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FReeper Canteen ~ Part II of The Mongols ~ November 16, 2004
www.coldsiberia.org ^ | November 16, 2004 | LaDivaLoca

Posted on 11/15/2004 7:57:52 PM PST by LaDivaLoca

 
 

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ANCIENT WARFARE





Part II of The Mongols

Mongol Military Might

Mediaeval historians used to assert that the Mongol military superiority was due to their overwhelming numbers. As we are now aware of, this is incorrect, and assertions of Mongol numerical superiority must be interpreted as partly a specious excuse for European inferiority when fighting against the Mongols in the battlefield. Even though they never fought against the most powerful warriors who ever existed in the West, the Celts, there is no doubt that the Mongols proved superior to all those whom they met in battle.

Quality, not quantity, was the key to the incredible unbroken line of Mongolian military successes. Since the spiritual aspects of this phenomenon has been covered elsewhere on these pages, what will be elucidated here is the technical details of their military performance, their equipment and their use of it.

Organization

Although supreme command lay in the hands of the Supreme Khan, the high Mongol principle of promotion to posts of leadership and authority on the basis of ability alone, introduced and enforced by Chingis Khan, resulted in an unmatched quality of troops from the ordinary soldiers to the top command. Each Mongol warrior was simply incomparably superior to their Western counterparts. This exceedingly high quality ensured the competence and integrity of the commanding leaders. Thus, leaders at every level could always be entrusted with a high degree of independence in the decisions and in the execution of the different moves and operations.

After the death of Chingis Khan in 1227, none of his successors inherited his genius. For this reason, the real command of the large armies rested with the generals he picked when he was still alive, although the princes of the blood held the nominal command. The diamond among all the generals of Chingis Khan was Subedei, whose mastery of every aspect of warfare, such as intelligence, psychological warfare, military tactics and strategy and logistics, won him a place in history as the mastermind of the great Mongol campaign in Russia and Europe during 1236-1242. Subedei as a man personified the best characteristics of the Mongol forces: caution, high intuition, great intelligence and understanding, mobility, alertness, speed and power. Other eminent Mongol generals worthy of note are Chepe and Muqali, the latter did much to secure Mongol victories in China.

The organization of the army was based on the decimal system. The largest unit was the tjumen, which was made up of 10.000 troops. A large army used to consist of three tjumens (Plural form t'ma in Mongolian), one consisting of infantry troops who were to perform close combat, the two others were meant to encircle the opponent from both sides. Each tjumen consisted of ten regiments, each of 1.000 troops. The 1.000 strong unit was called a mingghan. Each of these regiments consisted of ten squadrons of 100 troops, called jaghun, each of which was divided into ten units of ten, called arban. There was also an elite tjumen, an imperial guard which was composed of specially trained and selected troops. As for the command structure, the ten soldiers of each arban elected their commander by majority vote, and all of the ten commanders of the ten arbans of a tjumen elected the commander of a jaghunby the same procedure. Above that level, the khan personally appointed the commanders of each tjumen and mingghan. This appointment was made on criteria of ability, not age or social origin.

The commanders of tjumens and mingghans had the military title of noyon. A commander of a whole army, which as mentioned typically consisted of three tjumens or more of light cavalry and in addition several mingghans of artillery, carried the title of orlok. In other words, the orlok was the commanding general.

source: http://www.coldsiberia.org/monmight.htm

Next Tuesday, Part III of The Mongols




TOPICS: Front Page News; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; Political Humor/Cartoons
KEYWORDS: ancientwarfare; mongols
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To: 68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub

Does your son have a FR account? We need to get him to the Canteen.


161 posted on 11/16/2004 9:43:47 AM PST by beachn4fun (When in doubt, empty the tagline.)
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To: Kathy in Alaska

Work ~ what's that. :):)

Yep ~ Hershey bars are good.


162 posted on 11/16/2004 9:45:17 AM PST by blackie (Be Well~Be Armed~Be Safe~Molon Labe!)
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To: tomkow6; Radix; Lady Jag

That's a TWO flag penalty. Illegal exposure. Tomkow must leave the playing field. He has been banned from the remainder of the game. GO to you corner!


