The Mongol military might
The characteristics of the Mongol army
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.
Overall 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.
Mongol war equipment
The Mongol warrior used to wear Chinese silk
underwear, if it could be obtained. One would not
normally consider underwear to be military
equipment, but the fact is that silk is a very tough
substance. If arrows are shot from a larger
distance, they will not easily penetrate the silk.
Even if an arrow penetrates the human skin, the
silk may hold, so that the arrow can be drawn out
from the wound by pulling the silk around. This
would also prevent poison from entering the
bloodstream. Outside the normal clothes, the
warrior carried a protective shield of light yet
effective leather armor, which was impregnated
with a lacquer-like substance in order to make it
more impervious to penetration by arrows, swords
and knives, and also to protect it against humid
weather. Very probably this lacquer was fish glue,
which was the strongest and most weather
resistant natural material that fits this purpose.
Often their horses also carried this type of leather
armor. The horses also had saddles with stirrups,
because this was necessary in order to carry all
the equipment and to fight from the saddle. Mongol
warriors also wore helmets, the upper part of which
was made of metal, the parts covering the ears
and neck were in leather. Because the winter temperatures in Siberia and
Mongolia can drop down to 60 Celsius degrees
below zero, proper clothing was imperative. Thus
the Mongols used heavy leather boots with felt
socks on their feet. During winter they wore on
their bodies several layers of wool. On the outside
they typically had a covering coat of fur or
sheepskin, and a fur hat with ear flaps over the
helmet. The legs were often protected by overlapping iron
plates resembling fish scales, which were sewn
into the boots. Each warrior carried a battle axe, a
curved sword known as scimitar; a lance, and two
versions of their most famous weapon: The Mongol
recurved bow. One of the bows was light and could
be fired rapidly from horseback, the other one was
heavier and designed for long-range use from a
ground position. This heavy bow had an average
draw weight of 166 pounds, according to George
Vernadsky much more than the strongest
contemporary European bow, the English longbow.
It was not until the invention of breach-load rifles in
the 1860s that the world saw a small weapon
which had more power than the bow of the
Chingis-Khanite Mongols. As could be expected,
the troops had several quivers each. Some were
filled with arrows suitable for use against warriors
and horses at closer ranges, while another quiver
held arrows for penetration of armor or for longrange shots. Each rider had a sharpening stone for
keeping the metal arms in top shape. Since selfsufficiency was the order of the day, in addition to
the indispensable knife an awl, needle and thread
were carried by each rider, to enable quick and
effective repair of almost any type of equipment in
the field. In addition to the light weaponry described above,
after the advent of Chingis they built up a light
artillery equipped with javelin-throwers and
catapults of different kinds, which might be
disassembled and loaded on pack horses or on a
two-wheeled wagon, called a kibitka. These
advanced weapons were the inventions of Chinese
engineers who were enlisted in Chingis Khan's
service. Somewhat later, during and after the
campaign against Khwarezm, the Mongols
acquired ballistae, which were like extremely large
crossbows that could shoot large big arrows over
more than 320 meters with considerable precision,
with devastating effect on a battlefield. Also, the
Mongol army used trebuchet-like catapults that
could hurl heavy rocks with great impact against a
city wall or a fortress.
The principle of independence and self-sufficiency,
so important to the Siberian Mongols, applied as
far as possible even to the individual warriors.
Every warrior was equipped with a full set of tools
and spare parts: a lasso, a kettle, a bony needle
and sinews. In addition to this he carried a
waterproof leather bag which kept the clothing dry,
and which would be used like a swimming belt
during the crossing of great rivers. They then tied
all their equipment to the horses and swam
together with the animals. For food, the warriors
also carried a ration of dried meat, as well as
fermented and/or dried milk. When need arose, the
riders would open the jugular veins of the horse,
and drink the blood. On a military campaign, each
rider had from one to five reserve horses. It is worth dwelling with this crucial element in the
Mongolian military concept; the relative
independence of both the individual soldier, the
units and their leaders. Each of these had to be
able to participate in major coordinated efforts, but
each soldier or unit must also be capable of
independent existence and action. There was
never any dependence on a central unit for the
function of all. The extensive collection of
equipment carried by each individual is testimony
to the emphasis laid upon this all-important
combination of capability of joint engagement on
the one side, and capability of independent action
and a high degree of individual, even personal,
self-sufficiency on the other.
