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In the sector
of Sharhabeel, however, the Armenians broke through and pushed the
Muslims back towards their camp. The Armenians were strongly supported
by the Christian Arabs of Jabla, and this proved the most serious
penetration of the Muslim front. Sharhabeel was able to slow down
the advance of the Armenians but could not repulse it. Soon it was
clear that the corps would not be able to hold out for very long.
It now became necessary for Khalid to enter this sector with his
reserve.
What Khalid feared most was an attack in
strength on a broad front. In case the enemy broke through at several
places, there would be no way of expelling him as the army reserve
could not be everywhere at the same time. On the second day of battle
Khalid had been able to restore the situation on both flanks by
first striking at one and then at the other penetration; but if
the Romans got through in strength at many places, this could not
be done. Consequently, when he saw the initial success of the enemy
against Amr and Sharhabeel, he ordered Abu Ubaidah and Yazeed to
attack on their front and thus forestall a Roman attack on the Muslim
left in case such an attack was intended. This was to be a spoiling
attack. By mid-morning the corps of Abu Ubaidah and Yazeed had engaged
the armies of Qureen and Gregory, and at the time when Sharhabeel's
position became delicate, both these corps were pressing hard against
the right half of the Roman front.
Khalid, feeling more assured about his left,
decided to strike against the Armenians. He divided the army reserve
into two equal groups of which he gave one to Qais bin Hubeira and
kept the other with himself. Leading his own cavalry group, Khalid
galloped round behind the corps of Sharhabeel and appeared against
the northern flank of the Armenian salient. Now began a three-pronged
counter attack against the Armenians and Christian Arabs: Khalid
from the right, Qais from the left and Sharhabeel from the front.
(See Map 23 below) The fighting became vicious in this part of the
battlefield as the enemy resisted stoutly, and for several hours
a bitter struggle raged between the Muslims and the Christians;
but at last the Armenians broke under the blows of the Muslim cavalry
and infantry and fell back to their own position, losing heavily
in the process. In this action, which lasted the whole afternoon,
the Christian Arabs proved the heaviest losers.
As the Armenians pulled back, Amr bin Al
Aas renewed his efforts to dislodge the Slavs from the position
which they had taken; and the Slavs, denied the support of the Armenians
on their flank, also retired. The positions of Sharhabeel and Amr
were now restored. But this action on the Muslim right was not completed
till the evening; and while it was in progress an equally critical
and more fierce battle was being fought on the left side of the
Muslim front. What made the latter action so dangerous was the fact
that the army reserve was heavily committed on the right and could
do nothing to help Abu Ubaidah and Yazeed, who had to rely entirely
on their own resources.
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