I took it as an allusion to the Moslem leader Ṭāriq ibn Ziyād. The story goes that when his troops landed in Spain, he had the boats they crossed in burned and told his troops that they win there or die there.
That's the only "burned his boats," legend that I know.
Burned his boats??? Doesn’t the old adage go “burned his bridges?”
I took it as an allusion to the Moslem leader Ṭāriq ibn Ziyād. The story goes that when his troops landed in Spain, he had the boats they crossed in burned and told his troops that they win there or die there.
That's the only "burned his boats," legend that I know.
Fasinating. Did they win? Thinking they lost.
Yeah, the Moslems controlled Spain over 700 years until the Christians reconquered it.