"كتيّب سوريا (بما في ذلك فلسطين). لندن: إدارة استخبارات الأركان البحرية، يونيو ١٩١٩" [و‎‎٧‎٤] (٧٣٨/١٥٢)

THE PERIOD OF THE CRUSADES
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The first question to be decided in the contest between the
rulers of Mosul and the Latins of Syria was the possession of
Aleppo. For a few years after Maudud’s death the Moslem town
was a submissive tributary of Antioch (1113-18). In 1118 the
Latins began their greatest effort to occupy it and annex its
remaining territory. Alone it could not have survived the
attack. It was saved by Ilghazi of Mardin, now the leading
emir in Mesopotamia. He occupied Aleppo and vigorously
waged war with the Latins (victory at Balat, June 1119) until
his death (1122). Aleppo endured its moment of greatest
peril after the death of Ilghazi’s nephew and successor,
Balak. The town was besieged by the Latins for four months
and reduced to the utmost extremity (October 6, 1124-
January 29, 1125). The siege was raised by the army of
Mosul under Aq-Sonqor el-Bursqi, and the territory of Aleppo
became part of this emir’s dominions. For twelve months
after his death (November 1126) there was civil strife in
Aleppo, and then the great soldier and ruler, Tmad ed-din
Zanki, atabek of Mosul, received the town into his safe
keeping (January 1128).
The art of war in the Crusading period
The crusading period in Syria is specially favourable for a
study of the character of mediaeval battles and of the methods
of warfare peculiar to the European and Oriental armies of
the twelfth century. Numerous accounts of battles by eye
witnesses on both sides are available, and leave no doubt re
garding the general characteristics and outstanding features
of the principal engagements. There were fundamental
differences between the Moslems and the Latins both in
equipment and tactics. The Turkish armies were generally
composed of mounted troops armed with bows and swords.
Their invariable aim was to envelop the enemy, and they
made their principal attack on one or both of his wings.
Whatever the formation they adopted before the battle, in
practice their front assumed the form of a crescent with the
horns enclosing or seeking to enclose the opposing forces.