have been a sprawling tented encampment spread over several slopes in a starkly empty landscape. On 1 June 1921, a Spanish outpost set up just hours before on , a position east of Annual, was attacked and captured by Rifian guerrillas. The Spanish lost 24 soldiers killed and 59 wounded. On 5 June, Silvestre met General Dámaso Berenguer Fusté, Spanish High Commissioner in the protectorate, aboard the Spanish cruiser Princesa de Asturias off Sidi Idris. Berenguer rejected Silvestre's request for reinforcements. Two days later, Silvestre decided to establish a new forward position, this time south of Annual, at Igueriben. The post was besieged by the Rifians on 14 July. The shortage of fresh water and the use of artillery by the Rifians forced the Spanish army to evacuate the position on 21 July, under heavy fire. Only 33 soldiers survived from a garrison of 300. Battle On the eve of battle the Spanish garrison occupying the advanced encampment of Annual numbered 5,000 men. These were mostly Peninsula conscripts from the Cerinola, Africa, Alcantara and San Fernando Regiments. In addition there were four batteries of artillery and about two thousand indigenous troops under Spanish officers. On 22 July, after five days of skirmishing, the Spanish force was attacked by 3,000 Rif fighters. With ammunition low and the support base at Igueriben already overrun, General Silvestre, who had arrived at Annual only the day before, decided upon a withdrawal along the line of the previous Spanish advance. Just before 5 a.m. a last radio message was sent, reporting Silvestre's intention to evacuate Annual later the same morning. At about 10 a.m., the garrison began to march in column from the encampment in the direction of Melilla, but poor leadership and inadequate preparation meant that any hope of a disciplined withdrawal quickly degenerated into a disorganised rout. Hitherto reliable Moroccan regulares, native police and tribal allies deserted to the Rifian forces, depriving the Spanish column of flankers and rear guard. The Spanish conscripts, under heavy fire and exhausted by the intense heat, broke into a confused crowd and were shot down or stabbed by the tribesmen. Only one cavalry unit, the Cazadores de Alcántara, kept in formation and was able to conduct a fighting retreat (see painting above), though suffering heavy casualties. The overstretched Spanish military build-up in the Eastern Spanish Protectorate in Morocco crumbled. After the battle, the Rifians advanced eastward and