Due to the limitations of climate, environment, resource output and many other aspects, the grassland has always belonged to a vast and sparsely populated land, even today, the area of up to more than 1.5 million square kilometers of Outer Mongolia, the population is only more than 3 million, and the same area of China, India and other places, 1.5 million square kilometers of land is enough to carry hundreds of millions of people.
The empire laid down by Genghis Khan
This is still the case today, when technology is highly developed, and in ancient times, the population of the Mongolian plateau was even more sparse. Temujin, who led the Mongol Iron Horse across Eurasia, was in the era of course.
It is not known how many Mongols under Temujin's command were, but according to the productivity at that time and the number of troops who participated in the Mongol wars in the history books, after the unification of the Mongolian plateau, the total population of Mongolia under Temujin's command should be 1.5 million to 1.7 million. For comparison, the countries that were regarded as rivals by Mongolia at that time, whether it was the Jin Dynasty or the Southern Song Dynasty, had populations of tens of millions or even hundreds of millions.
The populations of Central Asia, Eastern Europe and Arabia, which were swept all the way by the Mongolian Iron Horse, were also tens of millions. In other words, the object of Genghis Khan's conquest of Temujin, no matter which country, has a much larger population than Mongolia. So, why is Mongolia, which is so sparsely populated, so powerful?
A generation of genius Genghis Khan
First of all, of course, because of the era of cold weapons, it is almost a cavalry of war bugs. In fact, not only the Temujin era, but also the cold weapon period of the entire human history, whether in China or abroad, nomadic peoples have always been the biggest enemies and opponents of the major agricultural civilizations, and, most of the time, the farming peoples have also been in the position of being attacked and invaded.
Therefore, although the civilization is very backward and the cultural heritage is very weak, due to the way of life, almost all the nomadic people are the best cavalry. Therefore, the nomadic people, who are almost all soldiers, can easily pull up a cavalry team with a skilled bow and horse.
Advantage of cavalry
The unparalleled maneuvering superiority of cavalry leaning on staffs is almost innately invincible in the face of an agrarian civilization dominated by infantry. The cavalry has almost the advantage in the face of the infantry: to achieve victory, it can take advantage of the victory to pursue, destroy the entire infantry army, and it can also dash away from the defeat, stop the loss in time, and look for the next opportunity to attack. The infantry facing the cavalry was extremely sad: victory could not expand the results, and defeat meant almost the total annihilation of the army.
It is this extremely asymmetrical contrast that makes the nomadic peoples feel comfortable in their offensives for most periods. The incomparably wealthy Song Dynasty, facing the attacks of the surrounding nomads, is the best embodiment of this situation of humiliation.
Because in fact, although the Song Dynasty is known for its strong culture and weak weapons, in fact, in the period of foreign wars, it has always been more victorious than defeated, but it is clear that even if the victories are the most, the Song Dynasty is still unable to recover its strategic disadvantages. The reason is that after losing the horse breeding land, the Song Dynasty did not have enough cavalry.
Genghis Khan
Secondly, it is due to the unique national soldiers of the nomadic people. The nomadic peoples living on the grasslands have always lived in the grass, and their way of life is extremely simple, that is, they live by herding horses and sheep. Herders are unable to grow, much less produce abundantly, and the only people who depend on them are their horses and sheep.
Therefore, the nomadic people who live in the grass have also experienced extremely skilled horseback riding skills in their lives. All the nomads, riding sheep as children, grow up riding horses. For nomadic peoples, riding is not only a skill, but a necessity for survival, so the herders who grow up in this condition are naturally the best cavalry.
Moreover, the competition in the grassland is extremely cruel, if you can't master the skill of excellent riding and shooting, if you are physically disabled, you can't survive in the grassland, and even if you are weak, you can easily be eliminated. Under this cruel competition for survival of the fittest, the herders who survive to grow up are almost all excellent cavalrymen who are physically strong.
Mongolian Iron Horse
As a result, the nomadic people, though small in number, are almost all soldiers. Therefore, although the total number of Mongols under Genghis Khan Temujin is not much, there are not many teams that can be pulled out, and only more than 1 million Mongol tribes can easily pull out a cavalry army of more than 100,000 people and hundreds of thousands of horses.
Moreover, in extreme cases, nomadic women who are also proficient in riding and shooting can also fight on horseback. Under such conditions, although the Mongol population under Temujin's command was far inferior to that of the Song Dynasty, the number of troops was not small, and the combat effectiveness was incomparably strong.
Again, it also has a lot to do with Temujin's ability to learn. There were many nomadic peoples on Eurasia who had once flourished, but there was only one nomadic people who swept through Eurasia like Temujin and established the Mongol Empire, the largest territory in human history.
Mongol Empire
In addition to the strong riding and shooting advantages of the nomads, Temujin also had a lot to do with his ability to learn. In the process of continuous rise, Temujin keenly discovered the strengths and strengths of his opponents, and was decisively good at learning.
Looking at the history of Mongolia, we can find that although the Mongol cavalry was extremely violent and slaughtered the city in the process of conquest and expansion, no matter how angry and brutal the Mongol cavalry was, there was a kind of person they did not kill, and this kind of person was a craftsman.
Wherever the Mongols went, they would organize local craftsmen into battalions and have them serve their wars, so that in the course of the war, the Mongol cavalry was extremely well equipped and advanced.
Well-equipped Mongolian Iron Horse
At that time, among the Mongolian iron horses, there were not only light horses that could travel thousands of miles, but also heavy cavalry that were good at attacking strong points and almost armed to the teeth. Not only that, but Temujin also discovered the importance of gunpowder and used it in war.
In the process of sweeping across Eurasia, the use of gunpowder made the Mongol cavalry play an extremely important role in the attack, and greatly compensated for the shortcomings of the cavalry that were not good at siege. It can be said that the full use of stirrups, iron tools, and gunpowder greatly enhanced the combat effectiveness of the Mongol cavalry.
Again, of course, it also has to do with Genghis Khan's genius military brilliance. As Napoleon said, "99 sheep led by one lion can defeat 99 lions led by one sheep." The emergence of a military genius can often determine the fate of a country and a nation, as was Napoleon and of course Genghis Khan.
Temujin statue
After rising on the steppe, Genghis Khan, with his unparalleled military and political prowess, quickly integrated the entire Mongolian plateau and began an outward conquest. Under the leadership of Genghis Khan, the Mongol cavalry was almost invincible and invincible. Among them, in addition to the strong combat effectiveness of the Mongol cavalry, of course, it is directly related to the military talent of their commander Temujin.
In the end, the Mongol cavalry was able to sweep the world, which also had a lot to do with the international environment at that time. At the time of the rise of the Mongols, almost all the countries in Eurasia at that time were in a period of decline: the Southern Song Dynasty was in its twilight years; after 200 years, the Jin Dynasty was also decaying and declining; Central Asia was in chaos; the Arab Empire had fallen into fragmentation, and the European countries had not yet opened the era of great navigation, and were still in a period of obscurantism and backwardness.
Mongol cavalry
In this excellent situation, the Mongol Iron Horse swept the world without encountering the resistance of any powerful dynasty during the rising period. This unparalleled luck and opportunity was also an important reason why Genghis Khan was able to build a vast empire across Eurasia.