Falkenhayn, commanding the Yildirim Army Group, finally arrived from Aleppo to establish his headquarters in the German Hospice on the Mount of Olives during the evening of 5 November. However, despite the delay of six days since the capture of Beersheba, the attack [on the centre of the Ottoman front line] was now about to be carried out in the most favourable circumstances. This was largely because at least seven Ottoman infantry regiments, including the 19th Division, had been drawn into the defence of the road from Beersheba to Jerusalem, and the fighting for Ras en Naqb and Tel el Khuweilfe. Only two regiments were holding the Ottoman front line, which stretched along the Wadi esh Sheria to the west.