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As soon as the Greek had
departed, Khalid ordered the procurement of ropes and the preparation
of rope ladders. There was no time to make a co-ordinated plan of
attack for the whole army; and so Khalid decided that he would storm
the fort by the East Gate, with just the corps of Iraq which was
positioned there. The moon would rise at about midnight, and soon
after that the assault would begin.
According to Khalid's plan, 100 men would
scale the wall at a place near the East Gate, where it was known
to be the most impregnable. Here certainly there would be no sentries.
At first three men would climb up with ropes. Then rope ladders
would be fastened to the ropes and hauled up by the three to be
used by the rest of the picked hundred to get to the top. Some men
would remain at the top, while others would descend into the fort,
kill any guards found at the gate and open the gate. Thereupon the
entire corps would rush in and start the attack.
The three leaders who were to scale the
wall were Khalid, Qaqa and Maz'ur bin Adi. The ropes were thrown
up, lassoing the epaulements on the wall, after which these three
indomitable souls climbed up hand by hand. There was no guard at
the top. The rope ladders were drawn up, and on these others began
to climb in silence. When half the group had arrived at the top,
Khalid left a few men to assist the remaining climbers, and with
the rest descended into the city. A few Roman soldiers were encountered
on the way down and put to the sword. Thereafter the party rushed
to the gate, where two sentries stood on guard. Khalid killed one
while Qaqa killed the other. But by this time the alarm had been
raised and parties of Romans began to converge towards the East
Gate. Khalid knew that it was now touch and go.
The rest of the Muslim party hastily took
up a position to keep the Romans away while Khalid and Qaqa dealt
with the gate, which was locked and chained. A few blows shattered
both lock and chain, and the gate was flung open. The next instant
the corps of Iraq came pouring in. The Roman soldiers who had converged
towards the gate never went back; their corpses littered the road
to the centre of the city.
All Damascus was now awake. The Roman soldiers
rushed to their assigned positions, as per rehearsed drills, and
manned the entire circumference of the fort. Only a small reserve
remained in the hands of Thomas as Khalid began his last onslaught
to get to the centre of Damascus, killing all who stood in his way-the
regiments defending the sector of the East Gate.
It was shortly before dawn, and now Thomas
played his last card-brilliantly. He knew that Khalid had secured
a firm foothold in the city, and it was only a matter of time before
the entire city would lie at his feet. From the absence of activity
at the other gates, he guessed that Khalid was attacking alone and
that other corps were not taking part in the storming of the fort.
He hoped-and this was a long shot-that the other corps commanders,
especially Abu Ubaidah, would not know of the break-in by Khalid.
Thomas acted fast. He threw in his last reserve against Khalid to
delay his advance for as long as possible, and at the same time
sent envoys to the Jabiya Gate to talk with Abu Ubaidah and offer
to surrender the fort peacefully and to pay the Jizya.
Abu Ubaidah received these envoys with courtesy
and heard their offer of surrender. He believed that they had come
to him because they were afraid to face Khalid. At the distance
at which he was placed from the East Gate, if he heard sounds of
battle at all, he must have assumed that it was a sally by the Romans;
for it could not have occurred to him that Khalid would scale the
wall with ropes. Abu Ubaidah had no doubt in his mind that Khalid
also would agree to peace to put an end to the bloodshed and ensure
a quick occupation of Damascus. Consequently he took upon himself
the responsibility of the decision and accepted the terms of surrender.
Damascus would be entered peacefully; there would be no bloodshed,
no plunder, no enslavement and no destruction of temples; the inhabitants
would pay the Jizya; the garrison and any local inhabitants who
wished to do so would be free to depart from the city with all their
goods. After this the Roman envoys went to the corps commanders
at the other gates and informed then that a peace had been arranged
with the Muslim commander and that the gates would be opened shortly,
through which the Muslims could enter in peace. There would be no
resistance.
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