Battle of Iron Bridge - The Battle

The Battle

Twelve miles from the city, near modern day Mahruba, a bridge of iron spanned the River Orontes. It was here that the battle was fought between the Rashidun army and the Byzantine garrison defending Antioch. A major battle was fought, the details of which are not recorded. Khalid ibn Walid played a prominent role with his Mobile guard, as he had done during the Battle of Yarmouk. The Byzantine forces suffered heavy losses and were defeated. The Byzantine casualties in this battle were the highest in the Muslim conquest of Syria, with the exceptions of the battles of Ajnadayn and Yarmouk. The remnants of the Byzantine army fled to Antioch. The Rashidun army later moved up and laid siege to Antioch. The city surrendered on October 30, 637 According to the pact, the defeated Byzantine soldiers were allowed to depart in peace.

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