While Murad II divided his siege forces into two routes, Serenus and others, who had been secretly dispatched to Konya, returned to Manuel and reported the results of their mission in detail.
"So, that means," Manuel tried to suppress his excitement, "Karaman and the Mamluk are joining?"
"If what Prince Suleiman and Lord Jaqmaq said is true, then yes," Serenus replied, bowing his head.
"Good, good, good, good, good, this is what I wanted to see!" Caesar grinned, clenching his right fist and slamming it hard on the round table in front of him, completely oblivious to his reddened and swollen knuckles. "Since that's the case, we also need to send a 'big gift package' to our Muslim allies that can help them."
The Ottoman below the city walls were clearly unaware of their enemy's secret plotting and schemes. They were currently, under the leadership of their Sultan, dreaming of directly breaking through the Pontic Mountains.
Half a month later, around mid-December, after a more turbulent journey than Murad had anticipated, the three large-caliber cannons finally arrived without incident at the foot of Giresun city during the night. Now, for the Sultan, everything was ready; he just needed the artillery unit, the Topkapi Corps, to make a short period of adjustments to them, and then he could deploy them into the siege.
At this time, Murad, out of caution, also called for the scouts and asked if there were any unusual enemy movements to be concerned about. The results he received were largely consistent with his expectations; the enemy was still stubbornly defending their walls, and compared to the beginning of the siege, even their resistance and morale had noticeably weakened.
"It seems Allah will witness the moment I once again claim the fruits of victory," the Ottoman Sultan, convinced that the enemy had lost the ability to counterattack, stroked his thick beard and burst into laughter on the spot, as if he had already seen the Bosporus Romans kneeling before him, begging for surrender.
But would everything go as the Sultan wished?
On the night the Ottoman prematurely celebrated their victory, the Bosporus inside the city walls were, on the contrary, making preparations and arrangements more swiftly than ever before…
The turning point came the afternoon of the day after these large-caliber Ottoman cannons arrived. At this time, Murad, wearing light armor, dismounted relaxed and chatted about military affairs with his generals, and the Ottoman central army was as relaxed as their monarch, not noticing the several ships with unknown flags appearing on the sea.
What first broke this "calm" was a series of bombardments from the sea. Although this bombardment actually did not cause much damage, it truly threw the Ottoman into disarray for a while.
"What's going on? Wasn't the coastline blockaded by our army? How can a fleet still come when the port is locked!?" The Sultan, who was almost hit by the sand and dust stirred up by the cannon fire, couldn't help but roar in anger, questioning his subordinates.
But how could this be something these few generals could have anticipated? Moreover, before they could explain or propose countermeasures to their monarch, the enemy's next wave of attack had arrived: the gates of Giresun had opened.
While the Ottoman were still in chaos caused by the bombardment from the opposite shore, the Bosporus Army, which had been holed up in the city, suddenly assembled into a neat formation and charged out from the wide-open city gates, heading directly towards the position of the Ottoman central army.
This movement of the Bosporus Army was not noticed until the dust in front of the Ottoman Army had lessened enough not to obscure their vision. The Sultan and his generals reacted first, looking at the enemy charging towards their central army. Murad II was first stunned, then felt relieved: in the end, they would still be counter-killed by their solid central army, just like the Ottoman's defeated foes.
"Just to lose with a bit more dignity, I almost overestimated these Romans," Although he harbored such thoughts, the Sultan immediately issued military orders, reorganizing the central army, and preparing to counter-charge the enemy who were about to approach them.
But to the Ottoman's surprise, what came first, even before the opposing infantry, was a continuous barrage of cannonballs.
Although the Bosporus Army was rushing towards the Ottoman central army, their marching speed was not as rapid as the Ottoman Army had expected; instead, it seemed to have been deliberately slowed down, replaced by fierce bombardment from the enemy positions and the sea. This bombardment was far more intense than the Ottoman side had anticipated. After just over half an hour of shelling, the central army, which should have made a beautiful counter-kill as the main force, instead showed some unexpected breakdowns among the Sultan and others.
In view of this, Murad gritted his teeth and decided not to wait for the enemy to charge. Instead, he ordered the Topkapi Corps and other artillery units to immediately begin adjusting their cannons, preparing for a firearms duel with the Bosporus; at the same time, he also ordered the cavalry on both flanks, which had deliberately pulled back, to close in, ready to break through the enemy's artillery positions; furthermore, Sultan also issued a death order, commanding the group of conscripts and auxiliary soldiers, whose status was currently unknown, to come into his sight to guard the central army, or rather, to serve as human shields for the central army against cannon fire.
Under the Sultan's calm and timely orders, the cannons, which the Ottoman had always valued, once again played their part. As the cannons, protected by other troops, entered the battlefield, both sides fell into a strange stalemate. After another quarter of an hour, the firepower from the Bosporus side was gradually suppressed, showing a faint decline.
Facing the enemy's condition, Murad's face couldn't help but show a faint smile of relief. Seizing this opportune moment, he quickly inquired about the situation on the other two flanks.
"Reporting to Sultan," a Sipahi general replied, "The cavalry on both flanks are being held up by the enemy's Tatar cavalry and Turkmen cavalry, and it is feared they cannot arrive for a while."
"That's not right. Although 6,000 men were sent to Amasya, we still have over 500 Kapikulu Sipahi cavalry and over 500 Timar Sipahi, as well as two thousand Turkic Ghazi horse archers here! How could they be easily held up by those low-class Tatars?" Murad was slightly agitated.
"Sultan," the Sipahi general took a deep breath and reported all the military intelligence from the front, "This time, the enemy has not only Tatar light cavalry, but also Turkmen light cavalry…"
"They are mercenaries recruited on the spot, those damned Turkic nomadic commoners," Murad immediately understood the reason, "They can sell their faith for money, right!? But the Kapikulu Sipahi are heavy cavalry, how can light cavalry defeat fully armored cavalry?"
"Sultan," the Sipahi general hastily bowed, "These Romans seem to have also brought a unit of heavy cavalry, which is very similar to the iron-armored holy cavalry described in military texts…"
"Nonsense," Murad almost fell off his warhorse, "So the Bosporus Romans have been hiding their strength all along!? Where did they get so much money!?"
Just as the Sultan was about to further inquire about the status of those conscripts, a violent explosion of cannon barrels came from behind him. Turning back, his face turned pale with fright: the three large-caliber cannons had all burst their barrels because they had not been debugged in advance and had been fired too frequently on the battlefield.
Although large cannons are not as important in field battles as others might imagine, their current destruction undoubtedly dampened the morale of the Ottoman Army. The enemy's bombardment, on the other hand, was the opposite: not only was it regular and orderly, but it was also relentless.
Cavalry were tied up, artillery advantage was suppressed, and the whereabouts of the conscripts were unknown. Even with things at this point, Murad II remained unshaken, and instead became calmer than ever. "Janissary Corps, charge with me! Allahu Akbar!"