and quickly fell upon them. Some of the defenders put up a fight, but they soon fled, with many of them killed or becoming prisoners. When the commander of the town saw the reinforcements flee, he decided to abandon his post. He and his troops crossed over to the other side of the river, cut the pontoon bridge, and made their way back to Baghdad. With al-Anbar now lacking any defense, its residents decided to surrender on terms. After giving guarantees of safe conduct to the Anbaris, the Turks and North Africans entered the town, and allowed the people to go about their business. The next day, however, the soldiers seized a shipment of goods arriving from Raqqa and began looting the town. They sent the heads of the slain to Samarra, along with the prisoners that had been captured, and unsuccessfully attempted to dam a water route running between the Euphrates and Baghdad. When the defeated armies of al-Anbar arrived at Baghdad, Muhammad gave orders that the town was to be retaken. A contingent of troops was sent to Qasr ibn Hubayrah further down the Euphrates and awaited orders to advance. Meanwhile, an army of over a thousand men was raised in Baghdad and put under the command of al-Husayn b. Isma'il, who was instructed to head directly to the town and defeat the Samarran garrison stationed there. After a delay caused by an issue with the troops' pay, the army departed in late June. The Baghdadi army was assailed almost immediately after their departure by the Turks and North Africans, who attempted to prevent their reaching al-Anbar. In spite of stiff resistance, the Baghdadis were able to construct a bridge across a canal guarded by the Turks and fight them off, but after twelve days they had still failed to reach al-Anbar. Eventually the Turks, who had spies in the al-Husayn's army, were able to ambush their camp. Despite inflicting heavy casualties on the attackers, the Baghdadi army soon fell in disorder, and many of the soldiers were either killed or drowned in the Euphrates. The cavalry turned tail and fled, and when the officers realized that they had lost control of the situation they retreated as well. The Turks then plundered the enemy camp and rounded up the prisoners they had captured. Both sides suffered hundreds of dead and wounded from the fighting. The remnants of the