What characteristics of their culture do you think contributed to the Mongols military success?
The Mongols conquered vast swathes of Asia in the 13th and 14th century CE thank you to their fast light cavalry and fantabulous bowmen, simply another significant contribution to their success was the adoption of their enemies' tactics and technology that allowed them to defeat established war machine powers in Prc, Persia, and Eastern Europe. Adapting to dissimilar challenges and terrain, the Mongols became adept at both siege and naval warfare, very different pursuits from their nomadic origins on the Asian steppe. In addition, diplomacy, espionage, and terror were used in equal measure to win many a battle before it had even begun. Ultimately, the Mongols would establish the largest empire the world had ever seen, and their ruthlessness in battle would cast a long shadow of fear over those they conquered with generals earning fearsome nicknames such every bit the 'hounds of state of war' and their soldiers being labelled 'the devil'southward horsemen.'
A State for War
One of the main sources of legitimacy for a Mongol tribal leader was his ability to successfully conduct warfare and acquire haul for his followers. Under Genghis Khan (r. 1206-1227 CE), the founder of the Mongol Empire (1206-1368 CE), the Mongol people were thus reorganised to specifically gear the state for perpetual warfare. 98 units known as minghan or 'thousands' were created (and then afterwards expanded) which were tribal units expected to provide the regular army with a levy of 1,000 men. The khan too had his own personal bodyguard of 10,000 men, the kesikten, which was the elite standing army of the Mongols and which trained commanders for the other divisions. A third source of troops was the armies raised from allies and conquered states, these outnumbered the Mongol contingents in the campaigns in Communist china and Persia. After, when Kublai Khan (r. 1260-1294 CE) established the Yuan dynasty in China (1271-1368 CE), Mongol armies there were composed entirely of professional soldiers.
The Mongol weapon of choice was the composite bow, which could burn down arrows double the distance of those in competing armies.
Mongol leaders ensured loyalty and increased their chances of success by promoting commanders based on merit rather than the employ of clan seniority every bit had been the case earlier Genghis. Motivation was high because booty was shared equally, and at that place was even a dedicated body, the jarqu, which ensured booty was distributed correctly (for example, horses, slaves, precious metals, textiles, loftier-quality manufactured goods, and even food). Commanders could expect to receive both booty and land or tribute from conquered peoples. Ordinary soldiers could expect rewards, too, some compensation for their conscription, which whatsoever Mongol male from 14 to 60 years sometime was liable for.
Mongol with Horse & Camel
At the same time as being generous with rewards, Genghis insisted on discipline and any soldier or commander who disobeyed orders was severely punished, lashings beingness the commonest method. An ordinary soldier could expect cypher less than the death sentence for desertion, retreating when not ordered to, or sleeping when on watch duty. Even so, the khan did give his commanders great autonomy on the field of combat, and this flexibility usually reaped rewards.
Planning and logistics were another carefully considered surface area, best seen in the complex campaigns in southern Russia and Eastern Europe of 1237 to 1242 CE when multiple Mongol armies engaged their private targets and then regrouped at predetermined times and locations. A significant assist in knowing where both allies and enemies were at any one time was the excellent Mongol messenger service, the yam, with its series of posts stocked with supplies and fresh horses. Smoke signals were also used as a means of advice between separated divisions. Another strength was the willingness to recruit non-Mongols. Uyghur Turks were enrolled in large numbers, equally were Kurds and Khitans, while Koreans and Chinese were a pregnant part of the forces which invaded Japan in 1274 and 1281 CE. In short, so, the Mongols were fabricated perpetually set up for state of war.
Training & Weapons
Warriors were prepared from childhood thanks to the Mongol tradition of having both immature boys and girls participate in competitions of athletics, equus caballus racing, wrestling, hunting, and archery. The Mongol warriors - mostly men but besides sometimes women, too - were, then, already practiced at using boxing axes, lances (oft hooked to pull enemy riders from their mounts), spears, daggers, long knives, and sometimes swords which were typically brusque, low-cal, and with a unmarried cutting edge.
Mongol armies moved extremely apace & attempted to outmanoeuvre their opponents using speed & coordination.
The Mongol weapon of choice was the composite bow, which could fire arrows double the distance of those in competing armies. In addition, warriors could shoot with accurateness while riding their horses at speed thank you to stirrups and wooden saddles with a high back and front which gave meliorate stability so that an archer could turn and fire in any management, including behind him. The blended bow was fabricated of multiple layers of wood, bamboo or horn, making information technology both strong and flexible. Every bit it was strung against its natural curve, the Mongol bow required some forcefulness to draw simply then fired arrows with a high degree of accuracy and penetration.
