locals along the road and set fire to a mill, which escalated out of Peter's control until Niš sent out its entire garrison against the crusaders. The crusaders were completely routed, losing about 10,000 (a quarter of their number), the remainder regrouping further on at Bela Palanka. When they reached Sofia on 12 July they met their Byzantine escort, which brought them safely the rest of the way to Constantinople by 1 August. Leadership breakdown Byzantine emperor Alexius I Komnenus, not knowing what else to do with such an unusual and unexpected army, quickly ferried all 30,000 across the Bosporus by 6 August. It has since been debated whether he sent them away without Byzantine guides knowing full well that they could be slaughtered by the Turks, or whether they insisted on continuing into Asia Minor despite his warnings. In any case, it is known that Alexius warned Peter not to engage the Turks, whom he believed to be superior to Peter's motley army, and to wait for the main body of crusaders, which was still on the way. Peter was rejoined by the French under Walter Sans Avoir and a number of bands of Italian crusaders who had arrived at the same time. Once in Asia Minor, they began to pillage towns and villages until they reached Nicomedia, where an argument broke out between the Germans and Italians on one side and the French on the other. The Germans and Italians split off and elected a new leader, an Italian named Rainald, while for the French, Geoffrey Burel took command. Peter had effectively lost control of the crusade. Even though Alexius had urged Peter to wait for the main army, Peter had lost much of his authority and the crusaders spurred each other on, moving more boldly against nearby towns until finally the French reached the edge of Nicaea, a Seljuk stronghold and provincial capital, where they pillaged the suburbs. The Germans, not to be outdone, marched with 6,000 crusaders on Xerigordos and captured the fortress to use as a base to raid the countryside. In response, the Turks, led by one of Kilij Arslan's generals, defeated the crusaders at the Siege of Xerigordos, many of whom were forced to drink the blood of donkeys and their own urine during the siege, since their water supply was cut. Some of the crusaders who were captured converted to Islam and