Beyond the Sand Dune

by Asen Djinah

  Whilst the flank cavalry unit was trying to plug the holes breached, Al-Qaqa rode his reserve mobile unit on the Jabiya road and attacked the enemy from the side. With their eighteen-foot long spears, the horsemen gradually pushed the Byzantines back. By late afternoon, the enemy soldiers had started to lose heart, having suffered many casualties.

  ‘Valiant brothers, let us drive the infidels back. Our swords are blessed and we will destroy them,’ Amr urged his soldiers to make one last effort.

  With the help of Al-Qaqa’s mobile unit, they eventually managed to regain the lost ground and restore the original frontline.

  Seeing that the right flank had been stabilised, Khalid issued new orders to Al-Qaqa’s mobile cavalry unit to go to the help of the southern left flank, which was also under severe pressure and suffering the same intensity of fighting. However, the Byzantine division attacking them consisted of soldiers chained to one another, having taken the oath to fight till death; they were therefore less mobile than Yazid’s troops. Throughout the day, as the fighting went on, Khalid was worried that the two central divisions might go to the assistance of the flanks.

  ‘Do not be tempted to get drawn to the flanks at any cost,’ he urgently sent words to the commanders of the central divisions, to remind them of his previous orders.

  He knew that if his central divisions were dragged to the flanks, Vahan would order his own central army to push forward and split the Arabian army in two. That was precisely Vahan’s plan and he had waiting patiently for the central divisions to commit themselves. The two cavalry units, held in reserve by Vahan for that sole purpose, were also waiting patiently. Once the main heart of the army was split, they would drive through and surround the Arabian army from all sides and victory would be total. But it seemed like Khalid had read his mind.

  Being the tactician that he was, Khalid was able to outguess Vahan’s strategy. At one point during late afternoon, when his two flanks were nearly routed, he ordered his central divisions to go on the offensive. They were to push forward and put pressure on the Byzantines instead. The counterattack of the central divisions had the desired effect of relieving the pressure on his own flanks since Vahan also feared that his frontline might be breached. During that offensive, Khalid’s men managed to kill the famous Dragan, Vahan’s second-in-command, delivering a severe blow to the enemy’s morale.

  ‘My men are exhausted. Please God, give them enough strength to last until sunset,’ Khalid prayed as he looked up at the sky.

  He feared that his exhausted men would not be able to bear the pressure for much longer. He was relieved when dusk and exhaustion brought the two armies apart, with no clear gain to either side. Although both sides had suffered heavy losses, the Byzantines had sustained more casualties than the Arabian soldiers, mainly caused by Al-Qaqa’s mobile cavalry unit. Still, at the end of this second day, Vahan felt encouraged.

  ‘It is a matter of time before we break through the enemy flanks,’ Vahan told his officers as they gathered in his tent that evening.

  ‘The Arabian fighters are exhausted and will not withstand the pressure of a third day of battle,’ he said, asking his officers to spread the word among the soldiers to boost their confidence.

  It was indeed a matter of time since throughout the day Vahan had been using his soldiers alternately in two groups, allowing one group to rest while the other was fighting. Khalid did not have this option with his exhausted fighters.

  ‘Once the flanks are breached, our central divisions will press forward and break through the Arabian frontline. When this happens I will give orders for the two reserve cavalry units to drive into the heart of the enemy. They will not stand a chance. Tomorrow will be the last day of fighting. Go inform the men,’ Vahan told his commanders.

  Chapter 11

  Vahan’s plan for the third day was simple. Since his division of enchained soldiers could not move as fast as the enemy, he intended to leave the southern flank mostly uncontested. With his central divisions distracting their Arabian central counterparts, he would throw all his forces onto the weakened right flank by the Jabiya road. When the battle started at dawn, Khalid was anxious to find out what Vahan’s strategy was. However, as the fighting progressed he was partially relieved to see that his left flank was left alone, with the bulk of the Byzantine attack on the right, northern flank.

