Upon learning that Tbilisi still showed no signs of deploying forces from Kakheti to the front, Manuel breathed a sigh of relief.
Although, with Imereti's defection, the remaining three parts of the Kingdom of Georgia—Kartli, Tbilisi, and Kakheti—combined would still not be his match, why refuse an easier fight?
"It seems my constant smoke screens towards Alexander I have had some effect," Manuel mused, a faint smile playing on his lips at the Borjomi front.
While negotiating with Dimitrios Bagration and the Imereti behind him, to lull Tbilisi into a false sense of security, he not only reinforced the temporary frontline defenses but also continually wrote letters to Alexander I, discussing the conditions for Bosporus's withdrawal and the proposed peace treaty.
Of course, he would never spit out the meat he had already eaten, and the olive branches he offered the King of Georgia were entirely a pretense.
Moreover, someone on the opposing side would surely see through his tactics and try to exploit the situation.
But what did it matter? As long as he could feign sincerity, the central government in Tbilisi would inevitably fall into endless arguments over whether to negotiate with him, and Georgia's system was fundamentally incapable of effectively preventing this.
Thus, Alexander I, unable to consolidate his remaining forces, would effectively fall into his trap, giving Bosporus enough time to incite the west and launch a pincer attack.
Judging by the course of events, his plan was a great success.
As mentioned earlier, with Imereti unable to withstand the pressure and defecting to him, the Bosporus forces from the Tauris region were able to swiftly pour in from the western front, converging with the Pontus region forces personally led by Caesar at the Borjomi front by mid-October.
At this point, the combined forces of Bosporus and the Georgian noble coalition numbered over ten thousand, while their opponent, the Georgian Royal Army, excluding the Kakheti garrison that could not be moved, could only muster about five thousand men to face them.
This was even before Bosporus had officially mobilized conscripts and hired mercenaries; in other words, Manuel had not even exerted his full strength.
However, due due to Georgia's intelligence disadvantage, neither its King Alexander I nor Crown Prince Vakhtang had realized the true strength of their adversary.
In this situation, Manuel, seizing the moment before the other side could fully react, ordered his army to march directly on Tbilisi shortly after the main forces converged.
Then, within a mere half-month, due to the Bosporus Army temporarily holding a geographical and human advantage, they swiftly captured Khashuri and Kareli in the Kura River valley, directly approaching the vicinity of Gori, a city built by David IV.
When the coalition army approached Gori, it was already mid-November, early winter.
Although most in the army were optimistic about taking the city, Manuel was more concerned.
Nothing else, but assaulting a mountain in the snowy winter would be a high demand on the military quality of the Bosporus Army.
However, he was not entirely without confidence in winter warfare, as the Pontus region of Bosporus was mountainous, and the peasant soldiers from Pontus, having endured the Ottomans with him and been tempered by war, were certainly capable of dealing with the relatively weaker Georgians.
As for logistics, which could most affect combat power, it was the least of his worries, thanks to the active cooperation of the Georgian feudal lords who had defected to Bosporus.
To secure Gori safely, Manuel gathered the Generals of the Bosporus Army and the great Georgian lords on his side in the frontline camp, spending several hours in the snowy night discussing a relatively comprehensive battle plan.
At the end of the meeting, he drew a large circle on the map and said solemnly, "If we can take Gori in one fell swoop this time, then our endeavor will be more than half successful.
May the Holy Father bless us."
And after being assigned their respective tasks, all parties, without any hesitation, immediately acted according to the Caesar's pre-arranged plan for them.
On the third night after this military conference, the Bosporus forces divided into two contingents: one, supervised by Posadas and commanded by Atabeg Ivan II of Samukhetsi, primarily composed of five thousand auxiliary troops from the Georgian lord coalition, was tasked with assaulting Berbuki from the northern front; the other, personally led by Caesar Manuel, primarily composed of over five thousand regular peasant soldiers from Bosporus, was tasked with the eastern frontline military town of Skra on the main branch of the Kura River.
Although Bosporus chose to launch a surprise attack under the cover of night, due to the relatively large scale of this two-pronged pincer attack plan and the defenders already being on alert, they were not able to completely conceal their movements from the enemy.
Around midnight, after receiving reports from scouts, Alexander Bagration, the lord of Gori and the General of its defending forces, and a member of the Bagration Royal Family, immediately ordered preparations and sent a request for aid to Tbilisi, asking the King or Crown Prince to support him.
Because if Borjomi was the crossroads of Georgia, then Gori was a strategically vital location for defending Tbilisi, one that could not be lost.
In the early hours of the morning, the noble army, more familiar with the terrain, arrived first at the outskirts of Berbuki.
In an effort to prove their capabilities and earn the trust of the Bosphorus Caesar, the great nobles led by Duke Kahaber of Racha, Prince Mamia of Guria, and Governor Liparit of Samegrelo, disregarding the earnest pleas of Posadas and Ivan II, led their own forces to attempt to capture the area before dawn.
However, they were routed by the Georgian defenders, who had remained awake and prepared all night, and retreated in disarray back to their camp to confront them.
Meanwhile, on the eastern front, after approaching Skra, Manuel keenly sensed that something was amiss from the unusual quietness and dispatched scouts to investigate thoroughly.
After confirming that the enemy was prepared, he ordered the entire army to be on high alert and analyzed the intelligence provided by the scouts.
"Although the Georgian defenders are clearly prepared, there are still gaps in the troop deployment on the town's ramparts.
Despite Georgia's relatively small population, under the Bagration Dynasty, they cannot possibly lack even enough soldiers to fill the gaps on the city walls."
Having analyzed this far, Manuel immediately clarified many things, dramatically throwing his pen to the ground, and ordered the Commander of the Guard standing beside him, "Badars, summon General Yang Karlo of the Circassian Legion for me, and have him take some of his Circassians to reconnoiter the enemy's defensive arrangements.
Quickly!"
"Yes, Your Majesty! Loyalty!"
Badars, without the slightest ambiguity or delay, immediately went to convey the King's order.