163 posted on 11/16/2004 9:46:30 AM PST by beachn4fun (When in doubt, empty the tagline.)
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To: beachn4fun

Old curmudgeons can be clever ~ at times ~ maybe. :)


164 posted on 11/16/2004 9:46:57 AM PST by blackie (Be Well~Be Armed~Be Safe~Molon Labe!)
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To: Arrowhead1952

Stay high and dry!! Laminate flooring sounds nice. Do your knees still work?


165 posted on 11/16/2004 9:48:46 AM PST by Kathy in Alaska (Support Our Troops! Operation Season's Greetings - www.proudpatriots.com)
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To: beachn4fun
"LOL. Whew....we.....blackie, you sound like tomkow. Way to go."

Tomkow woulda said "lap dancing bar" ~ maybe. :):)

166 posted on 11/16/2004 9:49:13 AM PST by blackie (Be Well~Be Armed~Be Safe~Molon Labe!)
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To: beachn4fun

He lurks but does not post.


167 posted on 11/16/2004 9:53:30 AM PST by 68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub (Have you said Thank You to a service man or woman today?)
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To: beachn4fun
Why would I want to compete with STEROIDS????

Besides, I GOT RHYTHM!

168 posted on 11/16/2004 9:53:32 AM PST by tomkow6 (.......................they're coming BACKKKKKKKKKK!......to Camp Run-A-Muk.............)
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To: beachn4fun
Thanks!
169 posted on 11/16/2004 9:54:47 AM PST by Mr. Silverback (Hey Kerry: Confucius say "KA-STANG!! YOU BUSTED!")
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To: tomkow6

Yeah. Right!


170 posted on 11/16/2004 9:55:17 AM PST by beachn4fun (When in doubt, empty the tagline.)
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To: Mr. Silverback
You're welcome. This is lucida handwriting
171 posted on 11/16/2004 9:56:14 AM PST by beachn4fun (When in doubt, empty the tagline.)
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To: Kathy in Alaska

My knees were so sore, even though I had padding under them when working. I am just getting back to where I was last Wednesday. My lower back still hurts, but I have had back problems since the early 70s.


172 posted on 11/16/2004 9:56:21 AM PST by Arrowhead1952 (****We won - - - you lost - - - - GET OVER IT!!****)
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To: blackie

Well, yours is better. ;->


173 posted on 11/16/2004 9:57:02 AM PST by beachn4fun (When in doubt, empty the tagline.)
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To: Radix

Radix, do you think this is a picture of

Splash Gordon?

 


174 posted on 11/16/2004 9:57:17 AM PST by tomkow6 (.......................they're coming BACKKKKKKKKKK!......to Camp Run-A-Muk.............)
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To: beachn4fun
Thank you. I don't mean to create extra work for you, but do you have a list of these font faces or know where I can find one online?
175 posted on 11/16/2004 9:58:58 AM PST by Mr. Silverback (Hey Kerry: Confucius say "KA-STANG!! YOU BUSTED!")
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To: tomkow6; beachn4fun
You DO have rhythm. Experts have been observing you, as you know, and here's one our tempo analysts now -



176 posted on 11/16/2004 10:00:59 AM PST by Lady Jag (YAHOOO!!! W2!!!)
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To: Mr. Silverback

You have FReepmail.


177 posted on 11/16/2004 10:03:52 AM PST by beachn4fun (When in doubt, empty the tagline.)
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To: Lady Jag

LOL


178 posted on 11/16/2004 10:04:03 AM PST by beachn4fun (When in doubt, empty the tagline.)
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To: Mr. Silverback
A co-worker asked how many Senators there were in congress. I said "Two from each state."
"Well, that doesn't tell me anything. How many states are there?"
But he had already voted absentee.
179 posted on 11/16/2004 10:30:36 AM PST by acad1228 (Red man from a Red State!!!)
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To: HiJinx

180 posted on 11/16/2004 10:41:43 AM PST by GummyIII (The shortest distance between two people is a smile.)
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