the front, with Colonel Vahan Ter-Arakelian as his chief of staff, Colonel Babajanov commanding the fortress artillery and General Harutyun Hovsepian manning the area along the road and railroad between Kars and Sarıkamış. Under Hovsepian's command were colonels Hovhannes Mazmanian (1st Regiment), Mirimanian (4th Regiment), and Shaghubadian (5th Regiment). Sebouh Nersesian's brigade defended the far right flank facing Ardahan; under his command were colonels Dmitry Korganian (1st and 2nd cavalry battalions), Ishkhanian (7th Regiment) and Tigran Baghdasarian (8th Regiment), as well as several Western Armenian volunteer detachments. Colonel Alexander Vekilian coordinated operations from General Movses Silikyan's headquarters in Alexandropol and later arrived in Kars. The morale and organization of the Armenian defenders on the Kars front were harmed by a number of factors, such as the long-standing rivalry between the civilian and military administrations, represented by Governor-General Stepan Korganian on one side and generals Pirumian and Hovsepian on the other. Many of the troops were fresh volunteers not well-acquainted with their commanding officers, and there was poor cohesion between Eastern Armenian regulars and Western Armenian soldiers accustomed to partisan warfare. Defeatist propaganda and acts of sabotage by Armenian Bolsheviks are also said to have negatively affected the morale of the defenders of Kars. There were also reports of looting in the city in the lead-up to the battle, and the military command was blamed for not taking sufficient action to maintain order. Ministers Vratsian and Babalian criticized generals Pirumian and Hovsepian in their report to Yerevan, claiming that Kars's Armenian population did not trust them and blaming them for the earlier losses in September. Battle Preparations Karabekir's plan to was to avoid a frontal attack on the city (thereby avoiding its cannons) and instead surround it from the rear and cut off the railway and road to Alexandropol. Most of Halit Bey's 9th Caucasus Division, supported by cavalry, tribal and artillery regiments, was to bypass the left wing of the Armenian defenses and reach the heights of Mağaracık, Vezinköy, and Yahni to the east of the fortress. Lieutenant Colonel Osman Nuri's 12th Division would carry out a diversion along the heavily fortified western flank from the Üçler heights to Mount Akbaba, while Colonel Rüştü Pasha's division would advance on the western and northwestern sides and complete the encirclement of Kars. The final assault on Kars was originally planned to take place on October 27, although it was delayed to October