A sandstorm had blown over the battlefield, obscuring all movements, and Rostam decided he would use this opportunity to shift his lines, repositioning the Immortals in the center and calling up all his reserves. The fourth day of battle began with a morning lull, with no movements from the Arab army, and Rostam smiled contently, his back was to the river but he had many uncommitted reserves still. It was only by the grace of Ahura Mazda and the skills of Spahbed Rostam that kept the line together to fight back the renewed Muslim assault.Īlthough frustrated in their advances, the Persian army still outnumbered their Muslim counterparts.
After three days of straight fighting however, the Muslim commander, Sa'd ibn Malik has prepared his troops for an assault, using long spears and flaming arrows, the Arabs had managed to maim the elephant line, driving them into a frenzy and sending the beasts crashing back into the Sassanid army and throwing their lines into confusion. The day began gloriously for the Sassanid army as the skilled Parthian and Persian archers drove back the Arab skirmishers, making way for the fearsome elephants to charge. Rostam was still confident in victory, despite rumors that several thousand more Arabs were on route from Syria after having destroyed the Roman army at Yarmouk, and aimed to destroy the enemy army in a frontal assault with his elephant corps. Several more attempts to breach their line with the infantry and cavalry had met with similar failure, and for the moment, it looked as though both sides were in a stalemate, fated to bludgeon and bleed each other to death on the desert sands. Spahbed Rostam Farrokhzad, the Persian commander, had sent forth his champions to challenge their Arab counterparts in single combat in hopes of bolstering the morale of his forces, only to have them fall before the barbaric fighters. For three days straight, the two armies clashed without result. Although they were ultimately beaten back by internal divisions and Roman treachery, they were still tough soldiers, all but inured to the hardships and trials of combat, and they were eager to redeem themselves against these upstart tribals that had dared invade their empire.Īnd yet, despite their best efforts, the Arabs did not break. Many of them veterans from the ruinous twenty year war with the Romans, and having marched the length of Egypt and Anatolia. The men, though exhausted and wretched, were calm and ready. All were ready to drive away the armies of this so called 'prophet' that dared lead his army of tribals against the majesty of their empire. The lumbering beasts of the Elephant corps were posted to the front, accompanied by Parthian Horse Archers and Immortal Heavy Infantry, while the cream of the Persian Army, the elite Aswaran Zhayedan cavalry, armored head to toe and proficient with both lance and bow, were posted to the second line. On this day, on the plains of Al-Qadisiyyah, the Persian army marched forward in a stately profession, confident in their strength and heritage. The storm itself, crashed with sound, the screams of men, the thumping of war drums and hooves, and the clash of steel. A sea of glittering diamonds and color weaving around in a violent dance. Yet this was not a natural sandstorm, for within the dust clouds, an occasional glimmer could be found here and there, mixed in with red and green guidons of cloth. The very ground shook as clouds of dust and sand spouted up violently from the terrain, clouding everything for miles around. To an untrained eye above the clouds, it seemed as if there was a thunderous storm gathering on the earth.
Patiently waiting for the contest below them to run its course. The vultures had circled the skies of the battlefield with hungry eyes.
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