|
At about the
time when the Roman cavalry of the left was being driven away by
Khalid, Mahan had concentrated the remainder of his cavalry into
one powerful, mobile army behind the Roman centre to counter attack
and regain lost positions. But before the massed Roman cavalry could
start any manoeuvre, it was assailed in front and flank by the Muslim
cavalry. For some time, urged on by the intrepid Mahan, the Romans
fought gallantly; but in this type of fluid situation the regular,
heavy cavalry was no match for the light, fast-moving horsemen of
Khalid who could strike, disengage, manoeuvre and strike again.
At last the Roman cavalry, seeing no other way of survival, broke
contact and fled to the north, taking with it the protesting Mahan.
In this manner the Roman cavalry abandoned the infantry to its fate.
With Mahan, altogether 40,000 mounted troops got away, consisting
partly of regular Roman cavalry and partly of the mobile Christian
Arabs of Jabla bin El Eiham.
In the cavalry actions of this morning there
was no sign of Dhiraar. The Muslims missed the familiar sight of
the half-naked warrior in the kind of battle in which he would have
revelled. They did not know where he was; and Khalid would not tell!
Meanwhile the Armenians were stoutly resisting
Amr and Sharhabeel's attempts to crush them. The two Muslim corps
had made some headway but not much; and this is understandable,
for the Armenians were very brave fighters indeed. 1
Abu Ubaidah and Yazeed were also attacking the Romans on their front
(though their role was as yet secondary- a holding operation), but
were held by the army of Qureen and the army of chains. It was at
this stage that Khalid, having driven the Roman cavalry from the
battlefield, turned on the Armenians and charged them in the rear.
(See Map 25 below) In the face of the three-pronged attack the Armenians
disintegrated. Abandoning their position, they fled to the South-West-the
only direction open to them, and were much relieved and surprised
that the Muslim cavalry made no effort to interfere with their movement
as it could easily have done. They travelled in the direction in
which they saw safety. Unknown to them, this was also the direction
which Khalid wanted them to take.
As the Armenian army collapsed, and mingling
in a confused mass with the survivors of the Slav army of Qanateer
fled towards the Wadi-ur-Raqqad, the remaining Roman armies realised
the hopelessness of their position. Their flank and rear were completely
exposed. Consequently they also began to withdraw, and with discipline
and good order made their way westwards. Here again the Roman movement
was not intercepted by Khalid.
1. Gibbon, in his Decline and Fall of the Roman
Empire, describes the Armenians as "the most warlike subjects of Rome"
|
