The Roman fleet continued on from Massala in the autumn of 218BC, landing the army it was transporting in north-east Iberia, where it won support among the local tribes. A rushed Carthaginian attack in late 218BC was beaten off at the Battle of Cissa. In 217BC 40 Carthaginian and Iberian warships were beaten by 55 Roman and Massalian vessels at the Battle of Ebro River, with 29 Carthaginian ships lost. The Romans' lodgement between the Ebro and Pyrenees blocked the route from Iberia to Italy and prevented the despatch of reinforcements from Iberia to Hannibal. The Carthaginian commander in Iberia, Hannibal's brother Hasdrubal, marched into this area in 215BC, offered battle and was defeated at Dertosa, although both sides suffered heavy casualties.