance of the Volga Bulgarians.
On May 25, after Sarai learned of the other party's attitude from the two who escaped back, they were all enraged. Muhammad Khan seized this opportunity to consolidate power within the country, gather his main forces, and prepare to conquer Kazan in one fell swoop to solidify his position.
On May 28, the eager Muhammad Khan, with less than a month of mobilization, personally led an army of 30,000 of varying quality towards Kazan to reclaim territory and reassert authority.
A few days later, the Bosphorus Despotate also received this intelligence.
On an early June afternoon in Mangup City, Manuel, upon learning of this, immediately convened his cabinet to discuss whether to immediately implement the previously determined action plan. For this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, he first used the pretext of military exercises to deploy four legions to Tauris, and then immediately recalled a legion belonging to Pontus to its original station after the exercise to confuse outsiders. If this judgment was wrong, he would have wasted so much effort.
Normally, this would be the case, but he had already prepared the basis for persuasion.
During the subsequent Imperial Council, at Caesar's instruction, his confidential secretary and Commander of the Guard, also the head of the Secret Department, Badars, presented various pieces of evidence gathered by the Secret Department regarding Tatar movements during this period. All of them pointed to a major fact: since the end of the military exercise, the Golden Horde had deployed all controllable main forces to the border areas with Kazan; and the part of the vast steppe region that was once ruled by the Crimean Khanate, due to its failed independence, had instead become one of the most firmly controlled areas by Sarai.
"In short, because Muhammad Khan of the Jochi Ulus, in order to deal with the Volga Bulgarians, transferred a large number of garrisons from the former Crimean Khanate territory and forcibly conscripted many nomadic tribesmen there, this area, apart from some local magnates and old and infirm soldiers, is otherwise undefended.
"In other words, this is the best time to expand our influence on the steppe." After finishing his subordinate's words and narrating, he turned to look at the other cabinet members.
"So, what are your views…"
That afternoon, Caesar's proposal passed without dissent.
A few mornings later—
"No, brother, why is this great coastline unoccupied? I thought no one wanted it…" A Bosporus warship was approaching the western side of the Sea of Azov, and a sailor inside was in high spirits.
"Holy Father above, can you stop yelling? It's important to complete the general's and Caesar's mission!"