Third Crusade
Richard Moves South
Richard's objective was to recover Jerusalem and naturally Saladin understood this. The Sultan's main goal, therefore, was to keep Richard away from the city. Saladin had his own problems, however. His army consisted of many emirs that bound to him by varying degrees of loyalty. Some of them had been on campaign now for four years; they were glutted with victory and were tired. Already they had shown themselves unwilling to risk enough to save Acre; he could not afford to be too agressive with Richard. Besides, the English king's reputation as a warrior was well known to Saladin. A foolish mistake in the field, and the Latins might regain all that they had lost.
His strategy, therefore, was to follow Richard closely, to harass him at every opportunity, and to hope that the King might be goaded into a mistake. For his part, Richard understood the situation as well as Saladin. His first order of business was to avoid the trap Saladin hoped to spring.
So, the Crusaders marched south under very strict orders. Richard kept them right next to the sea, with the infantry and supplies marching along the beaches and the cavalry protecting it on the flank. The fleet kept pace with the army, protecting it from the seaward side and keeping it supplied. Despite skirmishing, the Crusaders avoided being provoked into battle or being drawn away from the main body of the army.
In this manner, the army marched southward. This is usually regarded as Richard's finest moment, as he led the army through the August heat under terrible circumstances, keeping discipline through the sheer force of his personality and tactical abilities. During the last few days of the march, there was fighting every day, but still Saladin could not force the army to break.
At last, Saladin had to risk a pitched battle. On September 7, 1191, Saladin attacked near Arsuf. He tried the classic Turkish tactic of attacking with light cavalry, trying to lure the Frankish cavalry into a rash attack, but Richard refused to rise to the bait. Eventually, despite Richard's orders, two Templars charged out against the enemy. Their comrades followed. Within moments, the entire line of the knights moved to the attack. Richard charged after them and took the lead.
The fury of the Christian charge was too much for the emirs. One after another, they broke and ran. Saladin himself went into the battle and was able to save his camp, at least, and to keep the retreat from turning into a rout. But the Christians had won the field of battle and on the next day continued their journey south. It was plain that Saladin could not stop them.