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In the late
afternoon of this sixth day of battle, began the last phase of the
Muslim attack. (See Map 27 below) Only a third of the Roman army
remained in this crowded corner of the Plain of Yarmuk; against
it the Muslims were arranged in a neat semi-circle, with the infantry
on the east and the cavalry on the north. The Muslim strength here
was less than 30,000 men. The time for generalship and manoeuvre
was over. The skill of the general had placed the troops in the
ideal situation for combat, and it was up to the soldiers to fight
and win. The generals drew their swords and became warriors like
the rest, as the lions of the desert moved in for the final kill.
The attackers struck with sword and spear
at the confused, seething mass in front of them. At places the Romans
were too closely packed for elbow-room to use their weapons; but
their front rank fought with heroic, if futile, courage to stem
the tide. Soon it was struck down, and the next rank and the next,
as the Muslims advanced-cutting, slashing, stabbing, thrusting.
In the dust and confusion the Romans ran into each other, and those
not agile enough fell and suffered a painful death under the trampling
feet of their own comrades.
The Muslim cavalry, rejoined by Dhiraar's
detachment, pressed the Romans farther into the corner where they
lost all freedom of action. Khalid's horsemen now began to use the
knees and hooves of their horses to knock down the exhausted defenders.
The screams of the Romans mingled with the shouts of the Muslims
as the last resistance collapsed, and the battle turned into a butchery
and a nightmare of horrors. For the last time the Romans broke and
fled in disorder. Those who still retained a desire to fight were
carried away by their panic-stricken comrades, especially in the
army of chains in which groups of 10 fought, moved and fell together.
Moving like stampeding cattle, the Roman
rabble reached the edge of the ravine. The view to the bottom was
terrifying, but so was the last wild charge of the Muslims. Those
coming in the rear pressed blindly against those on the edge of
the ravine, and rank after rank, the Roman army began to fall down
the precipice. The blood-curdling screams of some continued until
they hit the bottom, while the screams of others were cut short
as their bodies crashed against jutting rocks and then continued
their descent as shapeless, bloody lumps.
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