You have not presented any substantial evidence or proof to back up your claims except for hearsay. Saladin was not a good strategist or tactician. It would be best if you correctly studied the crusades besides YouTube videos.
I don't claim to be an expert, but I've spent enough time studying military history to have a good enough opinion to stand on.
In the 1st Crusade, Jerusalem was captured by the Crusaders, establishing the Christian Levant. During the 2nd Crusade, Saladin comes along and retakes Jerusalem. The 3rd Crusade resulted in the Ramla Agreement to keep the status quo in the region for some time -- Saladin kept Jerusalem; however, the Crusaders held the main parts - Coastal Cities -. They also captured the City of Acre, which gives a direct landing platform (beachhead) into the area, among other territories that give inland access to Muslim lands. Richard leaves the region to consolidate power back home.
This is where the fun part starts and why I say Saladin and many Muslim Military leaders are failures. So much resource was spent in recapturing and defending Jerusalem, which is strategically useless and makes it difficult to defend and easily susceptible to being cut off from outside supplies. This allowed Richard to cut off supplies from Egypt and Syria to Saladin forces, who were forced to retreat into the walls of Jerusalem, allowing the Crusades to establish firm control in surrounding territory.
Rather than focusing their military strategy on retaking the coastal cities Antioch, Tyre, Acre, and Jaffa to cut off Crusader forces, they settled for Jerusalem while leaving the Keys in the hands of the Crusaders.
The latter had enough time in a few years to regroup and resupply themselves with weapons and men into the region. Coming back to Saladin, rather than building a Navy as the head of united Egypt & Syria, he just sat around doing nothing, to put it plainly,
while Christian forces were re-arming and using Cyprus to amass their army for the 4th Crusade. Read Page 12 on-wards: (
https://deremilitari.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/gillingham2.pdf)
Saladin and other military leaders' failure to secure the home front leads to further losses of life, money, and blood in the 5th, 6th, and 7th Crusades. You have to look no further than Germany, WWII Normandy; once the beachhead was established, Allied Forces dropped supplies and consolidated and started making advances; not going to go into deep history on this, but you get my point.
Saladin took Jaffa (from the land route, but remember he failed to build a navy during the Ramla Agreement Period, which could've helped him); Richard regrouped and, by sea, launched a naval raid, and was successful in retaking it, look at the map and see how vital this is -- he had Christian soldiers captured. Still, the fool fails to kill them off. Instead, Richard frees them, his army adds more men, and Saladin is forced to surrender.
In the 2nd and 3rd Crusades, we lose more territory to them to hold one useless city, but not a single port city.
Below is what Saladin Chronicler said after the 3rd Crusade, and he couldn't think through what to do next and what to plan next to fix his error:
I fear to make peace, not knowing what may become of me. Our enemy will grow strong now that they have retained these lands. They will come forth to recover the rest of their lands, and you will see every one of them ensconced on his hilltop,' meaning in his castle, 'having announced, "I shall stay put," and the Muslims will be ruined.'
These were his words, and they came about as he said.
@villageidiot
@Foinikas
