After allowing his soldiers to burn, kill, and plunder in the captured Devrekani region, Manuel looked at the scattered corpses of the local Muslims and couldn't help but let out a long sigh.
The reason he adopted such a brutal method of massacre against the Turks in the occupied territory was not because his thinking had deteriorated to the level of a Central Asian warlord, but was based on two major reasons:
Firstly, since the second wave of the Turkmen migration westward, the local heretics and foreign peoples had gradually become the majority, while the Christian Romans were squeezed to the coast or even fled west of the Sea of Marmara.
To create an environment where the Romans could return to the Asia Minor interior and reverse the local demographic structure, it was necessary to deal a heavy blow to the Turk Muslims during wartime.
Secondly, although land ravaged by holy fire disease did not affect cultivation, the local wheat seeds could no longer be used.
To replace them with healthy seeds and eliminate the source of infection, the simplest method was to burn any crops on infected land during wartime and replace them with Bosporus's own sterile wheat seeds.
So, to achieve the above goals, Manuel made a decisive choice—
What to do? Only kill!
However, although this was the theory, the slaughter of the Turks was not Manuel's main task.
He mostly entrusted the large-scale cleansing of the heretical and foreign populations to Posadas, while the Caesar himself was to lead his army to quickly cut through from Sinop to Kocaeli and Biga, controlling the eastern shore of the Sea of Marmara, and with his navy, block the Ottoman's eastward return.
If conditions permitted, he also planned to cut through Gallipoli from Biga, reaching Varna, north of Brusa, before November of this year.
At least, that was the original plan.
In fact, since he raised an army to subjugate the Ottoman, he increasingly realized that the original plan had a huge loophole: from Kocaeli to Hüdavendigâr and then to Biga, the military towns and cities on the eastern shore of the Sea of Marmara—Izmit, Iznik, Brusa, Bandırma, and Çanakkale—were difficult to capture in a short time, not to mention the Gallipoli Peninsula, which was easy to defend and difficult to attack.
Even if the current Ottoman was in internal turmoil due to the holy fire disease plague, which was about to escalate completely, this agricultural plague would not temporarily affect its combat power.
If he continued to execute the original plan, could he really reach Varna before November of this year?
The answer was naturally no.
Fortunately, to cope with the current situation, he also prepared a backup plan, embedding a batch of secret agents into a city that was still as dazzling as a jade pearl.
But these were all matters for after defeating a main Ottoman force.
According to his knowledge, Murad II's eldest son, Ahmed, was leading an army of ten thousand towards the Kastamonu region.
Therefore, his most urgent task now was to quickly rush to Kastamonu first and incorporate the entire Kandar Beylik into his military occupation zone.
After clarifying the situation, Manuel led his Generals and commanders to the now deserted village center to discuss the next marching plan.
The upcoming battle would be the first tough fight of the year.
At the same time, on the outskirts of Karabük, to the west, Sultan's eldest son, Ahmed, who had finished recruiting Turkmen mercenaries, was rushing to Kastamonu at forced march speed.
Since receiving the news of Sinop's fall, he understood the enemy's intention to advance westward and immediately decided to arrive and garrison before the city changed hands.
So, a few days later, on the morning of September 18, 1444, Manuel's main Bosporus force of over ten thousand men and Ahmed's Ottoman army of ten thousand met in Dereköy, a small northern village belonging to Kastamonu.
Kastamonu, a city that developed from the "Komnenos Castle" (Κάστρα Κομνηνών) built by Manuel Erotikos Komnenos, the father of Roman Emperor Isaac I, is adjacent to the Karaçomak stream.
Blocked from moisture by the Isfendiyar Mountains to the north, it has a humid continental climate, rich vegetation, and is easy to cultivate and graze.
For example, the village of Dereköy to the north was one of the Turkmen pastoral villages before the war, where many herders grazed and lived peacefully under the benevolent and permissive environment of the Beylik.
But these were all in the past.
Now, Dereköy village had been plagued by holy fire disease since the end of last year, and after autumn this year, a large number of livestock fell ill, leading to extreme difficulties.
