After their defeat, the Ottoman Army gave Mustafa Kemal the organization of the defense of the region. The Ottomans, however, were quickly overwhelmed, and after resistance from 1–9 August 1916, the entire region fell to the Russian Empire and Armenian volunteers.[citation needed][clarification needed] On 7 August, Mustafa Kemal rallied his troops and mounted a counteroffensive.[1] He had so strengthened the morale of his force, following its defeat, that within five days, two of his divisions captured not only Bitlis but the equally important town of Muş, greatly disturbing the calculations of the Russian Command.[2]