Complex sentence: Adana (Ar. Adhana) followed in 758--760, and Tarsus in 787/788, quickly becoming the largest settlement in the region and the Arabs' most important base of operations against the Byzantines, counting between 4,000 and 5,000 troops in its garrison.
Split into simpler sentences: Adana (Ar. Adhana) followed in 758--760, and Tarsus in 787/788. Tarsus quickly became the largest settlement in the region and the Arabs' most important base of operations against the Byzantines, counting between 4,000 and 5,000 troops in its garrison.