Text/Wending
In 1206, Temujin unified Mongolia, officially known as Genghis Khan, and established the Mongol Khanate. Immediately, Mongolia began the wildest expansion in human history.
In 1217, the Western Liao was destroyed, and in 1219, the Western Expedition to Huarazm was fought all the way to the Volga River Valley, and in 1225 it returned to the east. In 1227, the Western Xia was destroyed, and Genghis Khan also died of illness during the journey. In 1229, Wokoutai succeeded him as Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, conquered Goryeo in 1231, destroyed the Eastern Zhen Kingdom in 1233, and destroyed the Jin Kingdom in 1234. Then he marched west again, capturing Moscow in 1237, and invading Poland and Hungary in two ways in 1241, defeating the combined forces of the Holy Roman Empire, and the forward line pointed directly at Vienna, which shocked Europe. In 1251, Möngke succeeded the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire. In 1254, the state of Dali was destroyed. Möngke ordered Hulagu to march west; in 1258, he captured Baghdad, the capital of the Arab Empire, and destroyed the Abbasid dynasty. In 1259, the mongol army occupied Damascus. The Mongol Empire also attacked northern Vietnam in 1257. After the Yuan Dynasty destroyed the Song Dynasty, hoping to regain the original Chinese territory lost in the Song Dynasty, Annam, the Yuan army attacked the northern part of Vietnam twice in 1285 and 1287. In 1279, the Yuan army destroyed the Southern Song Dynasty and completed the unification of China.
All of the above achievements cannot help but cause thinking. How did the Mongols conquer Eurasia with 200,000 horses? Is it just because he is brave and good at war?
01, innate hardware advantages
Victory in battle is inseparable from the excellent quality of individual soldiers. First of all, the Mongols are a horse-drawn people, basically born warriors. At the time of their birth, they began to live by the water and grass, running, riding and shooting are essential skills of nomads. When these skills are applied to war, they naturally have an advantage in conquest.
Horses, an essential military item for ancient warfare. Even more important for the nomadic peoples, in the war of conquest and expansion, the Mongolian horses galloping on the steppes carried these terror warriors. This kind of horse is small, which is naturally much inferior to the high-headed horse in Europe. But the endurance was amazing, and when other armies were helpless in the face of vast grasslands and deserts, the Mongol horse could easily send thousands of Mongol warriors to the other shore thousands of miles away. And the Mongol cavalry alone had two or three war horses, which were used for transfer and food. This is incomparable to other countries.
02. Weapons and equipment adapted to local conditions
Weapons are very important in the era of cold weapons, how to achieve devastating blows? The Mongols improved the terrible compound bow, which was light and fast compared to the longbows of European armies, and had a range of more than 300 meters. This allowed the Mongol cavalry to show their might in the field, especially before the two armies met, and the bow and arrow had begun to kill and wound a lot. This was reflected in the conquest of Europe. For the high walls and deep ditches along the way, the Mongol army brought a trebuchet. When the trebuchet throws stones and even the enemy's corpse in large quantities at the enemy, the enemy's heart is broken. In addition, in the process of conquest, the Mongols continued to absorb the excellent weapons of various nationalities, such as the Hui cannon designed by the Hui people and the firearms of the Song Dynasty, which laid the foundation for the victory of the Mongols across the world.
03, logistics supply is sufficient
As the saying goes: "The soldiers and horses have not moved, and the grain and grass have gone first." "The Mongol army conquered and came and went like the wind, so logistics were particularly important. In fact, the Mongol army had no logistics department at all, they used local materials. The Mongolian diet is relatively simple, beef, mutton, dairy products although monotonous, but high nutritional content, to maintain a good physique has many benefits. In many foreign wars, beef jerky, cheese, milk wine are all high-calorie foods. It was a great food and grass for the Mongols. If you capture a city, bring local edible substances with you in preparation for conquering the next city.
04, steppe tactics
The Mongols had two main methods of warfare, the enveloping type and the arrow type. The enveloping type is to let the soldiers attack from all directions, so that people are deeply encircled, and the arrow type is the main force in the middle, and the two wings are coordinated, which is very flexible. The Mongols also have a more painful tactic, that is, when the Mongols lose a battle and are pursued by the enemy, they will run and shoot arrows backwards, other peoples do not have this skill, only the Mongols can, so that they can continue to deplete the enemy's strength, and finally seize the opportunity to counterattack. In the face of the Jin Dynasty and the Europeans, these two tactics were tried and tested. Of course, there are also reasons for the enemy's defeat caused by the insistence on the enemy's tactics.
05. The enemy's position is in chaos
In response to the approaching forces of Islam, with the acquiescence of the Holy See, Europeans embarked on a protracted "Crusade" that lasted for more than 200 years. The arrival of the Crusaders led to a long war in the Middle East, which gave the Mongols from the east an opportunity to take advantage. Similarly, the Mongols eliminated the Jin and Southern Song dynasties in a state of rampant corruption and vassalage. The internal strife of the enemy also provided an opportunity for the Mongols to conquer the world.
Overall, Mongolia's rapid rise and ravaging Ofasia was no fluke, but a multifaceted factor. It has to be admitted that the Mongol cavalry under Genghis Khan did create an unprecedented conquest miracle in the world's military history.