... the answer to the armor of the Franks was the arrows of the Turks ...
Yaacov Lev. Saladin in Egypt. 1999.
When Usama ibn Munqidh's memoires are examined from the point of view of military history one fact clearly emerges. Usama and the military society of Shayzar, his principality, fought as heavy cavalry employing the lance. They fought as knights exactly as their Frankish opponents did. Mounted archers are not mentioned. The conclusion that there were military similarities between the armed forces of Shayzar and the Crusaders is reinforced, when Usama's evaluation of his own society and that of the enemy is considered. Usama saw himself and his comrades as knights , and the term faris is applied by him when referring to himself and the Franks alike. Not surprisingly Usama was familiar with the military terminology employed by the Crusaders. He says that the infantry troops of Shayzar would be termed sergeants by the Franks.
The fact that heavy cavalry, fighting with lances and employing shock tactics, was to be found in the Muslim armies of the twelfth century, does not undermine the importance of mounted archers. Both Muslims and their Christian contemporaries were well aware of this. For example, William of Tyre explains the military advantage of the Turks over the Christian forces by the swiftness of their horses, light equipment and mounted archers while the military assets of the Christians were their military training and armor. A much quoted letter of Nul'ai-Din reflects a similar view. In a reply to al-'Adid , Nur ai-Din wrote that the answer to the armor of the Franks was the arrows of the Turks. But we must go a step beyond these wellknown facts. William of Tyre makes the observations noted above in the context of Conrad's march through Asia Minor in 1147, and the Turk she refers to are Turkmen. Undoubtedly, mounted archers and a plenty of swift horses were characteristic of the nomads and their style of warfare. The Muslim rulers of Asia Minor and the Middle East enlisted nomadic Turkmen warriors for military selvice in great numbers. However, the standing armies of these rulers were more diversified and also included heavy cavalry at least in moderate numbers.
То есть - оба участника конфликта дают сжатую характеристику сторон в виде "броня против стрел". Но за рамками лапидарной характеристики из полудюжины слов все было куда как сложнее. Конные копейщики мусульман, стреляющие всадники христиан (в конце 12 века - около 50% всей конницы).
Yuval Harari. The military role of the Frankish Turcopoles: A reassessment // Mediterranean Historical Review, 12:1, 75-116. 1997.
Гуринов Е.А., Нечитайлов М.В. Армии франкских государств Сирии и Палестины 1100-1205 гг.: численность // Воин №9. Cc. 8-17. 2010.