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Qaqa marched to Husaid,
and Abu Laila followed him out of Ain-ut-Tamr on his way to Khanafis,
both proceeding on separate routes to their objectives. As Qaqa
neared his objective, Ruzbeh, the Persian commander at Husaid, sent
an appeal for help to Zarmahr, the Persian commander at Khanafis.
Zarmahr would not send his army to Husaid, because he had to have
Bahman's permission before he could move the army from Khanafis.
But he went to Husaid in person to see things for himself, and arrived
just in time to take part in the Battle of Husaid, which was fought
about the middle of October 633 (first week of Shaban, 12 Hijri).
As soon as Qaqa arrived at Husaid, he deployed
his corps and launched it against the Persian army, which was much
larger in strength. Ruzbeh was slain by Qaqa. Zarmahr also stepped
forward with a challenge which was accepted by a Muslim officer
who killed him. There was no dearth of courage among the Persians,
but they were nevertheless roundly defeated by Qaqa and driven from
the battlefield. Leaving behind a large number of dead, the Persians
retreated in haste to Khanafis, where they joined the other Persian
army, now under the command of another general, named Mahbuzan.
The Persian survivors of Husaid arrived
at Khanafis only a short while before the corps of Abu Laila. Reports
of the Muslims' approach had been received. Being a sensible general,
Mahbuzan drew the right lesson from the defeat at Husaid and decided
to avoid battle with the Muslims. Setting off at once from Khanafis,
he moved to Muzayyah where he joined the Arab force gathered under
the command of Huzail bin Imran. So Abu Laila arrived at Khanafis
to find the Persians gone. He occupied Khanafis and informed Khalid
of the departure of the Persians for Muzayyah.
At Ain-ut-Tamr Khalid heard of the defeat
of the Persian army at Husaid. He next heard of the movement of
the second Persian army, along with the remnants of the first, from
Khanafis to Muzayyah. This move left Ctesiphon uncovered and vulnerable
to attack, though it would no doubt have a garrison for local defence.
Muzayyah now contained the strongest concentration of imperial forces.
The Arab concentrations at Saniyy and Zumail, on the other hand,
ceased to be a threat to Hira, as with the reverses suffered by
the Persians at Husaid and Khanafis, these Arabs were not likely
to venture out of their camps with aggressive intentions.
Khalid now had a choice of three objectives:
the imperial capital, the imperial army at Muzayyah, and the Arab
force at Saniyy and Zumail. He considered the possibility of attacking
Ctesiphon, but discarded it for two reasons. Firstly, according
to Tabari, he feared the displeasure of the Caliph which he would
earn by an attack on Ctesiphon. 1 Abu Bakr
apparently did not wish it. Secondly, and this was a purely military
consideration, by advancing to Ctesiphon he would expose his flank
and rear to the strong forces at Muzayyah. These forces could then
either attack him in the rear while he was engaged with Ctesiphon,
or advance and capture his base at Hira, severing his communications
with the desert.
Of the two remaining objectives, Khalid
selected Muzayyah. The other was a smaller objective and could be
dealt with later without difficulty. By now the exact location of
the imperial camp at Muzayyah had been established by Khalid's agents,
and to deal with this objective he designed a manoeuvre which, seldom
practised in history, is one of the most difficult to control and
co-ordinate-a simultaneous converging attack from three directions
made at night.
Khalid first issued orders for the move.
The three corps would march from their respective locations at Husaid,
Khanafis and Ain-ut-Tamr along separate routes he had specified
between the Euphrates and the Saniyy-Zumail line, and meet on a
given night and at a given hour at a place a few miles short of
Muzayyah. This move was carried out as planned, and the three corps
concentrated at the appointed place. Here Khalid gave orders for
the attack. He laid down the time of the attack and the three separate
directions from which the three corps would fall upon the unsuspecting
enemy. He was putting his army to a severe test of precision; only
a highly efficient military machine could carry out such a finely
timed manoeuvre at night.
1. For Khalid's mission is Iraq, see Note
4 on Appendix B.
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