The Battle of Giresun lasted nearly six hours, from the Bosporus Army's surprise attack to Murad's retreat under the protection of his guards.
If the subsequent time spent clearing the remnants of the defeated forces is added, the battle's duration could even extend to half a day.
But thankfully, the Bosporus won.
By the time the aftermath was cleared, it was the next day, with the warm sun shining brightly.
After a fierce afternoon battle and a night of cleanup, Manuel sat somewhat wearily below the city wall, staring blankly at the corpse-strewn battlefield.
Under the sunlight, the bodies piled up from the slaughter on the battlefield now held no warmth; both Christian and Muslim, they had all been frozen into piles of "frozen meat" by the extreme cold of winter.
After a brief moment of distraction, the young Caesar opened his mouth to speak, seemingly wanting to lament something.
However, before he could speak, his subordinate, who had come to report, inadvertently interrupted him, pulling his thoughts back to his usual state as a monarch.
"Your Majesty, the battle report is roughly complete," his Commander of the Guard, Badars, bowed his head and knelt on one knee, presenting the rough battle report to his respected Caesar.
Manuel nodded approvingly, took it, his face showing no displeasure at being interrupted.
According to the summary of this rough battle report, in yesterday's battle, the Bosporus Army suffered over five thousand casualties, while killing or capturing six to seven thousand enemy soldiers.
Among them, over two thousand mercenaries died, nearly two thousand militiamen were killed or wounded, and the rest were elite soldiers such as peasant-soldiers and regular soldiers.
To his surprise, the battle report ended there.
This made him can't help but ask his subordinate with a puzzled expression, "What about the enemy's specific situation?"
"Reporting to Your Majesty," the Commander of the Guard and confidential secretary bowed and replied with utmost respect, "Because it took too long to clear out the stubborn elements among the enemy who resisted fiercely last night, we can only obtain this much for now… "
"More words are useless." His monarch waved his hand leniently, indicating that there was no need to worry for now, "Although clarifying the casualties of both sides is an extremely important matter, what is most important for our army now is to completely defeat this Ottoman army.
"They have only lost one battle, and their casualties are not yet over ten thousand.
Once they retreat to their own territory, they will certainly be able to quickly reorganize and recover, and after this defeat, Murad II will undoubtedly be even more cautious.
If we don't annihilate the remaining routed troops this time, next time we will likely face over thirty thousand Ottoman cavalry."
"But Your Majesty," Badars asked somewhat puzzled, "Even if we completely annihilate these routed troops, can't the Ottoman still make a comeback? So what's the difference between annihilating them or not?"
"The difference lies in," Caesar smiled mysteriously, "the amount of time gained.
Alright, go inform Commander Tukharovsky that we must prepare to reinforce Amasya soon.
There are still nearly 6,000 Ottoman besieging the city; we must defeat them before Murad arrives there to rendezvous."
As Manuel said, the routed troops led by Murad II were indeed approaching Amasya, hoping to rendezvous with the forces there, in order to preserve the remaining troops before returning to Sinop to reorganize.
"Damn Greeks, when did they start preparing!" Beside the Sultan, a general who had been badly beaten, Rom Pasha, the deputy commander of the Ankara Legion, rode on a pack horse and cursed in a low voice.
"I don't know, but it must have been premeditated." The Sultan, whom he was guarding, stroked his beard with a dark face, speculating about the subtle anomalies of his enemies in recent days.
Now that he thought about it, was the Romans' retreat from Samsun intentional or unintentional? And was the Black Sea coast really blockaded by their navy? Had they started preparing from that time?
Upon careful consideration, Murad gradually discovered some subtle peculiarities.
But at the time, those issues didn't seem like issues at all.
For example, abandoning a city and fleeing until there was nowhere to escape before starting to defend seriously was a common situation that the Ottoman had long been accustomed to in their numerous conflicts with the Romans.
Yesterday was the first time he had been lured into a trap and defeated.
"If that's the case, then the only explanation is that these Romans from the north of the Black Sea exploited our past experiences and stereotypes.
The large cities in the Janik region were all bait they threw out, and the dual weakness in naval and land battles was also part of it." After realizing this, the Sultan's face grew even darker.
But considering these things now was useless.
For him now, the top priority was to reach Amasya, rendezvous with the six thousand besieging troops he had left there, and then temporarily retreat to Ordu or Samsun, ordering several legions from Anatolia and both sides of the Dardanelles Strait to come via Sinop.
If the enemy's pursuit capability was insufficient during this period, he could also direct his troops to take Amasya first when retreating to the towns in the Janik region, thus removing this fortress that was like a thorn in his throat.
With this thought, Murad ordered the entire army to speed up their march.
Even so, due to constantly receiving routed soldiers along the way, reorganizing morale, and having to detour through mountains and hills to guard against enemy pursuit, it was a week after the Battle of Giresun ended when the Ottoman remnants finally reached Amasya.
If there was anything to be thankful for along the way, it was that they encountered no resistance.
This made Murad somewhat relieved: it meant that these enemies had not fully taken control of the local order in Janik and Amasya, but merely conducted a simple military occupation.
All in all, late one night in late December, this Ottoman routed army of over three thousand men finally caught sight of Amasya's city walls from a hillside.
Below the city wall, Ottoman banners could vaguely be seen fluttering in the cold wind, waving in the night.
"Excellent, Sultan! Allah be praised!" Rom Pasha couldn't help but exclaim, looking at the banner symbolizing their own troops.
Murad, who was also delighted at this moment, did not interrupt him, but instead gazed at it greedily, as if he had grasped a lifeline, "Advance with the entire army, it's time to rendezvous with these brave warriors blessed by Allah!"
Upon receiving their Sultan's order, these over three thousand Ottoman, after a brief and slight cheer, rushed down the hillside towards Amasya, eager to rendezvous with their allies and escape the miserable situation they had not anticipated days earlier.
But the closer they got to their destination, Murad gradually noticed some strange things, "Strange, why is it so quiet, there's no sound at all.
According to our army regulations, if an unknown army approaches, someone should be dispatched to prevent it by now.
And where are the scouts?"
Fortunately, his questions were quickly answered, because as this Ottoman force reached the city, a loud voice directly broke the silence of the night—
"Sorry, this place is already full!"