[tcrlaf]

In the west, we don’t hear a lot about Khaled bin Al-Waleed.

He was Muhammed’s War Commander, and campaigned against the Meccans, united Arabia, conquered Iraq, defeated Persia, and then defeated the Byzantines and Roman Syria.

In almost every battle he was outnumbered, sometimes on the order of 15-20 to 1, and used brilliant tactics, such as coordinated multiple envelopments, almost unheard of in that era.

He also knew the limits of his men, and would push them to the very edge of endurance, often appearing when and where he wasn’t expected at all.

[allmendream]

I read about his exploits in the book “Barbarians Marauders and Infidels, the Medieval world at war” or some such. A very good book that discussed the equipment, weapons, and tactics of the day. The Muslim conquests were indeed, as you say, a work of military genius and the extreme devotion of the army.

Until reading that book I did not realize how much Bruge enters history, either because of their importance or the preservation of their records. After seeing the movie “In Bruge”, every time I read something in that book about Bruge I said (aping Colin Farril) “Bruge?! F*#$%&^@ Bruge?!”