FReeper Canteen ~ Part II of The Mongols ~ November 16, 2004

www.coldsiberia.org ^ | November 16, 2004 | LaDivaLoca

[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

[Kathy in Alaska]

MARINES IN FALLUJAH — A Marine with Company I, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, takes cover from a car explosion in Fallujah, Iraq, Nov. 9, 2004. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Luis R. Agostini

A Marine with Company I, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, aims in on anti-Iraqi forces from inside a building in Fallujah, Iraq, Nov. 9, 2004. At the request of the Interim Iraqi Government, Multi-National Forces in Iraq along with Iraqi Security Forces began Operation Al Fajr to eliminate anti-Iraqi Forces sanctuaries in Fallujah and allow the government to restore a legitimate government to the city. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Luis R. Agostini

[Kathy in Alaska]

Marines with Company I, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, patrol the streets of Fallujah, Iraq, Nov. 9, 2004. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Luis R. Agostini

Marines with Company I, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, rest inside a building in Fallujah, Iraq, Nov. 9, 2004. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Luis R. Agostini

A repeat, but worthy.

[StarCMC]

Did you happen to catch last Sunday's War Stories?? It was really interesting -- about War correspondents, and how the rules for them have changed thru WW1, WW2, Vietnam, Grenada and the 2 Gulf wars...

[StarCMC]

Ok - gotta do some housework. UGH!! Back later.....

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!!!

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!!

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!!!

[Kathy in Alaska]

I only caught some of it. My cable company has some sort of tivo thingy that I think I'm gonna have to look into. Hearing how you use yours has me thinking.

[HiJinx]

Think Bambi, Flower, Thumper...

[Fawnn]

You just had a baby! You can't do housework!!! (I had mine almost 34 years ago and I'm still using that excuse!) ;)

[stand watie]

HI!

[Fawnn]

Our Ms.B was there in Bainbridge on Saturday -- putting up some of that silly string. ;)

[SevenofNine]

Well there is report off Interfax wire that witnesses told Russia diplomat that order going down take all Little Kimmy Jong 11 pictures in North Korea DOWN report is that Little Kim want reform North Korea to little a bit want American business help

Don't be so cult like WHATTTT

Also report from Hareetz wire reporting that Mommand Abba want miltants cool off killing each other for election campaign

And another report off BBC wire reporting that French Prez Chiac run smack chat on Blair and the UK their support on US and American voters voting in Dubya

I think Chiac don't want American tourist dollars don't he

[SevenofNine]

Well there is report off Brit FT that parent company of Jersrlum Post going sell off their division to some Israeli own company you know who parent company of Post was

CHICAGO SUN TIMES

[blackie]

You promised you wouldn't tell. :):):)

[GummyIII]

Uh...yessir....For Hollywood folk, they are OK! On the Hollyweird scale of conservatism, they are purty nigh to the top, I believe. Tom Selleck is, fer sure....

[MS.BEHAVIN]

Severa....
If there is anything I can do to help, please let me know...
I live about 10 miles from the Base..
Maybe you can PING Long Cut too, as he is there...
You can always use Tracphone, and just buy your minutes as you need them,
That's what I do, and it's cheap..no monthly bills!
;0)
Ms.B

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

From the men in the Military and the Canteen

[HopeandGlory]

Thanks Connie.

[StarCMC]

Tivo will completely revolutionize the way you watch TV. I would not have believed it. We don't watch any more TV than we did -- actually I think we are more selective. Since we record shows we really want to watch, we watch those and we don't get stuck watching something inane because it's the only thing on. I love it!!!