Arrowheads tended to be fabricated from bone and, much more rarely, metal while shafts were made from forest, reed, or a combination of both, and fletchings from bird feathers. Arrow designs varied depending on their purpose - to wound at close range, fire at distant targets, carry toxicant, penetrate armour, or even whistle as a signal to other units. A typical mounted archer carried two or 3 bows and around xxx low-cal and xxx heavier arrows in a quiver. Additional standard equipment included a horsehair lasso, a ringlet of rope, an axe, a file for making arrowheads, a sewing repair kit, a leather bag for nutrient and to utilize as a float when crossing rivers, 2 leather bottles for liquids, and a cooking pot. Men slept in light versions of the classic yurt tent, one carried for every ten riders.
Mongolian Saddle
To the Mongols, horses were everything - a means to travel, a source of wealth and a mode to mensurate it, food, and the source of their great mobility in warfare. Mongol horses were relatively small but sturdy beasts with dense hair and capable of enduring hardships. They had excellent stamina, which allowed cavalry to travel a very impressive 95-120 kilometres (60-75 miles) in a single day. The Mongols had both calorie-free and heavy cavalry, and each rider typically had upwards to xvi spare horses giving them a very long range of manoeuvre. On the battlefield, cavalry units responded to orders conveyed past gongs and drums (although curiously the very first attack was ever conducted in silence). Horses could besides be a source of nourishment while on campaign by letting claret from the neck. This would have supplemented dry rations like cheese curd and cured meat.
Armour
Mongol armour was light so as to not impede the speed of cavalry riders, but if worn, it was typically made of thick quilted felt or leather. Sometimes this soft armour, similar the heavy coats many riders wore, could be strengthened past adding strips of metal, bone or hardened/lacquered leather just plate armour and chain mail were rare, although that captured from the enemy was sometimes worn. Learning from the Chinese, a silk undershirt might exist worn as this had the handy effect of wrapping around the arrowhead if one was struck, protecting the wound and making the arrow easier to withdraw.
The caput was protected by either an atomic number 26 or hardened leather helmet, sometimes with a cervix baby-sit and a primal elevation spike or ball and plume. An alternative was the traditional Mongol fur chapeau with side flaps and upturned skirt. Shields, if used, were typically only carried past infantrymen and were most commonly small, circular, and made of wicker or hardened leather. Horses were sometimes given armour, made from the same materials mentioned to a higher place. Plate armour was restricted to the horse's head only, otherwise, some mounts were completely covered with padded armour.
Statue of Bo'orchu
Tactics
Planning
One of the important reasons for the Mongol success in warfare was their preparation earlier even meeting the enemy. Spies in the grade of travelling merchants or priests and defectors gathered intelligence on the enemy'due south strengths and weaknesses and revealed if at that place were any dissenters either within or between the enemy's allies who could be a potential aid to the Mongol cause. A slap-up meeting or kurultai of Mongol leaders was held before a large campaign to discuss plans and strategies in item. One time in the field, intelligence continued to be gathered and scouts operated up to 110 kilometres (70 miles) ahead and either side of dispersed Mongol columns to ensure they were not caught off-guard or vicious foul of an ambush.
Manoeuvres
Mongol armies moved extremely quickly and attempted to outmanoeuvre their opponents using speed and coordination. The aim was to only engage the enemy when absolutely necessary and to commit big numbers but when a specific weak spot had been identified. This strategy was designed to requite maximum results for minimal losses. Cavalry units of around 1,000 men (a minghan) were subdivided into units of 100 (a jagun), which was in plough divided into units of 10 (an arban).
A Mongol ground forces in the field was typically divided into wings operating either side of a central forcefulness and a vanguard. Indeed, fifty-fifty a Mongol camp was divided co-ordinate to these groupings. A Mongol cavalry army rarely exceeded 10,000 riders in whatsoever ane place at 1 time, fifty-fifty the very largest campaigns such as in Europe probably independent merely 3 such 10,000-men divisions (tumens), the rest of the army, perhaps triple the size of the Mongol cavalry in some cases, was made of allies who conducted warfare according to their own traditions. The Mongols were usually outnumbered by their enemies in field battles only overcame this disadvantage by superior speed and tactics. A disadvantage of fielding relatively small armies was the difficulty in replacing casualties. Frequently vanquished troops were enlisted but in such campaigns as Eastern Europe, where loyalties were stronger, it did sometimes necessitate a withdrawal until reinforcements could arrive from Mongolia.
The Mongol Scroll, 1293 CE
A classic Mongol strategy was to assault with a small force and then feign a retreat which only led the enemy back to a larger Mongol force. Another favoured manoeuvre was the tulughma, that is to attack with a cardinal body of cavalry - heavy cavalry in the front end lines and lighter units backside, who so moved through gaps in the front lines - and while these moved frontward as one, cavalry units moved on the wings to envelop the enemy forces. The tactic was a smaller-calibration version of the nerge, the Mongol hunting strategy used over vast areas of steppe to corner wild game. Sometimes these wings were very extended and and so allowed the Mongols to entirely environment an opposing regular army. A reserve of heavy cavalry then moved in for the kill and whatsoever escaping enemy troops were ruthlessly pursued, frequently for days afterwards a battle.