They couldn't even purchase grains from other places to save themselves because those places suffered the same or even more severe disasters.
After being captured by the Bosporus Army on the night of the 17th, the Romans were surprised to find the village in a dilapidated state, on the verge of collapse.
Seeing this situation, and also learning from scouts that Ahmed's Ottoman army was about to arrive, Manuel, who had originally intended to use his army to intimidate the local Turks and temporarily appease them to help him conquer the main city of Kastamonu, immediately changed his mind—
As a result, on the morning of the 18th, when Ahmed excitedly arrived with his army, intending to obtain supplies and enemy information from there, they encountered only burned wooden houses and thatched huts, smoldering farmlands, and a large number of fresh human remains that were an eyesore.
"Your Highness…" Seeing Prince Ahmed's ashen face, his deputy was speechless for a moment.
Although their Ottoman army was not a benevolent force and would not be soft-hearted even towards disobedient co-religionists, such thorough brutality still exceeded their imagination.
More importantly, if the village was completely destroyed, how would they know the movements of the Romans?
Just as he was ordering his subordinates to put out the fire to prevent a forest fire and was about to say something, a team of searching soldiers suddenly called out.
Ahmed and his deputies looked closely and saw that they were several survivors of the massacre.
"Quickly go and comfort these lambs of Allah!" Seeing that there were still survivors, Ahmed was immediately overjoyed: this way, the Romans' position could finally be exposed to the army.
After pulling out these survivors and comforting them, one of the old shepherds, after his bleeding was stopped, couldn't help but kowtow, weeping sadly, and accusing his fellow countrymen in front of him: "My lords, after those infidels came here last night, they killed us herders who lived here on sight, all our cattle and sheep were slaughtered, and even our pastures and fields were set on fire by them.
For Allah's sake…"
"Rise, rise, and please get to the point, where did those Kafir go?" Although he sympathized with the herders, Ahmed wanted to know the enemy's movements more.
Hearing this, the old shepherd immediately revealed all the relevant information he knew, "My lord, after those wicked Christians plundered our village all night, they rushed into the southwestern mountain forests in the morning.
They shouldn't have gone far yet…"
At this point, the Generals roughly understood.
"Your Highness, what should we do now?" Ahmed's deputy immediately knelt down, requesting instructions, after seeing his General's thoughtful expression.
Finally, the Prince made a bold decision: "Contact the garrison of Kastamonu city.
On the premise that the city will not easily change hands, have them send half of their forces to assist our army in encircling and suppressing the Bosporus bandits.
The Roman army certainly hasn't gone far, and their escape direction is very likely the Ilgaz Mountains.
Although the local forests are dense and easy to conceal, as part of the Pontic Mountains defense line, the defenses there are strict, and they won't escape!"
"Yes, Your Highness!"
In less than half an hour, the Kastamonu garrison responded, expressing their willingness to obey the army's orders, and allocated over a thousand men from their current garrison of less than three thousand to help them encircle and suppress the nearby Bosporus troops.
After gaining the cooperation of the Kastamonu garrison, Ahmed, overjoyed, excitedly led his army to the foot of Kastamonu city, preparing to combine forces and move south together to encircle and suppress the fleeing enemy.
But an unexpected event occurred, and it happened much faster than he had imagined—
Just as they were preparing to depart, there was a sudden commotion in the dense forests on the east and west sides of the city.
Ahmed, sensing something was wrong, quickly ordered scouts to investigate.
However, these scouts would soon be unnecessary.
In less than a quarter of an hour, large numbers of unidentified soldiers emerged from the dense forest.
Fortunately, the Ottoman army would soon no longer be confused, because a yellow banner with a pure black double-headed eagle was soon raised high by this army, openly proclaiming their identity—
The Bosporus Army.
"What!?" Ahmed's young and handsome face instantly became extremely terrified.
"Damn Romans, how did they emerge from the woods!?" His deputy felt the same, unable to help but curse on the spot.
But there was no time for their anger now.