In the battlefield
Signals were given by banners, occasionally by
beating the kettle or by smoke signals.
Remarkably, the Mongols fought in silence. Among
them, there was absolutely no histrionics and
striving for effect. This might be because of the
more feminine nature of their spiritual origin. In the
West, mistaken ideas abound about the merciful
feminine principle and the merciless and
belligerent masculine. In the Siberian and Inner
Asian spiritual universe, the dark female forces
have invariably been considered very formidable in
every respect, and much more pitiless than the
male principle. Accordingly, the most skilled
Mongol women (even if they formed a small
minority) waged war together with the men. This is
a historical fact that has been downplayed,
perhaps partly because of a subconscious
reluctance to accept that women also can be
warriors. Nor did the Mongols subscribe to
Western ideals of manliness. One of their most
formidable tactical moves was the retreat. In the
face of a strong opponent, they would more often
than not withdraw. This maneuver was often
interpreted as implying cowardice and lack of
strength. In reality, the Mongols wanted the
opponent forces to pursue them, and thus expose
their weaknesses. This is the Asiatic principle,
known from martial arts like ju jitsu and kung fu, of
being soft and yielding where the opponent is
strong, and be hard and offensive at spots where
weakness is encountered. This principle was
developed into a fine art by the Mongols. The
principle of brute strength, heavy swords and
armor is effective in narrow streets of cities, inside
castles and fortresses, but in the open field it pays
off to be nimble, smart and alert.
One type of Mongol battle formation when facing
the opponent directly was composed of five
squadrons spread wide apart. Because of their
mobility, ability to intuitively "sense" the
movements of each other, their discipline and
resultant ability to rally at a definite point in a very
short time, this was no risk. On the contrary, the
opposing army never knew where the Mongols
were at any given moment. The normal five
squadrons were divided into two front, or
spearhead, ranks, and three rear ranks. The two
spearhead ranks wore the heaviest armor as well
as the heaviest weaponry. When an attack began,
the three rear ranks broke through the openings
between the lines of the front ranks, and harassed
the opposing army with continuous hails of arrows.
When this had worked its effects for some time, the
rear ranks would withdraw in order to be able to
encircle the opponent's forces in the event of an
attempt of escape. Simultaneously, the front ranks
would charge and deliver a decisive blow, and now
they would finally engage in close combat, a
discipline in which the Old Mongols were extremely
skilled. In this context it merits mention that the
millennia-old Mongol contact with Chinese had
brought them into acquaintance with Chinese
traditional martial arts, something very different
from the sports wrestling that dominated the scene
after the days of greatness were gone.
Encirclement strategies, often on a very large
scale, fitted hand in hand with the above. When
Western armies would place heavy emphasis upon
strength and heavy armor, the Mongols would
prioritize mobility and swiftness. The heavily armed
mediaeval knights learned to their sorrow that their
heavy iron armor impeded their movements and
moreover was of little use when the Mongols just
shot the horses dead under them. The Mongols
then attacked with dagger and sword, and the
Europeans learned another lesson, that the
Mongol unwillingness to engage in close combat at
the first moment of an encounter was not due to
lack of physical strength. They simply wanted to
harass the opponent with feints, showers of arrows
and javelins until the opposing army was "ripe."
When the opposing forces were outflanked,
sufficiently angered, exhausted and disorganized,
the charge began. When the Mongol military might
was at its most formidable, that is during the era of
Chingis Khan, the Mongols, in spite of their almost
always being considerably outnumbered by
sometimes as much as three to one or even more,
never met an army they could not beat.
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Last updated January 18, 2002 by Per Inge Oestmoen