After 20 years of war in the Middle East, the Kurdish-born Ayyubid sultan led a powerful army that defeated the Franks in 1187.
In the spring of 1187, Saladin began to assemble a large army in southern Syria. His generals— each of whom will command a modern legion in the upcoming campaign — will lead the right wing with his nephew Muzafar Tazi Din and kurdish-born Muzafar Adedin Gokri leading the left. Saladin was in charge of overall command.
Saladin had about 30,000 soldiers, half of whom were experienced cavalry. The place where the war was about to begin was on an undulating hill, and the vast plateau was covered with grass. Saladin intended to prevent the Crusaders from reaching the Sea of Galilee, where the Crusaders could have abundant water. If possible, he also intended to isolate the Crusader army from the Desert Springs.
Saladin led his army across the Jordan River in the last week of June. The Ayyubids encamped in Kafsabout, 10 km southwest of Tiberia. The Crusaders assembled at Severius, 24 km from Tiberias. Guy in Jerusalem commanded 20,000 men, of whom 15,000 were infantry, 3,800 were auxiliary cavalry, and 1,200 were cavalry. Their horses had no armor and were therefore vulnerable to being hit by arrows. Raymond III of Tripoli commanded the vanguard, With Guy leading the main guard and Berion of Iberin leading the rearguard, which included the elite of the Knights Hospitaller and the Knights Templar.
In order to lure the Crusaders into battle, Saladin personally led a detachment to besiege Tiberias on 2 June. Guy took the bait without reconnaissance of the size and location of the enemy. The Crusaders left their camp at dawn and set out for Turan Springs, where water resources were limited. On the march, the infantry of the three legions formed a protective phalanx around the cavalry and sergeant. The Crusaders reached Turan Springs at noon, and some troops and horses replenished the water. They only walked 10 kilometers. Guy decided to continue to the village of Harding, about 8 kilometers to the northeast, which has an abundant water source.
Muslims soon appeared in large numbers on both flanks of the Crusader army. Saladin's strategy was to use archers to violently attack and surround the enemy, weakening the enemy's fighting power; if the Crusaders charged at the archers, the archers would scatter to avoid a frontal battle. On the first day, cavalry armed with compound bows put constant pressure on the Crusader vanguard. By noon, the Crusaders were advancing as slowly as if they were crawling. Guy sent a messenger to Ask Raymond for advice, and Raymond suggested that they camp tonight.
The Crusaders were stationed at a junction called Mascany, but there was no water source there. Guy may have hoped that the Muslims would launch an attack, in which case the Franks would have a defensive advantage. But Saladin didn't. At this time most of the Crusaders were severely dehydrated and could only sleep at night on their own weapons.
Arthur writes: "The Muslim side has lost its initial fear of the enemy, and they are emotionally agitated and encourage each other. "They can smell victory." The Crusaders resumed at dawn the next day. Muslim archers fired a steady stream of arrows at the Crusader ranks. In addition, Muslim scattered soldiers repeatedly attacked Raymond's vanguard.
The Latin infantry, who lacked the spirit of the Knights, became somewhat frustrated. The formation of the infantry began to scatter, leaving the knights unprotected. The infantry walked toward the north side of the two hills that formed Cape Harding. Guy begged them to stay, but they ignored them. The Crusaders' only hope was to reach the village of Harding and make plans. But the village was in Muslim hands, and Saladin's army didn't want Christians to get here.
The situation gradually deteriorated, and in the morning Raymond gathered his knights and launched a rapid attack on Tazi Din's forces. The charge was successful, with Raymond, Berion and about 12 knights escaping. Guy was left with only the knights of the two legions he had brought out of his home.
In one last effort to assemble his army, Guy ordered his men to prop up his red tent on the lower slope of the south corner. At that time, Muslim infantry were attacking the Crusaders on Cape Harding. At three o'clock in the afternoon, Guy decided that his only hope at this time was to rush in saladin's direction. He led two rash attacks, but Saladin's Mamluk guards drove them away each time, inflicting heavy losses on them.
After killing Renard, Saladin said to Guy, "It's not the norm for a king to kill a king, but that's when the man crossed the line, that's why I treated him like this."
Guy, his knights, and some infantry took up a defensive position in the south corner, where Saladin ordered an attack, and heavy cavalry armed with spears crossed the Crusader positions, and in the process captured the morale-boosting relic, the True Cross. With no morale left in Guy's army, Guy ordered his men to throw away their weapons and lie flat on the rocky ground, at the mercy of Saladin.
The Franks were rounded up and paraded in front of Saladin. About 200 Templars were executed immediately. Saladin agreed to demand ransoms for Guy and the other nobles, and ordinary Crusader soldiers were taken away and sold into slavery.
Saladin is said to have called Guy and Renard into the tent. He gave Guy a goblet filled with ice water, but when Guy tried to hand it to Renard, Saladin stopped him. Saladin then killed Renard with his sword.
Realizing that the fleeing nobles would seek reinforcements, The Ayyub Sultan sent troops to occupy as many major towns and strongholds of the Kingdom of Jerusalem as possible before reinforcements arrived. Saladin turned his attention to Tyre after capturing Acre on 8 July. Fortunately for Christians, a new leader arrived earlier that month. Conrad, the Marquis of Montferrat, tried to escape domestic trouble by participating in the holy war, and he organized a strong defense. Saladin could not wait to capture Jerusalem, so he turned south.
Pharaoh Island, located on the shores of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, on a passage between Cairo and Damascus, fell from the hands of the Crusaders to the Muslims in 1170
More than two months later, on September 20, Saladin's army arrived in front of the walls of Jerusalem. Berion of Ibelin commanded about 5,000 men. Thanks to the influx of refugees, the population has grown to 60,000. Unlike the setbacks at Tyre, the Sultan had no intention of abandoning the siege. Saladin's war secretary, Imad Adedin, wrote that the Ayyubid leader "swore not to leave until he kept his promise and sublimated himself at the highest point in Jerusalem."
Saladin's army was deployed to the north and west opposite the gates of St. Stephen and David, respectively. Over the course of five days, the Ayyubids attacked the city gates and tried to climb them. After this period, the Muslim plan to attack the Western Wall made no progress. For this reason, Saladin ordered them to redeploy in the arc of the northeast corner of the city. He also ordered professional sappers from Aleppo to dig the city walls. Several teams worked tirelessly over the next four days to destroy the city walls. On 29 September, they demolished a section of the outer wall on the north side near Herod's Gate.
Saladin's mausoleum contains two sarcophagi, one of which is said to contain the remains of the sultan
In the end, Saladin spared the city. Instead of slaughtering the innocents, he decided to let them pay the ransom themselves. Once the ransom has been paid, they will have 40 days to leave. According to Arthur, Saladin's idea came from his own advisers. Saladin's adviser told him: "Let us think they are already our prisoners and let them pay the ransom on the terms agreed between us." ”
Saladin demanded that each man pay 10 dinars, women 5 dinars and children 1 dinar. About two-thirds of Christians can pay the ransom themselves, but the rest are too poor to pay the ransom. Berion gave Saladin 30,000 dinars from the city's vaults to pay a ransom of 7,000 poor people, but the remaining 13,000 were taken away and sold into slavery.
Saladin took control of Jerusalem on 2 October. Banners of Ayyub are hung throughout the city. A week later, Saladin attended Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Later, the Sultan ordered that the mosque be restored to its original state with marble, gold bricks and mosaics.
The Damascus Gate of Jerusalem was known as St. Stephen's Gate during the Crusader occupation
(Source: Legends of the Templars)