When Theodore tallied the casualties the next day, he was surprised to find that in the battle by the Obitochna River the previous day, his side had managed to kill over two thousand Tatars and capture nearly two thousand more, all at the cost of fewer than 700 of his own men.
The majority of his 700 casualties were due to friendly trampling and Tatar arrows.
This left Manuel both overjoyed and confused, as if he had punched a cotton ball.
To ensure the complete annihilation of the Crimean Khanate's forces in the south, he had deployed a strategic plan weeks ago, specifically choosing this sand spit terrain for the ambush.
To prevent any keen-eyed enemy from spoiling his plans, he had even prepared multiple backup strategies…
And then he just won like that?
Logically, shouldn't the Tatars have resisted stubbornly, fought to the death, and stood united, only to be eventually forced to retreat by Theodore, making it a hard-fought and back-and-forth battle?
In fact, Manuel had greatly underestimated the extent to which Shilin's recent actions had crippled the Crimean Khanate.
To maintain and even elevate the Shirin's status within the Khanate, Shilin's overbearing behavior during Giray's lack of control had completely alienated the Darhkans who remained in Adamakha.
He was not a strong leader like Giray, who could unite his disparate subordinates, and he forcibly led a disloyal army.
Naturally, when faced with an unfavorable situation, they scattered like birds and beasts.
Moreover, due to Crimea's terribly compromised intelligence system, events in Adamakha were like a live broadcast to Manuel.
The overwhelming intelligence advantage allowed all the traps Theodore set for Crimea to work perfectly.
Furthermore, the four thousand veteran soldiers Manuel brought were experienced and more or less familiar with fighting Tatars.
Their combat effectiveness was not weak.
Therefore, Theodore's overwhelming victory was not accidental.
"Speaking of which, according to preliminary interrogations of the captives, this time we've essentially captured all the high-ranking nobles of the Crimean Khanate from Adamakha.
I wonder how surprised Haji Giray will be when he hears this news."
Thinking of this, Manuel couldn't help but burst into laughter.
The news of the almost complete annihilation of the Crimean Khanate's southern defense forces quickly reached Adamakha in the latter half of the month, causing panic among the old, weak, and sick who remained there.
Several Darhkans, deliberately left in the city by Shilin, were relieved to have been left behind but quickly cursed Shilin's incompetence upon hearing the news: "That incompetent good-for-nothing, he's completely squandered our future!"
But no matter how much they cursed, they couldn't change the fact that the Khanate was on the verge of collapse.
Even the most loyal Darhkans were now seeking an escape route for themselves.
Optimists were reviewing the Sarai dialect, while pessimists began learning greek and Goth.
No one intended to serve the crumbling Khanate anymore, except for the die-hard supporters of the Girey Family.
Despite this, Adamakha still managed to send news of the devastating defeat by the Obitochna River to Giray, who was still fighting fiercely in the Bakhmut area, allowing him to receive the information in early July.
"What did you say? My southern defense forces were completely squandered by that useless boy from the Shilin?!"
In the military camp, after reading the message, Giray was dumbfounded, his face filled with disbelief.
"Yes, Khan, we have virtually no troops left in the south," the messenger knelt and said.
"I… I… I need a moment.
Let me be…"
After confirming the news was true, Giray almost fainted.
He was so close to winning, so close to defeating the Golden Horde army on the northern border.
Just a little more, just one or two months, and he would have been free to deal with Theodore in the south.
Just a little bit more, if only he had one more month, no, even half a month would be enough…
"Why, why, why!"
Giray roared in his heart.
Now Northern Crimea had fallen, the southern forces were completely annihilated, there were hardly any high-ranking officials left in the Khanate, and the traveling court in Adamakha was also in grave danger.
No matter how he looked at it, he was sliding into the abyss of defeat.
Two paths lay before him now: one was to gamble that Theodore would first consolidate his victory, allowing him to continue his struggle against the Golden Horde in Bakhmut; the other was to immediately cease his northern campaign, march south to counterattack Theodore, and try to stabilize the situation.
After a long pause, Giray finally decided to abandon all the gains he had made in Bakhmut over the past few months and use his remaining forces to march south, attempting to crush Theodore's army.
That night, in his military camp, he dismissed his guards and personal soldiers, pacing alone and muttering, "If I can defeat Theodore's army in one battle, then the tribes, once again awed by my victory, might change their minds.
If I'm lucky, I might even be able to turn the tide…"
As he muttered this, he was suddenly startled by his own delusion.
After a while, he burst into wild laughter: "Hahaha, to still think about turning the situation around at this point, am I a fool? I just want to beat Theodore to vent my anger, and then perhaps place my hopes on a slim chance of victory.
I've found so many high-sounding excuses, making it sound so serious, haha, hahaha…"
While Giray was laughing hysterically in his military camp, Manuel had already led his army to Keziyar to discuss the next plan.
As for the captives, he had already sent them all to the Crimean Peninsula before July.
"To summarize, in my personal opinion, since Giray will not sit idly by, we must seize every moment to capture important Tatar cities before he arrives.
Do not divide our forces, and do not seize unnecessary land.
What do you all think?"
At the end of the meeting, Manuel pointed to the map and summarized his thoughts.
After a moment of thought, the generals all agreed with his view, "Your Highness is very right."
"Then it is settled.
Tomorrow we will set off and first capture Adamakha.
I will also write to my brother shortly, asking him to send some troops from Phanagoria to harass and strike at Crimea's rule in the Kuba region," Manuel finally decided.
"Yes, Your Highness, loyalty!"
The next day, Manuel led the main army to attack the Crimean traveling court in Adamakha.
A few days later, the messenger he sent also arrived in Phanagoria.
"Is this what my brother requested?"
The young Isaac asked seriously.
"Yes, young Prince," the messenger confirmed with a bow.
"Hmm, tell my brother I will."
After the messenger left, Isaac quietly summoned his confidant, the young noble Nikiforus Volor, and asked for his opinion on the matter.
"In my humble opinion, young Prince, now is a good time to act," Volor reminded him.
"Oh?"
"The jurisdiction of Phanagoria needs to be expanded, young Prince, otherwise, with a population of just over 80,000 here, it will be difficult to achieve anything.
Now is not the time to be sparing with our forces.
Achieve great things, young Prince!"