territory of the village of Aknalich) and proceeded to Ghamishlu train depot (now in the territory of the village of Zartonk), 20 km far from Yerevan. The Turkish forces moving along the railroad sought to advance towards Zangibasar, which would put the Armenian troops south of the railroad, the locals and as many as 100,000 Western Armenian refugees at risk of being cut off from Yerevan and destroyed. But Captain Khoren Igitkhanyan's artillery battery stationed in the village of Artashar managed to pin the Ottomans to the spot. Despite the retreat, the defense of bridges on the left bank of the Araks River was significantly enhanced. At the same time, more Armenian units were sent to the battleground from Yerevan. Commander of the Yerevan detachment Movses Silikyan and his Chief of Staff, Colonel A. Vekilyan drew up a tactical plan designed to throw the counter-attacking Turkish forces out of Sardarapat. In the evening of 21 May, all the detachments of the Sardarapat Front were given relevant instructions for the next day with an order to coordinate military action. Included in the Armenian forces fighting in the Sardarapat Front were the 5th and 6th regiments, the Infantry Regiment of Karakilisa (Lieutenant-Colonel Areshyan) of the 2nd Special Brigade, the Partisan Infantry Regiment, the Yezidi Cavalry Battalion, the Western Armenian volunteer groups, four artillery batteries. On the night of 21–22 May, an exchange of fire between the Armenian militia and the Yezidi Cavalry Unit commanded by Jahangir Agha and the Turkish troops near the village of Molla Bayazet prevented the Ottomans from attacking the Armenian forces from the rear. The shooting gave Dolukhanyan and Perekrestov the opportunity to array the troops for the battle, at the same time enabling Captains Sergo Atanesyan and Vladimir Sakkilari to marshal their artillery units. Deputy commander of the Yerevan detachment, commander of the forces of the Sardarapat Front Colonel Daniel Bek-Pirumyan came to lead the crucial counter-attack of the Armenian forces. In the early hours of 22 May, the Armenian side launched an offensive along the entire front-line of the villages of Kurakanlu-Kyorpalu-Zeyva Hayi-Ghurdughuli. The attack was carried out by the 5th and 6th Regiments in the center, which managed to destroy the vanguard Turkish troops with support from artillery and machine guns near the Ghamishlu depot. In particular, military batteries under the command of Kh. Igitkhanyan, V. Sakkilari, Nikolay Klich and S. Atanesyan, positioned on the