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Bahman moved on a separate
route to Andarzaghar's. From Ctesiphon he marched south, between
the two rivers, making directly for Walaja. But he left Ctesiphon
several days after the first army, and his movement was slower.
The Battle of the River had been
a glorious victory. With few casualties to themselves, the Muslims
had shattered a large Persian army and acquired a vast amount of
booty. But the battle left Khalid in a more thoughtful mood; and
only now did he begin to appreciate the immensity of the resources
of the Persian Empire. He had fought two bloody battles with two
separate Persian armies and driven them mercilessly from the battlefield,
but he was still only on the fringes of the Empire. The Persians
could field many armies like the ones he had fought at Kazima and
the River.
It was a sobering thought. And Khalid was
on his own. He was the first Muslim commander to set out to conquer
alien lands. He was not only the military commander but also the
political head, and as such had to govern, on behalf of the Caliph
in Madinah, all the territories conquered for Islam. There was no
superior to whom he could turn for guidance in matters of politics
and administration. Moreover, his men were not as fresh as on the
eve of Kazima. They had marched long and fast and fought hard, and
were now feeling more than a little tired. Khalid rested his army
for a few days.
By now Khalid had organised an efficient
network of intelligence agents. The agents were local Arabs who
were completely won over by the generous treatment of the local
population by Khalid, which contrasted strikingly with the harshness
and arrogance of the imperial Persians. Consequently they had thrown
in their lot with the Muslims and kept Khalid apprised of the affairs
of Persia and the movements of Persian forces. These agents now
informed him of the march of Andarzaghar from Ctesiphon; of the
large Arab contingents which joined him; of his picking up the survivors
of Qarin's army; of his movement towards Walaja. They also brought
word of the movement towards Walaja. They also brought word of the
march of the second army under Bahman from Ctesiphon and its movement
in a southerly direction. As more intelligence arrived, Khalid realised
that the two Persian armies would shortly meet and then either bar
his way south of the Euphrates or advance to fight him in the region
of Uballa. The Persians would be in such overwhelming strength that
there could be no possibility of his engaging in a successful battle.
Khalid had to get to Hira, and Walaja was smack on his route.
Another point that worried Khalid was that
too many Persians were escaping from one battle to fight another
day. The survivors of Kazima had joined Qarin and fought at the
River. The survivors of the River had joined Andarzaghar
and were now moving towards Walaja. If he was to have a sporting
chance of defeating all the armies that faced him, he would have
to make sure that none got away from one battle to join the army
preparing for the next.
These then were the two problems that faced
Khalid. The first was strategical: two Persian armies were about
to combine to oppose him. To this problem he found a masterly strategical
solution, i.e. to advance rapidly and fight and eliminate
one army (Andarzaghar's) before the other army (Bahman's) arrived
on the scene. The second problem was tactical: how to prevent enemy
warriors escaping from one battle to fight another. To this he found
a tactical solution which only a genius could conceive and only
a master could implement-but more of this later.
Khalid gave instructions to Suwaid bin Muqarrin
to see to the administration of the conquered districts with his
team of officials, and posted a few detachments to guard the lower
Tigris against possible enemy crossings from the north and east
and to give warning of any fresh enemy forces coming from those
directions. With the rest of the army-about 15,000 men-he set off
in the direction of Hira, moving at a fast pace along the south
edge of the great marsh.
If Andarzaghar had been given the choice,
he would undoubtedly have preferred to wait for the arrival of Bahman
before fighting a decisive battle with the Muslims. But Andarzaghar
was not given the choice. A few days before Bahman was expected,
the Muslim army appeared over the eastern horizon and camped a short
distance from Walaja. However, Andarzaghar was not worried. He had
a large army of Persians and Arabs and felt confident of victory.
He did not even bother to withdraw to the river bank, a mile away,
so that he could use the river to guard his rear. He prepared for
battle at Walaja.
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