Sent against the rebel Nikephoros Bryennios in Thrace, Alexios Komnenos camped in Thrace near the Halmyros river whilst his enemy Nikephoros Bryennios camped on the plain of Kedoktou. Alexios left a good distance between the camps, so that Bryennios (and his own men) should not see the weakness of his army. Bryennios drew up his forces for battle, with his brother Ioannes leading the right wing, comprising Italians, the men brought by the famous Maniakes, Thessalian horsemen and some of the Hetaireia, 5,000 in all. The left wing, under the command of Katakalon Tarchaneiotes, included Macedonian and Thracian troops totalling 3,000, flanked by Pecheneg auxiliaries who were to attack the enemy from the rear. Nikephoros himself was in the centre with elite Macedonian and Thracian troops, especially the Thessalian cavalry. Alexios hid some of his men in hollows, ordering them to attack when they found themselves behind the enemy. Despite instructions from Nikephoros III to postpone battle till the arrival of Turkish reinforcements, he divided the rest of the army in two: he himself commanded the Athanatoi and the Kelts, while Konstantinos Katakalon Euphorbenos had troops from Choma and the Turks, to keep watch on the Pechenegs