In the following days, these Rus' people from Lithuania were surprised to find that the Theodoro people had, at some point, begun actively discussing the idea of recognizing the Grand Duke of Lithuania as their suzerain, and the results of these discussions were often absurd statements like, "It's an honor to be the Grand Duke's dog!" Even Mikhail sometimes had the illusion that these Greeks loved Lithuania more than the Lithuanians themselves.
Of course, this was entirely a semi-truthful phenomenon created by the Principality's high-ranking officials; as for how much of it was genuine, that remained to be seen as events unfolded.
By the end of August, 2,000 strong and healthy Circassian mountain dwellers from Adyghe arrived in Mangup. This time, Patniko finally didn't have to worry about command issues, as everyone unanimously decided that these 2,000 men would be under his command.
As for why the Prince and his son didn't squabble over such matters, the reason was simple: Alexius himself, as the Prince of the Principality, could mobilize all troops, and Manuel was now the Army Commander of the entire army. Patniko had always been Alexius's man, and his previous anger was more due to his personal reasons than his identity as the Army Commander. Therefore, it was necessary to satisfy his inner needs.
Regarding the grouping of these 2,000 men, due to the Principality's insufficient financial strength, Theodoro had to organize them all as infantry. However, due to their excellent physical condition, Manuel specifically selected half of them to receive heavy infantry training, while the other half underwent arquebusier training. With these reinforcements, plus the troops Theodoro already possessed, Theodoro could now field an astonishing 8,000-man army during wartime, which could even contend with some Tatar princes in the Crimea region without being at a disadvantage.
But if they were truly foolish enough to passionately fight the Tatars, Manuel and his advisors believed it would ultimately be a fruitless endeavor. A Eastern Orthodox Principality fighting muslims? Did they want to be a living target? Therefore, the plan to conquer Kaffa, the 'orphan of the Black Sea' belonging to Genoa, would not change.
Even so, taking Kaffa still carried significant risks. In response, Manuel, at Alexius's instruction, began to orchestrate several "small accidents."
By September, which should have been harvest season, the people of Kaffa were instead gripped by frustration and agitation. These past few days, several bands of Tatar bandits had plundered their farmlands, but the Kaffa Consul had shown little reaction.
Well, it wasn't exactly 'no reaction,' but Paolo Grimaldi's attitude was certainly passive. After hearing about these raids, he merely dispatched a small contingent of troops to patrol and sent a few letters of condemnation to several Tatar princes. The troops he sent, having not received extra pay, only perfunctorily dealt with the bandits.
As for why the Kaffa authorities were so passive in dealing with these bandits, it was mainly because most of those plundered were Eastern Orthodox farmers and nobles. Catholics, due to having private armies and the focused protection of bribed troops, did not suffer losses they found intolerable. However, this blatant favoritism further fueled the dissatisfaction of Kaffa's Eastern Orthodox population. Alas, when one is under another's roof, how can one not bow one's head? Endurance, this was what they had learned in Kaffa.
In fact, Paolo had not been unaware of this issue and had even discussed it in the Consular Council. The council members were also divided on the matter; most expressed that there was no need to worry. For example, Alberto Merlo, the Army Commander who hailed from a Corsica lord, stated that there was no problem and that any opposition should simply be suppressed by sending in troops. Gregory Giunio, who was in charge of finance, also held this view: "Let the common people suffer a bit more, and the Tatars will bear the blame. Anyway, only the Eastern Orthodox Greeks are suffering." Incidentally, he was a native Catholic Greek, wore a Catholic cross necklace around his neck, and liked to keep his right hand in his pocket, though no one knew why.
Under the enthusiastic discussion of the Consular Council members, it was finally decided to treat this as a routine incident. If food was insufficient, it would be brought from the mainland; if city defenses had problems, they would be reinforced. There was nothing to worry about. But Paolo was still a little concerned, so he reported the matter to the Governor's Office, which, however, came to the same conclusion.
In fact, Governor Boccanegra believed that Kaffa, no matter how much it stirred, was still very safe. According to his "absolutely reliable" informant, the external power Theodoro had no ambition for foreign wars at this time; on the contrary, these Greeks were very well-behaved. In contrast to the well-behaved Greeks, the mountain people of Corsica had recently started anti-tax riots again. These lawless rioters under their very noses were, in his eyes, the real threat. Therefore, less trouble was better, and the Governor's Office's advice to the Kaffa Consul was to keep everything as usual.
Ultimately, the Kaffa Consular management, led by Grimaldi, decided to proceed as usual, only allocating more funds to reinforce the city walls. As for the Eastern Orthodox, there was no need to bother. If any foolish Eastern Orthodox public representative dared to ask questions, they would be told:
"What, are you not convinced?"
And so, Kaffa safely passed through a season of poor harvest, adding nothing except for over ten thousand dissatisfied radicals. Congratulations, congratulations.
In contrast, Theodoro responded with heavy blows against the bandits who came to "scavenge," earning widespread praise from the Eastern Orthodox in the area. Kaffa also began to see a large number of residents thinking of Theodoro:
"Hey, did you hear? Theodoro stood firm against those raiding bandits and didn't let those infidels get anything."
"That's the normal way to do things! Look at these Liguria people, they've never considered us!"
"Exactly! If only our superiors were Eastern Orthodox."
"Right! If only our superiors were Theodoro next door."
Such sentiments began to spread throughout the streets and alleys of Kaffa, even reaching Kerch and Matrega. The image of Theodoro grew larger through these exaggerated rumors.
Meanwhile, the mastermind behind all this, Manuel Gavras, was comfortably sitting in the study of his mansion, sipping hot milk and reading these intelligence reports, completely at ease.
However, although he implemented the plan, he actually had little to do with those raiding Tatar bandits. He merely wrote a few highly misleading letters to those Tatar princes and, incidentally, spread rumors that the Kaffa area was "full of naive people with money, come quickly." Otherwise, the number of bandits raiding Theodoro would not have increased to this extent.
"The Liguria people will regret their arrogance," Manuel thought with a cold smile, looking at his little Doge studying Eastern Orthodox scriptures in his study. "Speaking of which, we've captured quite a few Tatars these days. Perhaps we can try to make use of them."