Haji Giray ultimately chose to prioritize attacking the Principality of Theodoro, not only because he personally wanted to quickly retake Northern Crimea, where the Khanate's capital was located, but also because his subordinate tribes were either rooted in the Crimean Peninsula or had extensive pastureland in Crimea.
For example, the Shirin, Murzas, and Balin Tribes, who held the highest status and strongest power under him, all originated from Northern Crimea.
For them, whether out of sentiment or interest, they were more inclined to first retake the Northern Crimea region.
Moreover, based on the stereotypes formed over several years and the great victory previously achieved at Keziyar, they all generally believed that the Christians were incapable of withstanding a single blow , and that the Khanate would surely reclaim Northern Crimea within a week; at most, it would just be a matter of casualties.
However, the view of Mahmud Kelir, the General of the Janissaries' reinforcements, differed from theirs.
In a military meeting at the beginning of September, he suggested, "Khan, I recommend not sending only 10,000 men to deal with them.
Our army's victory at Keziyar last time relied on the correct combination of quantity, quality, and timing to crush the opponent, but even so, we still lost 750 soldiers, including 25 Janissaries.
I believe Khan should conscript all available manpower from the Khanate along the way, gathering at least 15,000 men before launching a major offensive.
Furthermore, it would be best to incite rebellion before the battle and take Phanagoria along the way, forcing Theodoro to divert its attention, which would reduce their garrison at the Isthmus by at least one-third, or even half."
Klier's assertion was unanimously refuted by all the Tatar noble Generals at the meeting, because the establishment of the Khanate itself relied on seizing opportunities and leveraging external forces; there was simply not enough military strength to conduct a two-pronged advance.
Moreover, all of the Khanate's ports were now blockaded, and if they divided their forces to attack Phanagoria, they saw no benefit other than plundering meager wealth and boosting morale.
As for conscripting tribes along the way, their status could be jeopardized if casualties were too high.
In view of this, Klier's proposal was overwhelmingly rejected at this military meeting.
The Khanate would proceed with its original plan to attack Northern Crimea soon.
At the end of September, during the autumn harvest season, small farmers in Southern Crimea were using their exquisite or crude farming tools to harvest wheat grains in the fields.
To the north, however, it was completely different from the peace and harmony of the south; the steppe presented a desolate and somber and chilling appearance.
It was under these circumstances that Haji Giray, the Khan of Crimea, personally led an army of 10,000 to seize the momentum and retake Northern Crimea in one fell swoop.
Due to the sensitive and accurate intelligence system, coupled with the large number of scouts operating on the mainland, Theodoro received precise intelligence and began to defend the Isthmus according to the drills of the past few months, probably before the Crimean Army arrived at Keziyar.
After confirming the movements of the Crimean Army, Manuel immediately led nearly 5,000 troops of varying quality and rushed to the Tatar Isthmus.
With an additional 2,500 garrison troops that could be mobilized in Northern Crimea, the Theodoro defenders had a force of nearly 7,500 soldiers.
To ensure that the Tatars in the controlled area would not affect the defense of the city, Theodoro adopted a strategy of semi-cooperation and semi-suppression, treating collaborators and resistors differently.
They recruited Tatars who were willing to sincerely convert to save manpower needed for suppression and publicly executed a group of fanatics, including stubborn mullahs.
At the same time, the Principality continued to besiege Bakhchysarai, maintaining a strategy of surrounding but not attacking, trapping the garrison of the Khanate's capital and its population, pushing them closer to famine.
The Principality also activated its intelligence network to actively apprehend any potential Khanate spies within its borders.
After these measures were taken, although Northern Crimea could not provide a decent fighting force, at least no rebellion would break out in the short term.
In other words, the Crimean Khanate's plan to incite Northern Crimea to gain an advantage had died in its infancy.
Let's shift the focus back to the present—
The Crimean Army looked with considerable surprise at the well-constructed Isthmus defenses before them.
Not only the Khanate's Generals, but even Klier was astonished, "How could they have built this in just a few months?
Where did these Christians get so much money and manpower?"
But Giray quickly shook off this shock.
He immediately ordered an advance.
The first line of defense facing the Khanate was a long-existing trench; the trench had no water but was more than half a pule rong deep.
Giray had experience dealing with such trenches.
He immediately divided his vanguard into two routes: one route drove civilians to gather materials to fill the trench; the other route went through the "Sea of Corruption," with engineers following the civilians to build temporary fortifications to allow the main army to pass through.
Just as the civilians and engineers of both routes were about to start working with great enthusiasm, the watchtowers on both sides of the inner Isthmus emitted sounds of arrows whistling through the air, and then rows of civilians and engineers fell down.
"Crossbow bolts!" The battle-hardened Giray immediately realized what they were.
Then, based on his experience and the suggestion of Mustafa Balin, the chief of the Balin Tribe, he had his archers shoot at the enemy while armored infantry with shields covered his own civilians and engineers.
On the tower, Manuel, who was commanding the city's defense, began to consider whether to let the musketeers fire after realizing the enemy's intention, but upon thinking of the early matchlock guns' range, he ultimately abandoned the idea.
"To deal with these cheap enemies, one should use cheap projectiles."
After careful consideration, he decided it was time to deploy it.
By the trench, the civilians and engineers finally began to act effectively under the cover of archers and shield-bearers, because the archers and crossbowmen on the tower, under the threat of the enemy's not-so-inaccurate archers, had a significantly reduced accuracy and minimal effect in order to save their lives.
But just as the Crimean Army was feeling triumphant, several large, black cannon barrels emerged from the tower, and then a huge roar, along with flying shrapnel of stone and iron, erupted from the positions of these civilians and engineers.