As the Nicaean army drew close to the Turks, Laskaris's Latin mercenary cavalry launched an impetuous charge on the Turkish centre; their attack inflicted many casualties on the Turks, in particular the lightly armed archers and slingers, as the knights drove through their formation and then wheeled back and charged it again from the rear. Kaykhusraw, however, soon managed to restore discipline among his troops, shaken by the sudden Latin onslaught, and used his superior numbers to surround and annihilate the Latins. The Turks then turned on the rest of the Nicaean army, which, after suffering casualties, began to retreat and break up.[18][19]