Not long after the Crimean Khanate's high-ranking officials in Adamakha began recruiting soldiers in a somewhat flustered manner to respond to the enemy, they were surprised to find the Theodoro Army starting to harass them all over the southern part of the Khanate. No, it could no longer be called harassment; it was clearly large-scale looting, just like when they looted Christians before the war.
"No, where did they get so many cavalrymen?" Ismail Shilin asked, dumbfounded and furious, after receiving another battle report about Kizlyar being looted.
"I'm sorry, Balin, but I don't know," the messenger soldier he questioned replied, kneeling in bewilderment.
"Isn't Northern Crimea an excellent horse-breeding ground? And the horse tribute we've collected these days has also decreased significantly. It seems the reason is obvious," Balin said, flipping through the roster of recent tributes paid by various tribes.
"But how can the archery skills of our Tatar warriors be compared to these Christians?" Shilin still asked, enraged and puzzled.
"When our Tatars go looting, are all of them elite cavalry?" Balin retorted.
"Are you saying they're learning from us, mixing cavalry with mounted infantry to disgust us?"
"This is merely my conjecture, and I don't guarantee its authenticity." At this, Balin leaned back, feigning a relaxed posture.
"You…" Shilin was speechless. After a long pause, he cautiously probed, "So what should we do now?"
"In my humble opinion, it would be better to wait until the army is fully prepared before advancing," Balin offered his reply.
This guy is definitely doing it on purpose! Shilin thought, gritting his teeth in hatred, because the Shirin's operations in the southern Khanate were far beyond what the other two major tribes could compare to. If this continued, he would suffer the greatest losses. Therefore, no matter what, he had to stop the Theodoro Army's looting in the southern territories of the Khanate as quickly as possible.
Even if the Balin Tribe was unwilling to cooperate with his plan.
To this end, he leveraged all of the Shirin's influence in the Khanate and finally, in early June, persuaded, or rather forced, the other forces of the Khanate to comply with his bold plan of advance, raising over four thousand troops to completely expel these Christian armies rampaging within the Khanate.
The morning after Shilin forcibly pushed through this plan in Adamakha, Manuel, stationed in Henichesk, learned of the news through his intelligence system, making him so surprised that he immediately jumped out of his chair, "Good, good, good, this is exactly what I wanted! I've been waiting for this moment for months!" Then, he calmed down slightly and began to examine the map on his desk, "Let me see, where is suitable for our Theodoro Army to perform."
However, in contrast to Theodoro, who was fully aware of Crimea's movements, Crimea still lacked understanding of their enemy's movements. Even a cautious and wise Darhkan like Balin believed that Theodore had merely dispatched over a thousand aggressive "mounted infantry" to harass the Khanate's rear.
It was under this intelligence disparity between the two sides that a war, unexpected by both, was about to begin.
In mid-June, after the Crimean side had prepared over four thousand troops of varying quality, Darhkan Shilin impatiently gathered most of the high-ranking officials of the Khanate in Adamakha, including Mustafa Balin, and personally led them all out to crush Theodoro and reclaim lost territory. Along the march, the Crimean Army advanced like a broken bamboo, encountering almost no enemies. Even if there were any, they were only scout teams of twenty to thirty men, who quickly retreated upon encountering the Crimean Army—indeed, fleeing would be a more appropriate description.
This significantly boosted Shilin's prestige in the Khanate, making him even somewhat complacently boast to Balin about his "wise decision": "Look, look, if we had followed Darhkan Balin's advice, the outcome would still be unknown now." He didn't care what Balin was thinking internally; he just wanted to seize this opportunity to severely suppress those who dared to openly mock the Shirin.
Shilin led these people, immersed in the joy of victory, until a few days later, a junior Darhkan informed him that there were suspected traces of a large Theodoro force on the banks of the Obitochna River, west of Kizlyar.
This further invigorated Shilin. In his eyes, if he could take down this Theodoro force that had been harassing their rear, then the Shirin's future position in the Khanate might rise significantly, perhaps even becoming the top family below the Giray Family. Therefore, after repeatedly confirming the information, he once again forcibly ignored the dissenting opinions within the army, personally gathered all the high-ranking Khanate officials he had brought, and led the entire army towards the Obitochna River.
The Obitochna River is one of the river networks in the Kizlyar region. The river channel is 531 stadia long, and except for its lower reaches, most parts are not deep. East of the river's mouth in its lower reaches, due to long-term river sand deposition, a large sand spit has formed. After centuries of accumulation, this sand spit could even support a sizable town. Historically, a coastal town called Primorsk began to be built here after the 18th century. However, in the 15th century, it was still an uninhabited place.
When Shilin personally led the army to the riverbank before dusk, he saw a strangely large number of enemy warships on the sea. To avoid an ambush, he still ordered scouts to investigate first. A short while later, the military intelligence reported by the scouts filled him with joy: "Darhkan, the place is full of stoves and supplies, and there's a small unit of over a hundred men guarding it. It should be Theodoro's camp."
"How are they arranged?" Shilin asked cautiously.
"Sir, they're in disarray."
"Good! It seems they've fled. But since that's the case, I'll gladly accept the supplies these Kafir left behind! Of course, everyone in the army will get their rightful share," Shilin said proudly, raising his voice to suppress any discontent within the army.
As he expected, after he made this high-profile statement, no one in the army openly expressed any further objections. Shilin, immensely satisfied with this, smiled to himself and then led the entire army directly to the sand spit on the riverbank.
At this time, it was low tide. The shallowest part of the river channel between the sand spit and the mainland was only deep enough to cover a horse's hooves, allowing the Crimean Army to easily push onto the sand spit without hindrance. After Shilin confirmed that all his men were on it, he ordered people from other smaller tribes to guard the outside to prevent enemy attacks. But none of them were willing to accept the outcome of having worked so hard to follow along only to gain nothing, so they all crowded onto the sand spit to snatch supplies. After repeated orders, finding that no one was willing to listen to him, Shilin reluctantly allowed the entire army to "fairly" participate in taking the spoils.
While doing his best to mediate and maintain basic military discipline, Shilin suddenly realized that the junior Darhkan who had reported enemy traces here seemed to have evaporated into thin air; he couldn't be found no matter how hard he looked. At this moment, sensing something strange, he looked at the river surface, which was gradually rising due to the incoming tide, and the suddenly appearing, dense "dark clouds" in the distance, and began to ponder: "Where is he? I wanted to reward him. By the way, why are there more enemy ships on the sea, and that dense black mass on the mainland, is it dark clouds? No, that can't be right. How can dark clouds grow so quickly? That should be… that should be… it's… the enemy army! We're finished!"
Finally realizing where the problem lay, he immediately shouted in stunned disbelief:
"I've been tricked!"