Not long ago, Dimitrios Bagration, as the Prince of Imereti, received orders from his father and elder brother to strictly guard the western part of the Kingdom to prevent Bosporus from taking it, which would lead to Tbilisi being besieged from multiple directions.
At the same time, a secret letter from Bosphorus Caesar reached his hands, promising him that as long as he defected to him or allowed the Bosporus Army to pass through Imereti, the war between Bosporus and Georgia would never affect his territory.
In response, Dimitrios, stationed in Sukhumi, made the most normal move for a lord: he remained neutral.
Specifically, he neither helped his father and brother nor was he willing to directly defect to Bosporus, but instead, he held onto his troops, intending to guard his own small plot of land.
Then, Manuel, annoyed by this, ordered Posadas to lead a detachment of elite troops to severely defeat Dimitrios's forces.
The entire Monaspa regiment directly under him was annihilated at Jvari on the Inguri River.
Although he did not personally experience this battle, even just this was impactful enough.
It could be said that if he were not a member of the Bagration family and the current king's own son, Dimitrios would have long since accepted the invitation from Bosporus and defected to the Caesar on the other side.
Just as Dimitrios in his palace was hesitating over this, his vassal and the commander of the Battle of Jvari, Arghunai Sharvashidze, the Duke of Abkhazia, suddenly requested an audience with him, saying he wanted to recount the battle in detail.
The Prince of Imereti was somewhat surprised; hadn't everything mostly been reported already?
But to avoid missing any important information, he still bit the bullet and allowed Arghunai to enter.
Receiving the Prince's order, the Duke of Abkhazia quickly came before his liege.
Arghunai Sharvashidze was similar in age to Alexander I, both old enough to be Dimitrios's father.
He wore a dark gray Kuladga adorned with velvet, a typical Georgian elder's face.
His short beard was slightly disheveled at the moment, and his face, which had been gloomy since the last defeat, showed no sign of relief.
"Your Excellency Arghunai," Dimitrios asked cautiously, "was there any gain from the last battle at Jvari or any previously unknown matters?"
"Yes and no," Arghunai's expression remained clouded, "It's just, Your Highness, regarding Bosporus, I hope to discuss it with you in detail."
Understanding his subtext, Dimitrios immediately dismissed all irrelevant personnel, leaving only a few trusted guards to protect them.
He then immediately invited Arghunai to continue, expressing his willingness to hear his insights.
Facing such a display, the Duke of Abkhazia also revealed his innermost thoughts without reservation, "Your Highness, we should not be enemies with the Romans of Bosporus.
Do you know what tactics they used to defeat our army defending at the foot of the mountain?
Advanced firearms combined with agile light cavalry, plus a strict phalanx defense; at that time, the heavily armored Monaspa, whether heavy infantry or heavy cavalry, could not adjust at all and could only be slaughtered.
Not to mention, after reviewing the battle, their troop numbers were far greater than those who could truly be considered soldiers in our army..."
"You reported all this before, and besides, this might just be an accident," Dimitrios retorted, biting the bullet, "You also mentioned earlier that Bosporus acted faithlessly by ambushing our army at dusk."
"But Your Highness, although Bosporus secretly tried to win us over, they never said they wouldn't act against us."
Speaking of this, Arghunai's face grew even gloomier, "In fact, we are still at war with them.
So-called neutral observation has always been our wishful thinking."
These words made the Prince of Imereti's expression particularly complex.
After the crushing defeat at Jvari, he knew all too well that to maintain the current situation, there was only one path to take.
Although Bosphorus Caesar was only one year older than him, Dimitrios had already roughly understood his administrative style from his deeds.
But he just couldn't get past it psychologically.
"Did Bosphorus Caesar also write to you?" Dimitrios's eyes suddenly sharpened.
"He did," Arghunai nodded stiffly, "Caesar promised that if Abkhazia was willing to voluntarily change allegiance and persuade you to submit, he could cede a small coastal area on the Adyghe border to me."
"Then, what about the Duke of Racha?" The Duke of Racha Dimitrios referred to was Kakhaber Japaridze, the lord of the Principality of Racha, another powerful Principality under Imereti.
Compared to Arghunai Sharvashidze, Kakhaber had closer ties with the central government of Tbilisi.
"I asked him privately, and His Excellency Kakhaber expressed that he would follow Your Highness's choice," Arghunai replied, "If you don't believe me, you can summon him yourself and ask."
Dimitrios's young and handsome face visibly twitched.
"Do I still have a choice?"
Some time later—
On September 25th of that year, Alexander I's second son, Prince Dimitrios Bagration, then 24 years old, declared Imereti independent and proclaimed himself Prince.
At the same time, he immediately placed the officials sent by Tbilisi under house arrest and soon after allied with Bosporus.
Two days later, Imereti's two most important vassal states, the Principality of Abkhazia and the Principality of Racha, declared their support for their liege and pledged allegiance to Bosporus.
In early October, after accepting Imereti's defection, Tukharovsky, the Army Commander of Bosporus Tauris, in cooperation with General Posadas, led five thousand troops through the coastal region of the Southern Caucasus into the heartland of Georgia.
They joined Caesar Manuel, who was already waiting there, preparing to capture the heartland of Georgia.
Upon learning of his second son's betrayal, Alexander I, who was commanding the entire region in Tbilisi, was furious.
He ordered Dimitrios to be stripped of his succession rights and summoned his fourth son, George, who was guarding Kakheti, to lead his main forces back to reinforce Tbilisi, attempting to combine their armies and use the rugged terrain of the Caucasus to force Bosporus to retreat.
"But Father," George's reply made him doubt his own order, "if the forces from Kakheti are also deployed, how will we resist the Black Sheep Dynasty?
The Romans only want us to submit, but the Turkmen want our lives."
Persuaded by his fourth son, after a complex internal struggle, Alexander ultimately withdrew his command, deciding to rely on the strength of Kartli and Tbilisi themselves to force a stalemate with Bosporus.