Richard the Lionheart vs Yue Fei

solarz

Brigadier
Based on the above link, I would say the regular Song foot soldier would be wearing heavier armor and using a better crossbow than the Crusader footman. This is not too surprising as 12th century Song would be much more wealthy than 12th century Europe, and has better metallurgical technology as well.

The quality of Crusader cavalry is likely superior. The Jurchens seem to use tactics similar to the Saracens, and the Saracens had a lot of trouble with Crusader heavy cavalry charges.

A big factor here would be morale and discipline. The average medieval European foot soldier had pretty abysmal morale. Even taking into account Richard's ability as an extraordinary commander, his army was composed of a disparate array of troops with varying allegiances. In contrast, Yue Fei's army was pretty much his personal army, with a reputation for iron-tight discipline.

In the Battle of Arsuf, the Knights Templars broke rank and charged the Saracens before Richard gave the order. This shows that Richard's army, especially the military orders, which would be the elite troops, had less discipline compared to Yue Fei's army.
 
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