After capturing Cheleki and stabilizing the situation, Alexius also incorporated the city into Kaffa's jurisdiction.
In other words—
"Does my cheap old man think I'm Superman? Why does he dump all these messes on me?" Alexius had barely assigned Cheleki to Manuel when Manuel sat in the city's town hall, muttering with a mix of anger and amusement.
The thought of the northern city walls, smashed to smithereens, instantly made him lose his composure: Was this a case of shooting himself in the foot?
But since this city was now under his jurisdiction, he naturally had to expend considerable effort to restore its military potential and political economy.
In Manuel's vision, Cheleki—for now, by common agreement, let's temporarily call it Kerch—though Manuel felt that once things were completely settled, he would rename these cities to names more fitting for history and the Principality.
Ahem, back to the main topic: according to Manuel's vision and the current defensive line of the Theodoro Principality, Kerch would be an important stronghold against Genoese armies from Matrega, working in conjunction with the nascent Crimean Mountains fortress system to prevent Genoa from carving up this narrow coastline into two or more sections.
To achieve this strategic objective, he planned to build fortresses along the route between Kaffa and Kerch.
As for whether the Tatars would object? Ha, according to Theodoro's currently known information, Dawlat Berdi could only hold Northern Crimea thanks to the "Tatar Isthmus," which is historically known as the Perekop Isthmus, where a fortress stands guard.
His current forces are only about half the Principality's size, so as long as Theodoro builds fortresses under the pretext of "protecting local farmers and herders from foreign invaders," Prince Berdi won't be able to interfere much.
As for the money, he would still ask the Venetians.
Manuel calculated the war aid Venice had provided, and it was more than enough to build some fortresses.
In any case, war preparations had to be made before making any major moves against Genoa itself.
While Theodoro began to enthusiastically prepare and construct defensive lines and fortresses, Grimaldi and his men found themselves stranded in Matrega.
Spinola was utterly shocked.
Although he and Gattuso withdrawing their troops to their own territories had an element of wanting to see Grimaldi make a fool of himself, it was more about retaining the ability to defend themselves against Tatar or Venetian raids.
He had even planned to send over a thousand men to help them defend the city after half a week of rest.
Who would have thought that in just three or four days, Cheleki would be renamed Kerch?
This was simply terrifying.
"Send for aid from the homeland." This was the consensus they finally reached.
Finally, about half a month after Kaffa was lost, the Kaffa Consul and Vice-Consuls jointly wrote to the Governor's Office, requesting the homeland to send troops, severely punish Theodoro, and reclaim the Kaffa region.
Due to the urgency of the situation, the messenger ship sailed exceptionally fast this time, and news of Kaffa's fall to Theodoro reached the homeland in about ten days.
Upon learning of this, Genoese Governor Simon Boccanegra was so shocked that he froze on the spot, only regaining his senses after a long while and cursing loudly:
"Paolo Grimaldi, that good-for-nothing among good-for-nothings, actually kept this hidden for so long before reporting it!
Does he know how much damage his actions have caused the Republic?
And Theodoro, have these Eastern Orthodox gone mad?
How dare they covet our colony?
Even the Tatars wouldn't dare to do such a thing; are they stronger than the Golden Horde?
And Francesco Doria, why didn't he tell me such important information?
His letters are full of flattering nonsense; he must have been bought off by Theodoro…."
Thinking of this, Boccanegra frowned, suddenly feeling that things were not so simple.
"Convene the council this afternoon to discuss how to handle this."
Boccanegra instructed his attendant, then hurried back to his residence.
He remembered that some previous secret letters had deliberately not been disposed of, to serve as proof of Doria's identity.
When he compared the content, tone, and handwriting of the secret letters from previous years with recent ones, his fingertips instantly turned pale.
"The content of these letters is mostly the same, but those from previous years contained important information, while recent ones are all beautiful nonsense.
Also, those from previous years asked me to take care of his family and recommend family members he had a good impression of, but recent ones only contain clichés about taking care of family and looking after the family… Was Doria replaced after being discovered? Or was he eliminated?
Since when?"
To unravel this mystery, he carefully compared them again, and then he was utterly astonished by this huge discovery.
"It was probably last year, the 1427th year of Christ's birth, between January and March.
This means Theodoro started preparing last year?
The Kaffa civil unrest was not an accident at all, but a long-planned 'accidental trigger'?
These despicable Goths." Boccanegra thought blankly.
"Did they make other preparations? Otherwise, why now? No, that's not right…."
Boccanegra suddenly remembered something and burst into laughter.
"Foolish Goths, do you think a meticulously planned conspiracy can overcome the disparity between nations?
Utterly foolish, not thinking of improving their national strength but instead resorting to such un-Christian crooked ways; no wonder they are reduced to holding onto Constantinople."
Boccanegra laughed, "I believe the council will make the necessary decision on this matter."
That afternoon, after Boccanegra's speech, the council members became involuntarily enraged:
What a joke, a weak city-state Principality dared to plot against them?
What countries had Genoa been entangled with over the years?
The Republic of Venice, their equal in fame; the Kingdom of France, a major Western European power before its struggles with England; the Kingdom of Aragon, a new competitor in the Mediterranean; the rising Ottoman Sultanate; and the powerful Milan, Florence, and Papal States on the Apennine Peninsula.
What exactly was Theodoro?
An orphaned city-state with just over 100,000 people, a tiny nation that only survived being swallowed thanks to the Golden Horde.
In the eyes of Genoese merchants, they had no value other than their coastline.
1422 was one thing; riding the coattails of Milan forcing Genoa into submission, they had made what they considered significant concessions to these Eastern Orthodox, even "graciously" abolishing the Gothia Captaincy.
Now they were pushing their luck?
All the council members were eager for action, wishing they could fly to Crimea immediately to give these Goths an unforgettable lesson.
However, out of wartime etiquette, the Genoese Council ultimately decided to give Theodoro one last chance, a warning—
Unconditionally return Kaffa and its surrounding areas.