Al-Tabari reports that this man and seventeen successive bearers of the same standard were killed during the battle, indicative of the fierceness of the fight. The Arabs initially met the Türgesh attack on horseback, but as their casualties mounted, Junayd's herald ordered them to dismount and fight on foot, crouching down behind the trenches and forming a spear-wall. This measure helped the Muslims hold their ground, and eventually both sides wearied and the battle ceased for the day.[26][27][28] The most grievous casualties among the Arabs were suffered by the stragglers and baggage train, who gathered under Abdallah ibn Mu'ammar ibn Sumayr al-Yashkuri near Kish; they were and virtually annihilated.[29][30]