On May 8, 1915, one of the twelve Armenian messengers from the Siege of Van had got through to Persia An Armenian volunteer unit with Andranik, along with 1200 men, and commander Chernoroyal's division dispatched toward the Bashkaleh. On May 7, they captured Bashkaleh. This group from Persia reach the City of Van on May 18. They had expected to find Van still in a state of siege and were amazed at finding it in the hands of the Armenians. When word got to Yudenich, he sent a brigade of Trans-Baikal Cossacks under General Trukhin. With Van secure, fighting shifted farther west for the rest of the summer.