Short Description
Qutuz, May Allaah Have mercy upon him, was moving with his army on the alert. In other words, his army was arranged in the same order in which he would fight in the event of fighting, in order to be ready for any sudden attack launched by the Tatars.
History always repeats itself. The only difference here was that the Muslims during the Battle of Tabook did not find the Romans awaiting them, thereupon no battle took place. However, in this situation, the Tatars were waiting for them.
Qutuz, May Allaah Have mercy upon him, was moving with his army on the alert. In other words, his army was arranged in the same order in which he would fight in the event of fighting, in order to be ready for any sudden attack launched by the Tatars.
Qutuz, May Allaah Have mercy upon him, appointed Rukn Ad-Deen Beebars, the excellent military leader, in the vanguard of his army, in order to be the first to clash with the Tatars and achieve victory, even partial victory, which would raise the spirits of the Muslims.
Qutuz, May Allaah Have mercy upon him, also arranged his army in a way that was unfamiliar to his contemporaries at that time, something new in leadership and preparation, intended to thwart the plans of the enemy. He formed the forefront of the army from a relatively large brigade, under the leadership of Rukn Ad-Deen Beebars, and made it go ahead of the remaining army, and move visibly before the sight of the enemy, while the remaining part of the army hid themselves. If there were spies for the Tatars, they would think that the forefront constitutes the entire army. In this way, the Tatars would prepare themselves on that basis, and then Qutuz would appear and take the Tatars by surprise, who, in turn, would not be ready for him.
Gaza is the first stage of victory
Beebars crossed the Egyptian borders on July 26th 1260 A.D., and entered Palestine, and Qutuz followed him a few days later. They then crossed Rafah, Khaan Yoonus and Dayr Al-Balah, and became very close to Gaza. We have already mentioned that the Tatars had previously occupied Gaza. As Qutuz, May Allaah Have mercy upon him, expected, the Tatarian spies detected the forefront of the Islamic army led by Rukn Ad-Deen Beebars, and thought it constituted the entire army of the Muslims. They transmitted that news to the Tatar garrison which hastened to face Beebars, and a swift fight broke up between both parties.
Meanwhile, the main army, led by Qutuz, was still crossing the Egyptian-Palestinian borders. However, as we have already mentioned, the forefront of the army was strong, and Rukn Ad-Deen Baybars was an outstanding leader, while the Tatarian garrison in Gaza was somewhat small, and the main Tatar army was a long distance far from Gaza. The Tatar army led by Kitbuqa was in the Biqaa‘ Valley, 300 kilometers from Gaza. The meeting took place far from the main armies of the Muslims and the Tatars; and with the Help of Allaah, the forefront of the Muslim army was able to emerge victorious in this small battle, and some Tatar soldiers were killed, and the rest fled northwards to transmit the news to Kitbuqa in Lebanon.
stay tuned...........
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