As an ethnic minority regime in the history of the mainland, the Yuan Dynasty, in its heyday, its territory was as vast as to be jaw-dropping. This also made the Mongols an extremely terrible people in the history of the time.
Echoing the glorious achievements of the Mongol army is its frightening combat effectiveness. Remember that even at its peak, the number of regular Mongol troops did not exceed 500,000.
The Mongol Empire spanned Eurasia and covered an area of about 33 million square kilometers.
Therefore, the Impression left by the Mongol Army is not only fierce, but also a little mysterious. What kind of superpowers do they have to lay down such a large world with such a small number of troops?
In the Battle of Saijon, the Mongol army sent 100,000 European knights with 60,000 troops, and only 1,000 remained in two days. Perhaps from this battle, we can get a glimpse of it.
A fierce Mongol army
The mongol soldiers have a long history of being able to fight in battle. These peoples, who grew up on horseback, seem to be born warriors, so they can show destructive combat effectiveness when fighting.
As we all know, the army system of the Tang Dynasty on the mainland was the prefectural military system, and its advantage was that it hid soldiers from the people. In peacetime, soldiers are peasants, and when they take up arms, peasants are soldiers. At that time, people also advocated the practice of martial arts, and in addition to work, fencing competitions were their pastime.
It is precisely because of this system that the maintenance cost of the Tang Dynasty army was greatly reduced.
The combat effectiveness is also very fierce, so it has the prosperity and strength of the Tang Dynasty.
The rise of the Mongol army is very similar to the Tang Dynasty's military system. Because Mongolia has a vast grassland, the Mongols are mainly engaged in animal husbandry, and the Mongols are naturally no strangers to horses.
This gives them a unique advantage: riding.
These warriors, who have been with horses since childhood, can not only drive the horses without relying on riding tools, but also hang on the sides of the horses, and even turn around and ride backwards during riding.
Such miraculous horsemanship was the primary capital for Mongol soldiers to gallop on the battlefield. The Mongol warriors, who were on a war horse, had much more space and mobility on the battlefield than their opponents, giving them the upper hand.
And this is just one of the terrible abilities of the Mongol soldiers.
Prairie Tetsubetsu
In the novel "The Legend of the Eagle Shooter", Guo Jing has many masters.
The Seven Monsters of Jiangnan had taught him martial arts, Ma Yu Daoist of the Quanzhen Sect had taught him the Method of Tuna for two years to help him improve his internal strength, and Hong Qigong had taught him a full set of Dragon Eighteen Palms, so that Guo Jing could master the rivers and lakes.
However, the first person to teach Guo Jing Kung Fu was a Mongol, whom Guo Jing always called Master Zhebei. The meaning of Tetsubetsu in Mongolian is "arrow", and the use of Tetsubetsu as a human title is the meaning of sharpshooter.
The so-called "archery hero" refers to Guo Jing, who shoots two eagles with one arrow, and his archery skills come from this zhebei master.
It can be seen that the archery skills of the Mongols are even worse than their riding skills.
This is the most crucial secret of the Mongol army's often victory over less.
The invention of the bow and arrow greatly increased the attack range during the cold weapon period, making it possible to kill enemies at a long distance. Therefore, the quality of archery was an important indicator for evaluating generals in ancient times. Those who are good at archery will also strive for excellence in archery.
The Mongols, on the other hand, can be said to have used the function of the bow and arrow to the extreme, which made them overlords on the battlefield.
Due to the Mongols' superb riding skills, they could move freely on horseback, which allowed them to shoot arrows at any time on the bumpy horseback. This seemingly mundane skill is actually very useful on the battlefield.
The Mongols, who had excellent riding and archery skills, already had the ability to dominate the battlefield at that time.
And their third advantage is that they are more powerful on the battlefield. This advantage is their nomadic habits.
As a nomadic people, it is impossible to have a fixed place of residence. Therefore, they have long been accustomed to a life of upheaval and displacement.
This seemingly backward way of living has given them great mobility.
It is said that the invention of shabu lamb originated from an order from Genghis Khan. During an emergency march, Genghis Khan ordered the quartermaster to cook the meal immediately, and in a short time the army would finish eating and be ready to go.
This order made the quartermaster sweat like a rain, and in the face of the large number of troops, he had the opportunity to think of a way to let the soldiers divide the lamb themselves, and then boil water with their helmets to cook the lamb. The mission was successfully completed, and the shabu lamb was born.
This shows how much the equipment of the Mongol soldiers was reduced. The Mongol army, which even pursued simplicity and speed in eating, must have been as fast as lightning on the battlefield.
Riding, archery, and light armor, these three magic weapons combined to form the invincible fighting style of the Mongol army.
Battle of the Sayo River
During the Mongol conquest of Europe, the Europeans named the Mongol army "Whip of God" based on their beliefs. They thought that they must have offended God with their actions, and God sent the Mongol army to punish them.
And this name also very vividly interprets the fighting style of the Mongol army.
They are like whips whipping the enemy, fast and fast, difficult to catch, and when they leave, they are left with only deep wounds like whiplash whipping.
The Battle of the Sayo River is a classic example of the Mongol army fighting European knights. At that time, King Bella IV of Hungary did not panic when he saw the arrival of the Mongol army, and calmly waited for the arrival of the Mongol army.
At that time, Hungary had two large cities, the capital was Buda, and Pest was the king's palace. The two cities were connected to what is now Budapest. The king gathered 100,000 knights in the city of Pest, using the Danube as a moat to spare.
When the Mongol army arrived at the city, the Hungarian knights could not hold out in the city, and several sieges of the Mongol army were fruitless. So the Mongol general Su buttai decided to lure the enemy out of the city. Seeing the Mongol army retreat, the Hungarian knights felt that the time had come to counterattack. And that's where their nightmare begins.
Unlike the Mongol cavalry, European knights pursued strength rather than speed.
As a result, their armor would cover their entire bodies, their weapons would be very heavy, and even their horses would be covered with armor. In this way, these knights have a powerful impact, equivalent to medieval tanks.
However, even with such a strong fighting power, it is meaningless not to be able to attack the opponent. The Hungarian army, which was left with only a thousand knights to defend the city, desperately pursued the Mongol cavalry. However, the Mongol cavalry always maintained a short distance and returned fire with bows and arrows.
By the time the Hungarian heavily armored knights realized that they had never been able to launch an effective attack, the Mongol cavalry had formed a siege against them, leaving only one side for the enemy to escape.
These brave European knights were like kites, firmly held back by the Mongol cavalry.
When the knights broke out on one side, the Mongol cavalry opposite them withdrew, while the Mongol cavalry in the rest of the direction gathered towards them, and after several such exchanges, seventy thousand European knights were killed and wounded. King Bella IV of Hungary eventually had to flee Hungary with the remnants.
epilogue
The art of war has clouds: "Know thyself and know the other, and never lose a hundred battles." The Mongol army was able to sweep across Eurasia because of the in-depth implementation of this truth.
In the face of the tall Europeans, strength was by no means the advantage of the Mongols. Speed and archery are the strengths of the Mongols, so maximizing their strengths and avoiding weaknesses is the ultimate meaning of the Mongols.
Perhaps when the European knights faced a fiasco, they could only remember,
David also gave up his heavy armor and sword, and used his familiar catapult to smash the giant Goliath and kill him.