Tripoli, Acre, and the failure of maritime relief

When the Mamluks storm Tripoli, the account says that Christian men are killed, women and children enslaved, and the city burned. Venice then sends twenty war galleys, and Aragon adds five more to protect Christian interests at Acre. The fleet brings naval force along with poorly controlled adventurers from northern Italy. Their attack on Muslim residents destroys the remaining truce and hardens the sultan's decision to eliminate the Frankish enclave. The Mamluk army that follows is described in exaggerated numbers, yet it still plainly dwarfs Acre's few hundred knights and roughly fourteen thousand foot soldiers. Maritime reinforcement, indiscipline ashore, and a severe force imbalance converge in the final crisis of the crusader states.