Every spare man of Dunsterforce began the task of training the Armenian and Russian troops at Baku into an army. There were in 23 battalions that were commanded by five political organisations. The troops held a defensive perimeter across the Baku peninsula about long, the last in the south running along cliffs and the rest on low ground including a salt lake. From the salt lake to the cliffs lies a hill known as Dirty Volcano, that was the most important defensive feature on the right flank. On 18 August, Dunsterville and two more battalions reached Baku but at the end of the month, troops intended for Baku had to be diverted to Bijar, against another Ottoman attack from Tabriz, which threatened to cut the lines of communication to Bandar-e Anzali. As parties of the 39th Infantry Brigade arrived at Baku, they took over parts of the defence, particularly at Dirty Volcano and the left flank. Even when the rest of Dunsterforce had arrived from Mesopotamia in the Ford vans and joined in the defence of the city, there were only just over and one artillery battery, against about who had already captured villages behind the right flank.