War of Byzantine Succession (Byzantuim Morbum Inciderit)

Assassination of Constantine XXXIV
On July 3rd, 1887 Constantine XXXIV was assassinated by a pro Patriarch gunman, having no children the obvious heir was one of his brothers, Constantine had previously chosen Manuel, as Manuel supported the modernization of the Empire, he swore to not let John become the Emperor, as John wished to reform the Empire into a Theocratic state, Manuel arrived in Constantinople a day after his brothers death, he was reportedly mourning the death of his brother, however he instantly got into action on calming down the cabinet, however John was furious he was not picked as Emperor, John sent a message to the Russian Tsar, asking for military support to overthrow Manuel, in return he offered Theodora, and the re-establishment of the Patriarchy, the Tsar complied and sent 78,000 Men to John, John had 35,000 supporters already, the two armies then marched on Bursa preparing to sail across the Dardanelles, however a shot went off causing the Battle of Bursa, which John and the Russians won, however it bought the Byzantines time to gather a defense of the Dardanelles, the Manuelist won the Battle of the Dardanelles and the War of Byzantine Succession Began.

Anatolian Campaign
The Siege of Theodora began after the defeat at the Dardanelles, the cities defenders held off the Russians for a month, however due to food shortages, and low manpower the city fell to the Russians, allowing the Russians to now send the bulk of their forces into Anatolia, these forces numbered a massive 278,000 Men, however Alexandros Scipio was nearby, only having 35,000 Men he engaged the Russians anyways, gaining a decisive victory at the Battle of Erzincan, where he defeated a numerically superior Russian Army, following the victory Scipio went to Ankara which was garrisoned by 57,000 Russians, gaining another decisive victory over the Russians, this was followed by Scipio pushing to Bursa where he defeated John, however he had to retreat hearing of a massive Russian Army approaching, as well Mersin was seized by French forces in May of 1887, however Scipio was not focused on this, instead he returned to the East where he began his grand offensive, defeating the Russians at every battle he eventually forced them to sue for peace, Scipio then went south with 87,000 Men, defeating the Johnists at the Battled of Amed, he then continued towards Mersin, where from August 13th-14th he engaged the French, Scipio would die at the Battle falling from his horse after a cannon ball severed his arm, however the city fell and the French were defeated, the front would end in 1889 after the captured of Bursa by Manuelist forces.