After Vlad II's bold declaration, Stephen II, his ally, expressed some doubts and brought them up directly, "But Lord Vlad, if I'm not mistaken, aren't your two sons still hostages in the Ottoman court?"
Facing Stephen II's question, Vlad II, known both domestically and abroad as "Dracul" (Dragon Demon), merely pursed his lips and responded firmly: "Little Vlad and Dula? Although I feel sorry for them, for the great cause of Wallachia and the Basarab Dynasty, this is nothing. You can't catch a wolf without sacrificing a child. For the glory of the Holy Father, and to defeat the Ottoman, these are all necessary sacrifices!"
What he didn't say was that having the Ottoman deal with these two sons, who might have been politically inclined towards the Turks, would allow his eldest son, Mircea, whom he valued more, to sit more securely on the throne of the Great Prince in the future.
"Is that so?" Watching the Great Prince, who was nearing fifty, answer while stroking his gray mustache, Grand Prince Stephen, a generation younger than him, couldn't help but feel a little ashamed. Initially, he hadn't been keen on getting involved in this Crusade, but after several secret discussions with the envoy sent by the Bosporus and his own wife, he realized the stakes. For the sake of his country and his own interests, he embarked on a path of hostility against the Ottoman. Joining forces with Wallachia was one step in that direction.
On July 10, 1443, Vlad II, the Great Prince of Wallachia, who had long feigned compliance with the Ottoman Turks, declared war on the Ottoman, vowing to reclaim Dobruja, which had been lost decades ago. Two days later, Stephen II, the Great Prince of Moldavia, also declared war on the Ottoman, formally joining the Crusaders and immediately supporting his ally.
In response, Kasim Pasha and Turahan Bey, who were guarding Rumelia, were enraged. They quickly dispatched a detachment of troops to resist the Wallachians' attack and immediately reported the matter to the Sultan. When the Sultan learned of this in the middle of the month, he could only instruct Kasim Pasha and Halil Pasha to continue their previous strategy, holding off the Christian offensive until he had resolved the threat in Anatolia.
While focusing on striking Karaman, Murad II did not relax his vigilance against the Bosporus, which had previously been his enemy and was now temporarily at rest. After rushing to the Ankara front and, with his beloved son Prince Sultan Aladdin Ali, repelling Karaman's offensive on the central region, he immediately sent Sultan Aladdin Ali back to Tokat and Kandar to guard the area. It was announced that he was stationed there with over ten thousand elite soldiers to prevent the Bosporus from suddenly declaring war to support Karaman.
To the relief of the Sultan and his son, the Bosporus Autocratic State and its Caesar seemed particularly sensible this time. Faced with his intimidation, they honestly kept to themselves in the Pontus region, conducting normal business, normal diplomacy, and even selling him wheat seeds. Even when receiving Ottoman envoys, they were gentle and respectful, showing no neglect.
Because of this, as the war intensified, Murad simply shifted his focus entirely to fighting Karaman and the Crusaders. Guarding against a Bosporus betrayal became a secondary objective; after all, if they didn't send troops to participate in the Crusade, wouldn't they still face immense pressure, and wouldn't the Romans ultimately suffer the consequences?
However, the Ottoman probably never imagined that the Bosporus didn't care much about the attitude of Catholic states. When envoys from the Papacy and Catholic allies repeatedly sent people to persuade him, Manuel would politely receive them but repeatedly gave their demands the cold shoulder. Yet, the Bosporus did provide them with cheap, even free, military supplies and food, so other countries couldn't directly criticize them. They could only continue to spread nicknames like "Gothic Prince Olubey" to subtly mock Manuel, the Caesar.
Manuel, for his part, clearly didn't care much about this situation. He even found time to privately recite a few Gothic poems to his trusted subordinates in the court, both for entertainment and to make fun of himself.
Soon, July also passed. With the entry of the two Wallachia Principalities into the war, a gap appeared in the Ottoman's defenses along the northeastern front of Rumelia. Although Turahan Bey quickly sent troops to block the Wallachians' southward advance, Wallachia and Moldavia eventually succeeded in occupying the coastal areas around Tulcea by the end of the month, allowing the former to contact foreign countries by sea. The 4,000 Lithuanian hussars, who had been long prepared, also joined this Crusade, participating in the fighting on the eastern front of Rumelia, once again putting more pressure on the Grand Vizier and the Governor of Rumelia.
Under these circumstances, Suleiman began to hope for more aid from Cairo. But in August, what awaited him was astonishing news from the Eastern Mediterranean: Yusuf Jakmak, the Mamluk Sultan of the Mamluk Sultanate, declared war on the Kingdom of Cyprus.
When this news spread, Murad II immediately beamed with joy. This way, since the Mamluk would likely concentrate its forces on conquering the island, the Ottoman in southern Anatolia would not have to worry about military threats from Cairo and Damascus.
At the same time, he also unilaterally congratulated Cairo for making the right choice: if Sultan Jaqmaq had truly taken an opposing stance to the Ottoman at this critical juncture, even a casual condemnation would have caused immense damage to his country's reputation. At that point, even if the Abbasid Caliph was still in Mamluk hands, the Sultanate would find it difficult to intervene in the internal affairs of other Islam states or mediate in their name.
As for Suleiman, who was on the Aksaray front, it was as if he had been struck by a sudden bolt of lightning, leaving him speechless for a moment. Because the Mamluk going to war with Cyprus, which was not involved in the Crusade, meant that Cairo did not want to be hostile to the Ottoman, nor did it want to have too many conflicts with the Crusaders. As for helping Karaman? Ah, it was probably the limit to send a team of Mamluk soldiers under a civilian guise, as they had done before.
Feeling betrayed, Suleiman immediately became so angry that he drew the jeweled saber from his waist and angrily swung it several times through the air, unable to utter a single word for a moment. The Mamluk favored Karaman but would not directly oppose the Ottoman, the Eastern European Crusaders were beyond reach, the Latins had lingering ties with the Ottoman, the Frank navy was stuck and unable to land in Asia Minor, and the Bosporus apparently wasn't prepared for war…
At this moment, Suleiman suddenly felt as if he was isolated, stuck in an awkward position, unable to advance or retreat, and completely unable to see any hope of victory. As this sense of despair suddenly struck him, he instead calmly considered countermeasures and immediately wrote a personal letter to his close friend Manuel: he would do everything in his power to persuade his friend to enter the fray and turn the tide of this war.