Adapazarı, formerly known as Agrilion, is said to be the first settlement conquered by Ottoman founding Bey Osman.
Thanks to the Pontic Mountains to the south, the region is heavily influenced by an oceanic climate and a temperate continental humid climate, resulting in abundant rainfall and mild, moist weather.
Fortunately, the Ottoman main force of over fifteen thousand men led by Mahmud Pasha avoided the rainy season and was not significantly affected by the weather.
However, before reaching Adapazarı, Mahmud did not continue forward but temporarily stopped to analyze the intelligence gathered along the way.
Firstly, based on information obtained before and after leaving the city, the Bosporus Romans had likely already arrived in the Kocaeli region.
Secondly, according to the scouts' reports and his own observations, there appeared to be wheel tracks ahead, and based on his experience in various campaigns, these tracks should be from medium artillery carriages.
Given this, the conclusion was obvious: "Allah is above, the Bosporus are definitely nearby!" This was the Pasha's conclusion after his forces had completed their reconnaissance.
But upon reaching this conclusion, he did not retreat; instead, he couldn't help but burst into laughter: now that the enemy's tracks had been detected, they would soon have no secrets from him.
Therefore, when his subordinates asked him how to proceed, this great Ottoman General immediately commanded without hesitation:
"Search for them! Find the Romans' current position as quickly as possible.
We must not give them any time to prepare; we must catch these Kafir off guard!"
Receiving the General's order, the Ottoman Army immediately began to move around the area.
Under the command of their capable General, they quickly demonstrated the strength expected of one of Eastern Europe's strongest land armies.
In less than half an hour, they found traces that seemed to be from the enemy: faint, indistinct marks exposed before them, vaguely leading towards Izmit in the west and Adapazarı in the east.
Upon learning this, Mahmud felt something was amiss.
"Have the Bosporus divided their forces?"
Although there was no news of Adapazarı changing hands, given the cunning of the Bosphorus Caesar and the urgency of the current situation, the Pasha believed that the information simply hadn't been transmitted yet because the city had only recently changed hands.
Of course, his subordinates had different opinions; for example, one of his deputies believed it was also possible that this was a trap set by the enemy to defeat them and the Adapazarı garrison.
Although Mahmud scoffed at this, to be safe, he still dispatched a light cavalry unit as scouts to reconnoiter the city's perimeter.
The scouts' reconnaissance quickly yielded results, and when the Pasha received their report, he was surprised to find that the Bosporus Romans had not occupied the town.
But if the Romans weren't in Adapazarı, then they must be in... The Pasha, suddenly enlightened, immediately excitedly ordered his army to return.
Clearly, the Bosporus's true target was Izmit.
But even so, they were one step behind; even before setting out, he had already arranged various defenses in this extremely important central city, just waiting for the Bosporus Army to fall into his trap!
With this thought, he immediately used his skills to rush towards Izmit, intending to intercept the main Bosporus forces on the spot and, with the cooperation of the city's defenders, wipe them out.
But what he had not expected was that as soon as he rode into the valley southwest of Adapazarı, sudden movements came from the surrounding cliffs.
Looking towards the cliffs, several sharp crossbow bolts shot into his army's ranks.
"What is... what is happening...?" Mahmud Pasha looked bewildered at this unexpected situation.
After another round of arrows attacked, the Ottoman Army realized the situation they were facing: they had been ambushed, and the enemy was the Bosporus Army.
At this moment, Mahmud Pasha realized how cunning his enemies truly were: they had probably known his movements for a long time, used wheel tracks and other signs to mislead him, secretly blocked their return route from Adapazarı to Izmit, and had been secretly watching him all along.
Thus, whether he rushed to retake Bolu in the east or retreated to Izmit, it would all be according to their wishes.
The only thing that astonished him was that the enemy dared to hide in the mountainous region, just like the Turkmen tribes who had long been disliked by their Ottoman high gates.
But at this point, he could no longer worry about these things; after overcoming his initial panic, the Pasha forced himself to calm down: even if ambushed, the Ottoman Army he led was a formidable force, difficult to defeat.
Moreover, he now had not only 100 elite Sipahi heavy cavalry but also five thousand Kapikulu soldiers personally allocated to him by the Sultan, plus the Topkapi Corps as artillery and the Humbaracılar Corps as grenadiers.
Mahmud was confident in winning this initially unfavorable counterattack.
So, the first step was to withdraw from this valley.
Having understood this, the Pasha immediately ordered a retreat along the same path.
But something unexpected quickly happened: when the Ottoman Army retreated, they ran head-on into a heavy cavalry unit clad in heavy armor.
They charged at the Ottoman, smashing their vanguard like opening a can, causing bloodshed.
Upon closer inspection, it could be seen that most of these heavy cavalry held round shields and short spears or heavy hammers, rode mountain ponies from the Caucasus, and had extremely high morale.
"Monaspa!"
After learning the situation from his battered vanguard, Mahmud gritted his teeth and confirmed their identity.
Monaspa heavy cavalry, Georgian mountain heavy cavalry, most suitable for the current mountain warfare.
He hadn't expected the Bosporus to even use their Caucasian vassal forces to win this battle!
It was just a hundred-odd heavy cavalry; he would not lose.
With this thought, Mahmud Pasha immediately ordered his Sipahi heavy cavalry to charge and block the Monaspa, and commanded the Topkapi soldiers in his army to fire cannons towards the enemy, intending to heavily counterattack the enemy.
However, shortly after this order was given, the Pasha heard the burning smell of saltpeter and sulfur from the cliffs.
Before he could do anything else, Chandarli Mahmud Pasha felt a sharp pain, then his vision went black, and he could no longer rise.