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Meanwhile Shurahbil was
not a little worried. He had lost quite a large number of men, killed
and wounded, and feared that if another determined sally were made
by the Romans, they might succeed in breaking through his corps.
He consequently, asked Khalid for reinforcements; but Khalid had
no men to spare. He could not weaken the other corps, because the
Romans could attack at any gate, and might well choose another gate
for their next sally. He instructed Shurahbil to hold on as best
he could, and assured him, that Dhiraar with his 2,000 men would
get to him in case of heavy pressure. If need be he himself, with
his reserve, would come and take over the battle at the Gate of
Thomas. Shurahbil prepared for another sally by the Romans, quite
determined to hold on to the last man.
For the sally of the night, Thomas again
selected the Gate of Thomas as the point of main effort in order
to exploit the damage which he had undoubtedly caused to the corps
of Shurahbil. But he planned to make sallies from other gates also.
The locations of the various Muslim corps and their commanders,
were known in detail to the garrison. To keep the Muslim corps at
other gates tied down, so that they would not be able to come to
the aid of Shurahbil, Thomas ordered sallies form the Jabiya Gate,
the Small Gate and the East Gate. For the last he allotted rather
more forces than for the others, so that Khalid would be unable
to move to Shurahbil's help and take command in that decisive sector.
Attacking from several gates also gave more flexibility to the operation.
Thus, if success were achieved, in any sector other than the Gate
of Thomas, that could be converted into the main sector and the
success exploited accordingly.
In his orders Thomas emphasised the need
for swift attacks, so that the Muslims would be caught unawares
and destroyed in their camps. No quarter would be given. Any Muslim
wishing to surrender would be killed on the spot-any, that is, but
Khalid, who was to be taken alive. The moon would rise about two
hours before midnight. Soon after, on the signal of a gong to be
struck on the orders of Thomas, the gates would be flung open and
the attacks launched simultaneously.
In the moonlight the Roman attacks began
as planned. At the Jabiya Gate there was some hard fighting, and
Abu Ubaidah himself entered the fray with drawn sword. The Son of
the Surgeon was an accomplished swordsman, and several Romans fell
under his blows before the sally was repulsed and the Romans hastened
back to the city.
At the Small Gate Yazeed had fewer troops
than were positioned at the other gates, and the Romans gained some
initial success. But luckily Dhiraar was nearby and joined Yazeed
with his 2,000 warriors. Without a moment's delay Dhiraar hurled
his men at the enemy, whereupon the Romans reacted as if they had
been assailed by demons and hastily withdrew to the fort with Dhiraar
close upon their heels.
At the East Gate the situation soon became
more serious, for a larger Roman force had been assigned to this
sector. From the sounds of battle Khalid was able to judge that
the enemy had advanced farther than he should have been allowed
to; and fearing the Raafe might not be able to hold the attack,
went into battle himself with his reserve of 400 veterans from the
Mobile Guard. As he got to the Romans, he gave his personal battle
cry: "I am the noble warrior, Khalid bin Al Waleed."
This battle cry was by now known to all the Romans, and had the
effect of imposing caution upon them. In fact it marked the turning
point in the sally at the East Gate. Soon the Romans were in full
retreat with the Muslims cutting down the stragglers. Most of this
force was able to re?enter the city and close the East Gate behind
it.
The heaviest fighting, however, took place
at the Gate of Thomas, where Shurahbil's corps, having fought a
hard action during the day, had to bear the brunt of the fighting
of the night. The moonlight helped visibility as the Romans rushed
out of the gate and began to form up for battle. In this process
they were subjected to withering fire from Shurahbil's archers,
but in spite of some losses, they completed their deployment and
advanced to battle. For two hours the fighting continued unabated
with Shurahbil's men struggling desperately to hold the Roman attack.
And hold it they did.
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