The Crusaders greatest victory: 1191 Historical Battle of Arsuf | Total War Battle

[Music] following the capture of acre and 1191 King Richard the of England was aware that he needed to capture the port of Jaffa before making an attempt on Jerusalem Richard began to March down the coast from acre towards Jaffa in August saladan whose main objective was to prevent the recapture of Jerusalem mobilized his army to attempt to stop the Crusaders Advance Richard organized the advance with attention to detail a large part of the Egyptian Fleet had been captured at the fall of acre and with no threat from this quarter he could March South along the coast with the sea always protecting his flank mindful of the lessons of the disaster at had Richard knew that his Army's greatest need was water and that heat exhaustion was its greatest danger although pressed for time he proceeded at a relatively slow pace he marched his army only in the morning before the heat of the day making frequent rest stops always always beside sources of water the fleet sailed down the coast in close support a source of supplies and a refuge for the wounded aware of the everpresent danger of enemy Raiders and the possibility of Hit and Run attacks he kept the column in tight formation during the march the Crusaders were provoked and tormented by the Skirmish tactics of saladin's archers Richard's generalship ensured that order and discipline were maintained under the most difficult of circumstances bah ALB shadad the Muslim chronic and eyewitness describes the March the Muslims discharged arrows at them from all sides to annoy them and forced them to charge but in this they were unsuccessful these men exercised wonderful self-control they went on their way without any hurry baj Alden also described the difference in power between the Crusader crossbow and the bows of his own Army he saw Frankish infantrymen with from 1 to 10 arrows sticking from their armored backs marching along with no apparent hurt whilst the crossbows struck down both horse and man amongst the Muslims the Crusader Army's Pace was dictated by the Infantry and baggage train the iubit Army being largely mounted had the advantage of superior mobility efforts to burn crops and deny the countryside to the Frankish Army were largely ineffective as it could be continuously provisioned from the fleet from 26 to the 29th of August Richard's Army had a respit from attack because while it hugged the coast and had gone round the shoulder of M K saladin's Army had moved across country saladan arrived in the vicinity of cesaria before the Crusaders who were on a longer Road from the 30th of August to the 7th of September Saladin was always within Striking Distance and waiting for an opportunity to attack if the Crusaders exposed themselves by early September Saladin had realized that harassing the Frankish army with a limited portion of his troops was not going to stop its advance in order to do this he knew needed to commit his entire Army to a serious attack fortuitously for Saladin the crusaders had to Traverse one of the few forested regions of Palestine the wood of ARA which ran parallel to the seashore for more than 20 km the Woodland would mask the disposition of his army and allow a sudden attack to be launched the Crusaders traversed half of the forest with little incident and they rested on the 6th of September with their Camp protected by the marsh Ling Inland of the mouth of the river narel valy modern estimates of saladin's army place it at around 25,000 soldiers almost all Cavalry it is estimated that Richard's Army consisted of around 10,000 infantry and around 1,200 heavy Cavalry the Vanguard of the Crusader Army consisted of the Knights Templar under Robert table we are forunate today forming the rear guard where the knights Hospital are led by Garnier daas the first sahin attack did not come until all the crusaders had left their camp and were moving towards ARA the iubit Army then burst out of the Woodland the front of the army was composed of dense swarms of skirmishers both horse and foot beding Sudanese archers and the lighter types of Turkish horse archers Behind these were the ordered squadrons of armored heavy Cavalry which included saladin's mamlock Kurdish troops and the contingents of the Emir and princes of Egypt Syria and mesop [Music] the repeated iubit harrying attacks followed the same pattern the bedin and Nubians on foot launched arrows and javelins into the enemy line Crusader crossbowman responded when the incessant attacks of skirmishers failed to have the desired effect the weight of the attack was switched to the rear of the Crusader column with the hospitallers coming under the greatest pressure here the right wing of the iubit army made a desperate attack on the Squadron of hospitaler kns Saladin eager to urge his soldiers into closer combat personally entered The Fray accompanied by two pages leading spare horses saladin's brother was also engaged in actively encouraging the troops both brothers were thus exposing themselves to considerable Danger from crossbow [Music] fire all saladin's best efforts could not dislocate the Crusader column Richard was determined to hold his army together forcing the enemy to exhaust themselves in repeated charges with the intention of holding his Knights for a concentrated Counterattack at just the right [Applause] [Applause] moment there are risks in this because the Army was not only marching under severe enemy provocation but the troops were suffering from heat and thirst for the Crusaders the Battle of ARA had now entered a critical stage Garnier dais repeatedly pleaded with Richard to be allowed to attack he was refused the master was ordered to maintain position and await the signal for a general assault six clear trumpet blast Richard knew that the charge of his Knights needed to be reserved until the iubet Army was fully committed closely engaged and the sarason horses had begun to tire to live forever whether through a lack of discipline or acting on Richard's delegated authority the orders Marshall and one of Richard's household Knights Baldin Laren moved through their own infantry and charged into the sarasin ranks with a cry of St George they were Then followed by the rest of the hospital or Knights moved by this example the French Knights of the core immediately preceding the hospitallers also charged [Applause] Richard recognized that the Counterattack once started had to be supported by all his army and ordered the signal for a general charge to be sounded unsupported the hospitallers and the other rear units involved in the initial breakout would have been overwhelmed by the superior numbers of the enemy to the soldiers of saladin's army as Baja Alden noted the sudden change from passivity to ferocious activity on the part of the Crusaders was disconcerting and appeared to be the result of a preconceived [Music] plan some of saladin's Cavalry had dismounted in order to lose their arrows more effectively as a result the ubid suffered great numbers of casualties the knights taking a bloody revenge for all they had had to endure earlier in the battle by this point saladin's Army was in a complete route being aware that an over rash Pursuit was the greatest danger when fighting armies trained in the fluid tactics of the Turks Richard halted the charge after about 1.5 km had been covered freed from the pressure of being actively pursued many of the ubid troops turned to cut down those of the knights who had unwisely drawn ahead of the rest amongst the ubid leaders who rallied quickly and returned to the fight was taky Alden saladin's nephew he led 700 men of the Sultan's own bodyguard against Richard's left Flame the Crusaders countercharged and drove them [Applause] back saladin's men did another similar charge but this time they were sent back for good and they dispersed into the hills in all directions showing no inclination to continue the conflict forward by the end of the battle the crusaders had suffered around 700 killed whereas it is estimated that saladin's Army suffered as many as 7,000 killed arsa was an important Victory the iubit Army was not destroyed despite the considerable casualties it suffered but it did route and this was considered shameful by the Muslims and boosted the morale of the Crusaders Saladin had to evacuate and demolish most of the fortresses of Southern Palestine as he realized he could not hold them by depriving Saladin of the coast Richard seriously threatened saladin's hold on Jerusalem although the third crusade in the end failed to retake Jerusalem a three-year truce was eventually negotiated with Saladin the truce known as the Treaty of Jaffa ensured that Christian Pilgrims from the West would once again be allowed to visit Jerusalem saladan also recognized the Crusaders control of the lentine coast as far south as Jaffa both sides had become exhausted by the struggle Richard needed to return to Europe in order to protect his patrimony from the aggression of Philip of France and Palestine was in a ruinous state

Channel: Historical Total War Battles

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Length: 11min 46sec (706 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 07 2024