Unable to annihilate the Crusaders, Mawdud watches…

Unable to annihilate the Crusaders, Mawdud watches them with his main army while sending raiding columns to ravage the countryside and sack the town of Nablus.

In this, Mawdud anticipates the strategy of Saladin in two later campaigns that will be marked by the Battle of Belvoir Castle (1182) and the Battle of Al-Fule (1183).

As in these campaigns, the Frankish field army can oppose the main Muslim army, but it cannot stop raiding forces from doing great damage to crops and towns.

While the Turkish raiders roam freely through Crusader lands, the local Muslim farmers enter into friendly relations with them.

This deeply troubles the Frankish land magnates, who ultimately depend upon rents from cultivators of the soil.