  ‘The reserve cavalry unit will be able to support the right flank exclusively,’ he thought as he watched the fighting from his vantage point.

  Waves and waves of attacks by Byzantine soldiers were met by the Arabian soldiers, motivated by their religious fervour and by their wives fighting alongside and urging them on. Despite this, they found themselves being pushed back by the Byzantine onslaught. Commander Amr knew he had to try and do something otherwise his flank would collapse completely.

  ‘Let us retreat back in an orderly manner,’ he ordered his men, after liaising with both the support and the reserve cavalry units.

  The astute Amr had a plan up his sleeve. As the Byzantine soldiers moved forward, pressing the retreating Arabian soldiers, they found themselves deep inside the enemy front line. They were attacked on the left by the central division horsemen and on the right by Al-Qaqa’s mobile unit. The Byzantines suffered great losses and began to weaken.

  ‘Let us push them back now,’ Amr urged his men forward, as they pressed to restore their original line.

  The fierce fighting continued all day with casualties mounting on both sides, but more on the Byzantine side. Amr repeated the same tactic a few times throughout the afternoon until nightfall pulled the armies apart. The Arabian soldiers were encouraged to see that they had withstood the sheer force of the enemy for three long days, while the Byzantine soldiers were becoming demoralised. They had believed that this was to be the final day of fighting and had thrown everything they had at the enemy. Still they had not been able to break through.

  During the night, commanders from both sides sought to boost the morale of the soldiers. Vahan gathered his officers around him in his tent.

  ‘As we saw today, the enemy is totally exhausted and there can be no doubt that tomorrow will definitely be the last day of fighting. I am offering a bonus payment to every man if we dispose of the enemy tomorrow. I want you to tell our men that they have to give everything. We will not leave a single Arabian soldier alive,’ he told his commanders.

  There had been ongoing dissent amongst the men, with the Armenian and Greek officers blaming one another for failing to break through. Vahan tried to quench the disagreement among his officers.

  ‘Stop bickering and focus your anger on the enemy. Tomorrow will be the final day and we will destroy the enemy completely,’ he said.

  Vahan and his officers went through the camp, telling everyone that the next day would be the decisive day and informing the soldiers of the bonus payment.

  On the Arabian side, the veterans and officers tirelessly walked from one group to the next in an attempt to encourage their fighters. Verses from the Holy Scripture were read out loud.

  ‘Do not lose the battle. The cruel Byzantines will defile our honour – and that of our daughters – before enslaving us,’ the women reminded the exhausted men.

  The soldiers were once again told that it was a blessing to die in the name of God and reap the rewards of Paradise. Any heavily wounded were sent back to camp for treatment, whereas those who were only lightly wounded were patched up ready to face a fourth day of fighting. The atmosphere in the Arabian camp was ominous. Already exhausted from the previous days of constant heavy fighting, everyone doubted whether they could withstand another day.

  By now Vahan had realised the effectiveness of Khalid’s mobile cavalry unit in breaking the Byzantines’ attacks and inflicting the most damage to his foot soldiers with their eighteen-foot long spears. He once again gathered his officers before daybreak to lay out his plan.

  ‘The enemy will expect us to attack the weakened northern flank tomorrow. We will
do just that. However as soon as their mobile unit commits itself to helping that flank, I will signal for you to attack the southern flank by the river with full force. Without any cavalry support, we will break through easily. If their centre divisions go to the rescue of the flanks, I will send our centre divisions to drive through and penetrate the heart of the enemy,’ he explained.

  Vahan’s plan raised the confidence of his soldiers and commanders, while Khalid’s men were in low spirits.

  As soon as the sun rose, the Byzantines launched a full assault on the weakened northern flank. From morning to noon, Amr’s men sustained wave after wave of attacks, suffering many casualties. As on the second day, many soldiers lost heart and retreated back to camp only to be driven back to battle by the women. Once more the women joined them on the frontline to fight alongside their husbands. The situation was dire and at midday Vahan sent fresh and rested soldiers against the exhausted Arabian fighters. Commander Amr requested help a number of times, but each time Khalid refused.

