After ensuring that the garrison left in Kaysiskoy could rely on the fortifications to hold out until reinforcements arrived, Manuel led his army back to Akçaabat.
There, he clarified the supply lines, completed his rest and refit, and simultaneously replenished his forces by receiving reinforcements and recovering wounded soldiers.
Without the interference of organized Turkmen forces, this period of rest was completed quickly.
Around late July, Manuel led the fully prepared Bosporus Army, numbering 5,500, marching along the valley roads towards the Erzincan region, which was under White Sheep rule.
To ensure the marching route was correct, they specifically selected several Turkmen and Armenians from the prisoners of war who were familiar with the local geography and sincerely willing to cooperate, offering them freedom in exchange for guiding the way.
Thus, with ample preparations, the Bosporus Army passed relatively smoothly through the Pontic Mountains, which should have effectively blocked them, and reached the mountain pass in that section.
However, upon reaching the mountain pass, Manuel ordered the army to halt, postponing their advance.
He then summoned his generals to discuss the upcoming marching route with them.
"What's happening now?" Amidst the Philaka Legion under his command, waves of confused questions arose, and the peasant soldiers in the Grand Company also subtly grumbled.
But those generals who understood the current situation likely guessed the reason for their Emperor's actions.
On the morning of the day after arriving at the Pontic Mountains pass, Manuel, clad in armor, summoned his generals to his central tent for a brief military meeting, where he directly expressed his concerns to them:
"I know many of you have doubts," he scanned the generals present; some were utterly perplexed, others bowed their heads in speculation, and still others looked as if facing a formidable enemy.
"The direction of our next march might affect the situation we face in the future."
"Let me be direct: the route through the southwestern valley is the most convenient, but that area is currently ruled by the Ottoman Turks.
Although they are lax in their administration there, with few garrisons, it is still the territory of the currently invincible Ottoman Empire."
As he spoke of the Ottoman, Manuel's hands even trembled slightly, almost imperceptibly, and his tone became more cautious.
Fortunately, in the eyes of the generals, this was merely a reaction of prudence against the enemy, and no one overthought it.
"We could also choose to march southeast, bypassing Ottoman territory.
But that would mean an additional several stadia, and there's a risk of being detected by the White Sheep Turkmens, which would jeopardize the plan to surprise Erzincan." Manuel continued to discuss the alternative plan.
Finally, he gravely looked around at his generals, "What do you all think?"
Facing this situation fraught with potential trouble, after about half a minute, his generals all began to voice their opinions freely.
"Your Majesty, perhaps we should first return…" David's words were cut short when he noticed the vast majority of generals suddenly turn and glare at him, startling him into immediately changing his words, "I mean, let's first wait for the opportune moment."
Then Dungar took over, cautiously suggesting, "Perhaps we should submit a request to the local Ottoman Pasha; they should not…" Before he could finish, laughter erupted in the camp.
"And then stay here for several months waiting for the White Sheep to recover? Perhaps by then, the Ottoman governor will casually reply with a 'No'!"
These words silenced Dungar, but the intensity of the discussion showed no signs of abating.
Within a mere fifteen minutes, all sorts of plans were thrown around the camp, including schemes so incredible in Manuel's eyes that he almost burst out laughing on the spot.
Yet, despite all their discussion, few suggested taking the roundabout route to the southeast.
The reason was obvious: no matter how one looked at it, marching through the southeastern valley was the least efficient and most likely route for the enemy to detect.
Therefore, when proposing, most generals focused on how to bypass the Ottoman or how to pass through without being noticed by the Ottoman.
Finally, Manuel adopted the suggestion of Tukharovsky and others: starting tomorrow, order a forced march, trying to quickly pass through the area within one or two days.
During this time, supplies should minimally affect the local area, giving the local Ottoman Pasha no chance to react.
If they had any complaints, try to appease them with ducats.
If the White Sheep Turkmens could pass this way, why couldn't my Bosporus Army?
After the plan was finalized, Manuel announced the end of the meeting and simultaneously ordered the entire army to prepare for a forced march.
On the third day, after making both psychological and material preparations, the Bosporus soldiers set off towards the southwestern valley.
The thought of passing through the area within one or two days made most soldiers feel a bit of a headache.
Fortunately, led by guides familiar with the geography, they indeed successfully crossed rivers and valleys within a day and a half, passed through the southwestern river valley area, and arrived in the Erzincan region within White Sheep territory.
But this did not mean that the Ottoman side was truly unaware.
In fact, less than half a day after the Bosporus Army stepped onto Ottoman territory, local scouts discovered them.
However, because the military uniforms of the Bosporus Army in Asia Minor bore several similarities to those of the Turks, they mistakenly believed these were merely troops from neighboring Turk polities.
They paid little attention, simply making a brief and casual note and reporting it to the Pasha above.
Thus, on the morning of the second day after departing Trabzon, the Bosporus Army arrived within White Sheep territory without triggering a reaction from any third-party power.
And just as Manuel's strategic conjecture, the main White Sheep force in West Armenia was indeed resting in Erzurum, and the garrisons left in the Erzincan area were indeed few.
Moreover, according to common sense, even if these Christians were to counterattack, they should attack the Erzurum region from the northeast.
How could they risk provoking the formidable Ottoman Empire by attacking from the southwest?
Yet, the direction of the Bosporus Army's march was precisely what made them so flustered.
In western Erzincan, in a small hilly area called Ağılözü by the Turkmens who had settled there, at noon, a Turkmen sentry was kneeling on the watchtower, slacking off and performing his routine prayers.
Soon, he suddenly heard the sound of horses and men, and, greatly perplexed, asked his almost sleeping companion beside him, "Abdul, did you hear anything?"
"Hear what?" His companion was groggily roused from his sleep. "Isn't it quiet? There's nothing on the valley hills. Malik, have you been praying so much that your mind's gone bad?"
"Is that so?" Feeling something was amiss, he ultimately picked up his bow and arrows vigilantly, preparing for any unexpected situation.
As soon as he looked up from the watchtower, he found an army of considerable size, of unknown origin, seemingly approaching from the northwest.
"Hey, are those reinforcements from Erzurum?" Because their attire was somewhat similar to his own, Abdul was momentarily unsure what to do.
He could only draw his bow and stare intently.
"Hmm, they don't seem like it, do they? And, why have they stopped, and why are their bows and crossbows aimed at us… Could it be—?" Just as he was about to draw his bow in retaliation, a volley of arrows shot directly from the enemy ranks, striking him down from the watchtower, killing him on the spot.
"Ah? Ah… Ah! It's the Kafir…" His companion, seeing his comrade's death, tried to retaliate, but was directly struck by artillery fire from an unknown source, which shattered the wooden watchtower, causing him and the remaining sentries on the tower to fall directly from above, crushed into a pulp.
At the same time, in the Bosporus Army camp directly facing Ağılözü, seeing all the watchtowers collapse under artillery fire, the originally nervous Dungar breathed a sigh of relief and immediately sent someone to inform Manuel, who was leading the army.
Soon, in less than half an hour, the White Sheep Army stationed in the area lost the western barrier of Erzincan, spearheaded by Ağılözü.
Now, as long as the White Sheep garrison in the area was defeated, Erzincan would change hands.