Lecture 8: 636 Yarmouk & al-Qadisiyyah—Islam Triumphs
they entered this zone of camps, where they encountered their
infuriated wives.x To shore up the crumbling left and right, Khalid now brought
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the rallying of the Rashidun infantry and counterattacks by the
cavalry, the Byzantine advance was pushed back. By nightfall, the
original battle lines were restored.x On the third day, the Byzantines concentrated their offensive on the
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pushing the opposing Rashidun formations backward into their own
camps, and again, the women refused defeat. Once more, Khalid’s
timely insertion of the cavalry reserves resulted in the Byzantine
offensive being blunted and forced back to its original line.x Vahan began the fourth day with another strong, generalized assault,
which again had initial success. But when Khalid counterattacked
with his cavalry reserve, the Byzantine infantry and cavalry lost
contact. The cavalry were driven off to the north, exposing the
infantry to harassing attacks by Khalid’s horsemen. The Rashidun
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the Byzantines back.x :KHQDJDSRSHQHGLQWKH%\]DQWLQHOLQHVWKHGDVKLQJ=DUUDUDQGD
small cavalry contingent drove into the rear lines of the Byzantine
army, where they seized control of a bridge that constituted the only
good crossing point over the treacherous gullies and ravines around
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off its supply line.x 2QWKH¿IWKGD\9DKDQDWWHPSWHGWRQHJRWLDWHIRUDWUXFH.KDOLG
however, sensing that the initiative was swinging in his favor,
refused. These negotiations took up most of the day, and Khalid
used the time to reorganize his remaining cavalry into one large
strike force.