  ‘I am wary of committing the mobile unit as I strongly suspect that is what Vahan wants me to do,’ he sent word to Amr.

  Yet not to send the mobile unit to the rescue would condemn the northern flank and once this happened, the battle would be over. It was then that Khalid made the strategic move that would save the day. As he finally signalled for the mobile cavalry unit to go to the help of the northern flank, he also sent urgent orders to the commanders of the central divisions as well commander Yazid of the south flank.

  ‘I want both central divisions and the southern flank to go on the offensive and attack the Byzantines, putting them on the defensive. Push them back as much as possible,’ he ordered.

  Two of the three Arabian divisions made significant advances into the enemy lines, whilst the Byzantines managed to break through the right centre division, pushing them all the way back. The Arabian army was nearly cut in half. Al-Qaqa’s mobile horsemen, who were in between the northern flank and the right centre division, shifted their focus to the gap in the frontline. With the help of the central cavalry unit, they fought fiercely with casualties mounting on both sides, until the original frontline was finally restored by mid-afternoon. But at a heavy cost. In the meantime the other two Arabian divisions had advanced well forward into the enemy lines on the left of the battlefield. When he was finally made aware of the surprise advance, Vahan responded accordingly.

  ‘Deploy all long range archers to target those two divisions on the left. They are not to stop until the enemy has been pushed back,’ the Byzantine commander-in-chief ordered urgently.

  The Arabian soldiers could do nothing against such a heavy barrage; the arrows were falling so rapidly and intensely that it looked as if it were raining. The two divisions were forced to retreat. That particular day was to become known as ‘The Day of the Lost Eyes’ since over seven hundred Arabian soldiers lost an eye. Seeing the disarray amongst Khalid’s forces, Vahan ordered a full attack on all fronts before the retreating men could reorganise themselves. For the first time since the battle had started, he felt that victory was finally within reach.

  Khalid’s men were running back in confusion under the barrage of arrows, leaving large gaps on the left of the frontline. On seeing this, the experienced Commander Ikrimah realised the frontline had been breached and that defeat was almost certain.

  ‘Unless we have time to reorganise, we will surely face defeat,’ he thought.

  He had been alongside Jaffar during the negotiations with the Samanids on the eastern front and felt that all the efforts of the grand vizier to build up the army were going to be in vain. Ikrimah rushed to the head of the line and raising his sword, he rallied his men.

  ‘Who wants to join me in martyrdom and go to Paradise?’ he called out to his men.

  ‘Oh father, I’d rather die than surrender,’ his son Umar replied without hesitation, stepping forward to stand by his father’s side.

  Seeing father and son standing shoulder to shoulder, facing the enemy, Al-Harith – another veteran commander who had taken part in many battles – joined them.

  ‘I will fight alongside you to the death and together we will enter Paradise,’ he said.

  Ayyash, Khalid’s cousin, moved by the devotion of his friends, rushed forward and also pledged to fight to the death. On seeing this, groups of men began stepping forward until there were over four hundred volunteers. Under Ikrimah’s command, the group moved forward to attack the Byzantines on a suicide mission.

  ‘God Almighty, open the doors of paradise for us,’ Ikrimah shouted out as the men locked their shields and marched fearlessly, deep into the enemy ranks.

  Surrounded on all sides, the Arabian men fought valiantly, but the enemy were getting through the space between the shields with their long spears. One by one, the brave volunteers fell. When a spear went through his right shoulder, Ikrimah bit his lip so as not to scream in agony, for his son Umar was fighting next to him. Instead he shifted his sword to his left hand and kept on fighting.

  ‘I will see you in Paradise, my son,’ he gasped to Umar as he felt his strength weakening.