Facing the murderous Bosporus enemy, Ahmed could only issue military orders to gather his army of over ten thousand, while also sending orders for the Kastamonu garrison to come out and defend against the enemy, attempting to defeat them through numerical superiority.
Meanwhile, at this moment, seeing the Ottoman's formation tightened into a circular array, a cold smile suddenly appeared on Manuel's face: this was the situation he wanted to see.
In fact, after the brief destructive assault on Dereköy village last night, to lure the approaching enemy, he had ordered the entire army to enter the dense forest, secretly lurking in the Kastamonu area, and also spread rumors for the inevitable survivors to hear, while feigning a southward advance.
Moreover, according to investigations by his intelligence department, Ahmed, as Murad's eldest son, was clearly less composed than his younger brother, Sultan Aladdin Ali, and would surely be unable to restrain himself upon seeing this self-inflicted trap.
As for Kastamonu city, since it was originally a city directly under Kandar, it had fallen into a certain degree of disorder after Kandar Bey Ismail committed suicide, and was unable to detect the enemy ambushing in the forest.
Of course, if this Ottoman Prince chose to act cautiously, it wouldn't matter.
If that happened, Manuel would decide to take a detour and flank the enemy's rear, putting them in a dilemma.
Fortunately, Ahmed ultimately made the most favorable choice for Manuel, except for the fact that the best battlefield, in his opinion, was not at the foot of Kastamonu city.
Recalling these memories took less than half a second in Manuel's mind.
After quickly regaining his thoughts, he immediately ordered his subordinates to resolve the current situation:
"Tukharovsky, immediately prepare to send skirmishers to harass the Ottoman, paying attention to covering them with firearms, mainly cannons.
And immediately send orders to Dungar, telling him to lead the Pontus legions to outflank this main Ottoman force from the east under cannon fire.
Pay attention to coordination, do not let the Turks realize they are currently at a disadvantage and retreat back into the city."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Receiving the Caesar's command, his two Army Commanders immediately acted with their troops as instructed.
The Ottoman side was not incompetent either.
After a brief period of surprise and panic, Ahmed responded to the Bosporus Army's ambush: he ordered the Sipahi heavy cavalry on both flanks to harass and disrupt the enemy formation, while his central army fired artillery to force the enemy into a decisive battle, allowing the Janissaries to crush the enemy in one blow.
But Ahmed quickly discovered with dread that his plan had failed.
The forest environment was not conducive to the use of firearms and cavalry, and in the artillery duel between the two armies, he unexpectedly found himself at a disadvantage.
Just as he thought he was about to be defeated, he and his deputies were surprised to find that it was the Bosporus infantry who couldn't hold back and advanced first.
This made Ahmed ecstatic, believing that the situation was about to be reversed.
"All forces, move out! For Allah and the glory of our ancestors, repel these audacious Romans in one fell swoop!" The Prince drew his scimitar from his waist and excitedly ordered the entire army, intending to use the central army, with the Janissaries in command, to directly defeat the Bosporus troops until they routed!
But unfortunately, this time Ahmed had again anticipated wrongly.
After the two armies quickly engaged in close combat, after a brief stalemate, it was the Ottoman army that first showed signs of decline.
Only then did the Ottoman realize that compared to their own forces, which were more than half composed of conscripts, their enemy not only outnumbered them, but the vast majority of the opposing force were elites equipped with excellent gear.
With both quality and quantity inferior to the enemy, the Ottoman army finally showed signs of collapse.
Ultimately, by that evening, the Ottoman army, caught in the Bosporus ambush and pincer attack, left behind over a thousand corpses and fled in disarray.
Even Ahmed himself had to abandon two deputies, whose fates were unknown, and retreated towards Bolu under the escort of the Janissaries.
Since most of the garrison had followed Ahmed's Ottoman army out of the city and were completely annihilated by the enemy, the remaining old, weak, sick, and disabled were utterly incapable of resisting the Bosporus Army's fierce assault.
Thus, Manuel naturally led his army into Kastamonu city at dawn the next day, recapturing this important town that had been in Turk hands for over two and a half centuries.