The news of Bolu's easy fall quickly reached the Rumelia region of the Ottoman Sultanate a little over a day later. Sultan Murad, while feeling an increased sense of crisis, was also incredibly enraged by it. About to arrive at the Northern Thrace front, he immediately ordered the complete removal of his eldest son Ahmed's command, who had escaped, and transferred it entirely to his son-in-law, Mahmud Pasha, as a punishment and an attempt to reverse the decline in Anatolia.
Meanwhile, after a "cleansing" of Bolu city to reward his soldiers, Manuel sat in the council hall within the city and once again began to sort out the current situation.
"Our navy has reached the Sea of Marmara and repelled the Ottoman navy. Although the Genoese are clearly unhappy to see this, they did not obstruct Admiral Falero and his men because they are ostensibly on the same front as us. However, it will probably be difficult for the navy to completely control the Sea of Marmara for a while, but it should be enough to block Ottoman reinforcements from reaching the eastern shore of the Sea of Marmara in the short term."
"Murad II has already sent several vanguard units north of Emos Mountains to probe the strength of our Crusader allies. Undoubtedly, these vanguard armies naturally fled in defeat before the powerful Catholics. King Ulaslo I of Hungary even personally beheaded an enemy Pasha and hung it up for public display to deter the enemy."
"And my adopted son, Bey Halil, has led the Knights Hospitaller and the Burgundian Frank forces onto Asia Minor. Now they are jointly launching a counterattack into Ottoman territory. However, they are currently disputing whether to first advance to Biga to control the Dardanelles Strait or to penetrate deeper inland to occupy more mountainous areas. It is unlikely they can provide effective support to our army for a while."
"Uh, it's not entirely useless. A small group of Western European Knights has crossed the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea, coming as volunteers to support us. The young General among them is named Giovanni. I feel like I've heard that name before. In any case, we thank them..."
Manuel half-muttered to himself, half-wrote down information, clarifying the current situation one by one. Finally, the Caesar stood up, as if he had understood everything.
"Then what I need to do next is clear: advance to Kocaeli, defeat the main Ottoman army led by Mahmud Pasha, and make the Ottoman completely lose their ability to resist Bosporus in Western Anatolia." Realizing what he had to do next, the Caesar suddenly stood up. The purple-black cloak behind him was gently stirred by the rising breeze, like the descent of night.
"Issue my decree: prepare to reclaim Bithynia!"
After issuing various edicts to stabilize the recently recovered Paphlagonia, Manuel continued to lead his large army majestically towards Kocaeli. The reason he dared to be so bold was due to the holy fire disease epidemic within Ottoman territory. Under the ravages of the holy fire disease, the Turkmen tribes in Asia Minor temporarily lost their ability to resist the Bosporus occupying forces. Therefore, the Autocratic State's control over the militarily occupied areas was still firm. Until this war ended, the Romans did not have to worry about the Turkmen infidels launching an effective counterattack against them.
As for the Ottoman Mahmud Pasha turning his forces to target him, the Caesar had long anticipated it: it was most likely an order personally given by Murad.
But even facing Murad II again, Manuel would not panic. Rather, if he could confront Murad directly, he would instead be excited by the opportunity to kill the Sultan on the battlefield.
Under these circumstances, the Bosporus Army arrived at Sapanca, a village on the edge of Sapanca Gölü, on October 15th. This place was originally a rich pastoral land with abundant water and grass before the plague, and a settlement for Turkmen nomads. However, it naturally did not escape the ravages of the holy fire disease. After they panicked and fled the area, seeking to escape the gangrene on their bodies due to rumors spread by Bosporus spies, Sapanca became a deserted place.
Therefore, the Bosporus Army effortlessly set up camp here, using the natural advantages of the mountains and lake to conceal their tracks and gather intelligence.
After a short stay here, the well-prepared Manuel indeed obtained the intelligence he desired: according to reconnaissance by scouts and information from agents, the Ottoman Army Commander Mahmud Pasha had previously arrived in Izmit, and after resting in the city for a period, he left the city and was about to pass through Eşme village, north of Sapanca Gölü. Clearly, the Ottoman intended to launch a surprise attack on the Bosporus Army from the northern route; even if they could not defeat the enemy in one fell swoop, they could at least slow down their advance and tie them down in Asia Minor.
They just didn't expect that their enemy had already laid an ambush.
After determining the most probable marching route of the Ottoman army, the two Army Commanders under the Caesar immediately presented him with two plans for dealing with the enemy: Tukharovsky's plan was to swiftly attack Izmit city after Mahmud Pasha left the Sapanca Lake area, taking this most important central city in the entire Kocaeli region, thus cutting off the Ottoman army's retreat; Dungar's plan was to choose an opportune moment to engage the Ottoman army in a strategic decisive battle, temporarily paralyzing the Ottoman Turk military power in Asia Minor, and then conquering Kocaeli.
After careful consideration, Manuel ultimately chose Dungar's plan. According to intelligence, Mahmud Pasha could have theoretically sent troops to support Bolu during his stay in Izmit, but since he did not, he must have understood the situation. Could his large, long-traveled army now take Izmit city in less than half a week, as they did with Bolu? The Caesar could only put a big question mark in his heart.
Given this, the most advantageous tactic was to thoroughly defeat the main Ottoman force. After sharing his thoughts with the two Army Commanders, they all agreed once they understood, and a detailed plan was quickly formulated and put into practice—
On Mahmud Pasha's side of the Ottoman army, he was cautiously rushing to the east bank of Sapanca Gölü. After personally meeting his brother-in-law, Prince Ahmed, in Izmit city and listening to his grievances, the Sultan's son-in-law became extremely vigilant against his enemy. In his opinion, if the Catholic Crusaders were like a sharp but direct longsword, then the Bosporus Romans were a sophisticated and stealthy crossbow.
Therefore, after spending a considerable amount of time arranging the defenses of Izmit city, the Pasha cautiously set out, preparing to counter the Bosporus offensive with a surprise attack. At the very least, he could thereby slow down their aggressive advance and buy time for his father-in-law, who was still fighting in Rumelia.
As of now, he was doing quite well. He hadn't detected any signs of enemy forces until he bypassed Sapanca Gölü and just arrived at Adapazarı.
"It seems the Bosporus are nothing special after all." Thinking this, Mahmud felt a significant relaxation in his spirits.