After Manuel personally led an army of ten thousand out of Adrianople, he ordered a forced march towards Macedonia.
The reason for his decision was mainly related to the situation in Macedonia at the time:
As mentioned before, when Ottoman Sultan Murad II was still alive, Turahan Bey, stationed in Macedonia, was ordered by the Sultan to deal with the Roman Empire's territory in the Peloponnese, namely the Despotate of Morea, and Constantine XI, who was in Morea.
In order to stably suppress Morea, Turahan Bey, whose forces were somewhat insufficient at the time, was authorized by the Sultan to transfer most of the Macedonian garrison, while the defense of the rear was temporarily entrusted to the Sultan's personal command of the Western Thrace garrison.
However, before the Battle of Adrianople, in order to deal with the Bosporus's attack, Murad II temporarily transferred all the garrisons from various parts of Thrace to the capital, which naturally included the Western Thrace garrison.
But with the Sultan's death in battle outside Adrianople and the complete annihilation or dispersal of his army, Thrace, except for Gallipoli, became undefended, and Western Thrace was certainly included.
The Thracian region that Manuel had sent troops to occupy in the past few days also included Western Thrace.
The fall of Western Thrace also indirectly affected the Macedonian region; most of the garrison was confronting Constantine XI with Turahan Bey at the Corinth Isthmus, and the rear was completely empty.
Even the garrison in Thessaloniki could not withstand any short-term siege by an enemy.
Manuel would certainly not let this opportunity pass.
Therefore, after his soldiers reported the current situation in Macedonia while recovering Western Thrace, he, knowing that the time was ripe, immediately set off, marching non-stop towards the Macedonian region.
After Manuel led the Bosporus Army on a forced march, they reached Serres, an Ottoman border town in the Macedonian region, in less than a day, following the plains adjacent to the coastline.
This was a crucial pass from Thrace into Macedonia, a border city that had been highly valued by rulers since ancient times.
The Battle of Serres, which once took place here, allowed the Bulgarians to regain independence from Rome, and Dushan, the Great Emperor of Serbia, once made it his capital, ruling the vast territory of Great Serbia.
Unfortunately, the Ottoman lacked an understanding of the strategic value of this place.
After the town surrendered at the end of the last century, they demolished several sections of its stone walls to prevent a Roman rebellion.
Now, their actions have ironically benefited Manuel, allowing his forces to easily recover this eastern mountain-backed and still prosperous town.
After recapturing this vital strategic town, Manuel's military operations throughout Macedonia faced no further obstacles.
In less than three days, the Bosporus Army had recovered all of Macedonia except for Northern Macedonia, which was full of mountains and known as Skopje by the Slavs, and the Chalkidiki Peninsula, which included the city of Thessaloniki.
Thanks to the willingness of the remaining Macedonian rebels to actively assist their kinsmen, the process of recovering Macedonia was even smoother than Manuel had imagined.
Thus, by February 12th, the Macedonian region was once again under Roman rule.
Even Thessaloniki, which was still stubbornly resisting, would certainly not hold out much longer once the Bosporus Navy was ordered to besiege it.
As for Northern Macedonia, Manuel, hearing rumors from Serbia and Albania, chose to temporarily avoid direct conflict with them and sent a legion to occupy as much of the mountainous area as possible.
"Your Majesty, are we going to eliminate the remaining Ottoman forces still active in the Thessaly region next?" In the city hall of Veria, Robert Meespres Loe, an older Western Macedonian rebel leader, asked Manuel about the matter.
Ever since Constantine XI led the rebels and the Morea Army to a crushing defeat in Macedonia by Turahan Bey last year, the former leaders of the Western Macedonian rebels had either died or fled.
As a result, Loe, an orthodox native Latin, inexplicably became the leader of the remaining rebels and was promised integration by the Caesar a few days ago.
According to official history, they should have been encircled and annihilated by the Ottoman after the Battle of Varna, disappearing silently from history.
But due to the storm stirred up by Manuel, this butterfly, he and other rebel soldiers embarked on a completely different path.
"No need," Manuel lightly patted his armor, a fleeting smile on his face, "Turahan Bey will withdraw his men himself.
As an Ottoman general, he has no official title or prominent status, no base in Macedonia, and his only reliance is his still intact remnant army.
Such a person would at most be a warlord after the collapse of the Ottoman Sultanate; without the ability to defeat the enemy, he would not have the courage or confidence to lead his troops into battle against our army.
"However," Manuel's eyes flashed with cunning as he said this, "I will personally lead men south to Thessaly and force him to make the choice he should make, Your Excellency Bey."
"But Your Majesty, what if this Turkmen doesn't think straight?" Tukharovsky, who was sitting beside him, asked worriedly.
"Don't worry, anyone who can hold a high position in the Ottoman is definitely not a fool.
If he loses his mind and wants to fight to the death, I don't mind helping him out, so he can quickly meet his dear Satan in hell." At the end, the Caesar couldn't help but sneer.
Just as Manuel had said, when the news of his recovery of most of Macedonia reached Turahan Bey, who had just abandoned his confrontation with Morea at the Corinth Isthmus, the elderly general was completely stunned:
My home was stolen!?
According to the world line of official history, the forces led by Turahan Bey, after blocking Constantine XI's return to Thessaly, would also, after Murad II freed up his hands, lead a southern campaign against Morea under the Sultan, destroying the Despotate of Morea's efforts in the Peloponnese over two decades and completely depriving the Romans of any chance to turn the tide.
But influenced by Manuel, this butterfly, the Sultan's death in battle outside Adrianople delayed Turahan Bey's campaign, leaving him stuck before the Corinth Isthmus without siege equipment supplies.
And before he could even grieve for the old Sultan who had heavily trusted him, even more significant news reached his ears at the end of the first ten days of the month: Murad II's three sons had all fled to the remaining Ottoman territories and declared themselves Sultan, and the vast Ottoman Sultanate had completely collapsed!
Moreover, all three of them extended an olive branch to him, hoping that he, with his large forces temporarily controlling the Macedonian region, would join them, increasing their chances of victory in this new period of great interregnum.
Regarding these three princes, Turahan Bey, after a brief period of bewilderment, chose to ignore them.
He intended to use his elite army to seize the land from Macedonia to Athens and become the Sultan of Greece!
For this, he specifically abandoned his military operations in Corinth, wanting to quickly return to Macedonia to consolidate his control over the rear.
Then Macedonia was gone.
Moreover, the Bosphorus Caesar was leading a large army south to Thessaly, appearing as if he intended to completely eliminate him.
If it weren't for the fact that the Bosporus Romans hadn't even reached Larissa yet, Turahan Bey would have truly spewed a mouthful of old blood in his anxiety.
"Lord Bey, what should we do now?" Seeing the Bey's face, which was like a pig's liver from rage, his deputy, a Devshirme named Musa Fejza, asked him in fear.
But to his deputy's surprise, Turahan Bey made an unexpected yet very reasonable choice:
"Let's go, leave Greece, and find Prince Ahmed."