The strongest cavalry duel of the 13th century, the Mongol cavalry versus the Egyptian Mamluk cavalry.
background
Mongol cavalry marched west
In the mid-13th century, Hulagu, the grandson of Genghis Khan, led the Mongol cavalry to conquer the Iranian plateau and the Middle East, and destroyed the Abbasid dynasty in 1258. The following year, damascus, the syrian capital, was captured, and soon after, most of the Middle East was taken, pushing the army directly to the Egyptian border. However, in the decisive battle of Ein Garut, it was defeated by the Egyptian Mamluk cavalry, and the western expedition of the Mongol cavalry drank from Egypt, and the pace of the conquest came to an abrupt end.
Why the Mamluk cavalry could have such a strong fighting force, so that the Mongol cavalry that had been advancing all the way was defeated miserably.
Mamluk cavalry
They were the elite Guards cavalry units of the Abbasid Dynasty in the Middle East, all composed of slaves, who had undergone extremely systematic militarized training from an early age, all of which were heavily armored cavalry and had super individual combat capabilities. In the end, the Mongol cavalry was defeated in close combat with the Mamluk cavalry, and almost all the army was destroyed.
Event turning point
The Mongol Great Khan Möngke died in the battle against the Southern Song Dynasty, Hulagu had no choice but to let the cowardly Buhua town defend the occupied place, and he led the Mongol army back to the Iranian plateau, waiting for the opportunity to return to the mainland at any time, although it was explained that he wanted to help his brother Kublai Khan compete for the position of Great Khan, but in fact he also wanted to be the Great Khan.
The stated goals have not changed
Although Möngke Khan died, the goal plan of defeating Egypt and entering Africa did not change, and a major war between the two sides was imminent.
Ain Garut Showdown
The Mamluk cavalry took the lead
In March 1260, the Egyptian Sultan Kudus took the initiative to lead 20,000 Mamluk cavalry into the Middle East and attacked to defeat the Mongol army. Expand the battlefield on the periphery to prevent the Mongol cavalry from taking the initiative to attack, and the war will burn to Egypt, and there is no way to retreat at all. Even if it fails, it can be returned to Egypt to fight again.
Soon, the vanguard of Mamluk found the cowardly Mongol detachment, and the Mongol army also discovered the Mamluk cavalry, and quickly asked the cowardly Buhua for support.
Timidly, he immediately led his army to support, and after a hasty march, the Mongol cavalry force came to the area of Ein Garut, where they prepared to meet the enemy.
In September, the main Mamluk force led by Kudus pursued Ain Garut, and a major battle between the two sides broke out.
Mamluk had about 20,000 cavalry, and the timid Mongol cavalry was about 20,000, and the cavalry troops on both sides were equally numerous.
Kudus still attacked first, directly dividing the 3,000-man Mamluk cavalry to take the lead in attacking the Mongol cavalry units, in a vain attempt to disrupt the cowardly deployment.
Timidly, the archers of the Mongol cavalry resisted the attack with bows and arrows, and the two sides came and went, but they could not take advantage of each other, and gradually, with the passage of time, the lack of endurance of the Mongol horses began to fall behind.
Timidly, without changing his strategy, he began to launch a heavy cavalry of nearly 2,000 European vassals to attack the weak points on both sides of the Mamluk cavalry.
The Mamluk cavalry was difficult to adapt to for a while, and although the position was in chaos, the large army showed signs of collapse, and if it continued in this way, there was a possibility of rout.
The Egyptian sultan Kudus, feeling that there was a good chance of losing the war, decided to give it a go, personally leading his most elite guards into battle, and mobilizing all the mamluk reserves to participate in the battle, at which point the two armies began a close-range white-knife battle. The Damascus machete of the Mamluk cavalry showed great melee power, the Mongol cavalry lost the advantage of maneuvering flexibility, and the melee power of the Mongolian machete was far inferior to the Damascus machete, and soon the 2,000-strong Cavalry unit of the European vassal state was wiped out in close combat, followed by the direct white-knife battle of the main forces of the two armies.
Since the area of Ain Garut was quite flat, the Mongol cavalry could not get rid of the melee, and the single-soldier melee was the strength of the Mamluks After a full day of melee combat, most of the Mongol cavalry died in the Mamluk Damascus machete, and a very small number of people retreated to the nearby mountain top, and were completely destroyed by the Mamluk cavalry that followed; The other part returned to the battlefield under the leadership of the cowardly Buhua, but also failed, and the cowardly Buhua soldiers were defeated and killed.
In the days that followed, the Egyptian Sultan Kudus regained control of Syria.
The reason why the Mamluk cavalry won and the Mongol cavalry lost
First, the Mamluk cavalry itself has strong combat ability, especially in the battle, they have obtained the melee opportunities they are good at, and because the EinGarut region is flat, the Mongol cavalry has been unable to escape, thus losing to the Mamluk cavalry;
Second, Mamluk was supported by many surrounding regimes, especially the regime established by the European Crusaders in the Middle East, and gave certain logistical and material support at the moment of the decisive battle between Mamluk and Mongol cavalry;
Third, in the war, the Mongol cavalry was dragged into the melee combat that the Mamluk cavalry was good at, and the Mamluk Damascus machete was far more powerful in melee combat than the Mongol machete;
Fourth, the strength of this battle was only a cowardly Mongol sub-force, not the main force, during which the Hulegu Mongol main force was not in the Syrian region and failed to reinforce in time was the main reason for the defeat.
The final outcome
After this war, which affected the pattern of the Middle East for hundreds of years, the Mamluk regime in Egypt and the Ilkhanate of Hulagu fought each other, and the conflict between the two sides was much reduced, and a regional stability began to form.
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