After making such a declaration to the enemies he considered ignorant, Sultan Murad II personally ordered Arnavutlu Iskender Pasha, who commanded the Ankara region, to immediately mobilize his Legion upon receiving the command and advance directly to Sinop to relieve Kandar, and to defeat the Bosporus Army currently besieging the city.
"Afterward, I will personally lead several Legions to Sinop and Janik, and personally strike down that absurd Roman monarch." At the end of the order, Murad made such a promise to his Pasha.
In contrast, the Bosporus Army, under Manuel's command, had spent several months constructing numerous temporary fortifications in the mountainous forests of their control zone.
Caesar Manuel believed that with such diligent and strict defense, the Ottoman Army should not be able to break through easily, and his side could use this to gain enough time to capture Sinop before the Ottoman arrived, using the local city defenses and naval superiority to turn the tide from defense to offense.
Furthermore, these days were not entirely filled with bad news; there were also some good tidings.
For example, on the afternoon of the day after the Ottoman envoy was driven away, the Venetians joyfully arrived in Guerze to inform their allies that the Genoese had decided to withdraw from the war.
"Holy Father, is that true?!" Manuel asked the Venetian nobleman in front of him in the military camp, astonished.
"That is natural.
The Doge of Genoa sent members of the Gatilucio Family to contact our army yesterday, stating that they no longer wish to continue this fruitless war.
To show their sincerity, Genoa also expressed willingness to pay a sum of florins as a peace settlement for this war." Gracio, Manuel's old acquaintance, once again represented Venice, sharing the progress of the war with their allies.
"Peace settlement? Isn't that just war reparations?" Manuel scoffed at the term.
"Well, Genoa is still a power in the Eastern Mediterranean, after all.
In such a situation, it's best to satisfy their fragile self-esteem." Gracio spread his hands helplessly.
"Indeed."
Thus, a few days later, Serenus, the envoy from the Bosporus side, and Gracio, the envoy from the Venice side, began peace talks with Francesco Gatilucio, the envoy from the Genoa side, in Amastris, which was still under Genoese control.
These peace talks proceeded quite smoothly, and Genoa, unwilling to let the Black Sea become a financial quagmire, quickly agreed to the terms of the peace treaty proposed by the other side: seventy percent of Genoa's commercial privileges in the Pontus region would be transferred to Venice, and the remaining thirty percent would be returned to the Gavras Family, the actual controllers of the region.
Additionally, Genoa would pay a total of 20,000 florins in peace settlement to the two opposing nations, to be divided between them through negotiation.
After the peace talks concluded and the Genoese envoys were seen off, Serenus immediately began a brief negotiation with Gracio, the Venetian envoy, who stood beside him on the ship returning to Samsun, regarding the division of the war reparations paid by Genoa.
To his surprise, these notoriously stingy Latin merchants actually chose to make concessions this time.
"Holy Mother Mary, you are actually willing to let us accept eighty percent of this compensation? I haven't misheard, have I? You are Venetians after all…" Serenus's eyes widened, his face filled with disbelief.
"Regarding this, you will understand later.
In any case, this is what you deserve." Gracio gave such an ambiguous explanation, his eyes darting away.
Whether it was an illusion or not, the people from the Bosporus side seemed to see a hint of guilt in his eyes.
Soon, they understood why Gracio and the others had looked guilty at the time.
On the morning of the day after the peace talks ended, these Venetians once again requested an audience with Caesar Manuel.
After meeting the monarch, with whom they had long-standing ties, on the outskirts of Sinop, Gracio solemnly informed him: Venice had decided to withdraw from this war immediately.
"Latins, what is the meaning of this?" Manuel tried his best to control his expression, which was about to turn extremely ugly.
"Although it is truly regrettable, we in Venice do not wish to have any further conflicts with the Ottoman in the near future," Gracio's tone conveyed some shame, but more so, determination, "This is a unanimous decision, from the Senate and the Council of Ten, down to the Black Sea consular territories.
We ask that Manuel be understanding."
At this point, Manuel finally understood why the other party had been so generous in making concessions regarding the reparations.
After courteously seeing off this group of Venetians, feeling abandoned diplomatically, he exploded in a rage on the spot, "A bunch of motherless profiteers, brain-dead ingrates who forget righteousness for profit, why the hell don't you convert to Judaism?!"
But no matter how angry he was, he could only face reality: now, only they themselves stood directly in the path of the Ottoman's blade.
It was also on the afternoon of that day that Arnavutlu Iskender Pasha, having received a direct order from Sultan Murad II, led the Ankara Legion, consisting of two full formations, or 6,000 soldiers, bypassing the mountainous plateaus of Anatolia, and entered Kastamonu from the Bolu area, preparing to directly crush this invading force in the coastal plains.
Regarding why their General adopted such a measure, the Deputy General, who served as a supervisor, could not help but express his objection, "Anaftolu Pasha, why choose to fight on the plains?
According to Allah's will, wouldn't it be more effective to charge downhill from the hills and mountains against enemies on lower ground?"
In response, Arnavutlu Iskender Pasha, riding on horseback, shook his head repeatedly to show his disagreement, "That is incorrect, Rom Pasha.
You must have seen the map drawn based on the latest military intelligence, haven't you?"
The Deputy General, referred to as Rom Pasha, nodded.
"Then you must have noticed the temporary mountain forts built by the Romans, right?"
"Mere temporary forts made of inferior wood and stone, wouldn't they collapse with a single blow?" Rom Pasha dismissed it with a sneer.
"But those are mountain forts, after all," Anaftolu Pasha frowned, "While it wouldn't be too difficult to dismantle them until they pose no threat, it would take too much time.
We should follow the Sultan's command and deal with them as quickly as possible.
After all, I am from the mountains myself, and I can say I have some understanding of the key points of this kind of mountain warfare."
"Alright, then." Rom Pasha, upon hearing this, scrutinized the General in front of him, who claimed to be a mountain man, and could only nod in agreement.
Just as Anaftolu Pasha had said, the Ottoman Ankara Legion, choosing to counterattack from the plains, indeed easily broke through the temporary fortifications built by the Bosporus on the plains within a mere three days, heading straight for Sinop.
And on the outskirts of Sinop, Manuel, having learned of the impending Ottoman attack, looked at the stubbornly unyielding city walls of Sinop in the distance, took a deep breath, and prepared for a grand gamble—
"Deliver my order: the entire army is to launch a full assault on Sinop!"