Among the factors that determine the outcome of a war, the number of people, or the number of troops participating in the war, often play a key role. Under normal circumstances, the large number of troops often means that the strength is strong, and it is often possible to grasp a greater chance of victory in war. But then again, after all, war is not a child's fight, it is not simply a matter of winning with more, reasonable and excellent strategy and tactics, the impact on the outcome of the war can not be ignored. Throughout the history of ancient warfare, it is not uncommon in history for a weaker side to defeat a side with a stronger force.
In 1223, the sixteenth year of Song Jiading, there was such a classic battle in which less won more. Genghis Khan, who was sixty-one years old at the time, was still full of pride. In order to establish the boundless Mongol Empire in his dream, Genghis Khan went on a campaign, and in the first month of that year, the Mongol Yuan general and the Jin Kingdom launched the Battle of Fengxiang. In October of that year, a fierce battle broke out between the Mongolian cavalry and the Western Xia.
In February of that year, Genghis Khan sent Zhebei and Subutai to lead more than 30,000 people all the way north to conquer the Chincha people. The Chincha, like the Mongols, were nomadic tribes that grew up on horseback and were known for their fierceness and good fighting. However, under the ferocious attack of the Mongol Yuan army, the Chincha people collapsed for thousands of miles, and only the merit of fighting was powerless to fight back, so they had to flee all the way to the north. In desperation, the leader of the Chincha people, Kutan, remembered a man.
This man was his in-laws, the old Duke of Mychis in the Russian Principality of Garetz. When the old Duke of Michith knew about it, he felt that the situation was grim, and immediately summoned the chiefs of the various principalities in southern Russia and convened a military conference to discuss how to deal with the Mongol cavalry. After the meeting, it was unanimously concluded that the Chincha were the equivalent of Russian fences, and that if they were to be wiped out by the Mongols, Russia would immediately become the next target. They immediately organized a coalition of 80,000 people and went south in the starry night, hoping to eliminate the Mongol cavalry force in one fell swoop with its absolute superiority.
In the face of the overwhelming superiority of the Russian coalition forces, Tetsubetsu. Subutai showed extremely excellent military attainment. They judged the situation and knew that if they confronted the fighting, sharp, and strong Russian coalition at this time, the Mongolian cavalry had almost no chance of winning. They responded calmly, displaying the movement warfare that the Mongolian Yuan cavalry was best at, and the Mongolian Yuan cavalry began to retreat in a big stride to avoid being surrounded by the enemy army, while paying close attention to the enemy's dynamics and looking for fighters.
The Russian coalition pursued the Mongol cavalry all the way for nearly half a month, and almost achieved no substantial results, killing only a small number of Scattered Soldiers of the Mongol Cavalry. The long journey and arduous march made their morale gradually low, and their vigilance gradually relaxed, and they thought that the world-famous Mongol cavalry was no more than that. They did not expect that the doom of destruction was just around the corner.
In May of that year, the Russian coalition was exhausted and exhausted. Tetsubetsu and Subutai believed that the time was ripe for a decisive battle, so after some careful selection, the main battlefield was set on the banks of the Kalka River (also known as the Calgar River). Tetsubetsu and Subutai had a wealth of battlefield experience, and in order to prevent them from being surrounded by a numerically superior enemy in the battle, they very cleverly crossed the Kalka River and confronted the Russian allies across the river.
In this way, the numerical superiority of the coalition forces was largely offset. Because they were too numerous and the ferry boats were extremely limited, they could not cross the river at the same time in a short period of time, and could only cross the river in batches, which meant that 80,000 allied troops could not fight against 30,000 Mongol cavalry at the same time. This decision of Tetsubetsu and Subutai directly affected the outcome of the war.
On 31 May, the first allied Russian troops successfully crossed the river and engaged the Mongol cavalry. The morale-boosting Mongol cavalry killed the heavens, arrows rained down, quickly divided and surrounded the Russian coalition army, each broken, the defeated soldiers fled in all directions, desperately trying to escape back to the other side, only to be crowded together with the follow-up troops who were crossing the river, the situation was completely out of control, the Russian coalition army fell into chaos, turning into a group of rabble-rousers and fleeing. The battle turned into a slaughter, with more than 50,000 Russian warriors killed, and the Battle of the Kalka River ended with a Mongol cavalry victory, with the right strategy and tactics overcoming numerical superiority.
References: "History of the Yuan", "Study of the Mongol Western Expedition"