Battle of the Trench around 10,000 men and six hundred horsemen. In January 627 the army, which was led by Abu Sufyan, marched on Medina. In accordance with the plan the armies began marching towards Medina, Meccans from the south (along the coast) and the others from the east. At the same time horsemen from the Banu Khuza'a left to warn Medina of the invading army. The men from Banu Khuza'a reached Muhammad in four days, warning him of the Confederate armies that were to arrive in a week. Muhammad gathered the Medinans to discuss the best strategy of overcoming the enemy. Meeting the
Battle of the Defile the Turgesh army withdrew north towards Samarkand. The Muslim army followed, and scored a victory in a battle fought near the city. Junayd then retired with his troops to winter in Merv. During the winter, rebellions broke out south of the Oxus, in Tokharistan, which had hitherto been quiescent to Muslim rule. Junayd was forced to set out for Balkh and there dispersed 28,000 of his men to quell the revolt. This left him seriously weakened when, in early 731, the Turgesh laid siege to Samarkand and appeals for aid arrived from the city's governor, Sawra ibn al-Hurr al-Abani. Despite