  With the enemy’s attention focused on the fighting group, Khalid and his commanders had time to reorganise their frontline. Fearing that the battle would be lost, the women moved to the front line and some even stepped in front of the men to face the Byzantine soldiers. They would rather die than face sexual violence and abuse at the hands of the victors.

  ‘Let us die alongside our husbands and join them in paradise,’ Hind bint Utbah called out to the other women.

  The actions of the women once again inspired the exhausted men to return to the frontline. The two sides fought ferociously. All four hundred volunteers, including Ikrimah and his son, died on their selfless mission.

  The battle carried on intensely, with renewed vigour from the Arabian fighters throughout the afternoon until dusk when exhaustion caused both sides to disengage. That fourth day was the most difficult day of the battle. Although the Byzantines had suffered more casualties, Khalid’s men were near complete exhaustion. It was only due to Khalid’s sheer military brilliance and the sacrifice of the four hundred martyrs, that defeat had been avoided. Nevertheless, they had lost more men in a single day than ever before. They had more wounded men than those who were uninjured. Later that evening, while inspecting the battlefield, Khalid found the body of Ikrimah and Umar side by side, with the father’s arm over his son’s body as if to protect him from the enemy. Tears came to Khalid’s eyes as he sat down beside them and caressed their faces.

  ‘Even in death, the father was trying to protect his son,’ he said to those around him.

  During the night, the women did as much as they could to patch up the wounded men. The atmosphere was gloomy and heavy with foreboding. Khalid realised that his men were not capable of enduring another day of such fierce fighting. With the number of wounded and the exhaustion of four days of relentless fighting, the men had little left to give.

  ‘We must go on the offensive and attack the enemy’s frontline to put them under pressure. Our men are exhausted and will not be able to cope with another day of heavy pressure,’ Khalid told his commanders.

  As he laid out his plan, his commanders realised that this was the only option left. On the Byzantine side, Vahan was frustrated that he could not conclude the battle on that day, for twice he had been on the brink of victory and both times the Arabian fighters had fought back with desperation. For four days he had been on the offensive and as was always the case, he had paid the price with a large number of casualties. Furthermore, his supplies had inexplicably failed to arrive and his men had to be put on rations. He was not to know that a group of Khalid’s men was operating beyond the Jabiya road and were responsible for disrupting his supply lines. For the first time in his military career, Vahan was unsure how to proceed and gathered his commanders around him to discuss the strategy for the following day.

  When the sun rose on the fifth day, the t
wo armies stood facing each other, just as they had done for the last four days. Khalid expected to see the Byzantine army getting ready to go for a full frontal assault, but was completely taken by surprise to see no movement from the enemy lines.

  ‘Let us wait and see what the enemy’s plans are,’ he instructed his officers, telling them to delay their own offensive.

  An hour passed and the front line still remained quiet. Another hour passed and finally a single rider moved forward, carrying a banner. Stopping a hundred yards from the Arabian frontline, he waved his banner to indicate his intention to communicate. Khalid dispatched one of his commanders to meet with the emissary.

  ‘Commander Vahan is proposing a truce for a few days. He wants to start negotiations to end the fighting,’ the messenger said.

  ‘I will discuss the proposal with my officers and will send my response in due course,’ Khalid told the messenger.

  As he surveyed the enemy lines with his telescope from the hill, he could see that the Byzantines had suffered more casualties attacking than his men had suffered defending, as was often the rule in battle. He realised that the request from Vahan meant that his army was demoralised and exhausted. Before the battle he had received intelligence that there was an atmosphere of mistrust between the Greeks and Armenians soldiers, as well as a power struggle among the Byzantine commanders. This was likely causing some tension and could be the reason for the proposal of a ceasefire.

  ‘If we accept their offer of a truce, they will have time to recover and due to their larger number and the extent of our own casualties, they will have the upper hand,’ Khalid told his commanders.

  ‘Yet our men desperately need at least one day’s rest,’ he acknowledged.