A few days later, after careful consideration, Manuel excitedly announced his self-devised operational plan for the mainland region to his generals near the Tatar Isthmus. "I call it the Nysus Plan," he proudly introduced at the end.
The generals were all taken aback. Tukharovsky, who knew the Tatars well, desperately tried to stop Manuel's military adventure. The other generals also objected, and even Aidian of the Philaka Legion interjected: "Your Highness, please reconsider. Tatar cavalry moves extremely fast, and the Great Plains are their home ground. Although we took a large amount of land in Northern Crimea in this sneak attack, and even control the Tatar Isthmus, our national strength is completely incomparable to the Crimean Khanate. Moreover, most Tatars are nomads, and riding and shooting are basic skills for them. Even if the enemy only dispatches a large contingent to deal with us, it will be quite troublesome. Given this, Your Highness, we should not actively go to the enemy's advantageous terrain to fight, but rather use the terrain to defend and wear down their forces."
The dissuasion from the army slightly sobered Manuel. After careful thought, he withdrew his previous immature plan. However, due to the urgency of breaking the status quo, he eventually convinced the generals to settle for a second-best option, accepting his proposed second plan: he would personally lead a force of over a thousand men to launch a probing attack on the mainland region.
When asked what to do if the enemy arrived, Manuel bluntly presented the military intelligence from the previous scouts, informing them that the main forces of Crimea were still entangled with the Golden Horde. "Don't worry, even if we encounter enemy detachments, with the skill of our army, we can still retreat safely. We are fighting Tatars, not the Ottoman, so we won't run into Janissaries, right?"
But Tukharovsky remained quite uneasy. After Manuel dispatched 200 elite Philaka soldiers, 400 city guards, and 400 militiamen, he specifically instructed his troops to prepare for support and defense. When asked by other generals, he explained with great concern: "Although Your Highness's words are all true, the Crimean Khanate was able to maintain complete defenses and win several battles after the Lithuanian reinforcements withdrew. I suspect the enemy must have some subtle hidden moves."
The mainland region connected to the Crimean Peninsula is called Yedishkul by the Tatars. The Yedishkul region, like other parts of the Eastern European Great Plains, is an endless, flat expanse of grassland. It is very suitable for high-mobility cavalry units such as light cavalry, horse archers, and hussars.
To adapt to the Great Plains region, four-tenths of the troops led by Manuel this time were light cavalry in light armor, to ensure the mobility of the entire army. As for the infantry, they were mainly pikemen, with a small number of musketeers, fewer than 200.
According to the original plan, this army led by Manuel only needed to probe the surroundings, destroy the Khanate's important supply lines and settlements in the area, and then return. But as the army advanced, Manuel was surprised to find that his forces were moving through an undefended land, encountering virtually no decent resistance along the way. "Indeed, my view is correct." After plundering another Tatar pastoral village, Manuel was somewhat annoyed by the cautious timidity of his generals and decided to continue eastward. "Destroy all Tatar settlements we can find, and completely annihilate the Khanate's forces!" Slaughter was the only way; after all, Theodoro had no intention of incorporating these areas into his rule. In the many years of war with Genoa, he had largely shed his previous naive and pointless empathy for the enemy.
Meanwhile, in Yuzhne Prison on the outskirts of Theodosia, Badars had received the interrogation results of the surrendered general Duoduo from the Dark Department. After taking the interrogation report, he coldly glanced at the scarred Duoduo, and with a sneer, began to read it carefully.
"This infidel looked so fierce, I didn't expect him to be so easily broken during interrogation." As he said this, Duoduo used his last strength to curse: "You despicable Kafirs, Greeks, your interrogation methods are like devils! Even the emperor of the Eastern Dynasty is a novice compared to you!"
Badars ignored him, merely sitting in his chair, waving his hand, and slowly saying: "How do you still have strength? And speak so coherently? Beat him." His subordinates in the Dark Department understood, and soon a series of screams came from Duoduo's position.
"Alright, alright, let me see what these foolish Tatars are up to." Amidst the prisoner's screams, Badars contentedly began to read the report silently.
"Oh, oh, oh, trying to win over King Sigismund? Hmm, and inciting Ulugh Muhammad to lead the Volga Bulgarians and the Nogai tribes to also break away from the Khanate. Very wise moves, but by the time they arrive, it'll be too late. Also, all the defense arrangements within the Khanate have been revealed, very good. Wait a minute," Badars jumped out of his chair when he saw the last line, "The Crimean Khanate is allegedly trying to seek intervention from the Ottoman Sultanate?! And has already received assistance from an unknown number of Janissaries!"
Badars felt a "thump" in his heart. He incredibly shocked, pressed the report to his face, and then angrily ordered his subordinates in the Dark Department: "Interrogate him severely! I want to know detailed information about this Janissary unit!"
Hours later, he finally disappointedly obtained the relevant information from Duoduo, who had become a bloody, blurry figure, only able to moan for mercy.
"My lord, my lord, I, I really… don't know any more… This is, is a secret of the Khanate… If, if I weren't a noble, I… I wouldn't even know the Khanate invited Janissaries…" He whimpered and groaned. If an orthodox priest were present, he would probably be cursing the Dark Department for such actions.
Badars shook his head, expressing regret that he couldn't extract more intelligence. Then, he carefully unfolded paper and pen, intending to inform the Principality's high command of this information. "His Highness must be informed of this as soon as possible!" he thought urgently.
But at this moment, Manuel was unaware of this, nor did he know that the enemy's Janissary general Mahmud Kelir, leading his troops, had already arrived in the nearby Kizlyar region, gathering the Tatars displaced by Manuel's invasion, preparing to launch a swift counterattack.