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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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Thank the Veterans who served in
The United States Armed Forces.

 
 

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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: trussell; All

Scooting out all - got a hungry little mouth to feed... G'Night!!


261 posted on 11/16/2004 8:00:04 PM PST by StarCMC (It's God's job to forgive Bin Laden; it's our job to arrange the meeting.)
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To: StarCMC

Momma Star.....#250!!


262 posted on 11/16/2004 8:00:57 PM PST by Kathy in Alaska (Support Our Troops! Operation Season's Greetings - www.proudpatriots.com)
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To: StarCMC; Colonel_Flagg

Thank you Star!!

 

Hello Colonel!!
Would you care to dance?

263 posted on 11/16/2004 8:02:19 PM PST by trussell (Unemployed intellectual...will act like a pompous ass for food!!)
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To: StarCMC

Thanks, Star. I'm restricted to what I have loaded. No looking while I'm at work.


264 posted on 11/16/2004 8:04:21 PM PST by Kathy in Alaska (Support Our Troops! Operation Season's Greetings - www.proudpatriots.com)
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To: Kathy in Alaska; bentfeather; Jet Jaguar; Ms.Poohbear; mylife; Radix; All

Good evening Canteeners!
Good evening Troops!
Well, I stayed home from work today..(Dr's orders)
But I did manage to pack up some stuff for the Troops for Christmas...
I think I bought them too much candy/chocolate...
They're gonna get fat!
Hope everyone is well!
Hugs all around!
Ms.B


265 posted on 11/16/2004 8:07:18 PM PST by MS.BEHAVIN (Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. Re-elect G.W.Bush)
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To: txradioguy
I cannot imagine people wanting to see anything of his "history". Ewwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!

Clintoon Library and Massage Parlor "looks like a boxcar"!!!

I love it!! Go Kay!!!

266 posted on 11/16/2004 8:07:31 PM PST by Kathy in Alaska (Support Our Troops! Operation Season's Greetings - www.proudpatriots.com)
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To: MS.BEHAVIN
Sick? Hmmmmm....I hope you are resting. Will chicken soup help?



267 posted on 11/16/2004 8:10:27 PM PST by Kathy in Alaska (Support Our Troops! Operation Season's Greetings - www.proudpatriots.com)
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To: Chieftain
Noted and action taken.


268 posted on 11/16/2004 8:12:12 PM PST by Kathy in Alaska (Support Our Troops! Operation Season's Greetings - www.proudpatriots.com)
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To: StarCMC
Great shot! It made me hungry, though.



269 posted on 11/16/2004 8:14:17 PM PST by Lady Jag (YAHOOO!!! W2!!!)
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To: Kathy in Alaska

Your're sweet Ma....
No, chicken soup won't help with this...
Ms.B


270 posted on 11/16/2004 8:15:01 PM PST by MS.BEHAVIN (Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. Re-elect G.W.Bush)
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To: 68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub

Thanks for this info about flat rate boxes. You can get all sorts of stuff stuffed into those boxes.


271 posted on 11/16/2004 8:15:13 PM PST by Kathy in Alaska (Support Our Troops! Operation Season's Greetings - www.proudpatriots.com)
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To: tomkow6; MoJo2001
So, if I can cram MoJo in a box, I can send her ANYWHERE????

The fitting will be worth the price of admission. LOL!!

272 posted on 11/16/2004 8:17:05 PM PST by Kathy in Alaska (Support Our Troops! Operation Season's Greetings - www.proudpatriots.com)
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To: All
Click on the pic and I'll guide you
to the start of the new thread



273 posted on 11/16/2004 8:17:12 PM PST by 68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub (Have you said Thank You to a service man or woman today?)
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To: MS.BEHAVIN
Good Evening Ms.B!
Not feeling well?
Chicken soup won't help?

How about one of these:

274 posted on 11/16/2004 8:21:02 PM PST by Spotsy (Congratulations President Bush and Vice President Cheney!)
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To: Lady Jag

LOL! Too funny!

Back to the subject of hairballs: My hair quit falling out after Nov 2nd!


275 posted on 11/16/2004 8:23:23 PM PST by Spotsy (Congratulations President Bush and Vice President Cheney!)
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To: trussell

Hi! I'd love to :)


276 posted on 11/16/2004 8:24:19 PM PST by Colonel_Flagg (Gloating? Us? Well, okay.)
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To: trussell

Good Evening Trussell!


277 posted on 11/16/2004 8:25:04 PM PST by Spotsy (Congratulations President Bush and Vice President Cheney!)
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To: Spotsy
My hair quit falling out after Nov 2nd!

Sorry to butt in on your conversation, but I wish I could say that.

278 posted on 11/16/2004 8:25:27 PM PST by Colonel_Flagg (Gloating? Us? Well, okay.)
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To: Colonel_Flagg

Good Evening Colonel!


279 posted on 11/16/2004 8:25:30 PM PST by Spotsy (Congratulations President Bush and Vice President Cheney!)
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To: Spotsy

Aw...
How sweet!
Thanks, Soptsybelle!
Ms.B


280 posted on 11/16/2004 8:27:43 PM PST by MS.BEHAVIN (Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. Re-elect G.W.Bush)
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