Instead he favoured a more direct approach over the steep but short—some 2 kilometres (1.2 miles) long—Takhtakaracha Pass, and suggested the possibility that this would catch the Türgesh by surprise.[14][15][16] Junayd followed al-Mujashshir's counsel, and encamped before the entrance of the defile. The decision was unpopular with the army, largely Khurasani Arabs who distrusted the "outsider" Junayd.[lower-alpha 1] The usual quarrels between the Qays–Yaman factions also re-emerged, and some men deserted. Undeterred, Junayd pressed on with 28,000 men.[14][16][19] The subsequent events are described in detail in al-Tabari's 10th-century History of the Prophets and Kings, which in turn draws upon the work of the earlier historian Abu'l-Hasan al-Mada'ini, written about a century after the events.[14] As a result, according to the historian Khalid Blankinship the Battle of the Defile is "by far the best-documented one to occur during Hisham's reign".[20]