In the history of ancient warfare, there have been hundreds of expeditions around the world, the vast majority of which have ended in failure, and only a few dozen have been successful, especially the second Mongolian expedition to the west.
With less than 150,000 people, this western expedition marched all the way to the west, surging forward, successively attacking the bulgar, Chincha, Rus', Poland, Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Bohemia, whipping Vienna, drinking the Madonna River, and passing through the mountains of corpses and blood. What is even more amazing is that at the same time as the Western Expedition, the Mongols also attacked the Southern Song Dynasty in East Asia, and the entire front crossed the Eurasian continent.
The length of the entire western expedition, the distance of the conquest, the number of countries destroyed, the breadth of the land occupied, and the glory of the achievements left the most shocking chapter in the history of human warfare.
So how did the Mongols achieve this miracle in the history of war? Many people will definitely say that it must be the peak combat strength of the Mongolian iron horse. Yes, after more than a thousand years, Europeans were once again in fear of being dominated by the "Parthian method of warfare".
In addition, the collapse of the Eastern Roman Empire also made Mongolia encounter a once-in-a-lifetime good opportunity, and the contradictions in European countries made Mongolia can easily break through each one. The performance of the European countries in the war has also surprised people.
According to the "History of the Mongols of Dosan", the European army at that time, with a small number of heavily armored knights and countless half-naked villagers, did not know tactics, did not know obedience, and the commanders could not be consistent, and this army was afraid to resist the Mongol light horses that had been used to tactics for a long time, so they would lose every battle.
However, most of the expeditionary legions in history have strong combat strength, but in the end they ended in failure, which shows that combat strength is only one aspect, and there must be other key factors for the success of the expedition, which is logistics supply. Under ancient conditions, if you want to carry out a large-scale expedition, how to solve logistical problems is the key to success or failure.
During the Reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, in the Battle of Mobei, Wei Qing and Huo Went ill each led 50,000 elite horses, and the manpower specifically responsible for ensuring the supply of the army was as high as more than 500,000 people, and the accompanying army horses were nearly 300,000, with five people to ensure the logistics supply of one person, and after several major battles, they almost emptied the family foundation saved by Wen Jingzhizhi, which showed the cost of logistical supplies for the expedition.
The Second Mongol Expedition lasted seven years from the official masse of troops in 1236 to the end of 1242, and it was clear that this epic feat could not be accomplished without perfect logistics. So how did the Mongols complete the logistical supply of 150,000 troops?
First of all, the Mongol vanguard troops would mark the green meadows along the way while opening the road, in case the subsequent army arrived, to graze, and at a certain distance, hoard grain and grass, and then the ox carts and artisan artillery teams full of war tools and military supplies would follow.
Secondly, during the Mongol Expedition to the West, there were not only various service personnel accompanying them, such as interpreters, doctors, palm seal officials, etc., but even a large number of herdsmen accompanied them. According to the record, during the Western Expedition, "a number of women, riding on ox carts, marched with the army, took care of meals on the road, and served the army in the Sybil Wasteland of siwu town." In the campsites, plays were sometimes staged to entertain the soldiers. The performer wears a false beard, wears a costume, and sings songs familiar to the listener." These herders graze their cattle along the way, connect with traffic, and maintain the army's continued combat effectiveness.
Of course, the most important point is that during the Mongol Western Expedition, soldiers were allowed to slaughter and plunder wantonly to feed the war, so the more materials they fought, which was also a key way to solve the logistical supply problem of the Mongolian army.
It was precisely by relying on these methods that the Mongol Western Expedition was able to wage a lasting war, sweeping through Eurasia with less than 150,000 people, casting a miracle in the history of human warfare!
#History Trivia ##历史回眸 #