Deadfall was another common tactic, as was using smoke from burning grass or dust clouds to mask troop movements, or attacking at the least expected time such equally during a blizzard. The Mongols also employed some unusual strategies to out-pull a fast one on their enemies. For example, they sometimes used felt dummies and set them on horses in amid cavalry units to brand the enemy remember they were facing a far larger strength than they actually were. Another innovative strategy was to drop leaflets from kites over the besieged Jin urban center of Kaifeng (1232 CE) which encouraged people to defect for a cash reward.
Terror
One of the well-nigh successful strategies employed in Mongol warfare was terror. When a city was captured, for example, the unabridged civilian population could be executed - men, women, children, priests, even the cats and dogs - with a handful of survivors allowed to escape and tell of the atrocity in the neighbouring towns. Consequently, when towns heard of the Mongol'south approach many surrendered without a fight in the promise of clemency, which was frequently given. An fifty-fifty subtler strategy was used in the conflict with the Jin Jurchen Dynasty of northern People's republic of china in the first decade of the 13th century CE when the Mongols repeatedly sacked cities, sometimes the aforementioned city several times, and then allowed the Jin to retake them, obliging them to deal with the chaos.
Another utterly ruthless strategy was to use prisoners as man shields when Mongol troops advanced on a fortified urban center unwise enough to put up resistance, even to dress up prisoners as Mongol warriors and march them in the front ranks so that defenders wasted their precious arrows on killing their own compatriots. A further source of terror was the Mongol treatment of the expressionless; bodies were mutilated and warriors frequently took trophies from the fallen, usually the ears of their victims.
In summary, so, the Mongols were unstoppable in field battles for all of the above reasons combined, as the noted military historian S. R. Turnbull remarks:
Mongol field warfare was therefore an almost perfect combination of firepower, shock tactics and mobility. The moves themselves, congenital on a audio framework of experience, training and discipline, were performed like clockwork…They believed themselves to be invincible, and most of the vanquished believed it as well, regarding them as a visitation from sky and a punishment for sin. (27-8)
Siege & Naval Warfare
The Mongols had one other ace up their armoured sleeves, the ability to adapt to new types of warfare. Siege warfare, for example, became necessary when the Mongols came up against such enemies as Song China, Persia, and Eastern European kingdoms. At first, the chore of breaking downward well-fortified cities tested Mongol resolve, but they soon learnt from their enemies and local advisors how to use gunpowder weapons such as pocket-size handheld cannons and bombs containing Greek Fire, sulphur gas, or shrapnel that were hurled over metropolis walls. They also had rockets, triple-firing crossbows, and big catapults powered past torsion, counterweights, or men pulling multiple levered ropes. Some catapults were mobile while others could be mounted in ships.
Japanese Samurai Attack Mongol Ships
Some sieges could still last for years despite the bombardments, such as that at the Song fortified metropolis of Xiangyang, brought down by battering rams and catapults designed by ii Islamic engineers. These static armies too required a much greater logistical support than the traditional cavalry units which were expected to live off the state as best they could until resupplied by trains of carts, packhorses, and camels, which were often managed past Mongol women. Another steep learning curve was how to master naval warfare. Past the 1270s CE and the defeat of the Song, the Mongols had command of their own naval armada which was comprised of 5,000 ships and lxx,000 sailors, which were used at sea and on rivers. Massive fleets manned by Chinese and Koreans invaded Japan and Southeast Asia, but these larger ships were really designed for use as troop carriers (they were actually the same as merchant trading vessels) rather than as fighting ships. As always, the cavalry was supposed to win the day once the expedition was established on dry out land.
Decline
The Mongols may take carved out an empire which stretched from the Black Bounding main to the Korean peninsula only they were not ever successful in their campaigns. Some cities did prove too tough to break down and logistical support was an always-growing problem the farther they campaigned away from their heartlands in Mongolia. Both invasions of Japan were foiled by a combination of stiff resistance and storms. The campaigns in Southeast Asia had some success merely gave a mixed set of results overall, the Mongols struggling to cope with tropical jungle terrain, heavy rains, diseases, unfamiliar weapons similar poisoned darts from blowpipes, war elephants, and constructive guerrilla warfare tactics past the enemy. Fifty-fifty in People's republic of china, they succumbed to the new great power in East asia: the Ming Dynasty. By 1368 CE, the Mongols were weakened by a serial of droughts, famines, and dynastic disputes amongst their own elite. Indeed, i might say that the in one case-nomadic Mongols were really only defeated by themselves for they had become a office of the sedentary societies they had so long fought against.
This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to bookish standards prior to publication.
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Source: https://www.worldhistory.org/Mongol_Warfare/
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