Battle of the Hub

On June 28, 1119, the Turkish-Syrian army of Il-Ghazi I of Mardinsky destroyed the Antioch army in the Battle of the Bloody Field . After this grand victory, Il-Ghazi I captured a number of fortresses in the lands of the crusaders, but this was the greater of what he could achieve. “The failure of Il-Ghazi I to extract real benefits from his major victory ... was associated not only with his own drunkenness, but also with the dispersal of his troops in order to obtain trophies” ^[4] .

Upon learning of the defeat of the Antiochs, King Baldwin II went with the army north to save Antioch . On the way he was joined by detachments of the county of Tripoli , led by Count Pons . Baldwin II collected the remains of the Antioch army of Antioch and included them in his army. Then he headed to Serdan, 65 km east of Antioch , which Il-Gazi I had already besieged. At a time when the crusaders camped at Tel Danit, Baldwin II learned that Serdana had fallen. The crusaders had to retreat to the Khab fortress 25 km southwest of Serdana.

On the morning of August 14, Baldwin II carefully organized the retreat of his army through open terrain. Ahead, three knights followed 700 knights. They were followed by several thousand foot soldiers - archers and spearmen. Earl Pons and his knights defended the right flank. The Antiochian knights under the command of Robert Fulkoy defended the left flank, the rest of the Antiochian knights covered the rear. Baldwin II also had a reserve of knights from Jerusalem , but it is not known in what part of this formation they were ^[5] .

The Artukids hoped to provoke the Frankish horsemen to get involved in an unprepared battle and open gaps for attacking their foot soldiers. Further, Il-Ghazi I hoped to bring his infantrymen to spearmen and swordsmen ^[6] .

As expected, the horse archers of Il-Ghazi I began to pursue the crusader army at dawn. The attacks of the Artukids became more intense and, probably, at the beginning of the day the movement of the crusader army stopped. Three of their vanguard detachments were dispersed, and the bulk of the army came under a massive attack by the enemy. The infantry defended steadily, but without normal support from the cavalry suffered heavy losses.

On the left flank, Robert Fulkoy and his knights withstood the attack and went on the counterattack. Chasing the enemy, they broke away from the main army and went to Serdana to try to free it. Meanwhile, the knights of Pons were scattered, and some fled, and reaching Antioch and Tripoli , spread the news of the defeat. The remaining knights rallied to regroup to join the king's reserve and continue the army’s retreat with battle.

Cleverly using his reserve, Baldwin II saved his army from defeat. Under continuous attacks, he led his army to the Hub. According to Christians, in the end, the exhausted Artukids admitted defeat and left the battlefield ^[7] .

A tactical victory cost the crusaders significant losses. It can be assumed that the army of Il-Ghazi I also suffered serious damage, since he took his people away, although he subsequently declared his victory ^[8] . Strategically, this was the victory of Christians, revered in Antioch for generations. The next major battle in the area was the battle of Aazaz in 1125 .

• Beeler, John. Warfare in Feudal Europe, 730-1200. - Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1971. - ISBN 0-8014-9120-7 .
• Smail, RC Crusading Warfare, 1097-1193. - New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1956. - ISBN ISBN 1-56619-769-4 .

• Crusades