The battle was now far from the two ambushes set at its beginning. The relatives from the first ambush swore to support Manuel, whether he wanted them or not. They sent Kotertzes to ask how the battle was going: Manuel summoned them to come quickly. He reached a Turkish force of 500, near Mas'ud's main army, surprised them and killed some. He saw the men from the ambushes approaching, but the Turks kept them away from the emperor, thinking they had already ensnared him. Manuel told Poupakes to prevent the Byzantines from being cut off from a nearby hill; Poupakes told him to look after himself, but Manuel silenced him, making him obey orders. Unable to retreat without shame, Manuel charged and made a stand on a hill, to be joined by Ioannes (the later protosebastos) and others. Manuel escaped despite his exhausted horse. Ioannes Axouch, left behind in the emperor Manuel 1's attack and fearing for his own safety, claimed he was at a good rallying-point for rescuing the emperor; thus he gathered a force, then advanced in safety to Manuel. Several of Manuel's officers reproached him for rashness, so he turned his mind to saving Byzantine stragglers. He placed another ambush in a ravine and made more attacks, aided by Nikolaos Angelos and Kotertzes' bowmen. At this crisis, he saw Turks retreating unexpectedly, and deduced they could see Byzantine reinforcements invisible to himself. His uncle Isakios was said to have gone into a chapel in the imperial tent, expecting Manuel to be killed, providing him at last with an opportunity for usurpation. But the reinforcements appeared, and the emperor was able to achieve more in the evening