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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: Colonel_Flagg; trussell

Asleep at the Wheel

281 posted on 11/16/2004 8:28:38 PM PST by Kathy in Alaska (Support Our Troops! Operation Season's Greetings - www.proudpatriots.com)
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To: Spotsy

Hello :) How are you, Spotsybelle?


282 posted on 11/16/2004 8:28:41 PM PST by Colonel_Flagg (Gloating? Us? Well, okay.)
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To: Spotsy; trussell; MS.BEHAVIN

I'm off for home. Be back later.


283 posted on 11/16/2004 8:29:26 PM PST by Kathy in Alaska (Support Our Troops! Operation Season's Greetings - www.proudpatriots.com)
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To: Kathy in Alaska

Drive carefully, Ma!
Ms.B


284 posted on 11/16/2004 8:30:08 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: Kathy in Alaska

Hi, Ma! Hey, this is great! Thanks for the post!


285 posted on 11/16/2004 8:31:43 PM PST by Colonel_Flagg (Gloating? Us? Well, okay.)
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To: MS.BEHAVIN

Hi I just got home


286 posted on 11/16/2004 8:34:29 PM PST by Ms.Poohbear (God Bless our troops)
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To: Ms.Poohbear

Hi Pooh...
How was your night?
Ms.B


287 posted on 11/16/2004 8:41:18 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: MS.BEHAVIN

Terrible you no who was there


288 posted on 11/16/2004 8:42:22 PM PST by Ms.Poohbear (God Bless our troops)
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To: Colonel_Flagg; MS.BEHAVIN
The Colonel has asked the loaded question: "How are you?"

Well, let's see . . . Murphy's Law says that when it is most inconvenient in your life, three or more plumbing problems will arise in your home.

First, I replaced the kitchen faucet . . . then the guest bathroom faucet sprung a leak . . . then the water tank on one of the toilets broke.

Nothing like swinging past the home improvement center on your way home to pick up a toilet, right? Spotsy Plumbing at your service. Grrrr!
289 posted on 11/16/2004 8:43:12 PM PST by Spotsy (Congratulations President Bush and Vice President Cheney!)
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To: Ms.Poohbear

Uh huh...
and how was Miss Personality tonight?
Ms.B


290 posted on 11/16/2004 8:44:49 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: Spotsy
The Colonel has asked the loaded question: "How are you?"

Then perhaps the question shouldn't have been "loaded". :)

< ducking >

291 posted on 11/16/2004 8:46:26 PM PST by Colonel_Flagg (Gloating? Us? Well, okay.)
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To: MS.BEHAVIN

LAZY LAZY SlUFFED OFF Didnt do 7 snacks


292 posted on 11/16/2004 8:46:41 PM PST by Ms.Poohbear (God Bless our troops)
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To: Spotsy

Try being married to a mechanic....
(When he's not s State Rep)
Sheesh....
Ms.B


293 posted on 11/16/2004 8:46:49 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: Kathy in Alaska

You'll want to watch the opening for Leno tonight!

Based on the skit about the opening of the impeached former president's library on Thursday, I think Leno's writers have been reading FR threads and listening to Rush. (Fred Willard plays the director of the library. Leno interviews him.) ;)


294 posted on 11/16/2004 8:47:39 PM PST by Fawnn (Canteen wOOhOO Consultant and CookingWithPam.com person - Faith makes things possible, not easy.)
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To: Ms.Poohbear

Why am I not surprised?
That place!!!
Ms.B


295 posted on 11/16/2004 8:48:17 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: MS.BEHAVIN

at least I have a repreave tomorrow


296 posted on 11/16/2004 8:49:30 PM PST by Ms.Poohbear (God Bless our troops)
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To: Ms.Poohbear

Working with C tomorrow?
Ms.B


297 posted on 11/16/2004 8:50:20 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: MS.BEHAVIN

Yes she is much better now she has a friend


298 posted on 11/16/2004 8:52:03 PM PST by Ms.Poohbear (God Bless our troops)
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To: Colonel_Flagg

299 posted on 11/16/2004 8:52:11 PM PST by Spotsy (Congratulations President Bush and Vice President Cheney!)
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To: Ms.Poohbear

mine


300 posted on 11/16/2004 8:52:38 PM PST by Ms.Poohbear (God Bless our troops)
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