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The battle
had got beyond the stage of 'sparks of fire'. It had not yet reached
the stage of 'raging conflagration', but the fire was nevertheless
burning with fearful heat as the battle entered its third day. This
was to be, for the Muslims, a right-handed action.
The army of chains made no move on this
day as it had suffered more heavily on the previous day than the
army of Qanateer. The army of Qureen made a limited effort on the
front of Abu Ubaidah as a diversionary measure to tie down Muslim
reserves. But the Armenians and the left wing of the Roman army,
both now under the command of Qanateer, struck with extreme severity
at the Muslim right and the corps of Sharhabeel, selecting as the
main point of attack the junction between Sharhabeel and Amr bin
Al Aas.
The initial attack was again repulsed by
Amr and Sharhabeel, but the Roman advantage of numbers, against
which the Muslims could only put up the same tired soldiers, soon
began to tell. Thus, shortly before midday, Qanateer broke though
in several places. The corps of Amr fell back to the camp, and the
right part of Sharhabeel's front was also pushed back, while his
left still held firmly to its position. Several gaps now appeared
in the Muslim front.
Again the Muslim women came into action
with tent poles and stones and sharp tongues; and again the Muslims
recoiled from them to face the Romans. One of these Muslims confided
to his comrades: "It is easier to face the Romans than our
women!" 1 The bulk of the two corps
re-established a second line and held the Roman efforts to break
through. Amr even took the offensive and struck at the Romans with
his cavalry and infantry, intending to dislodge them from their
forward positions, but had little success.
At the stage a Muslim lady came running
to Khalid. She had suddenly got a bright military idea and wanted
Khalid to get the benefit of it - just in case he did not know.
"O Son of Al Waleed" said the lady, "you
are among the noblest of the Arabs. Know that the men only stay
with their commanders. If the commanders stand fast the men stand
fast. If the commanders are defeated the men are defeated."
2
Khalid thanked her politely for the advice
and assured her that in this army the commanders would not be defeated!
Now Khalid launched his cavalry reserve
against the flank of Qanateer. At the same time Amr's cavalry regiment
manoeuvred from the right and struck Qanateer in his left flank,
while the infantry of Amr and Sharhabeel counter-attacked frontally.
(See Map 22 below) This time the Roman opposition to the Muslim
counter-attack proved much more stubborn and hundreds of Muslims
fell in combat, but by dusk the Romans were pushed back to their
own position and the situation restored as at the beginning of the
battle.
1. Waqidi: p. 142.
2. Ibid.
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