 According to Marco Polo's account, in the early stages of the battle, the Turkish and Mongol horsemen "took such fright at the sight of the elephants that they would not be got to face the foe, but always swerved and turned back," while the Burmese forces pressed on.But the Mongol commander Huthukh did not panic; he ordered his troops to dismount, and from the cover of the nearby treeline, aim their bows directly at the advancing elephants.The Mongol archers' arrows threw the animals into such pain that they fled.